Question Intergrated Amp Assistance

Have the NAIM XS3 on route for a trial. Have to purchase and return if no good and then I can do the Rega as I cant cover two amp purchases to return
 
@bodas73 , I would have thought them taking your CC details would have been sufficient for you to borrow both. Look forward to hearing your thoughts.
 
@bodas73 , I would have thought them taking your CC details would have been sufficient for you to borrow both. Look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Possibly but its from two different shopsso you can understand I suppose. Have to say Tom from Hi-Fi Corner in Edinburgh has been excellent and very helpful. My Beresford switch is on route as well......the good lady nearly had kittens when I suggested a new AV Amp as well haha
 
@bodas73 , yes, understandable. I couldn’t praise my dealer more highly. Because parking outside the shop in Cheadle was difficult and the Supernait 3 was very heavy he collected it when he delivered the XS3. I didn’t even think about negotiating a discount which is more or less impossible with Naim kit.
 
@bodas73 , yes, understandable. I couldn’t praise my dealer more highly. Because parking outside the shop in Cheadle was difficult and the Supernait 3 was very heavy he collected it when he delivered the XS3. I didn’t even think about negotiating a discount which is more or less impossible with Naim kit.

I was offered initially in December a Grade A refurb but that had gone and Tom offered me a great deal on the Xs3. One my local Naim dealer couldn't match although still a discount. Hi Fi Corner have been really helpful so it was an easy choice to go with them for this
 
Possibly but its from two different shopsso you can understand I suppose. Have to say Tom from Hi-Fi Corner in Edinburgh has been excellent and very helpful. My Beresford switch is on route as well......the good lady nearly had kittens when I suggested a new AV Amp as well haha
I bought my Denon DCD 2500 NE from HiFi Corner. They had the best price in the UK and I still managed to get another couple of bob off. It was Tom I dealt with.
 
I bought my Denon DCD 2500 NE from HiFi Corner. They had the best price in the UK and I still managed to get another couple of bob off. It was Tom I dealt with.

Really helpful and had a good chat, hes keeping an eye out on a streamer for me if the right one comes along at a decent price
 
I demoed a Naim Nait XS2 and found it was no better than my existing Rotel amp which cost less than half the price! That was with B&W 707 speakers and a Naim ND5 XS2 streamer. My Rotel “gripped” the speakers just as well and was easily a match on timing and bass control. I suppose when you consider that my Rotel was £750 RRP 15 years ago and the Nait XS2 was around £1200 I think when they first came out but has gone up in price purely due to Naim’s annual price rises they’re really not that far apart. It has made me rethink my ideas about upgrading to a SuperNait 3 though and I’ll probably go for top of the range Rotel or bottom end Michi (although both are hard to find).
 
@fordster , the XS2 was introduced in 2013, 8 years ago. The XS3 is a significant upgrade. I’m not knocking Rotel who have clearly come a long way since I bought my first amp back in the 70s. The RA-310 if my memory serves me correctly.

I couldn’t hear any real difference between the Supernait 3 and XS3 so bought the latter and saved £1300.
 
I demoed a Naim Nait XS2 and found it was no better than my existing Rotel amp which cost less than half the price! That was with B&W 707 speakers and a Naim ND5 XS2 streamer. My Rotel “gripped” the speakers just as well and was easily a match on timing and bass control. I suppose when you consider that my Rotel was £750 RRP 15 years ago and the Nait XS2 was around £1200 I think when they first came out but has gone up in price purely due to Naim’s annual price rises they’re really not that far apart. It has made me rethink my ideas about upgrading to a SuperNait 3 though and I’ll probably go for top of the range Rotel or bottom end Michi (although both are hard to find).

Which Rotel do you own?
 
Well eventually got the XS3 set-up yesterday with the Beresford switch box. Absolutely blown away with it. the depth in the sound is fantastic and my Dali speakers are singing. not tried the in built phono stage yet but I am very impressed with the Rega MM running through the Naim. SACD and CD playback to try later today
 
Well eventually got the XS3 set-up yesterday with the Beresford switch box. Absolutely blown away with it. the depth in the sound is fantastic and my Dali speakers are singing. not tried the in built phono stage yet but I am very impressed with the Rega MM running through the Naim. SACD and CD playback to try later today

Welcome to the dark side!

I would say very confidently that there is not a single AV receiver available that can match your Naim with music.

If you really want to be mischievous, try watching a film through it in stereo and report back...
 
Haha I might give it a go. CD and SACD playback is top notch as well. Seems to bring the best out of my OPPO 203.
 
If you have the time to try something different you really should test a Lyngdorf amp. Your room will have a huge impact on the sound of your speakers – if you have ever moved your speakers to another room and heard a big difference, you will know how big this can be.

RoomPerfect is the only correction software that will preserve the sound of your speakers and remove the errors your listening room creates.

How much difference it makes varies from room to room, but in many rooms is transformational and gives results that simple cant be achieved without measuring the sound of your speakers in your room and correcting the errors with RoomPerfect.
 
If you have the time to try something different you really should test a Lyngdorf amp. Your room will have a huge impact on the sound of your speakers – if you have ever moved your speakers to another room and heard a big difference, you will know how big this can be.

RoomPerfect is the only correction software that will preserve the sound of your speakers and remove the errors your listening room creates.

How much difference it makes varies from room to room, but in many rooms is transformational and gives results that simple cant be achieved without measuring the sound of your speakers in your room and correcting the errors with RoomPerfect.

Thanks for the feedback. Another brand I had not considered, had a look at their website and their products are beautifully designed. Sadly no local dealers and an outlay on another amp to test is not an option.
 
Many dealers offer home trial of Lyngdorf amplifiers.

If your goal is the most accurate reproduction of sound you really should give their technologies a try in your room.
 
@fordster , the XS2 was introduced in 2013, 8 years ago. The XS3 is a significant upgrade. I’m not knocking Rotel who have clearly come a long way since I bought my first amp back in the 70s. The RA-310 if my memory serves me correctly.

I couldn’t hear any real difference between the Supernait 3 and XS3 so bought the latter and saved £1300.
Honestly, I’m not sure I believe the reviews that state that. There’s very little that traditional integrated amps can improve on these days as far as I know. For me, most of the performance for class A/B amp depends on the quality of the power supply and Rotel and Naim are probably equivalent there (until you start adding all the extra external boxes that Naim do anyway).

That said, I’ve not listened to one and if you can hear a clear difference between an XS2 and an SX3 then I believe you. Interesting that you couldn’t hear much between the XS3 and Supernait 3 though, Naim may have shot themselves in the foot there :)

I still think the price is too much though but then I guess small companies like Naim have to make a living. What bugs me is that they put the price up every year regardless which I think is unnecessary.
 
Honestly, I’m not sure I believe the reviews that state that. There’s very little that traditional integrated amps can improve on these days as far as I know. For me, most of the performance for class A/B amp depends on the quality of the power supply and Rotel and Naim are probably equivalent there (until you start adding all the extra external boxes that Naim do anyway).

That said, I’ve not listened to one and if you can hear a clear difference between an XS2 and an SX3 then I believe you. Interesting that you couldn’t hear much between the XS3 and Supernait 3 though, Naim may have shot themselves in the foot there :)

I still think the price is too much though but then I guess small companies like Naim have to make a living. What bugs me is that they put the price up every year regardless which I think is unnecessary.
I never got a chance to listen to an XS2 as they’re in such short supply. Naim aren’t in the habit of bringing out new models every 12 months so I imagine there were improvements made. I’m not able to judge so trust what the reviewers say.
One of the reasons I bought Naim is they will still repair a model that might be 20 years old. Who else will do that? Yes, it might be expensive but probably cheaper than having to buy a new one.

Maybe the SN3 requires better speakers for the differences to be apparent.
 
 

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