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quintessentially British
affordable audiophile
amplifier, the Naim Nait
is it. Nearing its twenty
fifth birthday and into its
fourth incarnation, the little
integrated has gathered
many myths along the
way. To find out the truth,
Channa Vithana decided
to revisit each successive
model, with surprising
results...
T
he original Naim Nait preserved examples of them all, one-
became an instant classic after-the-other.
when launched back in To do this, I enlisted the help of
1983 for the princely sum James Almey of Tom Tom Audio, who
of £253. It sounded quite is fortunate enough to own first-rate
unlike any other integrated examples of the Nait, Nait 2, Nait 3
of its day (or now, for that matter), and current-spec Nait 5i. The listening
and set a trend for so-called ‘super was done in strict conditions, using
1983 NAIM NAIT
integrateds’, bridging the gap between loudspeaker cables with Naim-
basic entry level amps and high end tolerant inductance and capacitance, Julian Vereker. I heard a 1986 vintage
pre-power combinations. and top quality phono-to-DIN with red power LED (later models
In the intervening quarter of a interconnects, into the excellent had green LEDs, slightly inferior
century, it has been the subject of Kudos range of loudspeakers. Here sounding according to legend).
several revisions, and been a breeding goes then – a look at each successive Although this information was
ground for many myths and legends, Nait amplifier and a direct A-B-C-D never publicly disclosed at the time,
not least of which was that the only comparison. I can confirm that the first Nait’s
‘red light’ Nait was the best sounding factory power output figures were
of the bunch. In an attempt to get to THE MODELS: 13W/8ohms and 19.5W/4ohms.
the truth, we at Hi-Fi World decided it NAIM NAIT 1983-1988 The beautifully built half-size
was time to take a scientific approach The original, and some say the best, (276x205x76mm) box featured an
to the subject and audition perfectly Nait was voiced by Naim’s founder Alps volume-control and linear
www.hi-fiworld.co.uk OCTOBER 2007 HI-FI WORLD
OLDE WORLDE
HI-FI WORLD
power supply that included a 100VA
toroidal transformer. The aluminium
casework has a shiny edge-on
‘chrome bumper’ finish. The front-
panel has a rotary volume-control
and just three inputs, inclusive of
‘Phono’ MM phonostage. The balance-
control is fiddly to operate and
source-selector buttons aren’t the
sturdiest. Currently, second-hand
prices for the original Nait range
from about £245-£345.