In praise of Naim tuner

I agree that there’s something about a Naim tuner that injects some magic. Considering that songs are being played by a CD player, then shunted around the network digitally before being transmitted it’s amazing that often my NAT01 outshone my CD555 on BBC Radio 3. Not the case with my streaming setup from NAS.

All of which says a lot for the BBC’s Radio 3 FLAC trial last year, when I couldn’t tell the difference between radio and FLAC stream.

I do have a T05XS/HCDR on cable FM. A real treat indeed on Classic FM Nl, Klara FM, NPOR4 and BBC3. I did try it on SCDR: Magic! ????

Chag -

I use a Nat 101 / Snaps bought new from Studio 99 in 1987 an absolutely brilliant tuner.

 Regards,

Martin

Arthur Lee posted:

I use a Nat 101 / Snaps bought new from Studio 99 in 1987 an absolutely brilliant tuner.

The one with the cool rotary tuning dial? I'm reliably informed that's the bottom section of an empty washing up liquid bottle. I have a mental image of two blokes towards the end of the NAT production line, one cutting the bottoms off the washing up liquid bottles and the next sticking on the white on black paper tuning scale.

Love my Naim radio. Can be mesmerising.

We use our NDX FM tuner all the time (powered by 555PS). With a dedicated roof aerial it really is a cool source.

Hi Patrick,  its been a while since you've posted on the forum.    I had a experience with a really nice tuner recently,  but not a Naim.  I cleaned up an old Kenwood for a friend,  it was made sometime around 1980's & was covered in dust inside & out & some corrosion from years of storage in a garage.  Once I had cleaned it up I had it on 'test' for over a week,  it really was something special,  astonishing sound when tuned to BBC R3 (the best quality FM radio transmission in UK) .   My buddy has since found it's worth a lot of money & has sent it to a specialist in USA to fully restore it.  I'm not sure if he intends to sell it in USA where its worth the big money or use it himself,  he has a collection of old tuners & is using a Magnum Dynalab at the moment,  & that is a bit special too.   

Christopher_M posted:

...I have a mental image of two blokes towards the end of the NAT production line, one cutting the bottoms off the washing up liquid bottles and the next sticking on the white on black paper tuning scale...

uncannily accurate Chris, except perhaps for the bit about both being "blokes"...

I too have often wondered how a CD played on BBC Radio 3 FM can sound better than the same CD ripped and streamed through my NDS. And as for live concert broadcasts, it's almost as if Naim tuners were made for the Proms. Or maybe it's the other way round!

Radio 3 on fm is indeed one of my own pleasures.

In my case this comes via a Linn Kudos, sat unobtrusively on its shelf, waiting for its moments when everyone else has left the room as ‘the others’ are less enthusiastic.

The SQ is marvellous, but there’s some kind of grace and ambience of R3 fm that somehow doesn’t translate via even the higher bit rate of digital radio (while still pretty good).

Clive B posted:

I too have often wondered how a CD played on BBC Radio 3 FM can sound better than the same CD ripped and streamed through my NDS. And as for live concert broadcasts, it's almost as if Naim tuners were made for the Proms. Or maybe it's the other way round!

That Clive is about digital to analogue reconstruction ... the FM tuner (and distribution chain) is filtering the audio and potentially removing or minimising artefacts that you would otherwise notice.. with your NDS there will be no such additional filtering. You would probably find your NFS sounded better if its output was being transmitted by the Beeb to your tuner.

However I suspect you would hard pushed to tell the difference in any DACs being used at the broadcast end of the chain... but you would very much notice the difference when locally playing back to you without such filtering.

Nick Lees posted:

I agree that there’s something about a Naim tuner that injects some magic. Considering that songs are being played by a CD player, then shunted around the network digitally before being transmitted it’s amazing that often my NAT01 outshone my CD555 on BBC Radio 3. Not the case with my streaming setup from NAS.

All of which says a lot for the BBC’s Radio 3 FLAC trial last year, when I couldn’t tell the difference between radio and FLAC stream.

Agree Nick I have often thought that with Studio broadcasts often coming off Compact Disc but still sounding magic with my 01.I am pretty useless at describing sound but the 01 to my ears has this very smooth - detailed - organic sort of sound.I have literally lost half an hour dipping into something on Radio 3 as its ability to transfix you is amazing and musically educational as it captivates.A bit like school with a great teacher.I have a Nagra Compact Disc player and do enjoy it a lot but it lacks the magic of the 01