Method to the Naiming madness...?

Just out of sheer curiosity, is there any system to Naim's naming/numbering scheme for its pre- and power-amps? It always seemd completely mind-boggling to me...

Dunc

 

For the power amps I believe the number indicates the power into a 4 ohm load.

-- Ian

 

Hi

the reason for the pre amp name is explained below.

http://www.comedylimp.com/naimfaq/archives/cat_amplifiers.html


SCIDB

 

Yeah, I suppose that makes sense. The pre-amps continue to boggle my poor wee mind, though. Anyone know about them?

 

Oops, too slow for you SCIDB.

BTW, does that mean the 552 is Naim's 55th preamp?!

Dunc

 

don;t know what the links say so i9 may be restating but origionally for pre's:
the last '2' in the name meant 2 channel and the first numbers were the order on which work started on each pre.
so
nac 12 is the first naim pre
nac 32 is the 3rd
nac 52 is the 5th
nac 82 is the 8th
nac 112 is the 11th

note that this is for start of development not date of release.

now it';s got complex presumably the 2 on the front of the new kit i.e. 282 and 252 are the 2nd itteration of these amps with the 500 series being a law unto itself
that's about it.
cheers

julian

 

NAC552 is in fact the Elvish word for joke spelt backwards

 

Expensive Joke spelt backwards

 

merlin,
careful the word MOON has some unsavoury connotations that i could bring to bear.

cheers


julian

 

And some Elvish ones, for that matter...

 

Have Naim since the start of their company always been doing things so strangely?

Ive always been baffled why they insist on being so different to any other company ive dealt with and still have problems getting my head around some of their quirky system/component matching rules.

 

Julian,

A Moon brings a smile to the face of many people. A Naim? Well everyone's got at least a couple, and unless it is particularly amusing or unusual it rarely raises an eyebrow when introduced to the conversation.

Now with the NAC552, it's mention may raise an eyebrow. IF someone says they paid £11K for one, well that just causes fits of laughter even outside of Rivendale.

 

merlin,
what a load of arse.

jeremy,
what rules are you having trouble with?

cheers

julian

 

Just things like you cant put certain cables with them or they go pop or things and only using specific naim equipment as a pre and power combo or it might go pop, that sort of stuff. And the use of the din plug........do they do that for sound or just as a unique gimmick?

I'm Sevenoaks y'see so my knowledge with Naim is about -12.5 on the experience scale.

 

jeremy,
in an all naim system the entire system shares the same earth - i.e. star earthing taken to an extreme. the argument goes that with only 1 earth return between components this is much more easily achieved, a din connection scheme allows this whereas with rca's each lead has it;s own earth return. also there are fringe benefits such as lower connection area a la eichman bullets, you break the ground first so run less risk of zapping your kit if you unplug a compopnent whilst on and if you drop a lead down the back of your kit you cannot make random connections when the lead hits things.
speaker cable has to be within certain electrical limits. this is because naim leave off a certain circuit called a zobel network. this does something to the impedance seen by the amp aparently and naim believe it degrades the sound so they leave it off and let the speaker cable do the same job rather than it being done twice.
naim also design their amplifiers to only amplify audiable frequencies plus a bit i.e. 8 - 25 khz (i think). this way the amp isn;t trying to amplify 2nd, 3rd or higher harmonic distortion. this filtering is done in the pre amp hence the recommendation that you should only run naim powers with naim pre's.
to be honest it can be a bit of a faff but for some the sound is well worth the effort. it certainly simplifies things and you tend to listen to more music without obsessing about cables (well not too much anyway). i hope that answers some of your questions.

BTW. the fitst bits of naim kit i bought (cd5 and nait5) were actually bought from sevenoaks in bedford.
cheers

julian

 

Ah - but here's a (serious) question - can you use Townsend Isolda speaker cable on a Naim NAIT3 (or any other, non-NAIT5i, amp) since it has Zobel networks in it?

I too reckon £11k for the 552 is a sick joke - I heard a rig using that, a CDS2, and those bloody AWFUL SL2s in September 02 and it was pretty poor - if the whole rig was £3k I'd have been more enamoured but FFS - HOW MUCH!? For a flamethrower treble and bass that extended to about 200 Hz - pee poor - and this was on Little Green Bag, which usually grooves like a bastard - even on my old midi system....

I do like my NAIT3 though - good VFM imho.

 

Hi Dom

You should be able to use the Townshend cable with naim stuff. I did notice a lot of people using it a shows a few years ago.

SCIDB

 

dom,
townshend isolda, dnm reson and chord odyssey are favorite non naim speaker cables for those that dislike naca 5. some nordost cables can also be used i believe.
cheers

julian

 

Cheers for the help julian. You must have bought your naim a while back, as its been a good few years since Naim was part of Sevenoaks stocked brands. I think they are quite cosy with Audio T/EX now.

 

The preamps are numbered very logically - the 82 is 82 times more expensive than it should be, the 52, 52 times and the 552, 552 times.