NAIT XS 3

Major performance upgrades and now with added love for vinyl.

OVERVIEW

In the six years since the last NAIT integrated amplifiers were released, our 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 has received significant performance upgrades, including a built-in phono stage, making it a perfect partner for turntables, as well as for streamers, CD players, or any other music source people want to enjoy with the signature Naim sound.

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.

Features

With our 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

Technology & Craft

The upgrades in more detail:

Our 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.

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.

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.

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.

Input impedance is 47kΩ in parallel with 470F capacitive loading; the gain is perfect for 5mV moving magnet cartridges

REVIEW & AWARDS

Naim Nait XS 3 review - Read More 

"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." - What Hi-Fi?

 
Naim Nait XS 3 - Read More 

"This is an artful piece of hi-fi and, like all great art, it succeeds because of its ability to elicit an emotional or intellectual response in the audience. For me, the XS 3 appeals to the intellect because it is technically bang on and does all the right hi-fi things. What you get for your money is a well-engineered bit of kit that has been lovingly crafted by a company with a solid pedigree. But – and this is most important point – it has that ineffable ability to engage the listener and deliver a performance that goes straight to the heart." - Rahiel ‘Naz’ Nasir

Naim Nait XS 3 Integrated Amplifier - Read More 

"Having done some brief comparative listening between the XS 3 with and without an offboard PSU, and Supernait 2 and 3 amplifiers, I'd suggest the money for a power supply for the XS 3 would be better spent on going for a Supernait 3 in the first place. After all, if you find yourself missing an extra black box, you can always upgrade the Supernait 3 later" - Andrew Everard

Naim Nait XS 3 - Read More 

"There’s been a sense that each successive generation of Naim’s Nait integrated amplifiers has been getting stronger and more sophisticated, but not necessarily better. Each refresh has brought greater smoothness, poise and assuredness – yet with some of that intrinsic ‘Naitness’ missing. The Nait XS 3 changes all that and delivers a more engrossing sound than its already capable predecessor – and gets back to basics with an excellent phono stage too" - Hi-Fi Choice

Nothing succeeds like XS - Read More 

"It is also important to stress that it is one that is free from fatigue or aggression too. One of the very first products I ever reviewed was a 152 XS Pre and 155 XS Power combo over a decade ago. This combination had the same excitement and punch available but there were times when listening to more delicate material that it felt as though it didn’t want to do it and was throwing the material at you rather than presenting it correctly. To listen to the XS3 is to experience a product that has retained the enthusiasm but learned the art of control while it does so." - Ed Selley

SPECIFICATIONS