Resurrecting an old thread - for information: The Nait 2 has a line stage. This enables it to function as a preamp with a small modification.
The Nait is a nice amp, btw, and mine continues to see off a number of better designs I've run against it (given its power limitations and the kind of speakers I use with it).
I'm not sure the point of trying to clone Naim amps, given their system dependence. A better route would be to build something comperable - the Linsley Hood amp at Williamson-Hart receives good reviews when compared to the bigger Naim amps.
The Nait is a nice amp, btw, and mine continues to see off a number of better designs I've run against it (given its power limitations and the kind of speakers I use with it).
I'm not sure the point of trying to clone Naim amps, given their system dependence. A better route would be to build something comperable - the Linsley Hood amp at Williamson-Hart receives good reviews when compared to the bigger Naim amps.
I know this thread has been here a while, but I'l add my 5 cents for what it's worth.
18 Months ago I built the boards and regulators on Neil's website. I sat for weeks after work sifting through components and matching them (had to go buy a good few extra for this) and hunting down other components till I was satisfied I had real good stuff to homebrew.
I made a few small "makes no sense" changes component-wise back toward what NAIM used and a few of my own (TIP35C for the regulators) and MJL4281 for the output transitors.
When I eventually got it all together with it's dual 400va fully split power supplies , star grounding right through, 88K uF caps per channel , and my own preamp, a stripped down Elliot design but using BB and AD op amps, my own DAC and speakers and adjusted everything... it truly blew my mind.
I love this thing, I've built a total of 17 diferent amp designs now, but this one has become my personal listening favorite, and I've never been able to better it (for my own ears) I'm so scared of changing anything I liked it so much it's still all mounted on the original temporary base. The thousands worth of esoteric stuff I bought a few years ago now sits in my living room and only gets turned on to remind me of what I'm not missing.
The power regulators certainly did make a difference (took away any last hint of harshness)
Maybe it's just the peripherals, carefull wiring and everything being regulated including the pre amp, maybe I just got lucky with my setup, maybe I'm halucinating, but this clone made it all worthwhile.
It's nice when something works as we like, everytime I put on a disc while I'm working, all these glorious nuances, and transients and whatever else you want to call them jump out at me, I find myself turning around because I thought I heard something behind me, or somebody talk, only to realise it's a sound I had never realised before is on the disk.
Sometimes I get a bit busy and don't listen to it for a few weeks, when I turn it on, let it warm up and put that CD on, I'm in awe all over again, it startles me with sound so alive I cannot describe it, and am drawn in to the music in a way nothing else I have ever owned does.
And I guess that is all I wanted.
18 Months ago I built the boards and regulators on Neil's website. I sat for weeks after work sifting through components and matching them (had to go buy a good few extra for this) and hunting down other components till I was satisfied I had real good stuff to homebrew.
I made a few small "makes no sense" changes component-wise back toward what NAIM used and a few of my own (TIP35C for the regulators) and MJL4281 for the output transitors.
When I eventually got it all together with it's dual 400va fully split power supplies , star grounding right through, 88K uF caps per channel , and my own preamp, a stripped down Elliot design but using BB and AD op amps, my own DAC and speakers and adjusted everything... it truly blew my mind.
I love this thing, I've built a total of 17 diferent amp designs now, but this one has become my personal listening favorite, and I've never been able to better it (for my own ears) I'm so scared of changing anything I liked it so much it's still all mounted on the original temporary base. The thousands worth of esoteric stuff I bought a few years ago now sits in my living room and only gets turned on to remind me of what I'm not missing.
The power regulators certainly did make a difference (took away any last hint of harshness)
Maybe it's just the peripherals, carefull wiring and everything being regulated including the pre amp, maybe I just got lucky with my setup, maybe I'm halucinating, but this clone made it all worthwhile.
It's nice when something works as we like, everytime I put on a disc while I'm working, all these glorious nuances, and transients and whatever else you want to call them jump out at me, I find myself turning around because I thought I heard something behind me, or somebody talk, only to realise it's a sound I had never realised before is on the disk.
Sometimes I get a bit busy and don't listen to it for a few weeks, when I turn it on, let it warm up and put that CD on, I'm in awe all over again, it startles me with sound so alive I cannot describe it, and am drawn in to the music in a way nothing else I have ever owned does.
And I guess that is all I wanted.
Developing a Naim amp clone and matching DAC/Phono box
I realise this is an old thread but wondered if you were interested in helping someone else without the necessary skills [me] build something similar?
I realise this is an old thread but wondered if you were interested in helping someone else without the necessary skills [me] build something similar?
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