Naim Nac112/Nap150
Audio
Video July 2001
Musical reality
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Musical reality
THE
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HI-FI AND MUSIC IS ONE THAT BRITISH SPECIALIST AUDIO
MARQUE NAIM UNDERSTANDS BETTER THAN MOST - OR AT LEAST, CLAIMS TO. IT'S
MAINSTREAM SERIES 5 PRODUCTS PROVE THE POINT WITH SUCCINCTNESS AND
CLARITY.
FEW other serious audio brands - on the
British specialist hi-fi scene, in particular - have evoked as much
debate, passionate admiration and vociferous criticism as Naim.
The marque has been accused of arrogance and
egocentricism as often as it has been hailed for producing musically pure
hi-fi components - a polarisation of opinion that, if anything, underlines
Naim's resolve to apply its own parameters and standards, with or without
the sanction of the buying market.
Not that there's ever been a shortage of
purchasers intent on owning what used to look like a pretty ordinary
collection of black boxes. The Naim magic is far too potent for that.
Indeed, so consistent has that demand been that a
rejuvenation of the Naim product line-up is a fairly recent development.
And who can blame the marque for not wanting to change what had been a
winning formula for such a long time?
The system under sonic scrutiny here is part of
the latest Series 5 line-up of components. By Naim standards, it is the
marque's most affordable range, although as our pricing shows, it's hardly
batting in the budget league. Rather, we're talking pure-bred specialist
audio here, with no concessions to the likes of home theatre.
Naim's approach over a period of more than a
quarter of a century has always been to focus on the essence of the music,
rather than on the technical accuracy of its reproduction. Which
immediately explains the criticism it has traditionally had to endure from
some quarters.
In that sense, there's almost an analogy in
digital vs analogue, or the solid state vs tube debates - discussions
unlikely to be settled in the favour of either party, but where arguments
for and against can be led with equal conviction.
My personal measure is perhaps an even simpler
one: does the system reproduce music in a way that promotes its enjoyment?
And can that sense of sonic well-being be sustained over an extended
period of time? I'm happy to report that the Naim components convincingly
conform to that standard.
Although our focus with this review is on a
pre-amp/power amp combination, the system employed for the evaluation
consisted solely of Naim units.
More specifically, the source signal was provided
by a Naim CD5 CD player (recently reviewed separately), while the speakers
were Naim Credo floorstanders, which will be the subject of a separate
report later.
However, the real reason for this review are
three Naim-branded components. Yes, three: a Naim NAC112 pre-amplifier, a
NAC150 stereo amplifier ... and a FLATCAP2 power supply. Indeed, the
addition of a power supply has always been an upgrade path offered by
Naim, and just how well it works in this context is one of the aspects
I'll be considering.
Those familiar with Naim will know that
arresting, fashionable aesthetics have never been high on the brand's
priority list. Instead, it always believed that the real frills should be
under the covers, where they matter most.
More than a quarter of a century later, Naim
traditionalists may be aghast about the new design direction displayed by
the latest Naim kit. But in real terms, the redesign isn't overly radical:
the all-metal casings are finished in sombre black, against which the
brightly lit emerald of the Naim logo is starkly contrasted.
The effect is that of a kind of sanitised
industrial design, with function clearly as important as form. Rotary
controls and simple buttons are the norm, and only the unusual fascia,
with its curved centre section, attempts to break away from convention.
In essence, the rear panel is pretty
straightforward, although the idiosyncratic preference for DIN-style
sockets for the array of six line-level inputs, as well as the pre-amp and
recording outputs is yet another archetypal Naim trait.
The principle here is that the proprietary
interlinks are system-matched and cost-effective, but adapted cables from
the likes of the Chord Company and Nordost are also offered for those who
still feel compelled to tweak.
As is the case with all the components that make
up the Naim 5 Series, the NAC112 is based on the more expensive, more
complex Naim pre-amps such as the NAC52 and NAC82.
Quality construction includes a decoupled PC
board flexibly mounted to combat vibration, star grounding and
time-aligned filter networks. A ladder array of discrete transistors is
employed for the volume and balance controls.
The NAP150 stereo power amplifier has identical
dimensions to the NAC112 pre - and, for that matter, the CD5 CD player.
The DIN-sized box is even more minimalist than its pre-amp partner, and
offers nothing except power-on lighting on the fascia.
At the rear, you'll find a kettle plug power
socket with rocker power on switch, a set of 4 mm binding posts, which
you're supposed to use with dedicated terminal blocks and attached Naim
speaker cable. There's also a DIN socket that serves as an audio signal
input, but also feeds power to the NAC112 pre.
The NAP150 has a very conservative output rating
of 50 watts RMS per channel into 8 ohms. Based on the NAP500, this power
amp delivers loads of current, and features an impressively specified
power supply, complete with toroidal power transformer.
In the review system, we used the FLATCAP2 power
supply to feed power to the NAC112, instead of providing it via the
proprietary cable from the NAP150. The power supply ensures that a
component such as the NAC112 is efficiently and cleanly powered. We also
used the FLATCAP2 with the CD5, since it can be used to feed two
components.
The system was allowed to warm up for a good few
hours before any critical listening began. Also, we decided to listen to
the system with and without the FLATCAP2, in order to try and ascertain
just what differences can be expected.
What followed was sheer sonic joy. As I already
experienced during the review of the CD5, the Naim system has an
extraordinary talent to involve, thanks to a delivery that, in the first
instance, exudes a sense of believability and realism that is rarely
achieved, even in the upper reaches of the audio world.
Some of the magic is due to a tonal approach that
is smooth and lush without blunting the edge of fine detail on offer. The
bass, in particular, is deep to the point of sombreness, but with a
truthful timbre that underscores the almost tangible credibility of the
rest of the tonal spectrum.
While the midrange is rich, it's never allowed to
sound ponderous or bloated, while the progression to velvety treble is
seamlessly achieved. That every shard of musicality is retained with
clear, brilliant precision only serves to heighten the sense of realism.
Instead, it judiciously exercises the control
vested in it to ensure that it contributes to the articulate whole of the
performance.
All this served up on a soundstage that can only
be described as magnanimous. Indeed, staging appears to take little
cognisance of the physical dimensions of the listening venue, instead
taking its cues from the scale of the recording. Thus, an intimate chamber
ensemble sounds intimate, while the scope and size of a symphony orchestra
is accommodated with equal ease.
That the dimensionality of the staging is
accompanied by precise imaging and focus only heightens the sensation of
believability that is at the core of the Naim system, and makes listening
to anything from a Beethoven piano sonata to Radiohead in full cry a
compelling, addictive affair.
What then is the role played by the FLATCAP2 in
all this? While the system sounds more than respectable without the use of
the dedicated power supply, its contribution in terms of tonal depth,
staging and overall accessibility is so potent that once experienced, it's
very hard to go without.
It's certainly a very effective, high-value
upgrade that any Naim owner should consider, and provides a natural
upgrade path. Indeed, the modularity of the Naim component family as a
whole augurs well for long-term ownership, since further benefits can be
gained from bi-amping via a second power amp, for instance.
The bottom line of this system - and, one
suspects, of Naim components in general - is a focus on musical realism.
For this kind of money, it easily reaches into realms of quality usually
associated with higher price points, adding a strong element of value to
what is already a very attractive, sonically sound package.
Deon Schoeman
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SYSTEMS
The importers insist that Naim components happily co-exist with other
quality marques in a system, and indeed will deliver their trademark
musicality even when rubbing shoulders with non-Naim units. But there's
also a substantial measure of sonic synergy when, as is the case here, the
entire signal path is kept in the Naim family, so to speak.