Naim Nait 50 Anniversary

[RTHerringbone]

Now you too can enjoy the ongoing saga of "is it on or off?" with that bright power light, even on standby 😆

Fortunately it goes into a standby mode after about 20 minutes if it isn't in use.

 

[The_Lecht_Rocks]

Cmon then @RoA
First impression needed !

 

[RoA]

Now you too can enjoy the ongoing saga of "is it on or off?" with that bright power light, even on standby 😆

Fortunately it goes into a standby mode after about 20 minutes if it isn't in use.

Yes. It is not quite clear 🤔. Who, at Naim, came up with that one?

 

[The_Lecht_Rocks]

Yes. It is not quite clear 🤔. Who, at Naim, came up with that one?

Indeed. My retinas also unhappy……. Impressions ?

 

[RoA]

Cmon then @RoA
First impression needed !

Will do tomorrow. Haven’t had time to really listen. We had a builder in due to a leaking shower.

 

[Gray]

....that bright power light, even on standby

Sounds like it goes between bright and very bright - meaning theres little noticeable difference.
All the more strange since as it's about the only thing they needed to get right on that simple front panel 🤔

The sound is the most important thing of course, but still, I'd have to sort that out.
Could be quite an easy job for someone to fit a higher value series resistor inline with the LED - to make it (much) less visible on standby.
That way it should be much easier to recognise it displaying 'on'.

White LEDs, like the new car headlights, great in theory 😎

 

[The_Lecht_Rocks]

Mine lights up my study allowing me to enter , switch on, sit down and enjoy that fantastic PRAT this snowy winters morning up here in the Tundra….
We’ve got another 4.5” overnight ! A day of listening beckons !

 

[Juzzie Wuzzie]

Dumb question but is the "mains" button (far right) literally the power button?

The white light would bother me too - and was going to jokingly suggest the Gray solution!

 

[RoA]

I had an hour late last night and first impressions were … detail and sound stage, both not usually traits of Naim stuff at the affordable end in my (limited) experience of the brand. It almost made my speakers sound electrostatic.

I’ll have a little bit more time today and over the weekend.

 

[The_Lecht_Rocks]

detail, soundstage and punch !

 

[RoA]

detail, soundstage and punch !

Indeed, it’s a sprightly little thing.

 

[nopiano]

Dumb question but is the "mains" button (far right) literally the power button?

The white light would bother me too - and was going to jokingly suggest the Gray solution!

Good question. Being ever curious, I looked in user manual. It’s described as the ‘standby button’.

https://media.focal-naim.com/dam/nait-50/user_guide_nait_50_web.pdf

 

[RoA]

Good question. Being ever curious, I looked in user manual. It’s described as the ‘standby button’.

https://media.focal-naim.com/dam/nait-50/user_guide_nait_50_web.pdf

Standby. There is no power on/off.

You could also describe it as dipped/main beam headlight selector.

 

[Al ears]

Dumb question but is the "mains" button (far right) literally the power button?

The white light would bother me too - and was going to jokingly suggest the Gray solution!

The On/Off switch is the one on your mains socket.....
🙂

 

[The_Lecht_Rocks]

LED diffusers available if needed..

 

[RoA]

It's a very good little amplifier but I am still not entirely sure about it's sound.

There is no doubt in my mind that 'transparency' is top notch. It is a window into the recording. A very clean, polished window. It is also quite punchy, coherent (it 'flows' nicely and sounds together) and very, very detailed.

There is, however, a very slight mid range leanness (!) which extends into the treble and bass can also be on the very slightly soft side. This one is a weird one though as some bass heavy tracks sound powerful and on strict time, others are perhaps very slightly loose. Perhaps it's just very accurate? I don't want to over state this as this may be unnoticeable to anyone not having had fuller sounding amplifier. The upshot of this is speed, it's certainly not a slow amplifier nor is it fatiguing in the slightest!

This all could of course be an amalgamation of my system but its all I have. I do however have other amplifiers to compare with.

Saying all this, it certainly is a fun product to listen to and can sound exceptional. You'd never guess this comes from 25watts. It may just be a case of getting used to a 'new' sound.

I must say though, there is no comparison to the Hegel I had. That amplifier felt stilted, mid range forward and two dimensional in comparison, none of which the Nait is.

I will persevere and see how it all comes together over the w/end and I have not tried the phono stage yet. More to come.