Hello friends,
Just a few words to share with you my discovery of this vintage «*shoe box*» amplifier.
I have always been a fan of Naim integrateds, but never owned one.
There is a french Naim fans forum with tons of informations about Naim, ans the subject of the first Naim integrateds, the 1 and the 2, comes back very often. Both of these little amps have a huge fan club.
The purists go for the «*Chrome bumper*» versions, because the sound would be the most «*straight*» and neutral, and the ones like me who like their hifi on the sweet side, would tend to prefer the Olive versions.
The differences in sound between the 1 and the 2 are not very clear to me and seem to depend mostly on the associated gear and speakers.
Naim’s fame was built on the success of the Nait 1 and later on the Nait 2 amplifier.
In France, the most important hifi magazine published a review of the Nait 2 in which Jean Hiraga, a very well known and respected hifi guru, said that the Nait 2 was simply put the best integrated he ever heard, and was coming extremely close to their reference ARC tube gear.
Both Nait 1 and 2 offer an MM stage with regular RCA connections, and 3 line inputs with Naim’s classical DIN 5 outputs. So you need adapters or special cables to connect to this amp.
About a year ago, I had the opportunity to buy a Nait 2 with a rebuilt of the potentiometer, but no recap.
I tried the amp on the Rega RS10 speakers. The combo shined in a very special way. I can say that the sound was much more sexy and appealing to me than the Rega Osiris amplifier or any other amp I tried on them, although the bass was clearly not the purest one these RS10 can achieve. It was punchy and very articulated.
But the timbres were missing some refinement.
I then moved the Nait 2 in my office system, using both ProAc Super Tablette or Dynaudio Excite speakers.
I listen to this amp everyday and to me it is a true marvel.
2 months ago I had the opportunity to buy an other one, but fully recapped and restored by a Naim french expert. This unit has clearly more refined timbers, with less «*rudeness*» in sound, keeping all the rhythm and “joyful” sound. I have to try it on my main systems to check how good it can be.
The MM stage is extremely good on the Nait 2. I use it with a Ortofon SPU Classic GM MKII and a Bob’s Devices Sky 30 SUT. The sound is extremely clean and silent. Very rich. Listening to vinyl is just magic with this amp.
I believe that the Nait 2 carries the essence of the Naim sound. For the ones who want to step into Naim’s world and discover what all the fuss with tgis brand is about, it is a good choice imho and it may give you a huge breath of fresh air. Modern hifi has qualities but it also has a tendency to “sterilize” everything. The Nait 2 has a “soul” a was designed and built by music lovers. So much magic in so little space is pretty hard to believe.
Just be assured to buy a unit that has been restored in the correct way. Restoring the Nait 1 and 2 is very difficult because of the very limited access to many components. According to a french expert, soldering should be made as it was at the origin, with lead soldering and not silver. The difference made on the sound is said to be dramatic. But you won’t get this at Naim’s factory because of the UE regulations forbidding lead.
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