As the Nait 5i, but more detailed

[plastic penguin]

Thanks for the advices. At the moment I cannot do tests because I am waiting to replace my Eb Acoustics Eb2. However, the models that attract me most are the Roksan, the Leema and the Nait XS. I've tried with Cyrus 6xp and in my opinion has nothing to do with the Nait 5i. With the EB2 had not PRAT at all, but a lot of detail.

Having heard the Naim XS, Caspian M1 and Leema Pulse, I obviously chose the Leema: After nearly two years of faffing, looking at most sub-£1000 integrateds, non of which gave me a big enough upgrade in sound or features - only the Creek Evo2 achieved this but lacked the feature count.

Long before the heavy discount I heard the Pulse in isolation at a dealers... and blown away.

After a bit more faffing the price was dropped, and compared it with the Caspian with my RS6s and various other speakers, there was little difference in SQ. The Pulse had the edge for fast, taut bass and imaging, while the Caspian had a bead on Detail, bass depth and perhaps microdynamics. TBH, all-in-all, there was only a *** paper width between them. Likewise the XS has its own distinct qualities, but for me, the Leema has a slightly sweeter tonal quality.

In addition to the vast inputs of the Leema, it has two built-in phono stages for turntables and as a whole package there's little to compare: the amp has ferocious attack allied to a lovely (cosy) sonic undertone. The dynamics are spot-on, as is the imaging and detail retrieval. The biggest fault I can really find, if I was really picky, it could do with an extra dose of bass depth. However, in isolation it's irrelevent.

 

[CnoEvil]

You also might want to consider the Musical Fidelity M3i.

 

[iceman16]

Try the matching Naim CD5i CD player with your Nait 5i.

It's within budget. Naim amps and their own matching sources really do have a lot of synergy. (I speak from the experience of owning and enjoying a Nait 5i/CD5i/NAT05/nSATs system for two years).

Extend the 'matching' right down to using the Naim supplied 5 pin DIN interconnect that comes in the CD5i box and you might be pleasantly suprised.

(Just an alternative to getting rid of an amp that - from your first comments - you obviously really enjoy.)

+1

or a s/h cd5x and flatcap2x later on

 

[batonwielder]

I've always thought that Exposure sounded better than Naim precisely for detail and punch.

 

[Shanka]

Hi,

I was looking to buy the 8200cd after hearing an initial demo and was blown away by the detail and compared with many cd players at that price couldn't find anything to match it.

However once I started listening to it next to other players I found the harsh nature of the detail retrieval making the music I was listening to not sound right, I paired with the Kandy K2, Leema Pulse, Naim 5i, Exposure 3010s and the Naim xs, none of them sounded right.

When I heard the Naim 5i amp and cd I thought that was a great pairing and found it a delight to listen to and I realised that there was a price to pay for all the detail that the audiolab 8200cd provides and at that price point you can get the detail but have to sacrifice maybe some of the musicality.

I would try and demo with the Naim 5i cd player and see what you think, it was suggested earlier here,in my listening experience I tried many amps all very good to get the 8200 cd to work and I realised I was getting things the wrong way around.

Maybe you have to decide which aspect of your music is more important detail or warmth, we all want both I guess but we all have budgets too.

Just my personal experience and I hope you find what you are looking for,

Good Luck