NAC 252 preamplifier

Yes it's pricey (and it requires a SuperCap to function at all) but the 252 can open recordings up in a spectacular way. You are certainly paying for resolution, scale, refinement, all the 'high end" things but the best part is the how it can convey interplays. During a recent demonstration playing some live Peter Gabriel recordings, it was the sense of two singers interacting that set off the goose bumps magic. You simply knew that they were smiling at one another!

High end audio can manage to tick off all the boxes yet remain resolutely dull. Thankfully the Naim pace rhythm and timing priority allows for music to remain uplifting and fun.

NAP 300 Power amplifier

The NAP 300 comes in two boxes. One for the power supply and the other for the amp itself. There are two, erm, robust burndy leads between the two boxes. One per channel. Amazingly, Naims use of a single XLR connect per channel means that conventional balanced leads can work from XLR equipped preamplifiers. we have had some good results with, dare I say it, a valve pre-amp from BAT (but a NAC 282 is better!).

And that leads us on nicely. The NAP 300 might be the obvious partner for the 252 / supercap but it is benign enough to smile sweetly with a NAC 282 in charge. In fact a NAC 282 with a SuperCap can make a lot of sense. Where the 250 can be a little hard to please, the NAP 300 seems to be very easy to match to loudspeakers. And it boasts a whopping 90 watts per channel, subjectively about 100% more than the NAP 250's 85 watts.

Superline MC-only Phono Stage

t might not look imposing, but it is awfully good.

We knew from our open day that the Naim Superline (it's their reference level phono stage) would be a cracker, but hands-on with it was still a surprise. Even without a power supply of it's own and powered from the pre-amp, it is superb. The loading adjustments allow you to get the best from a wide range of MC cartridges.

Adding HiCap or Supercap, Hi-Line, Power line, all enhance its ability further.

A few days in, and we've experimented a little more. Fed its power from the Naim 552 pre-amp, this is indeed a very fine thing. The cartridge loading adjustments (via plug-in) seem far more effective than dip switch adjustments on other stages. Dynavectors and Lyras require completely different settings, but you can optomise both.

Adding a Supercap power supply(fed via burndy lead) increases scale and resolution quite dramatically. Replace a standard 4pin to 5 grey lead with a Hi-Line lead and the nearest parallel is of the system going active..