Advice on Naim Nait 3

[bobchiba]

Never owned any Naim gear before as always thought second hand prices were a bit silly, however been given the opportunity to pick up a Nait 3 at a reasonable sub £300 price. I was wondering what the deal is with the whole naim cables only thing. Supposedly you have to get naim speaker cable and it has to be at least a certain length for the circuitry to function properly etc. Is this really an issue, im sure it is based on sound logic but would I really potentially damage my system by not doing so? I've heard that as long as you don't use solid core cable and its not too short then it should be fine.

My other question is that I'd be going from a Creek 4330 with a particularly good phono stage, what sort of price are you looking at for naim phono cards, one for left and right channels I believe? Would I be better of just getting a good outboard phono stage instead?

I do love the creek but always wanted to ad a A43 to it, for some reason the Creek 43 range is so hard to come by in the used market, and I'm hankering for an upgrade. 

 

[Singslinger]

Naim cables are designed as part of their amps, ie the cables have the necessary electrical characteristics to ensure the amps remain stable throughout use. The minimum recommended length is 3.5m per side, though longer is better. If you want to use other brands, I suggest you check with Naim or an authorized Naim dealer and also stick to at least 3.5m. I know that Chord cables work with Naim and I've been told that Atlas does as well.

My advice is to simply stick to Naim's NAC A5 cable - even though it's stiff, it's reasonably priced, works beautifully and you'll get peace of mind. And you should note that Naim do not recommend biwiring.