Sound quality!Sound quality!Sound quality! It's small. Minimalist.

Cost. Minimalist.

Like the reviewer below I too bought my Nat02 2nd hand (half price), the Nat02 is also half the price of the Nat 01 but differs in not having a separate PSU. Is it worth paying in excess of £2000 for a tuner? I don't know. However if you like classical or in the UK Radio 4 then this tuner is what people what call analogue sounding. It sounds alive. It has a clarity and fullness that mesmerise, especially in any classical broadcast. If sound quality is the ultimate reason for buying hifi then this stands (at a hefty average of 600-700 GBP ($1000 in US)) a head and shoulders above anything else I have heard. It is one amazing little (half full hifi width) box. However , the drawbacks are (having now broken the 10 remote control barrier for all the various gadgets now hooked into my audio visual set-up, not including the learning remote that was supposed to eradicate the remotes) this is the most simple piece of hifi equipment I have ever used. The power switch is at the back meaning Naim intend you to leave it on all the time (yes things sound better warm. Oh yes and there is one big dial at the front , by which means you ascend and descend through the radio spectrum (FM only). There are no presets. There is no remote. No fancy filters. No signal meters. No signal boosters. If you are a child of the remote control age you will hate it, although daily exercise can be had from frequent channel changes. If you are a gadget fan then look elsewhere. As we move into the age of digital radio the Naim Nat 02 is somewhat of an anachronism, however as Naim has now ceased production continuing demand will push up used prices. If you are a buyer then do not hesitate to pick up this little gem.

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Linn Kremlin various tuners from Marantz and Rotel

Truck like build Ease of use Small dimensions Excellent sound quality with good transmissions

Needs good quality aerial ''Ordinary'' stations like Capital or Vigin can sound little better than a car radio.

As with the bulk of my Naim gear, I eventually bought my NAT02 second hand for just about 50% of the new price. You can generally purchase with confidence on the second hand market with Naim stuff as a) the build quality is legendary and literally lasts for decades b) Naim users tend to be enthusiasts and therfore genuine and c) Naim have an excellent service department. The NAT02 has a large chunk of the NAT01 internals, with one significant omission - the external power supply supplied. You can add Flat-Cap- Hi-Cap or Super-Cap power supplies to it if you so wish. This is an excellent tuner. I do have an external aerial, although it is only a static one. I''ll probably upgrade to a Ron Smith G17 revolving antenna when I move. With the aerial I have, uncompressed stations such as Jazz FM and R3 are truly excellent. In some cases it clearly outperforms my Naim CD3.5/Flatcap. With compressed stuff however, quality drops off significantly

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Philips FT930