For as long as I can remember, Naim has had a reputation for producing audio equipment with a definitive sonic signature: pace, rhythm and timing (known affectionately in hi-fi circles as PRAT). Naim gear has always had these attributes in spades – possibly at the expense of a certain aural warmth when delivering its take on the musical truth.

Times have changed in the last few years, though; Naim’s audio boffins have steered the family sound in a slightly warmer direction, and although still extremely pitch-accurate and super-detailed, the company’s components are more forgiving of the varied partnering equipment used in many systems.

Rated at a modest 60wpc the Naim Nait XS is actually quite a powerhouse and can deliver 90wpc into 4 ohms, its spartan appearance belying the technology within the heavyweight casework. The amplifier is actually the little brother of Naim’s flagship Supernait integrated, and the lengths to which Naim has gone to all but eliminate resonance and vibration are quite phenomenal – newly developed PC board mounts ‘float’, enhancing their resistance to vibration and microphony, and even the casework is formed from non-magnetic aluminium for purely sonic reasons.

A row of RCA inputs is supplemented with Naim’s favourite DIN connectors. These sockets were very popular back in the 1970s and although practically extinct (Naim being one of very few manufacturers to continue with them), they do provide better sound quality – especially as Naim has continually developed them over the years by working on aspects such as RF rejection and the aforementioned vibration research.

Auditioning the XS at Shore HiFi in Auckland brought the attributes of aural musicality and warmth, combined with exceptional speed and detail, home to me, and as testament to the easygoing adaptability of the XS, the system was not an all-Naim one. Supplying vinyl heaven was the new Avid Diva 2 turntable, while a pair of Auditor M loudspeakers from Italian speaker maestro Sonus Faber completed this sophisticated system, with occasional digital forays from Naim’s CD5i CD player providing the icing on the cake.

First up on my musical smorgasbord was an entrée of Massive Attack. ‘Karmacoma’, from their second album, has an atmospheric mix combined with a sly dub-inflected bassline. The XS handled this track beautifully, with excellent detail retrieval and that moody bassline underpinning the whole performance.

Changing tempo somewhat to Shelby Lynn’s Just A Little Loving’, and the XS-based system really came into its own; the vocals seemed to hang in space beautifully between the loudspeakers, while the decay of the stick sound from each snare drum rim shot created excellent ambience in the listening room.

It was great stuff, and certainly one was aware the XS was a cut above your average integrated amplifier both in terms of resolving power and musicality.

I decided some vinyl was in order, and in turning to the Avid Diva 2/Naim Stateline phono stage duo, onto the platter went Ernest Raglan’s Memories of Barber Mack. Now things were starting to really swing. It was so easy to pick out micro-detail such as the percussionist’s claves, while the hammers inside the piano were apparent as they struck the strings with every note. That was superb enough, but more impressively the music had great swing and pace – very involving and upbeat indeed.

I can’t recommend the Nait XS highly enough; certainly it could be used in systems even more upmarket than the one I heard during the audition.

Gary Pearce

TECH SPECS

Nait XS
Integrated Amplifier
$4750

POWER: 60W @ 8 Ohms, 90W @ 4 Ohms
ANALOGUE INPUTS: 4 x RCA/DIN, 1 x RCA/3.5mm jack, 1 x powered input for phono stage
TRANSFORMER: 380VA toroidal with five separate windings (2 x L&R power amp, 1 x preamp, 1 x display, 1 x relay switching)
DIMENSIONS: 70 x 432 x 301mm (H/W/D)
WEIGHT: 8.6kg

Pros

• Rugged construction

• Excellent sound quality

• Easy compatibility with 
non-Naim components

Cons

• Not a hell of a lot really, just listen to it!

Verdict

• Beautifully voiced and built, the Nait XS continues the tradition of fine sound quality we have come to expect from Naim

CONTACT

www.naim-audio.co.nz

This Review is from Tone Issue #76.

What do you think?