Finally I have broken my bank for a naim nait xs 2 that landed yesterday. Out of the box, it sounded horrible to my senses but then it got stabilized after few hours playing in. The treble is still not upto mark and sounds harsh. Can any fellow naim users guide me for the break in period of this amp before I can fully enjoy the musicality that naim is famous for.
Naim Nait XS 2
- Thread starter firearm12
- Start date
Congrats !!!
It takes few weeks (4 to 6 weeks) to get stabilized. NAIM users recommend keeping the amp switched on forever even if there is no music playback. In fact some of the NAIM amps remains switched on for years. In Indian conditions, I personally don't recommend it. Anyway, keep playing music and things will get settled down in a month or so.
NOTE: I haven't done any objective/scientific testing to validate the concept amp break-in. So you need to take my above suggestion in that context. Different people have different views. Please refer the naim forum for more information.
Last edited:
Hi Actually this is one of the common problem that we all have.We will invest a good amount for Hi end brand but never get satisfied most of the time.Mainly reason behind is not with the brand or amp.The main reason we dont care about the other chains in our system.
We have to take care of source which is very important then speakers then the amplifier.Of course most important is the placement of the speakers inside a room which we never observe, A good placement will make a huge difference.We don't need to invest a lot for hi end just take care of these thinks will simply do the job for you.
panditji
Well-Known Member
Great amp... I am assuming you have the new 70 Watt one.... I had an XS-2 (the older one @60W) and really liked it with the Harbeths... Now that my room is a little more damped, I would love to hear it again with the same speakers and a new improved DAC...
Let it run in for about 100 odd hours and you will start liking the sound... May I know what speakers you are using it with?
Let it run in for about 100 odd hours and you will start liking the sound... May I know what speakers you are using it with?
Out of the box, the bass was almost as good as nothing (even with sub on full) and high frequencies were all chopped off. But definitely at the end of the day I could definitely hear more bass off the same songs and had to bring down the sub volume and still hear good amount of bass. Maybe its a placebo effect or becoming accustomed to new sound, somewhere someone said in audio world "you will hear differences only if you want to hear them" and I fully agree to this.
Yes its the 70W one. My speakers are Dali Mentor Menuets. The pace of naim perfectly complements the fast menuets and the combination sounds fantastic to me. Earlier I used a marantz pm8003 and naim is definitely a huge step above. Mid range has much more meat and naim throws music straight at the ears with dead center focus. With marantz, the sound was more boxy and thin in midrange, I could never listen to old hindi music as it sounded shrilling. All that music is back now with naim and no matter what kind of music I play, it takes me to the era when it was recorded, sometimes I feel its more analog than marantz !! I cannot say whether the amp does some coloration to sound or sounds neutral but definitely I am enjoying the music more. I dont have to close all doors and put on all curtains and create a mood for listening to hear all the instruments well. As soon as I play, the amp just start throwing all music and I do not need to be attentive to music to hear everything. This is one of the biggest improvement that I see, lets see how much it betters with age. I have played it for about 15 hours but the trebles are still not very good and refined. I have heard that Naim sounds wonderful with Harbeths, so maybe I better start saving for a good harbeth, I love little menuets though.
the Naim is a colored amp
But man i love that particular color
the best part about a naim is the god damn timing that amp has !!!
enjoy
good amp
good speakers
you had the balls to buy the minuets
good!!
normally rarely do i see people paying money for these pocket rockets ( they just cant eqaute its price to its size - driver spec etc )
inmo its worth it though
pair VDH cabling
the hybrid with thei setup
you may like it
(
But man i love that particular color
the best part about a naim is the god damn timing that amp has !!!
enjoy
good amp
good speakers
you had the balls to buy the minuets
good!!
normally rarely do i see people paying money for these pocket rockets ( they just cant eqaute its price to its size - driver spec etc )
inmo its worth it though
pair VDH cabling
the hybrid with thei setup
you may like it
(
M
mpw
Guest
firearm,
congratulations !
there is not much diff in prices ( relatively ) between the XS2 and SN2 on hifimart
what made you to decide to not go full monty
for the SN2 ? 
congratulations !
there is not much diff in prices ( relatively ) between the XS2 and SN2 on hifimart
what made you to decide to not go full monty
for the SN2 ?
M
mpw
Guest
IMO - think of a Naim Dac V1 as source ( or higher naim sources ) and Naim Naca5 speaker cables - dont experiment and get into loops - just go with what works..
but..thats for the future though..
but..thats for the future though..
Last edited by a moderator:
firearm,
congratulations !
there is not much diff in prices ( relatively ) between the XS2 and SN2 on hifimart
what made you to decide to not go full monty
Good 1L difference thought maybe could put it into a dac. Thought that dac was the weakest link in my system but surprisingly the marantz was beaten hands down by naim.
Congrats on the purchase firearms . It is a good amp and your observation as compared to Marantz is spot on . It will take 2-3 weeks continuos running for the new Naim to get burn in. The treble/midrange will become lot better .
As others suggested , the NAC A5 cables makes a significant improvement .
Naim is good buy at this price point , and it does many of the things correctly and with the wonderful mid-range tone/prevention.
As others suggested , the NAC A5 cables makes a significant improvement .
Naim is good buy at this price point , and it does many of the things correctly and with the wonderful mid-range tone/prevention.
M
mpw
Guest
vijwilso,
been a while..
been a while..
M
mpw
Guest
the SN2 is considered by many to be the last stop as far as integrateds go..
but the XS2 is a very good amp too..
ultimately its that chain that matters..
how i would love to do a side by side with the old xs ( 60w )... but thats a dream
regards
kanna.sridharan
Active Member
Congrats on the NAIM.
I had the same feeling as you when I got my Naim playing, really very bright, but I did audition the same at the dealer end and it was WOW. Initially I had DAC speaker cables, changed them to VDH using the NAIM plugs provided, the brightness subdued to an extent. I really think room acoustics plays a big factor here.
Like what the other fellow members have suggested, let it play for sometime. But your next upgrade should really be the NACA5 cables, I havent got them, but every blog says a NAIM user should try them to extract the amps fullest.
Happy Listening
Cheers
I had the same feeling as you when I got my Naim playing, really very bright, but I did audition the same at the dealer end and it was WOW. Initially I had DAC speaker cables, changed them to VDH using the NAIM plugs provided, the brightness subdued to an extent. I really think room acoustics plays a big factor here.
Like what the other fellow members have suggested, let it play for sometime. But your next upgrade should really be the NACA5 cables, I havent got them, but every blog says a NAIM user should try them to extract the amps fullest.
Happy Listening
Cheers
Any suggestion for speaker placement with naim amp? Soundstage gets too narrow if I toe in the speakers and it loses focus if I don't toe in. My room is 11 ft wide and speakers are kept at a distance of 4 ft from behind wall. Distance between speakers is about 5ft.
kanna.sridharan
Active Member
5ft apart is rather low I believe, but it also depends on how far away your sitting. The equal distances between all do work well. I've also found that when I've got my equipment rack in between the speakers, they tend to loose the low frequencies, when nothing is in between it sounds complete. Keep moving around and you'll be surprised to feel many differences, coz ive been thru the same and I'm learning a lot every time I reposition my speakers and my position. I'm not very good at explaining technically nor do I understand much of what I read, but it feels good when you experience something different without changing your equipment.
Enjoy
M
mpw
Guest
read up on the cardas speaker placement technique and work your way to what suits your room and decor from there..
There is no such thing as speaker placement for naim amp - speaker placement for any amp will follow the same principle but in your case since the amplifier was changed, the speakers and hence the room seem to have spoken a different language.
read up - and keep trying - till you reach optimum.
But before all that run in the amp for some more time ( cross 100 hours of play time ), let it open up fully.
regards
Sound stage is not very expansive in Naim as compared to other amps. The source and speaker needs to compensate for it, means it needs be very good at it.
For excellent sound that won't break the bank, the 5 Star Award Winning Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 Bookshelf Speakers is the one to consider!
Similar threads
