Help please with potential Naim amp upgrade

[Dan Turner]

I have the chance to buy a Naim NAC72/NAP250/Hi-cap amp (looks to be late 90s - early 00s manufactured, but am planning to check serial numbers) for £750. I figure at that price (assuming it's a good one, i think it is) i could put it up against my current Arcam A32/P35 combo and sell on the loser without actually having lost anything.

I know that Naim's are a bit quirky, so I'm a little unsure.....I have verified that the pre-amp is recent enough to have phono inputs. Does anyone know if the power amp will accept normal bannana plugs? If not, what speaker connection? Also did I hear that Naims are quite fussy about speaker cables to the point that the wrong ones can kill them?! Currently using Van Damme 6mm Hi-Fi speaker cable (a fairly basic multi-stranded OFC design recommended by PMC).

Rest of my system is Arcam CD37 (with Chord Chorus 2 interconnect) and PMC TB2+ speakers.

Also I find it hard to guage what the second hand value of this Naim combo should be, because the Naim product lines run for so long, second hand prices can vary quite wildly depending on the age. I plan to do a bit more research on the price, but I think £750 for the 3 looks pretty good if they are fairly late models.

Advice appreciated!

 

[Anonymous]

You should post this on the Naim forum. The people there will know all about your gear and are very helpful.

http://forums.naim-audio.com/eve/forums/a/cfrm/f/28019385

 

[Dan Turner]

OK - I have posted on the Naim forum (good idea Tarquinh!).

Any thoughts from the experts here?

 

[Anonymous]

Just had a quick look around and found out the following:

You'll need to change your speaker cables to NACA 5, minimum 3.5 metres per side, it's required by the power amp. They're directional, too. You should also use the correct Naim plugs to terminate them at the amplifier end - any naim dealer will have them. The good news is they're excellent cables but stiff as hell. Using another cable can damage the amps, so don't think about scrimping on the cables.

Not sure about your model, but Naim uses DIN interconnects, except for the newest models. That's no a problem since you can find DIN/RCA cables or converters easily.

Finally, I found a goodly portion of Naim manuals on their website, at which point I stopped writing this!

 

[JoelSim]

If you're selling your Arcs, let me know.

ÿ

 

[Dan Turner]

JoelSim:

If you're selling your Arcs, let me know.

Will do. I know you can't advertise here or tout for buyers, so hypothetically if the scenario were to arise, how would I legitimately contact you?

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Dan, I would certainly get them for that price.

You will most certainly need to get NACA5 as it keeps the amp regulated and it sounds better than other cables, I have used Chord, Kimber and Linn, but none of them sound as good as the NACA5. I would recommend that you try Russ Andrews Classic Powerkords with Wattgat W320, these really make a difference in sound quality.

If your power amp is the older type NAP250 then you can remove the case of the Naim Speaker cable plug and use them as a normal set of banana plugs. I used them like this on a NAP160, the terminals on the older type have narrower speaker terminals and cannot use the new connectors.

The Naim will also sound very nice with the ArcamCD37, I use to run a Naim NAC62, Hi-Cap and Nap160 with a Arcam Alpha7 se and it sound really nice and detailed, but be aware this set-up will be a calletation if you play poor recordings.

With reference to the price have a look on the Naim Audio Short guide website and follow the links they have loads of info about Naim products. I think it has a link called Neil Mcbrides Naim website I am sure it has a guide to second hand prices. I can ensure you that it is a very good price. Just ensure you get the Line input boards and any other boards you may need to get the amp up and running. they are not hard to find if they do not come with it, but will cost you a few more pounds if you need them.

Sonai.

 

[Dan Turner]

Thanks Sonai, a lot of useful info there.

Unfortunately I thing that boat may have sailed. The chap selling the amps was in fact selling his old system, and had someone interested in taking the whole thing off his hands, so that was obviously the better option for him. He said he'd let me know if that fell through. That was Wednesday and I haven't heard anything........

The advice I got and research I did convinced me that it was definitely worth a go and that the price was very good. If they are still available then I will go for them, if only to give them a try against my Arcams.

In the mean time I'm not too bothered, I'm really happy with my A32/P35 at the moment, and I was only looking at the Naims out of curiosity.