Which is best classic cb Nait?

Richard Dane posted:

I have examples of both - early and late NAIT and a CB NAIT 2. Love them all really.  The NAIT 2 is probably the better overall amp, adds an extra input, has a tape monitor, a mute, and avoids the fairly rubbish balance control of the original.

 

Lovely pic Richard. I gave my Nait1 away to a good friend who couldn’t afford a decent HiFi, but knew very well how to appreciate one. A year or two later gave him my Kan 2’s as well to complete the set. He’s still using and enjoying the heck out of them. 

Apropos of not very much;  That config of Volume control with the 12 o’clock markings and the strongly marked line on the volume knob I still think is the most precisely adjustable volume knob I’ve ever come across. 

Just curious if anyone has used attenuated leads with their Nait. Most modern sources produce too much output (around 2v) which gives bugger all range on the volume control (and is more of a problem with L/R volume tracking at low levels). Ideally i'd match it with a nice turntable but all i have in the vinyl department these days are a few old singles and an unopened LP (thanks Naim) so that avenue is not really an option. 

James

Yetizone posted:

Richieroo - that Nait 1 isn’t cheap, but good condition one or two owner units are going to command top prices I guess, esp given the following they have developed in recent years.

Monster - Likewise, I downsized to a CB Naim 2 from a 112X/150X/Flatcap2 when I had to move my home office into a much smaller room. I did not miss the pre power that much at all. Paired with same era (really efficient) MA-R252 speakers the results were just superb - that system stayed put until I bought a UQ2 to tinker with streaming a couple of years ago. 

Very very nice. Over here in Canada, it's rare to see a CB Nait 2 come up for sale.

I've only had my Olive Nait 2 for about 3 months, but I already know I will never sell it. I was shithouse lucky to find one in the first place, and it's a gem. 

BB

james n posted:

Just curious if anyone has used attenuated leads with their Nait. Most modern sources produce too much output (around 2v) which gives bugger all range on the volume control (and is more of a problem with L/R volume tracking at low levels). Ideally i'd match it with a nice turntable but all i have in the vinyl department these days are a few old singles and an unopened LP (thanks Naim) so that avenue is not really an option. 

James

James, I used an Audio Innovations transformer to buffer the CD signal into my DNM preamp which had the same issue (in spades). That transformer is/was designed to boost the signal from an MC cartridge, but used in reverse it did a good job lowering the CD signal without ruining it. Don’t know if they are still findable or not? 

kevin J Carden posted:

Richard Dane posted:

I have examples of both - early and late NAIT and a CB NAIT 2. Love them all really.  The NAIT 2 is probably the better overall amp, adds an extra input, has a tape monitor, a mute, and avoids the fairly rubbish balance control of the original.

 

Lovely pic Richard. I gave my Nait1 away to a good friend who couldn’t afford a decent HiFi, but knew very well how to appreciate one. A year or two later gave him my Kan 2’s as well to complete the set. He’s still using and enjoying the heck out of them. 

Apropos of not very much;  That config of Volume control with the 12 o’clock markings and the strongly marked line on the volume knob I still think is the most precisely adjustable volume knob I’ve ever come across. 

Now that is friendship!  Well done.

james n posted:

I think the Nait 2 is supposed to be the best of the CB Naits. I bought a mint Nait 1 last year, only because I'd always wanted one and personally, I still think it's the prettiest 

James, a first class example of the marque.  Did you replace the grey volume control knob with a black one?  It looks the part.

In reality once serviced they are all very close performance wise, CB Nait 2 is the one for me....

ngarritson posted:

james n posted:

I think the Nait 2 is supposed to be the best of the CB Naits. I bought a mint Nait 1 last year, only because I'd always wanted one and personally, I still think it's the prettiest 

James, a first class example of the marque.  Did you replace the grey volume control knob with a black one?  It looks the part.

Cheers - it's the standard grey one. The light makes it look darker than it is.

kevin J Carden posted:

james n posted:

Just curious if anyone has used attenuated leads with their Nait. Most modern sources produce too much output (around 2v) which gives bugger all range on the volume control (and is more of a problem with L/R volume tracking at low levels). Ideally i'd match it with a nice turntable but all i have in the vinyl department these days are a few old singles and an unopened LP (thanks Naim) so that avenue is not really an option. 

James

James, I used an Audio Innovations transformer to buffer the CD signal into my DNM preamp which had the same issue (in spades). That transformer is/was designed to boost the signal from an MC cartridge, but used in reverse it did a good job lowering the CD signal without ruining it. Don’t know if they are still findable or not? 

Interesting - thanks Kevin, that's a fine idea.

Flashback make attenuated cables and I have used one with good results to feed an analogue signal from my Sonos to my 42/120 second system - with a previous non-attenuated cable he volume was far too loud unless I turned it almost right down 

I think we should be told who designed the Nait and if that person is the keeper of the Naim sound.

Thanks - I did experiment with the input level - dropping the DAC output to 1v gave a good range on the volume control (which is more around the range the Nait is expecting on its line inputs). This thread has reminded me I really need to find a use for my 140 too !

Ghettoyout posted:

I think we should be told who designed the Nait and if that person is the keeper of the Naim sound.

Naim designs are a team effort, however, IIRC, the original NAIT started as Julian's project, then Roy became Technical Director and went on to oversee the development of the NAIT2. 

james n posted:

kevin J Carden posted:

james n posted:

Just curious if anyone has used attenuated leads with their Nait. Most modern sources produce too much output (around 2v) which gives bugger all range on the volume control (and is more of a problem with L/R volume tracking at low levels). Ideally i'd match it with a nice turntable but all i have in the vinyl department these days are a few old singles and an unopened LP (thanks Naim) so that avenue is not really an option. 

James

James, I used an Audio Innovations transformer to buffer the CD signal into my DNM preamp which had the same issue (in spades). That transformer is/was designed to boost the signal from an MC cartridge, but used in reverse it did a good job lowering the CD signal without ruining it. Don’t know if they are still findable or not? 

Interesting - thanks Kevin, that's a fine idea.

Another approach is signal attenuation on the input cable as Shropshire says. These guys advertise in Gramophone magazine and claim good sonic results. No idea if their claims are valid, but only £39 for a pair to find out. 

Cheers Kevin - I know the ones you mean