This month we are going to focus on a customer’s system journey through time, not wanting to Naim names, of course. Just think of Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, only more exciting! Our chronological journey will be heard through the ears of a long standing customer of Audio T Brighton, who has waxed lyrical about the performance of his newly acquired Naim system. It may take a few more than 222 words though, 250 or 300 perhaps! (See what we did there?)

An itinerary of our Naim journey...

Let’s have a brief look at the components we’ll be focusing on... the Naim NSC 222 streaming preamp, Naim NAP 250 stereo power amp and optional Naim NPX 300 power supply.

Not wanting to step on the toes of my colleagues, but an in-depth look at the new Naim 200 series has been written by Audio T Bristol, which you can read here.

Let the journey commence...

Naim 200 series with a Naim classic nap250dr

Paul is a regular visitor to Audio T Brighton and has waxed lyrical about his Naim and Linn kit over the past forty-or-so years he has traversersed through the hi-fi rabbit hole. He recently decided to purchase some new gear from Audio T as part of the Naim 200 series, including the Naim NSC 222 streaming preamp and Naim NPX 300 power supply.

I will let Paul tell you his story in his own words:

I bought my first Naim kit around 1981, getting a 42/110 with moving coil boards to use with my then LP12, Syrinx PU2 and Asak and shortly afterwards got a pair of Linn Kan speakers. It sounded great and I kept it for around 15 years pretty much as was, except for changing the PU2 to an Ittok and replacing the Asak in the later 80s with a cheaper cartridge, as at the time I could not afford another Asak level cartridge. There was also a change of speakers due to an ex-partner preferring bigger speakers with a fat woolly bass, one of my biggest regrets was selling the Kans but I did get a good price through the for-sale board in Jefferies Hi-Fi (now Audio T Brighton) and got a bargain Meridian 104 tuner from the shop, that I still have.

In the mid to late 90s I upgraded the 42/110 to a 32.5 with 72 boards, a 140 followed soon after with Hi-Cap. I also upgraded a Rotel CD to a Marantz CD10. I also got a pair of Rega Ela Mk1s. The Linn LP12 stayed as is, probably serviced a couple of times by John at Audio T Brighton as I had a cartridge fitted, again cheapish cartridges as money was tight then and the LP12 became very much a secondary source as I was buying and listening to CDs mostly. This system lasted until 2014, when my cancer prompted me to simplify my system and I bought a Unitilite to use with my existing speakers, but soon upgraded to a pair of Rega RX3s. I also had some work done on the LP12 and I got a Dynavector 10x5. I kept the Unitilite when I bought the Uniti Star in about 2018, having two good systems. At this time my intention was to stay with the Star/RX3 for the long term.

Prior to the pandemic, I had vaguely considered upgrading to a separate system as the NAC-N272 with a power amp would have sounded better, against this I would have lost the benefits of the Star ripping and functionality so stuck with what I had. Then the pandemic happened and I found myself at home a lot more and listened to a lot more music again, mostly ripped CDs but Vinyl was being played more. Audio T started selling lots of ex-dem products, which I saw from the monthly email, and I spoke with John about getting a 250DR as a first step, with the expectation of the 272 replacement arriving sooner than it did. Shortly afterwards a pair of SCM40s were available ex-dem, so I jumped at them.

This system worked really well in my old home and in some way buying the speakers before I moved was a bit of a risk. Fortunately, they work as well if not slightly better in my new room. After moving I was listening to music more and getting back into listening to LPs more. Once the NSC 222 was announced I soon ordered one with a NPX300 to use with my existing 250DR. Around the same time I finally went for the upgrades to my LP12 that I had been talking about with John for a while, initially I was going to do the upgrades in two stages but fortunately decided to do them all at once.

The upgraded LP12 arrived back slightly before my 222 was ready. It was so much better that I began listening much more to LPs again. Once the 222/300 arrived, the MM input and preamp stage improved the sound quality even further. The 222 is a significant improvement over the Star as you would expect. The SQ in all aspects is improved. In the 70s the concept of “musicality” was formulated and the system did become more musical. In today's terminology, “PRaT” was improved. The system 6 weeks in is still improving and I am listening to Rips and LPs much more than I did and listening to Radio 6 less. TV hardly gets a look in these days.

Atc scm40’s on the end of a naim nsc222, npx300 and nap250dr.

Summing it all up...

We would very much like to thank our customer, Paul, for providing us with such a detailed hi-fi history for this blog. There are many positives to be taken from this, including system satisfaction, sound quality and good customer service from Audio T. Once again, I hope that our future potential customers can see the value in dealer service over speculative purchases from online retailers, where the personal touch and face-to-face conversation still offers a better and more rewarding experience.

Thanks for reading.

Ade, John and Paul - Audio T Brighton

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us.

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on our social media channels below…