112&150 worth extra over Nait?

Posted by: Linds on 13 June 2003

Frown Decided to borrow a Nait 5 to go with Arcam Alpha 9 CD & Credos. Compared to my Myryad MI-120 (£700) it was nothing short of stunning in terms of instrument timbre, definition, bass control, managing any complexity, the list goes on. The soundstage was noticeably much less defined, to the point I was toeing in the Credos to point at me to hear that extra detail. I guess speaker positioning (not just toe-ing) could be optimised once the correct amp Eek was installed!

Question is, does the extra £595 to "112/150 land" bring a cost effective benefit?

!!! There's always money somewhere for the next upgrade... !!!
Posted on: 13 June 2003 by bjorne
Hi Linds. This being the Naim forum you will probably get advices like: Yes it's worthwhile, get a 202/150 the 202 makes the 112 sound broken and probably few recommendations of buying a Naim cdplayer. Smile
For what it's worth I have an old Arcam Delta 270 with a Nait 3r/hicap. I found when I first added a flatcap to the Nait that cdreplay improved dramatically, so much that it's not wrong talking about getting a completely new amp. I suppose it's a matter of how loud you play and how much you are willing to spend and also if you are willing to buy 2nd hand equipment. If you buy 2nd hand there are others on this forum who can give good advice.
But I wonder what sound best: a capped Nait5 or 112/150, maybe someone has done the test and can comment. Used caps seem to be a very good option.
Posted on: 13 June 2003 by Thomas Breding
Linds!

I was more than surprised when I compared Nait 5 with 112/150 before deciding which one to buy. I did not (and neither did my dealer to his big surprise) notice any noticable difference in sound quality and ended up with Nait5/FC2/CD5 instead of 112/150/CD5. The FC2 was a major upgrade.

However, when listening to the two later I feel that the 112/150 is a bit more "open" and has some more attack and power. Strange that I couldn´t spot that the first time. maybe I´m just looking for a reason to upgrade...

Maybe you should borrow a CD5 to test with your Nait? That source will be good enough for upgrades far beyond 112/150.

:-) Thomas
Posted on: 14 June 2003 by Linds
Could do CD5 & Nait5 then!

Thanks for the advice folks, I'll get my 112/150 dem sorted.

I've now realised that for (about) the same cash I could trade in my Alpha 9 against a CD5 and buy the Nait 5 for 112/150 money.

I'd be at the end of my budget [£1,500] to achieve the above, therefore I'm not sure that a source that could stand further upgrades is going to gain me much, but you never know what cash might come your way (free shares, lottery instants, etc.?!!!)

!!! There's always money somewhere for the next upgrade... !!!