Major performance upgrades and now with added love for vinyl.
In the six years since the last NAIT integrated amplifiers were released, Naim's research and development team have worked on a range of amplifier improvements.
The result is upgraded power amplifier sections for NAIT XS 3, delivering greater pace and intimacy to their musical delivery – whether it's driving a pair of loudspeakers or your favourite pair of headphones.
The NAIT XS 3 offers much of the performance of our reference quality SUPERNAIT 3 in a simpler, slimmer package combining a 70W power amplifier with five analogue inputs plus a phono stage. Its high-performance preamplifier stage is as transparent as you would expect from a Naim Audio amplifier, and it also shares the single-ended class-A headphone output of its larger sibling.
The NAIT XS 3 can be upgraded with our external power supplies, power amplifiers and even cabling upgrades to get the best from all sources.
Technology & Craft
The upgrades in more detail:
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Naim's R&D team has found a way to more than double the speed of the voltage gain stage, which in turn doubles the rate at which the speaker output stage can react.
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The second gain stage transistors have been optimised, so they no longer need to be shielded by a cascode stage transistor. Removing the cascode means less amplifier stabilisation is required: that doubles the slew rate and delivers another uplift in sound quality.
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The phono circuit topology comprises 3 stages: the gain stage, passive equalisation and final gain and active equalisation. This enables excellent noise performance, extended RIAA equalisation beyond the audio band and great overload headroom.
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All RIAA equalisation capacitors are ‘through-hole’ mounted film designs, with low microphonic pickup and excellent transient performance. As phono stages are 1000x more sensitive than other inputs, this greatly benefits the sound quality.
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Input impedance is 47kohms in parallel with 470F capacitive loading; the gain is perfect for 5mV moving magnet cartridges
Features
With Naim's typical obsessive attention to detail – all in service of achieving the most authentic musical performance – the NAIT XS 3 benefits from the following features:
- Class A headphone amplification
- Alps Blue Velvet volume control
- Reed relay input selection
- Ceramic insulators for the power transistors
- Galvanically isolated microprocessor control section
- Microphonic-isolating PCB mounts
Audio Inputs
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MM Phono Input
via RCA, 47k parallel 470pF input impedance, suitable for 5mV cartridges
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Line Level Inputs
130mV sensitivity, 47k input impedance, suitable for 2V
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Power Amp In
DIN Socket
Audio Outputs
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Powered Accessory Sockets
+24V for Naim phono amplifier
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Speaker Outputs
70W per channel into 8 ohms (4mm sockets), 100W per channel into 4 ohms
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Line Outputs Variable (level)
Pre-amp (DIN), Sub (RCA pair) 775mV, <50 ohms
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Line Outputs Fixed (level)
AV (DIN), Stream (DIN) 130mV, 600 ohms
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Headphone Output
1/4 inch (6.35mm) TRS Socket
Connectivity
Finish
Physical
Power
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Power Consumption (max.)
350VA
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Mains Supply
115V, 230V; 50 or 60Hz
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Power Consumption (quiescent)
16VA
Supplied with
User Control
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"Best Stereo Amplifier £1500-£3000"
"Naim's supremely musical amp picks up yet another award."
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"The Nait XS 3 is a fit-and-forget product in the best sense. It slots into your system and does exactly what you want it to, and that’s deliver the music with emotional impact intact. We can’t ask any more of an amplifier than that."
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"But where the Supernait manages to have moments of driving some of the speakers used for testing to a point lower than it ‘feels’ the speaker should be able to go, the XS3 simply drives them to a point you might more reasonably expect them to bottom out."
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"There's a lovely warmth and richness to the sound from vinyl, allied to fine detail and a smooth, easygoing quality that makes it a delight to listen to."
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"This amplifier turns in a well-defined, highly detailed and carefully ordered sound – ticking all the right ‘hi-fi’ boxes – but more than this, it really sings."
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"The reason why I used to sell so many Naits 30 years ago was down to one big thing; it sounded damn good. Thirty years on, the core concepts have not changed: the Nait was a damn good amplifier then, and the Naim Audio Nait XS 3 is a damn good amplifier now."
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"This is a definite improvement on the NAIT XS 2 – which was certainly no slouch, sonically. The XS 3 sounds noticeably more emotionally articulate and involving, yet still retains the controlled and balanced character of its predecessor. At the same time, the new phono stage is way better than you would expect in an integrated amplifier of this price, with a genuinely engaging and incisive nature."
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