Just bought Naim Nait 5 whilst drunk, what next?

My suggestions:

- get a CD5i if you want a CD Player

- get a second hand Naim AV2 to act as a dac with your Nait 5 - this will bring you in the digital era and just add a ChromeCast audio and you can stream anything to it.

Naim CD5i for the source, and Dynaudio Emit 10 for your speakers, it would be a killer system.

I'd go for a CD5 or a CD5X, although they are getting a bit old now.

The Nait 5 is a good choice. It can power a StageLine, can be upgraded by *caps contrary to later Nait 5's.

I would also consider the B&W 685 s2.

Being drunk in Finland would cost me the same amount as what you probably have payed for the Nait 5.

Does anyone have any experience with the B&W 685 s2 and any Naim Amp? had been looking at them, and of course the previously mentioned Emit 10 or 20´s

Peter

I'd say seriously try to avoid the first gen. CD5i its really a costdown product, a CD5, 5x or xs much better at a price

I'd get a used CDX or on the cheapskate a Rega Apollo(/R) or older Saturn, maybe a Linn Ikemi if you can find one, terrific machine but not sure its supported

Get some reasonable easy speakers to run for avoiding upgrade poweramp, if you can find some old Heybrook HB1/quartet or Royds, these are easy driven and will work close to wall without boom, then theres Naim and Linn speakers, its a jungle, a friend just tried the Q,acoustics 3010 which is splendid for allmost no money, Most B&W,s are awfull to my ears

if you hit upgrade bug then consider a seperate pre and power, something like 102/180, 122-152/150x, 72/hc/250, lots of options

Forgot to say some Rega Ela or RS1 speakers would work very well too

Switch to cannabis.

On the speaker front, Q Acoustics 3020 and Monitor Audio Bronze BX2s are way better than they have any right to be at the price - both have very clear detailed midrange and fairly well controlled bass (they don't try for too much extension or too much emphasis).  In general they get most of it right, and that's an achievement for a lower cost speaker.  In comparison to speakers that are significantly more costly they do loose out a bit in the bass, and in resolution and in differentiation of orchestral timbres, but not by as much as you'd expect from the price difference.

I've seen a lot of mention on how good Russel K Red 50s and 100s are, but I've not heard them myself.

For a source component, how about a Chromecast Audio linked (optical digital) to a Chord Mojo?
Relatively inexpensive, very flexible and astonishing sound quality.  Downside?... it's limited to 24/96kHz maximum.

The Nait 5 is a 30W integrated amp you won't need a separate power amp you will need NACA5 speaker cable.

CD5 is the matching Cd player and cheaper than a 5x, don't bother with a 5i.

What you need to do is get properly tanked and buy a matching Strathearn turntable and maybe a set of Linn Index speakers with in-wall solid core mains core speaker wires, and be proud of a system that could only be bought when incapacitated. 

Get seriously hammered and buy a Statement? Not sure if you can get one on ecommerce.

Rega have made some excellent CD players and speakers, and if you can't get/afford Naim that's what I'd recommend. Also, you can stint on the speaker cable and get Van Damme Blue.

Linn Index were near awfull imo

Tukan, Kan, Keilidh much better

This potentially turns in a war between source-first evangelists and speaker freaks.

b_lund posted:

Linn Index were near awfull imo

I think that was Ron's point, especially when linked to the Streathearn turntable. 

b_lund posted:

Linn Index were near awfull imo

Tukan, Kan, Keilidh much better

I vaguely remember that the Keilidhs are hard to drive from a previous discussion somewhere. If this is true, the Nait 5 is probably not the best suiting amp.

the Rega RS1 standmounts are excellent and go well with Naim amps. i had a CD5/Nait 5 combo for many years -- great stuff; they're made for each other. that said, i believe Naim no longer have transports for the CD5, so you'd be better off going with a newer CD player that can be serviced if need be. 

or, rip your CDs and get a Chord DAC and a Sonos!

Great amp, Peter. I loved mine. Get a half decent rack for it and some Naca5 speaker wires properly soldered up at both ends. Naim CD5 would be a good match, and it's what I had. Put the CD player on its own separate shelf, don't stand one unit on the top of the other. Speaker-wise, get something fairly efficient to make the most of those precious 30W. Someone recommended Rega RS1s. Yes. Or Naim n-Sats. There's a few other good ones too.

Chris

there are a pair of n-Sats on Ebay at the moment, if I'm not mistaken. another good option.

by the way, as far as drunk purchases go, yours was a good one! i bought a record last night from Discogs, and awoke to a message this morning from the seller to the effect of: he's in the Netherlands, I'm in the States, there are copies in the US that are "much cheaper", and perhaps i should reconsider. 

Qacoustics 20i/30 range both work so well with Naim and sound far more expensive than they are. I used 2010i on a UQ2 for a few years and swapped them out for 3010 recently.

Are sure this is not the time to dip into streaming? Doesn't have to be a Naim streamer if ND5xs is a bit too much. There are some great devices out there for well under GBP500 like the JVC streamers or the NAD or a DAC coonected to a computer.

I do have a question. How does one buy a Nait 5i drunk? I mean did you stagger out of the pub at noon into the arms of your dealer or was this an online clicking-while-impaired scenario? The story about how seems more interesting than the after considerations to me.

feeling_zen posted:

The story about how seems more interesting than the after considerations to me.

As, indeed, it so often does here.

C.

The bigger question being will the purchase sound as good when sober?

You could be wondering what you woke up to the next morning.

Then again, if you get a load on every night all should be well.

joerand posted:

The bigger question being will the purchase sound as good when sober?

You could be wondering what you woke up to the next morning.

Then again, if you get a load on every night all should be well.

Is this the audio equivelent of looking at ladies in the bar through beer goggles? Is this "beer ears"? If it always sounds sublime on beer ears maybe we should all flog our main systems and downsize to an Atom and a six pack of Fosters? If we want to upgrade just add a vodka chaser perhaps.

There's far better speakers out there for £500 gbp than those 685 s2's...I wasn't impressed when I went for a dem with a friend and he ended up with the superior cm1 s2....but if I was you I'd also be looking at some pmc db1i's second hand and on the contrary the naim cd5i italic is a very decent cd player if you don't want or need to add external psu's.

Don't buy a turntable . You will break it and ruin records.