Since 1973 Naim has embodied the best separate Hi-Fi elements we've come to love over the last fifty years. Designed and developed by Naim engineers in Salisbury these timeless products are still used in people’s homes today, maybe because of Naim's philosophy of servicing a vast majority of products ever manufactured by them is the reason why. Of course, the milestone of 50 years is a biggy, and Naim have developed a trifecta of pieces called the New Classic Range to celebrate this.

A Trilithon - Naim 200 Series

The capstone in this trilogy is the NSC 222 preamp, and it continues with Naim’s streaming skillset, which is respected industry wide. The Naim app lets you stream from Tidal, Qobuz, Spotify and Apple Music. It supports bitrates up to 32 bits/284 kHz and is Roon ready. It also notably comprises of the same headphone amplifier found in the Naim Uniti Atom headphone edition, again, really well received among the HiFi press. With the added bonus of a MM phono stage the NSC 222 is the “all rounder”streaming preamp we have been waiting for.

The Engine Room

There is also a new version of the NAP 250, now yielding a 100w dual-mono design powerhouse.

This iconic amplifier has been around since 1975 in one form or another and is basically a Naim stalwart that now has trickle-down technology from the Naim Statement series, adding to it’s lore even further.

A clever new heat sink adjusts to temperature fluctuations, thus keeping things in check during those extended listening sessions and true balanced XLR inputs for each channel are a step up from the single connection from the current NAP 250.

Icing on the Cake

The final embellishment of this threesome is the NPX 300 PSU. It's a completely redesigned power supply by Naim. It's different to the way the older power supplies work. It now feeds directly into the pre-amp, bypassing any route through a power amp. This again reduces the noise floor yet further. A pretty big change in our opinion.

It uses two internal power supplies, one of which completely disables the internal power supply in the NSC 222 and can also be used in multiples to really beef up a system. Another bonus here is that you can use the NPX 300 with legacy equipment such as NAC 272 and the NDX2.

New Look

One other thing of note with the Naim is the styling. The casework is stunning. A combination of the classic 500 series with a touch of Uniti and Statement, with a fit and finish that is impeccable, super clean lines and deep black brushed metal finish that oozes quality (yorkshire accent).

Listen Up

Now then, the sound quality.

In a nutshell, we're blown away. It's the Naim sound we know but not quite as we know it. There's a difference which is palpable, enjoyable, not fatiguing, foot tapping and fun.

To be honest, we are still going through our listening phase with the New Classic. It's being used with vinyl and streaming, our playlists include Electronic, acoustic, Jazz funk and punk, which included the Mad Caddies, Jimmy Smith, Nick Drake and some Moderat, and we had fun with all of them.

Something tells me the 200 Series is literally going to go down as a classic.

We have our New Classic on permanent display and demo at our Manchester store.

Thanks for reading,

Munir - Audio T Manchester

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