New year – New amplifier. At the end of 2025, something strange happened. I was doing some research for a CD player that would match my system. Asking for advice from the usual excellent TNT-Audio, I was given three magic names: Naim, Rega, Cyrus. Something clicked in my head. These names brought back memories of when, at the end of 1991, I bought the speakers that, at all costs, I wanted to base my system on: TDL Studio 0.5. At the first store I visited, they immediately made it clear to me that my modest amplifier, although good, would not be able to drive them; and so those same three magical names came up…

It’s a long leap from the end of 1991 to the end of 2025. But my emotional memory is still vivid. As I search for information on the CD players from these three prestigious British brands, I think back to the fact that for a while I already had an amplifier from one of the three manufacturers, a Naim Nait 5i. In 1991, I was unable to try out the TDLs with all of the British amplifiers that were recommended to me. I would have liked to select one and dreamed of my future TDLs driven by a Naim or a Mission Cyrus, etc. I ended up buying a very Italian (and excellent) Unison Research Mood. It was a fantastic amplifier. But after almost thirty years, I wanted a modern upgrade, and it was natural to look for a successor to the Naim I never had, a Nait 5i, at virtually no cost.

Later on, with all the introspection that accompanies major life milestones, such as turning 60, my reaction to this important landmark was to treat myself to an almost selfish gift: returning to my early days with Unison Research by purchasing a more modern Unico, in memory of the old Unison and TDL pairing. I had the opportunity to try them out in parallel for a while. At that point, the Nait lost out. Although probably more detailed, precise and consistent, at the low end, where more power was needed for the transmission line speakers, the Italian integrated amplifier seemed to push harder.

But when recently I found myself considering Naim and Cyrus products again, I had a flash of inspiration: the image of an all-British system magically came to life in my mind: a Cyrus CD player, a Naim amplifier and TDL speakers. Why not?

I still had doubts that a higher-end Nait could drive my speakers at low frequencies at least as well as the Unico. If I found a good Nait superior to the 5i, I could always resell the Unison at a good price or, if not, I could resell the Nait itself, at the same time having a lot of fun doing HiFi tests without affecting the family finances.

After considering the 5si, a well-made 60W integrated amplifier with good power delivery, I also considered the Nait XS, a superior model but, in its first version, still affordable for me. The Nait XS is not an evolution of the 5si. It is the less expensive version of the Supernait, the top-of-the-range integrated amplifier from Naim. Sonically, it should not be very different and, although it also delivers 60W, its construction is superior in terms of both components and engineering. The cost of a used unit was less attractive than that of the 5si. I could only focus on the first model. The XS-2 would have been a bit too much of a stretch, and the XS-3, currently in production, was completely out of reach. After all, I had to keep in mind that the operation had to be cost-neutral: I had to find a Nait XS at a price at which I could easily sell the Unison Research.

It didn’t take long for a well-maintained and affordable unit to appear in the ads, and within driving distance, just over an hour away. I made an offer and it was quickly accepted. Within a few days, I was on my way to pick up the Naim. When I got home with my new Nait, I was excited, maybe not like a child, but almost like the young man who had finally brought home the speakers of his dreams back in 1991.

I want to point out that I’m totally aware of how trivial these little pleasures are, but I also know that they’re the secret weapon of people like me who still have a strong inner child. It’s not a flaw, it’s not something that needs to be stifled, quite the opposite! Children are far superior to us in their approach to life (leaving aside technicalities such as the dangers to be learned to avoid and the responsibilities to be taken on, we are not talking about that). We should not forget what a child’s natural curiosity means and the enthusiasm with which they approach new things. Without doing anything crazy or irresponsible, we would do well to nurture our inner child from time to time: it is good for our psychological health. And that is exactly what I have done and will continue to do. Quite simply, it makes for a better life.

Now that we’ve dealt with the psychological aspect, let’s return to emotions, even if their object is trivial. The Nait was packed in bubble wrap. It felt pleasantly heavy. When I took it out of the packaging, I was surprised by how neat and elegant it looked, exuding high quality from every angle. I didn’t remember getting these feelings when I first saw the 5i. Yes, I was in the presence of something superior. A legendary Supernait in miniature.

I have never been a Naim devotee in the true sense of the word. The British brand has generated a following that sometimes resembles a cult. Normally, these things leave me perplexed, but in the case of Naim, we are talking about high-end sound engineering. I can happily leave the devotees alone and enjoy the sound of a beautifully designed and constructed product. The founder of Naim was a brilliant engineer named Julian Vereker. The name of the company, based in Salisbury in the green English countryside, is the surname of his then wife, Shirley Naim. This romanticism alone is enough to fascinate me.

Julian Vereker’s technical choices left their mark on Naim Audio from the outset, and this is still evident in modern products. No frills, just careful engineering focused solely on the essentials, eliminating as many details as possible that could affect the sound, starting with circuit paths designed to be as short as possible. Every feature of a Naim product has a sound engineering reason behind it. Aesthetics are not a major consideration. Less is more. But there are no compromises on component quality. Every little detail contributes to the final result. Each one may seem insignificant on its own, but if they are neglected for this reason, the sound quality will ultimately suffer.

In the 1960s, Julian Vereker recorded his friends playing live in various bands. When he listened to the music at home, he was not at all satisfied with the reproduction. So he wanted to create something of his own that would overcome those limitations and bring the recorded music to life, as if you were really listening to it in person. Thus, Naim Audio was born in 1969. He first created preamplifiers (Naim Audio Controller = NAC) and power amplifiers (Naim Audio Power = NAP). In 1983, the same technology was incorporated into Naim’s first integrated amplifier, the Nait 1 (Naim Audio Integrated Technology). It was an integrated amplifier that sounded like no other: it focused on pace, rhythm and timing (PRaT), which Julian believed brought reproduced music to life. This feature has remained a hallmark of Naim products to this day.

The Nait had both a version 2 (1988) and a version 3 (1993). So the Nait that was suggested to me in 1991 for my future TDLs was probably a Nait 2. The year 2000 saw the advent of the 5 series (for some reason the 4 was skipped), with three models: the Nait 5i (which I had for a few years) at the entry level, the XS in the middle and the Classic series at the top. In 2007, the Supernait was released, and with it the Nait 5i (or 5i-2 “italics”, with the “i” in italics); the XS was revisited more for aesthetic reasons (the original boxes bear the inscription XS 2, but internally the design is almost identical – it is the Nait I have now). In 2013, further modernisation took place and the series became Nait 5si, Nait XS-2 and Supernait 2. The Nait 5si remained the entry level even later when the other levels were updated to Nait XS-3 and Supernait 3, now in production.

As I am writing, I still don’t know which CD player will be the source of this chain, with Nait XS and TDL Studio 0.5. As long as I had the Unison Research Unico, I would have liked a Naim as a source, remembering my dream of having the prestigious British brand in my system. But now that I’ve been struck by Nait Fever again, a Naim integrated amplifier is finally, once more, at the heart of my system, and I wouldn’t mind a Rega and perhaps even more so a Cyrus as a digital source. I compared the Nait XS with the Unico for a few days. It was very easy to sell the latter for the same price I bought the Naim for. I’m happy because I’ve improved my system a little without spending a cent.

A little. It’s actually a classic side-grade. I could have been completely satisfied with the Unico. But given the zero cost, I was taken by the fever of having a Nait as an amplifier. In comparison, I actually noticed greater definition and detail in the Nait, without losing any three-dimensionality (Naims are famous for having a lot of PRaT but little three-dimensionality). I didn’t notice this, at least compared to the Unico. And I’ve also read flattering reviews of the Nait XS in this regard. After all, it is the smaller version of the first Supernait, a spectacular amplifier. I was concerned about the low range because in this area I had found the Unison Research to be more capable and deeper than the Nait 5i. But the XS is in a different league. You can tell it belongs to a higher class. I don’t miss any detail in the mids and highs, nor the depth and, above all, the extreme control in the bass.

Now I wonder if, with a worthy digital source, I could have perceived greater differences between the two competitors. I will never know, since the Unico left very quickly. In the way I performed the tests, the two integrated amplifiers are very close in performance; both sound great, but I couldn’t help myself, I couldn’t resist, and in the end I too was caught up in Nait Fever…