Naim?


I’ve never heard a Naim amp but would like to. The 500DR amp is only 140 watts a channel and costs 35k!! Also it only weighs 50lbs? What the hell could be in this thing that would make it worth a quarter of that? Also they pride themselves on using what sounds good not what’s necessarily expensive. No fancy casework no bling. So I don’t think there is anything special in there component wise, I could be wrong. This thing costs 700 bucks a lb?? Don’t hear much about naim separates on here what ye all say??

mofojo

Showing 1 response by verdantaudio

So, that is just for the amp section and it is 25kg which makes it 55lbs and the outboard power supply that comes with it is 35lbs.  Not that weight along is an indication of excellence.  But, note that it ships standard with the power supply in a separate box to ensure the amplifier section is as clean sounding as possible.  

Naim is quite refined in terms of it sound and presentation.  The 500 series is designed to be paired with the Focal Utopia line of speakers and the folks I know who have this amp (I know a few) feel it is fairly priced.  

One other thing to note, it may be 140w into 8 ohms, but this amp is not "stable" at 2 ohms where it can deliver two ohms for a few seconds.  This amp can drive 2 ohm speakers.  There are few amps that can deliver the kind of current that Naim is capable of over extended periods of time.  Match it with the hardest to drive, lowest impedance speakers you can find and this amp with thrive.  

For many, what Naim does is not for them and is not really required.  If you have really hard to drive speakers, Naim should be at the top of the list.  In an extreme example, I had an old pair of Infinity Kappa 8.1s.  I would not buy a $35K amp to pair with 25yo pair of $1700 speakers.  But a Supernait is in-scope.  Those speakers had a min impedance of 1.7 ohms and the Supernait is one of the few integrates that can handle them without constantly blowing fuses.  

Full disclosure.  I am a Naim dealer for the Uniti and Classic lines. I do not have access to the 500s but have heard them on several occasions.