How many times have you come back to Naim?
Posted by: spacey on 11 October 2015
For me its the third time, been swapping about between ATC, Meridian, Rega, Bryston and Naim for some time now (nearly 20 years!!!). I must admit I'm very please with the way Naim have developed mainly with the pre/power/streaming combos; its the concept I was looking for 6-7 years.
How about you guys?
Posted on: 12 October 2015 by feeling_zen
Seems like a lot of us got started with A&R Cambridge A60 (myself included).
Not sure what happened to mine now. I had it recapped by a dealer in '95 but after 2000 I can't seem to recall what I did with it.
As for Naim, after rewiring my brain from 20 years of belief in all things Linn, I can't see myself defecting. Unless of course Naim do what Linn did and went in a direction I did not believe in or care to follow.
Only thing I will say is that if Naim had remained out of my budget I would have ended up with NAD. That company is, I feel, a design cousin of Naim on a budget.
Posted on: 12 October 2015 by sheffieldgraham
I became aware and interested in the pre-1975 Naim gear, but at that time had already heavily invested in a Philips top of the range system : TT,R to R, Tuner, Int.Amp, Speakers.
Other wise that would have been my first venture into Naim.
It wasn't until 1997 after the demise of the Philips amp that I actually invested in a Naim Nait3.
In 2000 I bought an ex-demo CD3.5 in preference to the CD5.
After retiring in 2004 I made a significant purchase of a complete Naim system. My son thought I was crazy."You could buy a car for that money!".
I listen to my system every day and have upgraded steadily ever since. Not withstanding the Linn connection shame they never made a TT.
Posted on: 12 October 2015 by DrMark
Naim since 97/98 and never left - a round trip seems like it would be rather costly!
Working part-time for a Naim dealer back then was an eye (ear?) opening experience for me.
Posted on: 12 October 2015 by Phil Harris
I've known about Naim since the early 80's when I first got into HiFi ... back then I was only just getting into my teens and Naim was always really expensive boring stuff that I really wasn't interested in and remained being really dull stuff for many years...
Joined here in 2008 (I'm now in my ninth year) and it still amazes me at just how creative some of the kit that has been produced here actually was / is ... I've spent enough for a good deposit on a house on HiFi kit and *SUSPECT* that I've probably bought the last real HiFi system I will ever own(*).
Keep getting asked to set up kit for friends because that's what I 'do' so I know about it of course and every time I do I'm reminded of just why it is that I now like the stuff we do here and why I shouldn't 'stray' away...
Phil
(* ... barring new toys as they come our of R&D - but that's just fettling. 
)
Posted on: 12 October 2015 by Massimo Bertola
My first Naim was, quintessentially, a Nait, in 1985. Then came a 42.5, then a 140, then a SNAPS then a HiCap, then it all very much proceeded of its own will.
A nowhere land hiatus between 2000 and 2005, with no black box; then it all started again. I have now reached a point where there's no rehab nor anything else, I'm hooked.
Posted on: 12 October 2015 by feeling_zen
Like DrMark I also worked for a dealer in the 90s but still went the Linn route.
They were a different company then though the direction they eventually took was even then starting to take shape. The whole highly digital nature of Linn's approach really appealed to me and for whatever reason I hated the idea of Naim's external power supplies.
Perhaps it is the career in IT or perhaps just maturing over time but I eventually wanted a hifi where I could grab a knob and crank the volume instead of another digital readout at the end of a long day. And that made me feel as though I was interfacing with a well engineered machine rather than a computer. A bit grey I know considering all the streaming tech but its how I feel.
Posted on: 12 October 2015 by Mike-B
Never left
Had a run thru jap-crap & into Audiolab pre/pwr, Marantz CD & Arcam tuner
My Naim life started in 1996 with a pre-out Nait-2 for use in a 2nd system, was impressed enough to try it on the main system & it made the 100w Audiolab 8000PX sound a bit bloated. That's it, next move is Naim. Pre-loved olive Pre/Pwr's & CD followed with some pre/pwr upgrading along the way. Then fed up with ugly metal rack & lots of boxes; along came Supernait & CDX2, some er PSU's from far way then NAT-05. Then the dear old CDX2 made way for NDX & we've lived happily ever after.
......... oh & my first Naim, the Nait-2, is still running my 2nd system
Posted on: 12 October 2015 by Dozey
Never had a Naim amp. Always have had a naim source however.
Posted on: 12 October 2015 by Olly
None. I started with a CD5 in 2000 or 2001 and I have just stumped up for a unitiserve. Not going anywhere!
Olly
Posted on: 12 October 2015 by majordude
Once. My mistake was going from olive to black. Olive is where it's at for me.
Posted on: 12 October 2015 by BigH47
Never came back just stayed, since '89.
Not with the same system I started with though.
Posted on: 12 October 2015 by nigelb
Maybe more interesting than what you had, what you came back to, is why you arrived, why you left and why you came back in as few words as possible (I am one of the guilty ones for banging on).
Here goes:
Bitten by the hifi bug, was intrigued by Naim (in 198?) demoed (a bit) in a dealer and bought.
Got diverted into Home cinema and sold Naim.
Realised my mistake, loved music all along, and remarried.
Still very much in love.
Night night.
Posted on: 13 October 2015 by Zeny
I never sold my Naim source: NDS/555DR.
I've sold my SN and SN2 with HCDR and went pre power with other brands and tubes. Retained the tubes in one system and came back to Naim with 252DR and soon 300DR. I love Naim but it cannot be my sole system, on some days I prefer to listen to tubes.
Posted on: 13 October 2015 by spacey
I had a CDX/82/HC/250 back in 97-98 along with Proac SC1s. Bought after my first proper job outta university... Sold to got traveling across Europe, and work in Germany for a while.
Had Rega, Bryston, Meridian, PMC, ATC, Linn Micro Mega Audiolab etc etc between.
Came back to Naim in 07-08 with SN/HC & WB Arcs. Sold to go active with ATC/Benchmark DAC1-HDR. Then had Adam Audio Tensors with Lavry DA11, then ATC 25As with Resonessence Labs MIRUS DAC.
Sold Everything again to peruse different hobbies. Found some Meridian DSP6000s and MC200 at a good price. Sold them and filled the gap by keeping the MC200, adding a Meridian 556 and the MA RX2's I currently have. PX'd them and bought the 172/155. Here I am again.
Posted on: 13 October 2015 by PaulC
Lusted after Naim gear since 1979/80 ish but couldn't afford it.
First "proper" system after the inevitable music centre was old garrard turntable into Meridian 101/103 plus Heybrook HB2s, followed up by Rega planar 2 TT and Denon CD player. Stuck with this for some time then toyed with Quad gear until finally settling into Naim 2 years ago. Have gone a little crazy since then but am finally approaching my Nirvana I feel.
Paul
Posted on: 13 October 2015 by joeinid
I'm thinking about coming back to Naim now. I sold my Supernait 2 and Hicap DR and missed it ever since. Since all the talk about the Focal Sopra 1 and Naim system at RMAF, I am excited again to jump back in. Not sure where I'll land so I am back here catching up. I do think I'd like to go up a level or two so I am voraciously reading everything I can get my eyes on.
