Digital Sources: Simaudio Moon Supernova CD player.
Preamplifiers: Parasound Halo JC 2, VTL TL-6.5 Signature.
Power Amplifiers: Parasound Halo JC 1 monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: Dynaudio Special 25, Thiel CS3.7, Usher Be-718, YGA Anat Reference II Professional.
Cables: Interconnect: Shunyata Research Aeros (balanced RCA), Stealth Metacarbon (balanced). Speaker: Shunyata Research Aeros, Stealth Dream. AC: Shunyata Research Python Helix Alpha.
Accessories: Ayre Myrtle wood blocks; Shunyata Research V-Ray power conditioner; Furutech RDP panels,…
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Sidebar: WP's Associated Equipment
"We've tried making it more powerful. When I was away on holiday, some of our people cooked up a more powerful version and presented it to me on my return. It sounded awful."
That was Naim Audio's founder, the late Julian Vereker, MBE, talking to Sam Tellig about the 15Wpc Naim Nait 2 integrated amplifier, as reported in the April 1990 Stereophile (Vol.13 No.4). His words were the first thing this ever-cynical reviewer thought of upon learning that, some seven years after Vereker's death, the company he left behind had been rattling those same pots and pans.
Then again,…
So it goes here: As a first step, one can upgrade the performance of a Naim Supernait with the addition of a Naim FlatCap2x power supply ($1150), whereby the latter provides a cleaner, stiffer, and altogether more serene 24V to the analog preamp section of the former. After that, the HiCap2 ($2050) and even SuperCap2 ($6350) power supplies may be applied.
The potential for upgrading a Supernait doesn't end there: One can also buy any of Naim's separate power amplifiers, for use in place of the Supernait's own, by means of its preamp-out jacks. Or, a Supernait owner who has biampable…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid-state integrated amplifier with built-in D/A converter. Line-level analog inputs: 6. S/PDIF digital inputs: 5. Maximum output power: 80Wpc into 8 ohms (19dBW). Line-level input impedance: 47k ohms. Line-level input sensitivity: 75mV. Preamplifier overload margin: 40dB, all audio inputs, all audio frequencies.
Dimensions: 17" (435mm) W by 3.4" (85mm) H by 12.3" (315mm) D. Weight: 28 lbs (12.7kg).
Serial Number Of Unit Reviewed: 249147.
Price: $4950. Approximate number of dealers: 47.
Manufacturer: Naim Audio, Ltd., Southampton Road…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Linn LP12 (with Linn Basik power supply), Thorens TD 124 Mk.II turntables; Naim Aro, Rega RB300 tonearms; Miyabi 47, EMT JSD 5, Denon DL-103 cartridges.
Digital Source: Sony SCD-777ES SACD/CD player.
Preamplification: Auditorium 23 Standard, K&K Audio step-up transformers; Shindo Masseto, DNM 3D preamplifiers.
Power Amplifiers: Quad II monoblocks; Shindo Cortese, DNM PA3S.
Loudspeakers: artdudleylistening/706listening">Quad ESL, De Vore Nine, Audio Note AN-E/SPe HE.
Cables: Interconnect: Audio Note AN-Vx, Shindo silver…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
Before performing tests on an amplifier, I thermally stress it by running both channels for 60 minutes into 8 ohms at one-third the specified power—in the case of the Naim Supernait, 27Wpc. The THD+noise percentage was 0.025% at the beginning of that period; it hadn't significantly changed at the end, by which time the amplifier's case was quite hot, though not so that I couldn't keep my hand on it.
Looking first at the Naim's digital input, it locked on to data with sample rates ranging from 32 to 96kHz, and the input was non-inverting. A signal at 0dBFS…
It was a hot, humid, New York City evening in early August, and I was thankful to be sitting in the air-conditioned dark of Avery Fisher Hall, up in the Second Tier, for a Mostly Mozart concert. Listening to cello soloist Alisa Weilerstein in Osvaldo Golijov's hypnotic Azul, I was suddenly jolted by an explosive mix of primitive cello sonorities, accordion, and staccato riffs on ethnic percussion instruments. My thoughts turned to the importance in music of both power and delicacy, and of how Bryston Ltd.'s 28B-SST, a 1000W monoblock power amplifier, was designed to address both.
…
The same delicacy and sweetness were evident in the Brystons' reproduction of Steve Nelson's soft, translucent vibraphone on "The Mooche," from Rendezvous: Jerome Harris Quintet Plays Jazz (CD, Stereophile STPH013-2). The image of the softly playing vibes reached from the far left to the center of the soundstage in my room, and could be clearly discerned, even though Billy Drummond's drums were much louder. I could easily distinguish timbral shadings among Drummond's vintage cymbals, just as John Atkinson stated in his liner note for Editor's Choice (CD, Stereophile STPH016-2), on which…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid-state monoblock power amplifier with balanced and unbalanced inputs. Specified output power: 1000W continuous sinewave power into 8 ohms, 20Hz–20kHz (30dBW). Power bandwidth: 1Hz–100kHz, ±3dB. Distortion: 0.005%, 20Hz–20kHz at 1kW into 8 ohms. Intermodulation distortion: 0.007%, 60Hz+7kHz mixed 4:1. Signal/noise ratio: 110dB ref. 29dB gain, full output, input shorted, 20Hz–20kHz. Damping factor: >500 at 20Hz, ref. 8 ohms. Input sensitivity for full output: 3.2V unbalanced (29dB setting), 6.4V balanced (23dB setting). Input impedance: 30k…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Linn Sondek LP12/Lingo turntable, Linn Ittok tonearm, Spectral moving-coil cartridge; Day-Sequerra Classic FM tuner.
Digital Sources: Krell KRC-28 CD player, Sony SCD-C555ES multichannel SACD/CD player, Slim Devices Squeezebox network music player.
Preamplification: VTL TL-6.5, Krell KCT preamplifiers; Bryston 10B-Sub electronic crossover.
Power Amplifiers: Mark Levinson No.334, Krell FPB-600c, VTL S-400.
D/A Integrated Amplifier: Bryston B100-DA.
Loudspeakers: Quad ESL-989, Revel Ultima Salon, Escalante Design Fremont; JL…