My Nait 5i arrived, but I'm not sure I like it? :-O
Posted by: jsbach1685 on 04 April 2017
Hi Folks,
My Nait 5i arrived early last week and I've been listening ever since. I had also received the NACA5 speaker cables (12ft pair) so I've been using them as well. The genuine Naim DIN to DIN interconnect is supposed to arrive tomorrow or Thursday, so I'm using a Chord Cobra 1 DIN to RCA. My cd player is a Naim CD3.5 and speakers are Vandersteen 2C's. My previous Integrated was a Creek 5350SE and a 4330SE before that. The better of the two being the 4330SE in THIS system... more on that later.
Since getting the Nait, I've been listening to my reference list of songs. Compared with the Creeks, I feel as though I've lost low bass response, as well as the highs, which don't seem to be as airy and crisp in the upper frequencies. There is bass punch, but it sounds like there is roll-off in the lowest bass area. I've listened to these same songs on other systems and the low bass detail is there. Midrange is excellent and on par with the 5350SE. However, I think this is my problem. I think perhaps the mids are almost too full now. The CD3.5 is a player that has a nice full sound. The Creek 4330SE is laid back in the mids and has that deep bass resp and punch. I think they balanced each other nicely and worked well with the Vandy 2c's. Everything came together nicely when I added the DH Labs Q-10 and Air Matrix.
So, I imagine some of you are asking why I got rid of the 4330SE? Because a 5350SE became available and I thought it would be even better. It was better, but the 5350SE has the fuller mids like the Nait 5i, so it threw off the balance. Believe me, I regret selling the 4330SE... and they don't come up for sale very often.
As for the 5i, I thought perhaps the NACA5's or the Chord DIN to RCA was the problem. This 5i came with the original owner's manual and it states the following (which I found interesting):
"A Stereo set of speaker connection sockets are provided on the rear panel. The sockets can accept standard 4mm plugs, but to comply with European legislation, the Naim connectors supplied should be used. Naim Audio speaker cables will provide the best results, however, a wide range of speaker cable types can be used without risk of damage to the amplifier."
So according to this info, you can use other brands of cable on the 5i, as well as regular banana connectors. I understand the European regulation considering the similar look of their AC plugs. So, with that being said, I decided to give my DH Labs cables a try, which again was Q-10 speaker cable and custom made Air Matrix DIN to RCA. The difference was apparent. The highs were better in that they had better air and crispness. Bass may have gotten slightly more detailed, but it's not any deeper.
At this point, I'm not sure what I want to do. I don't know if I should sell the Nait, or try to find more laid-back cabling. I don't think this can be corrected with cables alone. On the flipside, I imagine a more laid-back cd player would balance it out as well. However, since that is changing the source, that may cause issues with everything down the line.
Guidance/suggestions?