The future for shoe box NACs

In response to your tag line...

I do, therefore I be    - Descartes
I be, therefore I do     - Sartre
Do be do be do          - Sinatra

I must remind members to please respect forum rules, particularly with regard to discussion of modifications to Naim equipment and the people who undertake such mods.  Thank you.  

Apologies Richard - I was meaning the shoebox sized Preamp produced by this company which the OP could be interested in rather than modifications.  Anyway i'll leave it at that as i can see my mistake. 

Sorry Richard, I wasn't asking to mod the 32.5, but wondering if there was a market for it when I come to move on to an 82. If I search the web there seem to be very few shoebox NACs available, which made me wonder if I had any hope of being able to sell on.

I've currently a SN1 for my living, A Nait 5 + AV2 for my TV room (french doors separation to living) and am saving for a proper setup (full size classics) in my working room (where I sit writing css / html files now). Once I'm done on that, I'll plan for something in my bedroom.

This 'bedroom' system is likely to be a half size Nac + half size Nap + Neat Iota's or so. Or maybe an UQ which I see as an descendant of the half-sized Nacs.

Back to the question: yes, at least for me there is a market, but a bit inactive currently. Maybe the attention is shifted to the new Uniti's.

Huge posted:

In response to your tag line...

I do, therefore I be    - Descartes
I be, therefore I do     - Sartre
Do be do be do          - Sinatra

 

I think, therefore I am ...I think                  -Moody Blues

Half width gear seem popular:

New Exposure and Cyrus amp just present

New Uniti half width range introduced

A new Nait half width case would sell like hotcakes I predict, maybe allready on the drawing table, hope not class D made in far east, sure that would happen on a longer time schedule after Brexit

Must be keepers if no one's selling. 

No one, I mean no one,  is getting their hands on my NAC72 ........... not even over my dead body.

Get the idea ?? 

I just picked up a chrome bumper NAC 42 in beautiful condition.  I have nothing to connect it to yet so it's sitting pretty on my fraim.  It actually matches the new uniti stuff quite nicely.  

The three inputs (as opposed to ths six on my Nait) make sense in this digital age.   

Prices still seem reasonable compared to the early Naits.

I started building a shoebox active system as a 2nd system 2 years ago - only things I have so far are the 72, the NAXO and the Kans.

Someday...

I ran active Kans through 42/Hicap/Naxo/2XNAP140, you'll love it when you get there. Unfortunately added 250 (on the tweeters) so now looking for a second... Shoeboxes only go so far

I read the OP question as the simple one of reducing availability of early model NACs. It makes sense that Naim only made so many and that, over time, some will have been scrapped. Therefore, it is quite plausible that it is getting harder to find the most popular variants. Perhaps there are critical components that are hard to source or where the modern equivalent is perceived to alter the sound in a certain way. For sure, the original sound would have been influenced by idiosyncrasies in circuit behaviour and perhaps putting in more stable modern capacitors, for example, makes the whole amplifier less attractive to the purists. 

I have a CB NAC 62 in a cupboard, perhaps I am one of the guilty hoarders of the old stuff

In usa, people may want to avoid paying the 28% capital gain tax on collectibles...

I have two 72s carefully packed up languishing in storage; one pre and one post CD channel. Have no intension of parting with them in the foreseeable future. They make fabulous 2nd [not to mention 1st] system pre-amps.

Also can't bare the thought of parting with my pair of 135s, an olive hi-cap, and NAP180

Loki posted:

Sorry Richard, I wasn't asking to mod the 32.5, but wondering if there was a market for it when I come to move on to an 82. If I search the web there seem to be very few shoebox NACs available, which made me wonder if I had any hope of being able to sell on.

I think they are fairly collectable at least in the US. I don't think they trade around as much as it is now truly a vintage buy rather than used Hi-Fi. They are still servicable at least here through AV-Options, I wouldn't think you would have any trouble selling.

cat345 posted:

In usa, people may want to avoid paying the 28% capital gain tax on collectibles...

I don't think that is going to be applicable in this instance; I don't think anyone selling audio components is paying capital gains on it.

DUPREE posted:

cat345 posted:

In usa, people may want to avoid paying the 28% capital gain tax on collectibles...

I don't think that is going to be applicable in this instance; I don't think anyone selling audio components is paying capital gains on it.

Was just kidding!  You never know, an ambitious audiophile bureaucrat could have the idea to include shoe box Naims in the collectible category

Given there's about to be a self professed businessman in charge who's vowed to "clean up the swamp", presumably he'll want to close all loopholes in such legislation and get the IRS to impose the 28% tax unless you can prove it's not a collectable item.

DUPREE posted:

............it is now truly a vintage buy ...........

Crikey ! I'm more than twice the age of my 72, so what does that make me ? ..........

On second thoughts, don't answer that 

That's ok Loki. I think they are more in demand than ever and high NAIT prices have had a knock on effect. FWIW I just love the look of the CB NAC42/62 with the NAP110/140, and the fact that they can still perform so well is a testament to Naim getting it so right in the early days and building them to last. Of course, not everyone likes the "tractor wheel" aesthetic.. (Adam?)

Always a big demand for the older smaller products, especially in the Far East.

Darran H posted:

Always a big demand for the older smaller products, especially in the Far East.

Hmm - perhaps it's time to get the old girl (CB140) out of the cupboard and move her on to a home where she'll get some use. 

Wugged Woy posted:

No one, I mean no one,  is getting their hands on my NAC72 ........... not even over my dead body.

Get the idea ?? 

Yes indeed I do! That's why I've stuck with the 32.5 since 1992. But, I am told that an 82 would be the next step up, but I can't afford to do it without selling my beloved 32.5, which my daughter (19) describes as 'adorably retro'.

Richard, i noticed your nait  "tractor wheels" were a dark, almost glossy black.  The wheels on my NAC are a light gray.  Is that original or have they faded over time?  I think the dark looks great.