Back in the days when men were men and hamsters lived in wire cages (not the high rise, multi coloured 'eco-habitat' my kids have just conned me into spending 50 quid on.) I was a Hi-Fi rider at the gates of dawn, with only one mission in life - to save the world from bad sounds.
It was easy, because (if you'll pardon the expression) I had a mighty weapon - the Naim Nait. With the Nait under my belt, I could take on the world in the demonstration room. It didn't matter whether it was an all-singing-all-dancing, button-festooned Japanese product, What Mistake's latest 5 star flavour of the month, or an over-priced piece of American esoterica, the Naim ate them all for breakfast. Sticking the same piece of music through any rival amp and then through the Naim, often resulted in customers crying,
"Hey that's not the same track - you're cheating!"
It was the same track, but the Nait just made it sound so much better! More open, more detailed and above all else more musical.
This was often a difficult concept for a customer to get their head round; how could one piece of electronics 'play tunes' better than another? I think the answer is actually quite straight forward - many amplifiers stop the tunes that are present in most recorded music coming out, by messing up the time alignment of different frequencies. In other words, they treat certain frequencies differently from others. It's rather like listening to a band where the drummer is slightly off beat and then listening to it again when he's got his act together. You've heard the same piece of music twice, it's lasted the same period of time, and it's contained the same number of notes, but it's been a far more enjoyable experience the second time around.
And that's the word that really sums up the essence of the Nait - enjoyment.
The Nait was my champion for many years, but as we moved into the new millennium it picked up a few convenience-orientated facilities that ultimately blunted it's leading edge sound and removed some of the product's 'attitude'. (We're talking about user-configurable input sensitivities and micro processor-driven volume here.) I still thought that it was better than anything else, but some hardcore Naim fans thought it had 'sold out'.
Well it's back - in the form of the brand new Nait 5i !
It's got muscle, it's got attitude and as Basil Fawlty would say, it's 'ready to kick some bottom'!
Here's the score:
- The user-configurable inputs have been dropped altogether.
- The Microprocessor-driven remote control volume has been replaced by a high quality motorised volume pot. (The remote control handset works on a motor which turns the volume pot in exactly the same way as you would using your fingers - so the signal is not corrupted in any way.)
- Power output has been increased to a hefty 50 watts (that's 20 watts up on previous models) making it the most powerful Nait ever.
- It has phono sockets as well as the standard Naim DIN inputs (so you won't have to change all your interconnects if you upgrade to a 5i).
It sounds brilliant!
What is really great about the Nait 5i is that it has returned to its spiritual roots. This is a simple, elegant, beautifully-made product that will wipe the floor with most of its peers, including I have to say the original (more expensive) Nait 5!
The hamster is back in
it's wire cage - and now it bites.
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