■ REVIEW

The SUPERNAIT is Dead,

I
ntegrated amplifiers have been the mainstay of stops pulled out in order to maximise sound quality.
the amplifier market since the days when solid A clear sense of belief may be seen in the way it
state took over from valves, but Naim Audio has been designed and built, to make it into a
spent its first ten years specialising in separate pre- ‘flagship’ integrated design. It keeps the faith with
and power combinations, frequently available with Naim’s design principles for fine timing, upbeat
pre-amp power supplies in additional outboard tempos and crisp boom-free bass, while taking the
boxes. These kept the smallest signals well clear of opportunity to further extend the performance in
the larger ones and also allowed upgrading through respect of clarity, neutral timbre, improved focus
substitution of the pre-amp itself or of the power and image depth, aspects of performance which
supplies (or both). are becoming increasingly prevalent in the Naim
Naim also pioneered the ultra-simple approach to oeuvre, and which have greatly helped to enhance its
pre-amplification, notably by omitting tone control international appeal. There is barely any change to
stages. Partly as a result, the option arose simply to the specifications; the real difference is how it sounds
fit an input selector switch and a ‘passive’ volume when playing music.
control to a well priced small power amplifier, In outline this is a conservatively rated 80+80W/
jack up the input sensitivity a tad by reducing ch amplifier which nearly doubles its power
the feedback, and create a ‘line input’ integrated capability into 4ohm loads, delivering firm drive into
amplifier with short signal paths. adverse loads. It has six analogue line level inputs and
Back in 1983, a decade after the company was also particularly low power consumption, generally
founded, Naim introduced its first integrated running almost cold to the touch. As before, the
amplifier, a compact 15W/ch device called the active pre-amplifier section may be powered by
NAIT. I had no contact with Naim at the time, but several choices of optional auxiliary outboard power
it was so inexpensive (I recall £170), that I bought supplies, but the consensus is that that the advantage
one for review and liked it too. A number of NAIT gained by upgrading using an external power supply
variations have appeared since then, two of which is somewhat debatable, as the internal pre-amp
HIFICRITIC has reviewed in recent years (the supply in this latest version has been considerably
original SUPERNAIT five years ago and the more improved.
recent and less costly NAIT5 XS, see Vol1 No4 and Reflecting the massive increase of interest in
Vol3 No4). Both were also assessed with optional headphone listening, another feature is the inclusion
outboard pre-amp power supplies, reducing the of a dedicated headphone amplifier, employing
influence of the internal power amplifier on the pre- single-ended Class A constant current technology
amp stage, and consequently delivering worthwhile which should provide good sound. A line output is
gains in sound quality. available for subwoofer drive, and also a mini USB
In the HIFICRITIC review of the original socket to allow easy updates for the control software.
SUPERNAIT, I gently queried the need to fit a As before, a system remote link is included, but this
medium grade DAC with S/PDIF input to it, as I is now built with optical isolation to remove possible
believed that an analogue-only, purist version of this ground noise coupling. All in all, this sounds rather
significantly powerful integrated amplifier could well like a brand new amplifier.
turn out to be a grand proposition. This could now
fairly be said to have occurred, in the form of this Technology
new SUPERNAIT 2. Compare the interiors of the previous and new
However, this newcomer is no mere stripped- models and the latter has been clearly and radically
down upgrade of the original. It is fair to say that upgraded. Through a tidier main board design, and
that it is actually a massive redesign, with all the the deletion of the digital input section, space has

26 HIFICRITIC OCT | NOV | DEC 2013

MARTIN COLLOMS

been found to enlarge the already oversize toroidal married to a distinct ‘direct coupled’ quality – a sense
mains transformer, which should speed transient of short signal path clarity and immediacy which
recovery, and improve the bass attack and timing. quickly engages the listener.
The wiring loom is a critical factor, and here it Straight out of the box it sounded rather
has been analysed and reworked for lower noise bright, even a little chromium-plated – detailed
and higher resolution. The power supplies for the but somehow out of balance, lacking grace and
preamplifier section have been upgraded from coherence. During the running in period (and that
the traditional monolithic ‘chip’ regulators to the initial stage takes some weeks), it acquires extra poise
discrete ultra low noise DR technology, which has and a more natural tonal balance, with increased
previously been restricted to the costly auxiliary grace and transparency. The classic Naim virtue
external power supplies. of a clean, crisp and tuneful bass line was well in
Improvements in vibration control and place by now, but this amplifier also had a markedly
suppression include full decoupling of all audio low coloration sound that was truthful to sources,
inputs separating the incoming mechanical cable combined with convincing dynamics.
connections from the input circuit board. Improved Frankly it sounded rather more powerful and
circuit analysis software has allowed more subtle of higher quality than many substantially more
thermal and dynamic behaviours to be investigated, expensive amplifiers, and happily drove my Wilson
providing scope for further optimisation of well Sophia 3s as if made for the job. This combination
known topologies, and several audio-critical also revealed much about the high end virtues of my
electronic components have also been upgraded. test programme – image depth, focus and overall
More subtle factors analysed during the development quality. Where integrated amplifiers have generally
phase included dielectric absorption, temperature scored an average of 25 marks with exceptional
coefficients, microphony, susceptibility to electric designs such as the Krell 300i and the original
and magnetic fields, magnetostriction, and stray SUPERNAIT up in the thirties (the latter reached 49
capacitative coupling, for example to the chassis, and when it was augmented by adding an original HiCap
also to the output transistors and the integral low power supply to feed its pre-amp section). However,
resonance alloy heat sink. the run in SUPERNAIT 2 slammed in at 77, which
Vibration countermeasures are also found in in my view is genuine audiophile territory, while the
the decoupled Alps Blue Velvet balance and volume headphone amplifier was very good too, and may
controls, the hand-wired inputs (first seen in the therefore be regarded as a valuable bonus.
SuperLine), and input switching via low noise reed
relays fed silent, constant current control signals. Lab Report
As with the earlier designs, high quality passive The previous model measured very well so I looked
components are used in critical locations, including for possible differences that would correlate with
polystyrene capacitors and those costly, better the improved sound while compiling the lab
sounding ceramic heat pads for the power transistors. results. Flat out power is increased from 87W to
97W (both channels driven into 8ohms). At 4ohm
Sound Quality loading, power is increased from 144W to 156W
We were frankly bowled over by the fresh crisp for 1% clipping. The high frequency power is also
sound of this new design. First impressions were of a improved, to 95W for 8ohms and 148W for 4ohms.
bold, lively presentation, imbued with ample detail A maximum of 240W may be drawn for short
and with an expressive, upbeat and open character. term music related peaks into 2ohms, and the peak
Although it sounds thoroughly modern, traditional current limit has increased a little to a fine 16.5A.
Naim virtues of lively dynamics are also evident, Midband distortion at moderate power is

HIFICRITIC OCT | NOV | DEC 2013 27

similar at -72dB – better than 0.025% including are fine results. Channel balance tracking was very
noise – but it is much improved at high good before, but is now quite excellent, only 0.06dB
frequencies, up from -58dB to -70dB. Distortion out at a low volume level of -60dB, and typically
BEST BUY was similarly improved at rated power, up from 0.03dB. Input sensitivity was rather high for the
-71dB to -78 dB. A similar trend was also seen in mk1 and has sensibly now been reduced to 140mV
the high frequency intermodulation results, which for full power. There is also an improvement in DC
Review System improved 10dB from -70 dB to -80dB at rated offset at the output, from a 5.5mV average to 1mV.
D’Agostino Momentum Stereo, power. Channel separation was similar at low and It might be convenient to ascribe the
Naim NAP300 power amps; mid frequencies but had improved from 32dB to improvement in sound quality to the better lab
Audio Research REF5 SE, 45dB at 20kHz (noting that some of this crosstalk figures, but it is more likely that it is the other way
Townshend Allegri control is actually a design feature to mask residual cross round, and that the development work carried out
units; Naim UnitiServe channel distortion). to achieve better sound quality also improved the
network server and S/PDIF As before the frequency response is intentionally lab results!
source; Naim NDS/555 PS slightly limited (see graph), to -0.8dB by 20kHz here
streamer-DAC, Wilson Audio which I do not regard as audible, and is well filtered Conclusions
Sophia 3, Quad ESL63, thereafter. Even without the benefit of filtering, the The improvement in sound quality is not trivial.
BBC LS3/5a speakers; Finite accompanying noise and distortion trace is stable at The comprehensive rebuild and re-engineering has
Elemente Pagode Reference better than -66dB (0.05%), right up to 20kHz. See delivered a low coloration, short path sound which
racks; Cardas Golden Reference, also the 1kHz 1W distortion trace, which shows that is contagiously involving, immediate, detailed
Transparent XLmm2 VdH the significant harmonics are only third and fifth, at and highly musical. The SUPERNAIT 2 is best
TFU and NAC A5 cables. -84dB and -92dB: negligible. Very little hum and in class for bass tune playing and timing, but has
also no high frequency interference is seen here, so in also audiophile clarity, focus and depth to boot.
all this is an excellent result. This fresh sounding, well priced and beautifully
Naim Audio Signal-to-noise ratios have also been improved by engineered integrated amplifier is a no brainer for
Tel: 01722 426600 typically 6dB, and now measure around 76dB for a Best Buy and actually knocks on the door of our
www.naimaudio.com 1W under all instrument weighting regime – these Audio Excellence category.

INTEGRATED AMPLFIER TEST RESULTS (original SUPERNAIT values in brackets) Naim Supernait 2 1W 8ohm distortion spectrum
Make Naim Date 20/11/2013
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Model SUPERNAIT 2 Ser. No. 0352021
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POWER OUTPUT 20Hz 1kHz 20kHz
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Continuous 8 ohm 2 channel 92 (84) W 97 (87) W 95 (75(1) ) W
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Continuous 4 ohm 1 channel 140 (130) W 156 (144) W 148
_________________________________________________________________________________ (115) W
Pulsed 2 ohm 1 channel 240 (227) W
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Output impedance (ohms) 0.12 ohms 0.12 ohms 0.13 ohms
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Peak Current 16.5(15) A
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Distortion, THD inc. noise (1W) -72 (-70) dB -72 (-71) dB -70 (-58) dB
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Distortion, THD inc. noise (rated power) -80 (-78) dB -78 (-71) dB -68 (-61) dB
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Channel separation 61 (60) dB 60(58) dB 45 (32) dB
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Intermodulation Distortion 19.5kHz/20.5kHz 1:1 rated power, 8 ohms -80 (-70(3) ) dB
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Intermodulation Distortion 19.5kHz/20.5kHz 1:1 1W, 8 ohms -87 (-86) dB
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Signal to noise ratio (ref. 1W output) CCIR Weighted Unweighted A-weighted
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IHF. 0.5V Aux 75 (-64) dB 76 (-70) dB 78 (-73) dB Naim Supernait 2 Frequency Response 10W 8ohm
Disc mm - dB - dB - dB
Disc mc - dB - dB - dB distortion (green)
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Channel Balance over volume range
R ch is referenceat 0db 0(4) dB
at –20db 0.03 (0.3) dB
at –40dB 0.03 (0.38) dB
at –60dB 0.06 (0.38) dB
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Notes:
Mains voltage measured at 246V (1) and (2) protection (3) at just (4) balance
operates belowclip control set
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Absolute Phase correct
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Input Data Socket Sensitivity Loading
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Aux input balanced - -mV -ohms - nF
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Aux input single ended (full power)
Phono or DIN 140mV(85) mV 47k ohms 140 pF
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Disc mm Phono or DIN - mV - ohms nF
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Disc mc Phono - uV ohms nF
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DC offset L, R 2.1 (5.1) mV 0.5 (6.2) mV
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Size W, H , D mm ; weight 434 87 350 kg
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Price £ 2,825

28 HIFICRITIC OCT | NOV | DEC 2013