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Naim Audio

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Naim Audio is a British manufacturer of high fidelity audio products for domestic use, based in Salisbury, Wiltshire, United Kingdom.

Contents

History

Naim began when the late Julian Vereker started Naim Audio Visual in 1969 and created a sound-to-light box which he hired out to film production companies. He became disappointed with the sound of professional recording equipment after recording live performances of friends. This led him to design his own power amplifier and so to create Naim Audio of today. Naim has a devoted following gained through a combination of its products' performance, build quality, and upgrade and after-sales philosophy: Naim is committed to after-sales support of all products ever manufactured by them.

The first Naim power amplifier, the NAP160, was sold in 1971; the two-channel NAP 250 amplifier, launched in 1975, is perhaps Naim Audio's most well-known product. The NAP 250's basic circuit layout was shared by all the company's power amplifiers until the introduction of the flagship NAP500 in 2000.

Many of Naim's other products, such as the NAC52 pre-amplifier, the ARO uni-pivot tonearm and the SBL (Separate Box Loudspeaker) have also assumed cult status among devotees.

Digital audio

During much of the 1980s, Naim asserted that Compact Disc was a far inferior medium to the vinyl gramophone record and continued to design their products in this context. However, by 1990 technological advances allowed the production of the Naim CDS, the first CD player considered worthy of the Naim brand. Early discs often lost something in the transfer, compared to vinyl.

In order to overcome the problem of finding Compact Discs technically and musically good enough to satisfy the vinyl disciples, Naim also went into the record business. The first CD to appear on the Naim recording label was Electric Glide by Gary Boyle, one of the company's favourite vinyl demo records, remastered by Vereker and released on CD.

The CDS CD player has since seen two major revisions (now in its CDS3 incarnation) since its launch in 1991; while subsequent lower-priced extensions to the line are often used by hi-fi reviewers as references at their respective price points. The CD555, which is the "money no object" flagship, is heralded by Naim as "the ultimate CD player".

Sonic character

Historically, Naim components have had a strong following from audiophiles for their presentation of pace, rhythm and timing. This design approach was to attempt to reproduce attributes which were regarded by Vereker as the fundamental and universal to all music. "Sonic attributes" such as tonal accuracy/neutrality were relegated in importance; while spatial rendition was regarded as mere artefacts of the modern recording studio. This approach defined what became known as the British "flat earth" sound.

While this made for a very dynamic, upfront sound, the company's products were occasionally criticised for lack of subtlety in reproducing classical music, whose aficionados seemingly prefer accurate portrayal of timbre (tonal neutrality) and a more detailed sound. Harshness in reproducing many recordings from a digital source was also a common criticism. Naim appears to have heeded this criticism: the 5 series and the Reference range launched in 2002 seem to be much more "digital friendly", although the changes have not been wholeheartedly welcomed by those who prefer the classic sound.

Design characterstics

Naim's design philosophy is characterised by the incorporation of over-engineered power supplies to ensure fast and generous current delivery to the audio circuitry. Naim also market independent low-noise power supplies as an easy and effective upgrade path for their pre-amplifiers and CD players.

Their no-nonsense design approach can be seen, for example, by their use of high-quality materials — the semiconductors, toroidal transformers, iconoclastic solid aluminium black boxes — their obsessive attention to earthing, screening and isolation from electronic interference, through to their preference for XLR, DIN and the BNC connector (as opposed to the RCA connector used by almost all other manufacturers). However, bowing to market forces, some lower-cost components in the 5 series now have RCA phono plugs fitted as standard, in addition to DIN plugs.

The company's pre- and power- amplifiers, especially, are carefully matched electrically and are designed to be used together. Dire warnings attach to experimentation with other manufacturers components, particularly in the case for some "high-end" loudspeaker cables, whose inductance/capacitance characteristics present unstable loads to the high-current devices used inside Naim power amplifiers — these have been documented to cause damage to same (not covered by warranty).

Partnership

During much of the 1970s and 80s, Naim adopted a symbiotic relationship with Linn Products, and their names were often mentioned in the same breath. Linn was the engineering company excelling in mechanical products and Naim shone in the electronics arena. During this time, the Linn/Naim system was a formidable and ubiquitous combination for many a serious audiophile. The two companies had almost the same sales and marketing strategy, and shared many of the same retailers/dealers. The company's emphasis was placed on selling products through comparative demonstrations in a single-speaker environment.

The two companies diverged during the 1980s, at the dawn of digital audio. Both Naim and Linn began broadening their product ranges and started encroaching on each others' historical areas of expertise. Naim began making loudspeakers and Linn began making electronic components.

Milestones

External links

 

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