This limited edition Naim Nait integrated amp to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Naim (there will only be 1,973 Naim Nait 50s since Naim started in 1973) is a highly collectible component.
Not only is it a relaunch of the iconic shoebox-sized Naim Nait 1, which was introduced in 1983, but it sounds very good to boot.
The Naim Nait 50 sounds fast and furious — it is about propulsive power, relentless pace and foot-tapping rhythms. But it is not just about a tight and taut bass and PRAT; it displays finesse too with excellent details and transparency. The sound quality is definitely modern and contemporary — indeed the Naim Nait 50 does not use the original Naim Nait 1 circuit but is a totally redesigned component.
My last encounter with a Naim Nait 1 was in a second-hand dealer’s shop many years ago and the integrated amp (with green light) sounded good with great PRAT even back then and I remember I was very tempted to buy it. Based on memory, I can safely say that the Naim Nait 50 offers more details and transparency while retaining the PRAT that Naim amps are famed for. The Naim Nait 50 has a wider and deeper soundstage too.
From the Naim website: “Designed exclusively for Naim’s 50th anniversary and limited to only 1,973 units, at a glance the Nait 50 looks identical to the original Nait 1. However, upon closer inspection the front and rear are now high-quality anodised aluminium, the balance control has been swapped for a headphone socket and the LED changed to white. To aid vibration damping, the volume knob has also been machined from solid aluminium.
“Internally, the Nait 50 draws on the vast knowledge and experience of Naim’s technical experts; incorporating elements from across our current product ranges. The input selection uses fly-by-wire control to significantly reduce the signal path length and the new headphone amplifier has been lifted from the NSC 222. The all-new exclusive discrete transistor MM phono stage honours the Nait 1 sound signature. The pre-amp uses class A discrete transitory stages and a classic Naim class AB power amplifier comprised of custom, carefully selected audiophile components.”
Naim is known for its eccentricities and to connect the Naim Nait 50 to your DAC you will need an RCA to DIN cable and to get the best sonic performance you will need to use Naim’s speaker cables. Naim’s amps are designed to work best with the Naim cables’ carefully calibrated inductance and capacitance values and you will need to use Naim speaker cables of a minimum 3.5 meters in length. You will also need to be careful about connecting the speakers to the correct terminals.
For the listening sessions, I used my pair of Falcon LS3/5a Maida Vale speakers on TAOC AST-60HB stands. I streamed from ROON and played lots of my favourite albums including Fleetwood Mac Rumours and Paul Simon Graceland and tracks from Diana Krall and Lou Reed.
In short, the sound is fast with lots of pace, rhythm and timing plus it is transparent and detailed. In short, it is a fabulous-sounding integrated amp and given that it is a limited edition, it is certainly a collectible item too.
It is also nicely shoebox shaped and is quite light plus it is a cool performer. After many hours of use, it was only slightly warm. And even though it is only a 25-watter, the music sounded very loud with the volume control at around 10 to 11 o’clock position.
CMY Audio & Visual has brought in 15 units of the Naim Nait 50 and three have already been bought by an AV taikor (big brother) in Seremban.
Headphone jack
I plugged in my pair of Sennheiser HD 600 headphones and found that it performed very well. No complaints at all in this department. Plugging in the headphones automatically mutes the speakers.
Phono input
The Naim Nait 50’s phono input is for MM cartridges only. So I had to use my Rothwell Headspace II moving coil headamp when I played some LPs on my modified Rega Planar 3 with RB250 tonearm and Benz Glider MC cartridge.
Suffice it to say that I was treated to a splendid sonic splash of dense, impactful and enjoyable music with tight and fast bass, smooth vocals and clear, open highs.
Naim NAC A5 speaker cables
I started off using Canare 4s11 speaker cables and then I found out that its Star Quad construction results in higher-than-usual capacitance and also that Naim amps do not perform well with high-capacitance speaker cables. Naim amps perform best with their matching Naim speaker cables which feature the right capacitance and inductance values.
So I went back to CMY Audio & Visual (the Naim distributor in Malaysia) in Sungei Wang Plaza last week and picked up a pair of Naim NAC A5 speaker cables (mininum 3.5 metres). These cables are directional and the arrow points towards the speaker. They are also quite stiff and take some time to break in.
Compared with the Canare 4s11, the Naim NAC A5 cables sound more neutral in tonal balance and are not as bass heavy as the Canare. With the Canare, the sound is a bit bloated with huge images and a deep but loose bass.
The Naim NAC A5 cables tightened up the sound with smaller images which are better defined, a more layered sound and a fast and taut bass. It is obvious that the Naim Nait 50 matches better with the Naim NAC A5 speaker cables.
The Naim Nait 50 is priced at RM16,200, the Naim RCA to DIN interconnects are priced at RM950 while the Naim NAC A5 speakers are priced at RM2,800 per four-metre pair. They are available at CMY Audio & Visual.
