Bargains on ebay?

[Marco]

Nice one, dude

Btw, check out the new smilies.....



Marco.

[DSJR]

Anyone see this?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NAIM-NAIT-1-Gr...item4aaa7640a9

A bloody Nait snooze-box for nearly SIX HUNDRED QUID??? The bidders must need their bumps felt.....

[Macca]

Anyone see this?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NAIM-NAIT-1-Gr...item4aaa7640a9

A bloody Nait snooze-box for nearly SIX HUNDRED QUID??? The bidders must need their bumps felt.....

Never heard one but I always loved the styling, so much prettier and more expensive-looking than the modern NAIM stuff.

[Jonboy]

I had my heart set on this one as it was nice and local, but again it went for silly money, anyone on here bought it?

[Rare Bird]

Outch! well the phono sockets on the front put me straight off

[Marco]

Hi Martin,

Never heard one but I always loved the styling, so much prettier and more expensive-looking than the modern NAIM stuff.

I don't know about more expensive looking, but for sheer 'industrial retro' sexiness, I agree. Although, looks wise, the Nait 2 was the one that did it for me:








Gorgeous!! That has to go down as a design classic

I also loved the NAC72/Hicap/140 I used to have - not only did it look great, but in some ways it was more musical sounding than some of the much more expensive Naim gear I ended up buying!

I also much prefer the old Naim logo to the current abortion they use, which in comparison, is just pish.... The old rubberised knobs were also much cooler than what's used now

Marco.

[Rare Bird]

Thats what i used to do, turned the sleeve around, put the silver to the back.

[DSJR]

The Nait 1 was a soft-clipper par excellence, acting as a gentle compressor on any music with real dynamic range. The 2 had a little more, but didn't have the "magic" imo...

Marco, I wonder of you'd feel the same way about a 72/HiCap/140 if you heard one now? Methinks not in all honesty, as there's little real detail, no soundstage and the 140 hardens up when pushed, as well as being very mains-sensitive. the current stuff is far friendlier I think..

[Marco]

Dunno Dave, as now I've gotten used to the sound of the very best valve equipment one can buy, I guess that I wouldn't be particularly impressed....

However at the time, for me, the 72/Hicap/140, whilst far from being perfect, was a combo that just 'worked' (in a synergy sense), and when 'upgrading' to 102s, 180s, 82s, 250s, etc, some of the 'magic' of that combo was lost.

It wasn't until I'd reached 52/Supercap/135s (last ones that Naim produced) level that the 'magic' returned - and at HUGE expense (I bought all my Naim gear then BRAND NEW!) I should add that throughout my 'Naim Journey', the Spendor SP100s remained a constant, and source-wise, I went from a basic CDX eventually to a CDS2/XPS2 (with the then upgraded Burndy lead).

TBH, I'm glad that I've left those days behind. Had I known then what I know now, I'd never have spent the circa £30k it took to get to where I was as a 'Naimee'..... I shudder to think what I could do, hi-fi wise, now with that sort of money!!

Thing is though, I still value much of the Naim way of music-making, and so seek those traits in the valve gear I use. Thank goodness AnthonyTD makes 'thermionic Naim'

Marco.

[DSJR]

The 135's were the best of the older stuff IMO, but the 52/Supercap could be equalled or bettered in performance by a "R" series Croft and AVI amongst others, although the ergonomics weren't as good in the latter two. For me, a 72/HiCap in stock form just has no dimension to the sound at all, all over-wide mono with little extreme left and right, although third party add-ons and cables could free the thing off I think (cue Les W and others). The 140 in my long term dem-room never sounded as good as a 180 or well sorted 250, although in Northampton it was better - maybe the mains was better there, I don't know..

Nah, I think we've moved on, as have they, and the old stuff is best left buried in the dark and dingy 80's in my opinion, unless it's fettled and updated within an inch of its life