The NAT dilemna : 02 or 05 ?

Posted by: dwdm on 01 October 2001

Hi,

I condider upgrading my old Harman Kardon TU9400 Tuner. For this aim, I've made several reviews and comparisons at home and at my dealer, including Naim, Rega and Magnum Dynalab stuff. Unfortunately and for practical reasons, I couldn't compare the NAT 02 to the new NAT 05...and I've been told that the difference is very very small... So ?
Any advice welcomed !
Thanks.

Bruno.

Posted on: 02 October 2001 by dwdm

Of course, like many guys around here, the case style is not important for me. Only the sound style...
In what conditions do you use your 03 : FM density, aerial type, RF pollution...etc ?

Bruno.

Posted on: 04 October 2001 by dwdm

Many thanks for your post.
It is interesting to learn that even at Naim, they consider that a 05 is close to a 02. The question is then : is it worth buying a (new) 02 ? What is the price for a s/h 02 (e.g. in UK) does Naim intend to upgrade the 02 ?
I totally agree with you that the tactile quality of the 72 is much more erotic than the later gear aspect.

Bruno.

Posted on: 04 October 2001 by Dev B

Try and listen to an NAT01, they do appear infrequently in the classifieds second hand. An NAT01 is a stunning tuner, I don't know the reason why it is so good, but it is very musically compelling. In my opinion the 02 and 03 are stunning sounding tuners, you will not be disappointed.

Posted on: 05 October 2001 by Craig B

Bruno,

I currently have an 02 and did briefly hear an 03 once, and I will attest that, given the right circumstances (more below), they are both wonderful sounding units. If the 05 is anything close to the 02 then Naim must have done their sums right designing it.

I purchased my tuner used, via Audiogon.com, last Christmas and there has been barely a day go by that I haven't listened to it. Just this week Canada's national public radio station, the CBC (Radio 2) aired a live broadcast of a Jazz session taking place at their Winnipeg studios. Thankfully the CBC doesn't insult our sensibilities by using OTT compression and excessive limiting. The sound was, in a word, stunning. No turntable or CD Player that I have ever heard has ever, to my ears, sounded so 'real'. The only other source that has, was a 'big tits' Teac, running a 30ips master tape of a live band, that we used to use for demos back in my retail days.

I can, just, get away with using the Magnum Dynalab Silver Ribbon 'rabbit ears' type antenna, as I can see the CBC's local re-transmitter tower from my upstairs window. Despite this, I am bent upon breaking condo community rules by sneaking an ST-2 up onto the roof just to try and squeeze out another drop of frequency modulated perfection. Come hell or high water, when my wife and I eventually move into a single detached home, I will have a big ass Ron Smith on the roof (er...no offence Ron).

I would suggest that, if you do not have at least one decent sounding, strong station that you enjoy listening to and a decent aerial, you should shop elsewhere.

Craig

[This message was edited by Craig on FRIDAY 05 October 2001 at 16:47.]

Posted on: 05 October 2001 by Craig B

quote:
A NAT 03 just sold in the last week on eBay for US$850.

I paid little more for my 02 last January. I almost bought an 03 last year for US$800 but decided to hold out for a while and keep my fingers crossed.

With benefit of hindsight, I would now be inclined to grab the first NAT that comes along.

Craig

Posted on: 05 October 2001 by Craig B

Simon,

My 02 has the envious green facia (sorry, couldn't resist). It took me a long time to find exactly what I wanted, but it turned up on Audiogon one day and I pounced. Eventually something comes along, so be patient, your chrome bumpered dream day will come.

The IBLs were a different story. I had been asking around about them for years, and out of the blue, my former Naim dealer contacted a customer who had purchased a used pair from them. As luck would have it, my interest in them re-awakened his, and it took me a whole year to actually pries them out of his hands.

BTW, was the CDI in question the one that was listed online by a west coast Canadian retailer? I was all geared up to go for that one, but blinked and it was gone. I have a good condition CDM4 transport lying about in case someone drops a Nextel-less CDI or CDS on me.

Happy hunting,

Craig

Posted on: 06 October 2001 by David Antonelli

Hi,

I just bought an 01 about five days ago to go with the rest of my system and wow! While the 03 was excellent (it actually sold in ten minutes after returning it to my dealer to a guy who preferred it to the 05) the 01 is nothing short of awesome on everything it plays, whether it be live, CD, or vinyl. I have good reception from downtown Detroit and use a magnum dynalab antenna. The stunning thing is just how close and often better it can sound compared to a CDS 2. With most recordings the CDS 2 is superior, but on live music the 01 is one level higher. Many people have wondered why and how the 01 can sound so good when radio stations don't normally use Lp12, CDS2, CD12 quality players. I am not sure why either. But it does. While the 03 is a bargain at twice the price, the 01 would be a bargain at three tiomes the price. You get a CDS 2 quality source with an unlimitted music library to draw from. That's a deal! Viva 01!

davey

Posted on: 06 October 2001 by Arthur Bye

I'm with David Antonelli on this one.

I have a Linn Kremlin(Stereophile "A" for what that's worth), which is about as good as it gets for digital tuners. I also have a analog Nat-01. The Nat-01 is clearly better.

I asked Chris West at NANA why they didn't make a high end digital tuner so we would have the convenience of presets. His answer was to listen to the best of both and decide for myself. Apparently no one has been able to make a digital tuner that is superior to analog yet.

I keep the Kremlin cause it still is pretty good and its great for fine tuning the antenna rotor along with having presets. Then I switch over to the Nat-01 for listening pleasure.

Arthur By

Posted on: 06 October 2001 by davidf

I have an old style 01 that I had "updated" by Naim to the new style. It is truly wonderful. The voices of the broadcasters are truly there. I live in a New York suburb and I find that I listen to the 01 more than I do my cdx or my lp12. I don`t understand how any music lover can live without a tuner. I have discovered so much new music via the tuner. In NY, we have WFUV which is a college station (no commercials) where I have discovered artists like Dan Bern, Lucinda Williams, Nick Drake, Dar Williams and many others. We also have WQXR(classical) and WNYC(classical) though since the World Trade Center attack WNYC has I believe lost its signal and is on temporary hiatus. If anyone has info on this station, let me know. Anyhow, if you don`t have a tuner yet, go out and buy one, even if it`s not an 01, you will still get hours of pleasure and discover many new artists. david.

Posted on: 07 October 2001 by Peter C

Naim tuners have a reputation for quality, so whichever you choose you cannot go wrong.

Posted on: 09 October 2001 by Craig B

Simon,

Now I am the one who is green with envy!

I had e-mail Allen that I was interested in his MkII IBL's, and he promptly informed me that, coincidentally, someone in Vancouver had already offered to purchase them.

I was on standby in case your deal didn't go through.

Small cyber world isn't it.

Craig
PS. please keep me in mind if you ever decide to change them.

Posted on: 09 October 2001 by dwdm

Many thanks for all your contributions.
The conclusion for many of you seems to be : if you have money (or luck for a s/h...), then buy a 01. Hmm... not really satisfied with that .
The underlying question when I launched this (rather old) topic was : is there anyone here who listened to a 05 at home for, say, more than one week. Naim Audio really seems to have made a really significant step towards very high quality/price ratios with the 05 (supposed to reach the sound quality of a 02).
A woman's opinion will be greatly appreciated at this stage

Bruno.

Posted on: 09 October 2001 by Neil Bennett

I never compared tuners exhaustively, wanted a "green" case for preference and bought a s/h NAT02 about 5 years ago now. I believe I paid about GBP600 for it from a trader. There were not many around at the time I looked but perhaps it's different now.