Nac 172 XS with Nait 5si?

Yes you can - it has a line level output. But only via RCA

I would suggest looking for a pre-loved ND5XS and connecting it via DIN to your Nait.

Adam, you are a true genius when it comes to spending other peoples money, but I'll raise you! You are right, the ND5 would be a better fit. Then again, it depends on what the OP wants in the long term. If a 172 comes along at the right price, I would say go for it, and then consider trading the Nait for a nice used 200, which would really get you cooking on gas! And the 172 has a decent pre for the CD player too.

 Thanks Chris - I take it as a compliment 

Actually I thought ND5XS and N172 cost more or less the same. At least they do here...

But..if OP intends to use the Naim as a stepping stone and later get a dedicated power amp e.g NAP 155 XS then N172 is the logical choice here.

If however Nait is here to stay, then I would stand by my initial recommendation.

The UK price for a 172 is a little less than the ND5XS, but as the OP is looking at a used one, I guess it's also a question of availability. I may be a little biased in that the 172/200 I listened to sounded really good, whereas the ND5 I very briefly listened to left me a little bit underwhelmed at the time. By the way, NAP 155 is also a good suggestion, although I think there may be more used 200s around.

Hi Adam and Chrissu and thank you very much for your comments.

I wouldn’t like to part with the Nait at least so soon. I started considering the N172 XS mainly because of prices and availability in the second hand market.

Of course after thinking about the 172 I researched a little more and 172/Nap 200 combo came to mind. And thus I understood upgrade fever.

Over here ND5 XS’ RRP is around 3100EUR and they’re selling for 2600-ish at the moment. NAC 172 XS’ RRP is 2600. Don’t know if there’s some specials offers going on right now.

That being said I think it wouldn’t make much sense for me to buy a new unit, since it would be about the same price as the Nait and CD5si combined.

I guess I’ll be keeping an eye out for both models and see what comes out of it…

I must admit I think the 172 is an absolute gem and punches way above it weight - a relative bargain in the Naim portfolio... 

Either a 172 or a ND5 seem like an awful lot of money just to stream Tidal, which to me always sounds ropey through the main stereo. Maybe just get a cheap Pioneer, though of course it won't multiroom with the Qute if that's important. If going for the 172 it would make a lot of sense to swap the Nait for a 155, relatively new though the Nait is. The 172/155 is going to sound a lot better than the Nait and you won't have any redundancy in the system. 

Well, some days ago a 172 got sold in a famous auction site for 1180 euros which I think is a good price even for just a streamer. For instance the Cambridge CXN costs 1000 euros here in Portugal, so...

I'm not in any kind of rush and I'm only buying a streamer if I can get a good deal. Until then the Qute will do the job. I'm in love with the little bugger and the match with the Gurus is beautiful.

HH, very wise words. Cheers.

Pedro T. posted:

Hello everybody,

I’m a new Naim customer (or should I say enthusiast). I bought a Nait 5si amp and the matching CD5si 7 months ago and very recently a pair of Neat Motive SX2s speakers. This is my main system which I’ve been enjoying very much.

Last month I bought an used UnitiQute 2 and a pair of Guru Juniors, also preowned. This is my secondary system which I have in a small living room and that I use mainly to stream Tidal (still on my trial period).

Now I’m thinking about buying an used Nac172 XS to connect to the Nait, if the opportunity arises, predominantly to stream Tidal to the aforementioned main system.

Can I use the 172 XS just as a streamer, bypassaging the inbuilt preamp? And how?

I have more than 4000 Cds, I can accommodate them very well in my flat and I still very much like to browse the collection. So I don’t intend to rip the Cds to FLAC in the foreseeable future.

Sorry for the long post and for the very rusty English.

Thanks in advance,

Pedro

The best part of the 172XS is the preamp. I was comparing one to the ND5XS to go with a 5i2. I ended up going with the 172XS since the preamp section was so much better. I was shocked at how much more detail, funk and boogie was coming out of my RP6.

I compared the 172xs both from the line out into the 5i2 and the preamp out into the 5i2 in unitigain mode. 

RCA Line out on Nac N 172. 

You could also also use the 5si as just an amp with the unity gain setting. Use the pre-amp out on the Nac N 172

Thank you all very much for your valuable inputs. Like Baldrick, the philosopher, I too have a cunning plan. Maybe I'll have some news in a few weeks.

Nac 172 is a better preamp than 5i ,obviously, but a much poorer streamer than nd5xs, the least product I'd advice.

I was you I'd buy the ND5XS over 172  any day and then swap the nait for either an Xs or ,much better, SN2.