Nait3 vs. 72/140

I must admit I never liked the Nait 3, so I'd say the 72/140 is a major upgrade IF you plan on getting a hicap.

On top sources - clean, well-recorded LPs, a good radio with good antenna on a good night, maybe a few CDs - the 72/140 will be a truly excellent system. I found it too harsh, however, with standard quality sources. With a hicap, the 72/140 make a sublime system.

Phil

Hi,

I just upgraded from a nait3 to a 72/140, but at the same time moved from a cd3 to cd5, so my impressions of the differences between systems not be totally accurate.

I found the 72/140 to have a much more balanced sound, stronger base, more mids, less shrill highs. What i at first perceived was a lack of dynamics and more "hash" or an unwanted layer of heaviness(whatever you would like to call it), compared to the nait, but this was probably because the nait's sound is so light that the dynamics are much more pronounced.

I then bought a good rack and this gave me a much better sound, sort of getting both the excitement of listening to the nait and the ease of presentation of the 72/140.

Regarding the cd3, imho, i think it's a more musical player than the cd5, though a little harsher.

I would go for the 72/140.

Sorry, but I found the 72/Hi Cap/140 very difficult to use with several speakers; ATC20, Electrovoice Studio 100, Tannoy 3LZ.

Also found it to be rather noisey (hiss not hum)

It was easy to re-sell though!

Malcolm

Hello Wolfgang

I recently upgraded from a Nait 3 based system to a 72/hicap/180/credo set up and I can only suggest that you try and listen to the 72/140 with a hicap. I personally couldn't bear to listen to the 72 without the hicap - others may disagree.

Also if you do decide on the 72 I would suggest placing it on a Base 01 isomat as the 72 can be extremely microphonic in certain situations - I was using a steel stand with glass shelves at the time and the Base mat really did lift the 72s performance quite substantially when installed underneath - of course again this is totally dependant on your environment, your own ears and your current support system.

Good luck with your upgrade

Regards Pierre

Hi,

I had a flatcap/Nait3 and upgrated it to flatcap/72/140 2 weeks ago. I bought a new 72 and a used 140.

The flatcap/72/140 combo is much more better than the flatcap/Nait3.

(the rest of the system - CDi, LP12, IBL)

Arie

[This message was edited by Arie_Gur on SUNDAY 12 November 2000 at 07:14.]

While I've never listened to a NAC72 without a HiCap, all I can say is that it was exactly the above combo that turned me into a Naim addicted.

Some years ago a friend of mine had a hifi shop and in my spare time the best thing I had to do was listening through all his demo units. The NAC72 / HiCap /NAP140 quickly became my absolute favourite. And it easily blew away the Nait 3.

We tractated the little amp with a couple of really nasty speakers and personally I can not confirm any problems (there are millions of speakers I didn't try, though).

Right now, I have a NAC62 (love it!!!) with FlatCap (recently added) and NAP180 and I'm still not sure wether I would have been better of sicking to the 140 and adding a HiCap instead of the FlatCap ..

Thank`s for your suggestions!

Wolfgang