Naim Nait 5si and Kef Ls50 - any experience?

Cacophonix1984

Cacophonix1984

Enthusiast
I live in Bangalore with not much opportunity to do demos of Naim and Kef - the nearest Kef is 40 km away, and the nearest Naim dealer is in Mumbai - about a 1000 km away.

I have had the Naim Nait 5si for about 10 days now driving my B&W 704 front speakers, and the sound has been getting better by the day for jazz, vocals, INDIAN classical music, though a tad weak for rock music.

I ordered a pair of Kef LS50s from the UK, and they are in their way. I have read some reviews that they would work well together, and some that suggest that the Naim may struggle with the LS50s.

Anyone with this combo at home? Could you share your experience?

Thanks in advance.
 
tyhjaarpa

tyhjaarpa

Audioholic Field Marshall
You should be fine unless you wan't to play really loud or your space is really big. KEF LS50 is a nice speaker how ever!
 
P

PENG

Audioholic Slumlord
Those speakers are designed for smaller rooms so 60W per channel should be fine but 120-200W would obviously be better. If your room is small but not too small, say 11X16X9 or larger, you should add a subwoofer. My room is a little larger than that and the sub definitely help a lot.
 
Cacophonix1984

Cacophonix1984

Enthusiast
Any thoughts on subwoofers? I need one with a speaker level input as my Naim Nait 5si does not have a dedicated sub out.
 
tyhjaarpa

tyhjaarpa

Audioholic Field Marshall
Any thoughts on subwoofers? I need one with a speaker level input as my Naim Nait 5si does not have a dedicated sub out.
What is available for you? Or can you import easily? And if so, from where would you rather to buy from?
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Naim amps generally are useless for sub management. Naim is overpriced crap in my opinion. I wouldn't own one if you paid me.
 
Cacophonix1984

Cacophonix1984

Enthusiast
I have now bought a pair of Harbeth 30.s, and a Peachtree Nov 220SE for a second room.

So i plan to park buying the sub for now!
 
killdozzer

killdozzer

Audioholic Samurai
When I asked about Peachtree Nova it didn't get a lot of love being a Class D amp. Everyone kept saying something along the line of I never heard any difference but would not own Class D amp for hi-fi.

I did like many of the other features Peachtree puts in their integrated amps. Their "philosophy" is very close to mine; 2.1, USB DAC (PC and Mac compatible), good headphone amp built in, analogue inputs for phono, etc. But there's also some bollocks, like a tube for natural sound, which I don't like.

Many subwoofer designs (even very expensive ones) sport a Class D amp as the shortcomings should not be audible at lower frequencies. But it appears you might hear them when playing high and loud.

I'm sorry you asked only after you bought it. At first you asked about Naim, which although overpriced measures pretty good from what I read at stereophile.
 
killdozzer

killdozzer

Audioholic Samurai
Good to know, thanks. Would you have it as your main and only amp?:) Kiddin'. All I said was what I was told. Everyone kept talking about that one Class D which will finally be shoulder to shoulder with usual AB, and up to hi-fi home audio, but it never came. I didn't know about ATI.
 
Cacophonix1984

Cacophonix1984

Enthusiast
When I asked about Peachtree Nova it didn't get a lot of love being a Class D amp. Everyone kept saying something along the line of I never heard any difference but would not own Class D amp for hi-fi.

I did like many of the other features Peachtree puts in their integrated amps. Their "philosophy" is very close to mine; 2.1, USB DAC (PC and Mac compatible), good headphone amp built in, analogue inputs for phono, etc. But there's also some bollocks, like a tube for natural sound, which I don't like.

Many subwoofer designs (even very expensive ones) sport a Class D amp as the shortcomings should not be audible at lower frequencies. But it appears you might hear them when playing high and loud.

I'm sorry you asked only after you bought it. At first you asked about Naim, which although overpriced measures pretty good from what I read at stereophile.
I plan to have both setups in the living room for A/b comparisons of Amp speaker combos. Once I choose the winning combo, the second set will go the bedroom for more mellow duties.

I am a fake audiophile, and a lazy amateur, in that I am more focused on the music and less on the gear. I listen to everything and the kitchen sink.

I am beginning to try and get the basics right in terms of placement, acoustic treatment (sans acoustic panels and the like -just natural stuff - carpets, curtains, canvas paintings and the like which I get some room to manœuvre, with the final say so from the wife.

But my ears do tell me that I want more lower notes, first with the Naim and KEF LS50s and now with the Peachtree 220 SE and Harbeth M30.1s. Jazz sounds wonderful, and I have no complaints in the main. But my ears tell me they want more of the lower notes, and I do want a subwoofer for rock and blues.

I bought the Naim Nait used(2 months old), at a very steep discount, and the KEFs brand new. The second set is all second hand at great prices relative to retail, so am not concerned about having overpaid!
 
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