Am I alone in thinking that Naim is rubbish?

[plastic penguin]

I don't doubt that an all Naim system will sound cracking, but Mix 'n' match and the Naim Nait 5 is left wanting. When I borrowed one for the weekend from a dealer in hampton Wick, I was so desparately disappointed.

I connected up my old Marantz tuner and Arcam CD73T and matters were confused even further: Put a CD on and the Naim was very heavy handed, to the point where it was starting to give me a headache. Most of the detail was lost and sonically was so unbalanced, i had to check and made sure it was connected correctly. It was.

By contrast, I switched to my tuner and things couldn't be different: It was night and day.

I've tried countless amps over the past couple of years, but I've never heard anything so disjointed as the Naim Nait. As I said previously, an all Naim system, I'm pretty sure sounds cracking. Take it away from it's siblings and it sounds messy and confused.

 

[Andy Clough]

Well, the Naim Nait may not to be your taste when used with the rest of your system, but to dismiss Naim as "rubbish" is over-egging it somewhat. We've used the Nait 5 in a number of systems and rated it highly.

The company has a fine tradition of building high-quality hi-fi that will last decades, and its customer service is second-to-none. However old your amp or CD player, it can always be sent back to the factory in Salisbury and be repaired or upgraded.

BTW, you don't say which speakers you were using?

 

[Alec]

Andy Clough:

Well, the Naim Nait may not to be your taste when used with the rest of your system, but to dismiss Naim as "rubbish" is over-egging it somewhat. We've used the Nait 5 in a number of systems and rated it highly.

The company has a fine tradition of building high-quality hi-fi that will last decades, and its customer service is second-to-none. However old your amp or CD player, it can always be sent back to the factory in Salisbury and be repaired or upgraded.

BTW, you don't say which speakers you were using?

Blast! When i looked at this in th e list of topics it said there had been no replies. you have ruined my chance to say "yes, it seems that way", or some other hilarious thing...

Still. I dunno. Never heard Naim stuff.

 

[Andy Clough]

Sorry al7478, hate to be a party pooper!

 

[plastic penguin]

Andy Clough:

Well, the Naim Nait may not to be your taste when used with the rest of your system, but to dismiss Naim as "rubbish" is over-egging it somewhat. We've used the Nait 5 in a number of systems and rated it highly.

The company has a fine tradition of building high-quality hi-fi that will last decades, and its customer service is second-to-none. However old your amp or CD player, it can always be sent back to the factory in Salisbury and be repaired or upgraded.

BTW, you don't say which speakers you were using?

Monitor Audio RS6. Nevertheless, when your guys came down to do a reader rescue, they brought the kandy LIII, Cyrus 8VS2 and the Naim. The Cyrus sounded really impressive, even on speakers not recommended with Cyrus. Likewise, Kandy was also great. When they asked whether I would like to hear the Naim I was slightly hesitant and politely declined their offer on the Naim and explained why.

Please, don't misconstrude it as Naim is rubbish full stop. But compared with other top brands - and on my current system - it was far from impressive.

 

[chebby]

...

 

[Alec]

Andy Clough:Sorry al7478, hate to be a party pooper!

you are forgiven.

be more careful in future tho lol!

 

[matthewpiano]

Naim isn't rubbish, even though it isn't to everyone's liking. One of the best amps I ever had was a Nait 3. Superb.

To be perfectly honest, I don't think the CD73 is good enough for the Nait 5. The '73 is a very good CD player but its got a tendency to thicken up in the midrange and I'm quite sure the Nait would be exposing those weaknesses. I'd say MINIMUM CD front end for the Nait is the Rega Apollo (considerably better than the CD73) or Naim's own CD5i.

I auditioned a Nait 5i with a Rega Apollo CD player and, even with budget Mordaunt-Short MS902i speakers it sounded incredible.

Still, each to his own! (And I did end up buying the Denon stuff instead because of its greater warmth and wider soundstaging!!!!)

 

[Anonymous]

Mt g/f constantly told me how utter rubbish the nait 51 and cd5i were, so much so i couldn't put it on!i

 

[plastic penguin]

matthewpiano:Naim isn't rubbish, even though it isn't to everyone's liking. One of the best amps I ever had was a Nait 3. Superb. To be perfectly honest, I don't think the CD73 is good enough for the Nait 5. The '73 is a very good CD player but its got a tendency to thicken up in the midrange and I'm quite sure the Nait would be exposing those weaknesses. I'd say MINIMUM CD front end for the Nait is the Rega Apollo (considerably better than the CD73) or Naim's own CD5i. I auditioned a Nait 5i with a Rega Apollo CD player and, even with budget Mordaunt-Short MS902i speakers it sounded incredible. Still, each to his own! (And I did end up buying the Denon stuff instead because of its greater warmth and wider soundstaging!!!!)

I know how popular the brand is and how long they have been in the business, hence the shock when I heard it.

 

[Anonymous]

Welcome to the world of class-B amplification...

The wee Nait isn't to my taste either - because it's quite a tuned amplifier, and not in any sense wideband, it cuts the treble off at about 15kHz which REALLY annoys me...I can hear much higher than that and the sense of "atmosphere" you get with good recordings is lost. It's quite an "un-natural" sound, if you ask me.

That said, when I had a NAP500 on my B&W 685s, I could have sworn somebody upgraded my ears...
(That's also a hint of how good the 685s are if you have serious amplification, which they need...I mean SERIOUS!)

 

[Anonymous]

Anyone that can keep a audio company running as long as Naim certainly isn't rubbish in my book, they have a customer base most manufactures would die for and there service apparently is second to none.

Not liking their sound is something else, but rubbish, no.

 

[plastic penguin]

silly:Anyone that can keep a audio company running as long as Naim certainly isn't rubbish in my book, they have a customer base most manufactures would die for and there service apparently is second to none. Not liking their sound is something else, but rubbish, no.

As previously stated, I'm sure is very good when combined with Naim cables, speakers, CDplayer so on and so forth, but out of it's sonic comfort zone e.g. with other brands, then it just doesn't cut the mustard. Rubbish per sa. No!

 

[Andrew Everard]

Hughes123:it cuts the treble off at about 15kHz
Nonsense, frankly.

Hughes123:That said, when I had a NAP500 on my B&W 685s...

Oh, come on... Was that when Paul Stephenson popped in and begged you to try it, or just after you helped Julian found the company...?

 

[Anonymous]

Andrew Everard:Hughes123:it cuts the treble off at about 15kHz
Nonsense, frankly.

It's not! I could have sworn it did!!!

Hughes123: That said, when I had a NAP500 on my B&W 685s...

I'm not joking! I asked the dealer how good they could sound and he showed me! It was using a Naim CD3S and my Arcam as a pre-amp.

Really Mr.E, you do doubt me quite often...

 

[Andrew Everard]

Because if the stories get any taller, they'll pose a threat to air-traffic, which as a qualified space shuttle pilot you would no doubt know...

 

[Anonymous]

Andrew Everard:Because if the stories get any taller, they'll pose a threat to air-traffic, which as a qualified space shuttle pilot you would no doubt know...

ROFLOL!!!!!!

You don't like him much do you mr E?lol

 

[Anonymous]

Oi..... is it not possible that Hughesy is not telling porkies............?

I too had a NAP500.... I had it installed in my Space Shuttle (which was on hire purchase from NASA), however I got rid of both because they lacked power, as my friend Abe Lincoln said at the time....... 'You can please some of the WHF staff some of the time.......'

 

[Andrew Everard]

clivej:Andrew Everard:Because if the stories get any taller, they'll pose a threat to air-traffic, which as a qualified space shuttle pilot you would no doubt know...

ROFLOL!!!!!!

You don't like him much do you mr E?lol

Oh it's nothing personal - it's just that the stories get more bizarre daily...

 

[Clare Newsome]

Hughes123:
Really Mr.E, you do doubt me quite often...

but then you do have previous - ie 'being economical with the truth' in your prize-winning Hi-fi World letter. And don't think us editors don't talk

 

[JoelSim]

Handbags girls...

This is why hifi is so fascinating. ÿOne man's roast potatoes is another man's sprouts.

ÿ

 

[Clare Newsome]

Indeed, but having relevant experience of those potato/sprout alternatives - as opposed to relying on conjecture, hearsay, or a sniff of said vegetables - should be of key consideration, no?

 

[Alec]

Clare Newsome:Hughes123:

Really Mr.E, you do doubt me quite often...

but then you do have previous - ie 'being economical with the truth' in your prize-winning Hi-fi World letter. And don't think us editors don't talk

if you read eachothers sites, certain people may find out certain things sooner too lol!

 

[Clare Newsome]

al7478:Clare Newsome:Hughes123:

Really Mr.E, you do doubt me quite often...

but then you do have previous - ie 'being economical with the truth' in your prize-winning Hi-fi World letter. And don't think us editors don't talk

if you read eachothers sites, certain people may find out certain things sooner too lol!

Shocking though this might sound, we talk in the real world, too

 

[JoelSim]

Clare Newsome:
Indeed, but having relevant experience ofÿ those potato/sprout alternatives - as opposed to relying on conjecture, hearsay, or a sniff of said vegetables - should be of key consideration, no?

I may pop onto eBay and try to get an Enigma machine...

ÿ