Build quality, simplicity, sound quality. Very punchy little amp.

Din, NAIC A5, expensive when new, a bit roll off in high frequency. On/off switch on the back of the unit, no remote.

Purchased recently after a move from a Rega Brio 3.

Boy does this amp sound in a different league, it is extremely musical, tight & full of energy, just how I like it, it makes the Rega sound quite subdued & muddy by comparison.

Ever been to a live concert & returned home to play the same on your hifi, it always seems to feel a little less exciting & less immediate as though some of the energy has been sapped from the sound, not with this little wonder, if you like your music to sound real & as it was intended without the extremes rounded off then look no further at this price point.

Recently tried a Nait 5i, this sounds much more musical & lively to my ears, a much better amp designed & manufactured when Naim were Naim.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this amp to anyone yearning for a little more drive & rhythm from their music, a little gem & don't be put off by the numbers, it sounds powerful & gutsy way beyond the power rating & drives my little castle speakers to silly levels & I havn't got past the 9 o clock mark on the dial yet.

Build like a tank, superb midrange and treble. Plenty of details on offer.

Some may find this amp too full on, not the smooth as I would like.

Build:
The first thing you notice about this amp, is the build quality which is superb. It’s your typical high quality fit and finish that you get with pround british models.

Sound:
First impression is of an amp with great detail retrieval. There is a nice shimmer to treble notes without any harshness. The midrange comes across very clean and neutral, with voices sounding as real as I have heard them through many of my systems. It has a great soundstage, especially the noticeable improvement in the depth of the soundstage, which I really didn’t get with my old Marantz 66 KI.

I can also confirm that the bass is tight and it can go deep down as well, but would probably say that it a bit lean compared to the Marantz 66 KI . However where the Marantz is a little more bass rich, it doesn’t have the detail of the Niam, to differentiate subtle differences in the bass.

Similar Products Used:

Marantz pm66 KI
Musical Fidility XA-1
Exposure 2010s

Bass, Build, Midrange, Soundstage, attack!

no remote, DIN connections can be expensive i paid £50 to have a Chord Cobra 2 cable with DIN connections on one end and phono on the other.

Im 16 years old!! u may think im not that experienced with HI - Fi but really i am. ever sonce i purchased the naim, ive loved it, even though the thought of just 30 watts seemed very poor it still makes the room shake. when i first had the amp, i had a nad CD player and my dad let me use his Naim Credo speakers for a while, and all together they made such a cut glass clear sound with an awesome soundstage, the bass was impressive aswell.

My current set up involes a pair of Roger LS1's the naim, Nad CD player, Nad power amp and a Klipsch Sub! i use the Nad to power the Rogers and the naim to power the sub becasue it has so much drive and can rattle the windows!! i use the Nad to power the rogers because i found the naim a bit harsh sounding, but i have tried the nad jst on its own, and without the Naim as the pre-amp i loose alot of sound staging and attack.

My next steps are to get a naim CD player and Mordaunt short 309 sub (active), to improve further on the sytems livelyness and urge to entertain me!

The naim is an awesome amp, and my best investment in the system!

power.wall of sound-

connections#price i paid can't complain...

just got hold of this amp secound hand in excellent condition.in my excitement to listen forgot to put loop in my epos es11s to stop them being bi-wireable.can only say for 20 mins was serverly depressed with sound.vocals sounded like they were 3 miles behind.once realised mistake settled down to some listening(changing cds every 2 mins).sound was superb espically with placebo,smiths,tubes actully anything half decently recorded.simple to use easy to listen to.just need to save up for quality interconnects and speaker cable...

Similar Products Used:

heybrook-musical fidelity-rotel-quad

for music lovers

no remote control, need to turn on all the time to sound best. Probably not for ppl who buy hi-fi to show off or to evaluate its technical aspects

Because my friend was looking for an amp to match his ls3/5a, my wife and I have followed him to listen to many many amplifiers mainly valve (Jadis, Unison Research, Dynaco ST70, 300B). Although the smooth and warm sound of valve makes a comfortable listen, nothing is significantly better than my NAD C370 musically. One day we just went to listen to this Naim system: Naim CD5, Naim Nait 5 and Snell speaker. For the first time I notice the muscicality that is missing in my NAD. So I decide to buy a second hand Naim Nait 3 to try out with my speaker(Sonus Faber Concertino Home). First, I tested it with NAD C440 tuner. I was jumping with joy as my living room suddenly was filled with life-like voices. With NAD C370, I will never listen to radio for more than 20 minutes. With Naim, I can listen to my FM channels for a few hours and have so much fun .. even in MONO when the reception is bad .. As my cdp is in service, my wife, my friend and I went to listen to another naim setup (Epos ES14, Naim cd3.5 and naim pre-power) on a familiar vocal/acoustic guitar track. All of us were seriously impressed by the musicians in that track. The system allows the musicians to communicate effectively as intended by the recording. I am still waiting for my cdp to come back and thinking of buying the Naim 3.5 next ..

Similar Products Used:

NAD C370, Arcam Alpha 9 and various other NAD amplifiers

very detailed, love the mimalistic looks and build quality.

very poor phono stage within the context of my system. Not much weight in the bass!

I have had my current system for over 8 years, which consists of a michell syncro turn-table, castle durham speakers, musical fidelity B1 amp, rotel 855 cd player using good connections and cable talk speaker cable. Over all i have been satisfied with the sound on the system. The cd is very consistent and the turn-table is capable of swinging from dynamic bliss to a compressed dull sound depending on the recording! Nevertheless i have learnt to live with this and only play the recordings that sound good! Anyway i wanted to upgrade my system, basically for the sake of change and to get some more modern components that would look a bit nicer!!! After discovering the delights of ebay and all the superlatives thrown at the nait 3 amp, i won the bid for a nait 3 which had a phono input for £ 300! I also purchased some kef Q3 series floor standing speakers. After spending a week, trying all sorts of different configurations...kef with the nait 3...kef with my original musical fidelity amp....nait 3 with my castle durham speakers etc etc....i have come to the conclusuion that i have wasted my money and time...my current system still sounds better! Beleive me i so dearly wanted to love the nait 3 but it has not happened so far. Paired up wuth the kef's the sound had now weight, reminded me of the sound of a tape deck! The sound was very bright and airy but with really kick or punch. The kef's did sound better with my B1 amp but still far too bright, so they are definately the weak link. Things sounded a lot better pairing the nait 3 with my original speakers which are mounted on stands. But still sounds a little too bright although there is a lot more detail in the sound! Things get very disapointing though when it comes to the phono stage. Where as the B1 amp produces and really deep controlled bass (the type you get with a turn table) the naim sounds weedy and thin! So what do i do? I really want to keep the naim 3. Is it really the case that it requires very special partnering with its own products? I can understand that in the case of the cd player, but naim do no do a turn-table and dont really want to upgrade my syncro! So do i put it back on ebay or be patient and get a naim cd player and perhaps a pre-amp or improved phono stage somehow? this is not so much a review has a plea for help! I just want to get back to enjoying mmy music and accepting the sound! Anyone out there that can help??? ps forget to add that i spent £ 41 on a din connector to contact the amp to the cd!

Similar Products Used:

only comparison is my 10 year old musical fidelty B1 Amp, which i purchaed for £ 200 new.

Very generous amp. Very lively sound. Gives lots of bass & highs.

Matches best with only of its kind.

My comments are simple. I was an audiolab enthusiast until i heard the naim. Its lighter & slimmer than audiolab. It sounds like a 100 watter despite its 30 watt rating. I heard it played a live concert CD and i could have sworned that i was in the concert near the stage. i heard the singer moving from left to right, so lively. What more can i say? i love its sound.

Similar Products Used:

audiolab 8000S

Speed, live feeling, boogie factor, timing, power, timbre, punch, kick, pace, attack, remote control, built quality, upgradeable

crappy looking casing and finish, will only work well with english speaker cables, such as Exposure, Naim, Heybrook, DNM, Cable Talk, Linn

This review i for the Naim Nait 3R amp. Let me start by saying that I love this amp, it just plays music the right way. I''ve been a high-end man for several years, and only used to care about things such as resolution, treble extension and imaging. Now, after having buyed Naim, Exposure and Linn products, I find myself listening to the music instead of listening to my equipment. Before, I owned a stereo which focused on the recording quality of my cd''s. Now, I my stereo focuses on the musicians commitment to music and the message they wish to send through their music. All the hifi''ishness is cut away and pure music remains... As others have mentioned this amp sound a lot more powerful than its 30W/ch indicates - it will drive a lot medium sensitive speakers with drive and involvement and will make high sensitive kick your stomack in. My unit has had its regulator changed to LT1086CT and let me tell you - IT KICKS ASS!!! It now sounds just like my friends 52/135 combo, but with less punch and power, nevertheless the timbre and sound is the same. The LT1086CT in used in the XPS/CDS2 and the SUPERCAP, so there is a reason for the similarities. I pair it with a Karik/modified Numerik combo (LT1086CT, LT1033CT, LM323, Rubycon ZL caps for the digital section, Tantal caps for the analog section, LClock 5 ppm crystal and the old Burr Brown PCM63P-K DACs) Nordost Quattro Fil interconnect and Heybrook Heywire speaker cables. It just plays music they way I like. As far as I''m concerned this is my last amp. Highly recommended!

Similar Products Used:

Linn Majik, Copland CSA28, all Thule, Musical Fidelity XA-100R, All Holfi, S.A.T. Amplifix, Exposure 15s, Exposure 20, Exposure 20s. Exposure, Naim and Linn Pre/Power combos.

Rhythm, pace, build quality, musicality, upgradeability (as a preamp)

susceptible to strong RF

Am very happy with my Nait3 (purchased used, 1990s model). Together with a Naim CD3 and intro2 speakers, the synergy among the components brings sound reproduction to a much higher level than if mixed with other component brands.

The Nait is a very musical and dynamic integrated amp, a really good bargain, even when new. It sounds so "alive", but at the same time "controlled". Instruments sound so real, it's amazing. Build quality is superb, the amp never gets hot (my cd player runs warmer). It's designed to be left on all the time; it sounds much different when listened to "cold" (much harsher highs).


However, because of its relatively low wattage (30w) one needs careful speaker selection; dynamic and forward speakers (from rega, linn, epos, etc.) seem to work best. (I tried Rega Juras and didn't like the combination...got intros instead)

One thing to note, is that if your location has strong radio interference, your speakers will "buzz" (as mine did). Naim has a fix, which adds a capacitor to the circuitry. I listened to this mod on another nait, and it deadened the interference, but it also took away a lot of the crispness and punch. Although it still sounded good, the sound seemed a lot slower and lackluster. I do not recommend this fix.

For more info on this and other naim products, go to their website (www.naim-audio.com) or their discussion groups (one is linked via their website, the other at http://www.sparkle.dircon.co.uk/toc.htm)