Alan Brownstone

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
3.80 of 5, 5.00 votes

Price Paid:  $100.00 from Friend

Summary:
After searching for over 30 years for my Nirvana I came across a nAP 110 which i had upgraded to a 140 by naim UK. This Amp is superb. I use it with a 72 and SNAPS, Theta Pearl and Chroma DAC with the JM Lab 927be speakers. Rhythms, depth, beautifully clear bass (I hate wallow) and trebles that shimmer. I recently tried a NAP 250 and was stunned that I preferred the 140. I may take one reviewers tip and go for a High Cap. No more upgrading for me!!

Strengths:
Clarity, dynamics, ease of listening, transparency - oh, there are so many strengths

Weaknesses:
Could look nicer, but with this sound, who cares,

Similar Products Used:
Rogue Tempest, Lavardin IT (both unreliable), Krell 300 with 150, Electrocompaniet ECI 1, Unison Research Unico

Price Paid:  $600.00 from Loot.com

Summary:
In my 72/HiCap/140 combo this power amp is amazing. It truely is a fit and forget amp - the musicality of it allows you to foget about hi-fi and rediscover music. This combo lets you forget all the spurious hi-fi talk and concentrate on what matters - the source material ie: the recorded work. Yes it is very revealing of poor sources, so don't hook up your old plastic Pioneer turntable and think you will be amazed, cos you will not! Also, do not bother using a non-Naim pre-amp with a 140. They usually sound poor or worse. Good 62'2, 72's are available second hand via eBay or Loot for £2-300, so check them out. Then if you want a REAL list in dynamics and depth, add a HighCap PSU. It takes it to a much higher level. I have had my combo for 5 years and I do not intend to change anything!

Strengths:
Great dynamics, drives very difficult speakers with ease, in use much more than 45 watts, simple. Not a fashion statement.

Weaknesses:
Only works well with the right pre-amp (Naim) though. Not a fashion statement.

Similar Products Used:
Naim NAC 62, 72, HiCap, NAP180, NAP250

Price Paid:  $150.00 from Surplus store

Summary:
I got this and a 42.5 pre-amp from a surplus store that had undervalued them - my idea was to re-sell them for some extra bucks. Wrong! After years of unsatisfactory set-ups I was listening to music again. I've since added decent interconnects and naim speaker cable and this is the best sound I have ever had - detail, sweetness, punch, and I can listen to it for hours. I'm converted and the only upgrade I would now consider is the Naim 250.

Strengths:
Everything.

Weaknesses:
The need for Naim's cables.

Similar Products Used:
Arcam 290P Power amp.

Price Paid:  $600.00 from Second Hand

Summary:
I have had more than my fair share of amplifiers as I used to work in a Hi End Hi-Fi shop in Manchester town centre UK. One day we traded in a little Naim Nait 3 and plugged it in for a laugh. It drove a pair of Kef reference speakers (£2,500)incredibly well with balls i''ve not heard from an integrated. So much so I took it home for a full audition. A week later I bought it! Working in a hi-end shop introduces you to some incredible sounding pices of kit but the basic ingredients of this amp were spot on. Ok, so the soundstage isn''t very deep but the drive and clarity got me hooked. The phono stage was also stunning for the money. To cut a long story short I had several Nait 3''s and finally managed to get my hands on a NAC72/NAP140 which is 11 years old. I was more than a little apprehensive because of the age of the units but once plugged in all that disapeared. This amp is simply phenominal and the best six hundred quid I have ever spent on Hi-Fi. If you have an older combo like mine it is well worth getting the units serviced and also replacing the old grey snaic with a new black one. The sound was cleaned up and sounds even better. I have a pair of Dynaudio Audience 52''s and this combo sounds great. There are a lot more expensive hifi systems out there but in my opinion you would have to spend a lot more money to get more music and enjoymnet than this pair.

Strengths:
Dynamics, musicality, detail. Ditto all other reveiws here. Upgradeable, excellent customer service. Phono stage is to die for! Vinyl Junkies line up here.

Weaknesses:
Needs top quality ancilary equipment as it is very revealing. Naim CD players clearly make an excellent partner although friends have good results with Rega CD players as well as a Marantz KI signature. Din cables, but hey, when something sounds this good they must make sense.

Similar Products Used:
Audiolab, Nait 3, Cyrus 3/PSX

Price Paid:  $1300.00 from Hi-Fi Centre, Vancouver

Summary:
Damn incredible. I don't care what the power rating says, this amp rips it up like no other. Scary-fast dynamic contrasts and rhythm and pace that are easily the best I have heard. Coming from a nait3 and listening now to a nac92/nap140, I am amazed by the difference this amp has made. The power seems to be FAR more than claimed, the soundstage went from acceptably big to bloody huge and incredibly transparent and spacious. Ease of presentation and articulation are outstanding. Music is presented fluidly and without any hard, artificail ugliness. There is LIFE in the music that no other company seems to be able to convey. The breathlessness the nait3 exhibited when driven hard is utterly absent with the nap140. This combination (naim cd3-5, 92/140) in conjunction with the North Creek Music Borealis speakers I built (do yourself a favour and look them up at www.northcreekmusic.com -easily the best I have heard for under $4000usd) plays music like no other 'hi-fi' I have listened to. Those of you into Naim will understand. Those of you looking to upgrade from a nait3 or nap90 to another power amp, do it. No regrets. Big-time difference, especially with semi-difficult speakers. Not cheap, but in every respect (besides image depth) an absolutely stunning amp.

I feel I ought to mention I a/b 'd the nap140 and the nap150 (the new 5 series amp) and Naim have changed the sound of the new series to a far more hi-fi kind of sound: imaging and smoothness have taken precedence to the energy and vigor and life of the older Naim gear. I am not trying to discredit the new series 5, just commenting that the older 'Naim sound' is quite different compared to the new. The 5 series seems to be targeting the standard hi-fi crowd, looking for the stereophile definition of perfection through their system, and not so much reality and life of a musical event. Just a word of notice, the new series is definately different, so don't but blind. I am sure the 5 series will find it's respective niche of devotees, but I'm afraid I'm an old school devotee when it comes to Naim.

Strengths:
dynamics, rhythm, drive, punch, 'jump' factor, power

Weaknesses:
As per typical Naim, not the last word in soundstaging and imaging

Similar Products Used:
naim nait3, naim nait5, naim 150, ps audio cx200, sumo polaris,