Retro Review #7 The Naim Nait 1

One of our all time favourite amplifiers, still outperforming things that it shouldn't, even 35 years on.

[@sezles1]

Philip, I mean this in the best possible way. Your retro reviews are a joy for anoraks. By that I mean you go into the kind of detail others without your knowledge will never be able to match. Keep it up.

[@cheshireaudio]

Aaaw thanks :-)

[@neilmorrison1292]

I believe it was introduced in 1982 - I bought mine then with a LP12 / Ittok / K9 and Kans. I still have the system and have never tired of it, particularly since I put an AT VM95ML stylus on the K9 cartridge - simple classic and proper hifi.

[@ronlysons6750]

I remember what I think was one of the first reviews of the Nait amp. I was a man with his arm outstretched with it in the palm of his hand. The caption was was. “What’s in a Naim” Never had any Naim equipment, but a friend of mine back in the day had a Nap 250 amp, not sure what the pre amp was, but It was Naim. He was using it with Linn Isobarik speakers and Linn Sondek TT. I wasn't that impressed, I had a Yamaha amp and Acoustic Research AR3 speaker. Far cheaper and to my ears and better.. Oh, and a Pioneer PL12D TT, Shute M75ED and Stanton cartridge. Happy days. I went down the Exposure route after that, tried a few different amps over the years and I am back with an Exposure 3510. Bought from your good self, and it is excellent. Best amp I've ever had.. I'll will be leaving a review on your tube channel at the weekend. Your are a top bloke Phil, don't think you will be winning any BAFTA' awards any time soon though.

[@billywindsock9597]

It is strange how good that looks and how it changed from that to the ghastly olive fronts. Love the chrome bumper stuff.

[@terryneilbooth]

I purchased the original Nait in 1984 with a Linn LP 12 and basic arm. It was not the most powerful amp but (as you said) very engaging and balanced particularly in the phono stage. It was certainly my first memorable upgrade into serious hifi sound at the time. Great review 👍

[@StokeBass]

I did that thing, where I watch one of these Retro Reviews and think, "I wonder how much one of them is now?", and then fall over haha!

[@mr.hansen8433]

I had a Naim Nait 2, bought from new in the start-90´s. It ended in a “study setup” with a pair of Rega Kytes. What a match! I sold the set around year 2000. Bummer, way too cheap, I should have kept it. A few years ago I repurchased some Kytes, and wanted as well the Nait 2, but boy, it was expensive! The Kytes are still working fine to this day as a third setup, in my repair shop, together with an old Linn Majik I.

[@m6j159]

Hi Philip, Another great retro review! That is a lovely looking amp in smashing condition. Even comes with the obligatory white emulsion on the mains lead😉 Really enjoying the videos - good luck with the subscriber numbers👍

[@aidanpallister7784]

Loving these retro reviews Phil, keep them coming. A mate’s dad had an original Nait in the mid 80’s, sounded great….well out of my price range in those days though. Still look cool today which is a testament to the simple design.

[@johnshaw359]

Back when Linn/Naim was a thing.

[@GrandslamTim1]

really enjoy your relaxed and informative views on all things audio thank you

[@Borednlonely]

Love your videos keep em coming. Big Naim and vintage audio fan. Looking to buy this. Just as a work of art … just bought a red led Nait 1. Wow you weren’t kidding when you said possibly the MOST ENGAGING AMP EVER

[@ericlo6370]

My first proper system consisted of Nait1 and Linn Kans and had some wonderfult moments with the combo! A great review and I'm excited that i will have a recapped unit as loaner to try out

[@kurthill7030]

Best sounding amp they made had one with heyboork Hb 1 what a musical setup that was 👍👍

[@paulcryan3206]

Had one for years. Classic Linn turntable combo, variety of speakers Kanns, pro-ac etc never failed to impress and drive whatever. Lack of inputs did for mine sadly. Now, family home can only cope with Muso, Planar 3 and Qb, impressive in the same way. Wish I still had mine though

[@ngbarry]

Love the 2

[@TheKn31]

More like this please!

[@jdekong3945]

lovely vid

[@samgates2059]

I have one I bought in 1986. It still sounds great but I probably need to recap it.The balance control varies the gain of the left channel.

[@geminijinxies7258]

I owned one of these (early model with the red light and modified for 220v), a Linn Axis turntable and later model Linn Nexus speakers. Tons of fun for a rather modest budget. The Nait 1 was picky with the speaker cables though that had to be a certain length ..or so I've been told.

[@georgeheatherley7408]

I get a thump from my Rega Elex-r I bought in 2020 😊

[@stephenlegg262]

I hope you can do a review of an early Sugden amp.

[@rd264]

Nait 2 is alot more versatile and it looked alot better but your XS2 is the best of the lot.

[@mercury8180]

The nait 1 is an extremely engaging and fun amp to listen to but a nait 3 will tell you more about what is on your recordings/ front ends capabilities etc. A nait 3 also has more bass power and control of said instrument. Play live jazz and a nait 3 puts you in front of the band better than a nait 1and the nait 2 puts you somewhere in between. I have all 3 amps from new and ultimately the nait 3 is the best of the bunch in my opinion but ultimately all 3 are fantastic and neither would disappoint.

[@Michael-xz1nk]

great piece....do some early Linn electronics...

[@vangstr]

I still have my upgraded Nait 2 from AV Options.

[@tonyfafoglia2927]

Speaking of great vintage integrateds how about a review of the Creek 4140s2 and the Exposure 15.

[@olanzipMK2]

Interesting amp. But not worth the daft second hand selling prices!

[@1jhnpennington]

Well, I have a Nait 2 and it easily betters a Uniti 2.

[@vangstr]

It’s iconic Naim. Highly musical. To the enthusiast, it is coveted and collectible!

[@Zwakkie05]

I'm curious what kind of speakers you use on this nait 1. Is it the monitor audios in the background? I have the supernait with linn majik 140 loudspeakers. Great video by the way 😄👍🏻.

[@ianwatkins5880]

Hello sir, i do love your retro review's, all of witch are to much money for me. But what do you think of the mission cyrus 1, i was wondering if they are any good? please keep up these vid's brillant. cheer's Ian.

[@innerdragonstarkie6876]

Bettered by the Onix OA21

[@lakoumentasnick]

Great review. I need to find a nice clean one. Anyone selling one?

[@wilderbeestmcc6539]

Phil, how does the Naim compare with my IncaTech Claymore?

[@cheshireaudio]

I remember the Claymore being a big warm valve like sound... the Naim is faster and cleaner... both very involving though

[@mgsee]

Back in those days I also use to have an A60 before changing to a Naim Nait 1. However mine is the earlier version with the smooth volume control. I took it out of storage recently and I think one channel has stopped working. So I'm wondering if it's worth getting it repaired, partly because I am curious to hear how it would sound compared to my modern Marantz pm6006 uk se amplifier, especially now that I am aware how important quality cables and clean mains supply is to the sound of hifi components, which I did not think about back in the 80's. BTW, I know exactly what you mean about music making more sense and being easier to follow and appreciate with a good system. A lot of folks still think hifi is about more of everything especially bass and have no idea of what good audio equipment is designed to do. But then having said that, my hifi journey has been one of constantly learning and discovering these things over the years, I didn't start out with this understanding and experience. Also the focus of the hifi industry itself has changed since the 70's and 80's.

[@Bipen2]

I have the same version. I serviced and recapped it at Naim in 2019 and it was worth "every penny". The only company I know of authorized by Naim to do service is Class A in Sheffield, avoid all others. If it haven't been serviced and recapped you really don't know how good it can be.

[@hybrid6692]

@@Bipen2 Hi , can i ask what the cost of servicing and recapping was when you had it done at Class A ?

[@Bipen2]

@@hybrid6692 Hi, I had it serviced (recap is part of the service) by Naim, not Class A. It was 4.100 SEK total and included shipping Sweden-England in both directions. I just handed it in and picked it up at a local dealer, very convenient. Class A was about 5 percent cheaper but then I would have had to handle all shipping matters myself. I decided that second hand value probably also would be better i serviced by Naim. Kind if looks better in an advert. Contact the distributor for Naim where you live to get a price for a service.

[@hybrid6692]

@@Bipen2 Hi , thanks for the reply, i see ok well i have a Naim dealer near me so i'll go and enquire there , thanks again 👍

[@cutterwood]

@@hybrid6692 I had Darran at Class A service my Nait 1 in May 2019 and it was £165.00 back then, just under £200 with insured shipping both ways by DHL. He did a fantastic job, still sounds great.

[@andreasgraube4376]

I have the original Nait 1 from 1983 (red diode). I’ve had it since 1993 and I love it. However it has never been recapped and I am afraid that the sound will become something else with components that most likely are not the same as back then. Also, living in Sweden, I really don’t know if it’s possible to get it done properly here. Do I have to send it to Salisbury? It would cost more money than I payed for it, I guess. I bought it used at a dealer for about £275.

[@hybrid6692]

Hi Andreas, i bought my mk1 (red diode) new in 1985 , i still have it and won't part with it even though it's not being used , but i hope to rig it up with a second system in the future. Mine is original not re capped nor has it been checked over but recently hooked it up to my Rega P6/Ania and Spendor A2s just to see how she performs and got quite a shock , almost considered keeping it hooked up , it performed very well 😊

[@FridoZijlstra]

Sending it to Witch Hat (also UK) is also an option. I'm considering this at the moment. But first I want to hear from the Dutch official agent.

[@tomeasterbrook9486]

2 line inputs & 7 watts; why would anyone conceivably need anything more?

[@johnholmes912]

not very good when launched, if you have to have naim you get a 250 .... why they used those awful dins rather than RCA is beyond me they really didn't sound very good at all

[@markjohnathanappleton8642]

Naim sound sterile,

[@Mark-mj6qp]

You obviously haven’t spent much time with any Naim gear.

[@billywindsock9597]

@@Mark-mj6qp He has an opinion at least. If I agreed with him, we'd both be wrong. 😀

[@TheBjp0001]

That’s strange, when I first heard Naim (Nac 32.5/Nap160) it was the most exciting and musical amp that I had heard. I had listened to quite a few amps beforehand and had an Arcam . Love Naim amps

[@cheshireaudio]

They certainly didn’t then... the new stuff is ‘blander’ but sterile is a little strong

[@johnholmes912]

I agree they never sounded good to me