Supernait 1 was my first amp, and I still feel a pang of regret for selling that beautiful piece. It brought so much joy and warmth to my listening experience. I moved on to an Accuphase, but it left me disappointed. Now, I've switched to an all-in-one solution with the NAD M10. It's convenient, but I know deep down that if the NAD ever fails, I'll go back to the Supernait. That amp was unparalleled, giving me countless hours of relaxation and joy, even at low volumes. The rhythm and style of the classic Naim are simply unbeatable, and you can find them second-hand in superb condition. Plus, it pairs perfectly with my British Spendor D7.2. I don't understand the fascination with tube amps. Every time I had the chance to listen to them, I felt they offered less control, more distortion, and were overpriced. I also don't get where the idea comes from that they're difficult to drive speakers with. In my 30m² room, even with several speakers, I barely hit the 12 o'clock mark on the volume regulator. The Supernait had everything I needed and more, and it remains unmatched in my heart.

Fantastic review of a great amp. Glad to see it's really made in England. It's moved into top spot for my next amp. Thanks.

I have the sn2 with hicap. Your review articulates much of what I've found with that previous model. It has proven to be a solid chunk of granite in the heart of my system and a keeper.

A balance control is certainly no gimmick. It's very useful for "room correction / speaker placements".

I just wanted to say how much I enjoy your reviews and keep them coming.

Thank you sir Paul very nice and honest review. Stay safe and god bless.

Had Naim before , this is a very fair review as very much everything I could say go and try you wouldn’t be disappointed.

Great review!

I have read your reviews in the past & it is nice to now see you in person on this tube. What you say about the sound of this Naim amplifier extends to much of their equipment. If an audio consumer likes this kind of sound look no further.

Super review 👍

A classic integrated, along with its smaller siblings.....what's not to love?

I can see the blue Cble of the Balance LED...(: ...in a +$3000 Product 😅

Had the original Supernait with Triangle Antal ESW floorstanders. Lovely sound but took two weeks to get to optimal temp for the sound to flesh out. What was a pain was the upgrade path. Endless power supply boxes for the cd and Amp. Why not just build it right the first time and charge a bit more. I have active KEF's now and have never looked back

Loved this video. I am currently using the Audiolab 8000a with x2 power amps, Castle Harlech speakers and a Roksan Kandy CD player. If I was looking to incorporate this fine amp into my system would it fit well do you think? Thanks, Mark👍🏼

Intriguing, again, the continued avenue of an AUX input for those of us with Phonostage and an MC setup. Think I will stick with Yamaha DSP-Z9 in Pure Direct mode...thanks☺

At 12:45 is the image of the internals of the amp the SN3 or something different, as I cannot see the balance knob? Great review really like Naim stuff every opportunity to listen to them is taken but unfortunately the gear is out of my price range but who knows maybe the lottery numbers will fall nicely for me.

Does anyone know if you can use any speaker cables with the SN3 or you still have to use Naim's own Nac A5 cables like on many of their amplifiers?

I had a demo of this amp recently, and whilst I agree with what you like about the product, for me the Cyrus ix9 XR was much better in terms of involvement. I note your views on higher end amps including a phono stage. Not everyone feels the need for a moving coil. I don't. And aesthetically, a 3K plus amp with a phono stage built-in, is tidier than having yet another box, and shelf to put it on, and more wires. I have recently purchased a higher end CD player and higher end speakers. For my had-it-awhile mid range turntable, a phono stage in my amp is what I am looking for. And to my ears, the vinyls I play sound on a par with the more expensive CD player (which I truly love).

I wish I could compare this amp with my upgraded classic Nait 2 chrome by AV Options. Which would be more fun?

How do you open a naiM? which screws must be unscrewed?

Nice review and great metaphors, I don’t have the supernait but I have the Naim 5si which has many of the same characteristics as this unit. I want one! Lol

Great review, as always. Small point but I noticed that the still image used at 13:04 is not the SN3. There is no balance dial on that image. Maybe the Nait 5i or Si?

Anyone compared yamaha as2200 vs naim supernait 3 ?

mamma mia - I can see so many comments on this HUGHE balance knob. NAIM has a tradition and the balance knob is a thing to keep. I bet - 99,9% never heard this beast...

Interesting review. Not sure how “almost restraint” fits with “forceful”, “full of detail”, “driving”... used as well...? I would be curious about other info om the system,the SN3 has been used. Also, how should an amp actually sound like? Tx :)

good to the point video i would think that your thoughts on the balance control/moving magnet are present for a very good reason which only naim could justify because in many years of naim use i know everything they do is considered and implemented for a very good reason which not always iimmediately apparent. with my predominately naim system for many years i was frustrated by lean bass which was cured by much fiddling but the biggest leap was with best pre amp which only presents bass if it is actually there! i read somewhere that most recorded music is 90% mid/high with 10% bass content so if it ain’t there you shouldn’t hear it!

Hi Paul, appreciated your thorough review, would you recommend this or the Hegel H390 for musical, layered and 3D representation of music? I have Rosso Fiorentino Elba 2 and looking for the right match, thank you!

Hello Is Kimber 8tc speaker cable usable with Supernait 3 without any damage to amp?

Great paul remember when the first bait was £225. Nearly got one.

Is nobody going to mention the blue wire sticking out of the balance control knob?

So there’s a powerswitch at the back: is there also a standby switch somewhere / or does the remote provide a button for that?

I note that one of the pictures (at the end of the New Order segment) did NOT have the balance control. A good review nonetheless

Nothing wrong with having tone and balance controls mate, as long as there's a direct mode too. All well designed power amp circuits sound virtually identical anyway.

nice review. I have xs2 and I love it and I think you did dicribe the sound very well, however I also think that based on description it is dificult to imagine the sound and the listen is necesary. This is more rule here than with other brands. The only thing that boders me on supernait 3 is that at this price they should manage the balance between r/l channel better than only by alps potentiometer, Which practicaly i do not think is a big issue, but many of us have kind of OCD with hifi staff and I think it would be great to have this. Rega aathos, gato amp 150, hegel, acuphase 280, yamaha they all do. That sad, the sound on naim really is fantastic to my ears and it really involves into the any genre of music by music not by efects.

my naim 5si sounds great but the noise all newer naims make is the problem i will change it soon for or a unison reasearch hybrid or a copland

Hi paul Having seen this often as a recommended goto answer for top end performance, i was intrigued when you highlighted those bizarre features. It does seem a classic case of design over function. But could prove a bit annoying to live with . When you get into this sort of price range ,theirs a lot to choose from . So it begs the question would Mr Paul look 👀 in a different direction? Sorry couldn’t resist the thought 🤣. All the very best to you Regards Mike in the Uk

I haven’t heard the SuperNait 3, but I have its little brother the XS-3. I used to be a tube guy. I use it to drive a pair of Russell K Red 50’s on SolidSteel stands. The speakers are invisible and the soundstage is enormous, no make that ridiculous. It sounds like a tube amp, except it’s more accurate, which I prefer. It has many of the attributes you describe, its virtues are challenging to convey, but it is insanely musical. I haven’t read the manual.

How does a budget amplifier like 6000A compare to this? Is this really worth 3000 pounds more? Thanks. I have KEF LS50's.

I still have a Linn Sondek and Asak MC. Will I need a separate phono amp for this as I still love listening to vinyl?

This review would have been ok if there was a mention of speakers used right at the outset of the sound quality section, as it is, there is no mention. Sound of components are always taken in the context of the associated system it's tested with, without it, comments are not very helpful. So are we going to assume that this was tested with the Quad ESLs as mentioned in the reference system under the video description ?

How does a rega aethos compare to SN3, one of these two amps is going in my rack.

It’s rather strange that looking from the front, the right speaker terminals are on the left and the left are on the right; forcing the speaker cables to be crossed (assuming the amplifier is placed between the speakers)

It’s out of my price range but your review is exceptional….I now feel I’m missing something….🤣🤣🤣

I've heard this amp with the Dynaudio Evoke 20's and what a THING!!.. if you can find a better performance for less than 4K then I don't believe you 😂😂😂

So much effort put into how inside of the amp looks but so little into the manual. Cooling looks underwhelming. How is the amp performing under long high volume listening?

Would love to see a super-integrated shootout with the SN3 vs the Rega Aethos and an outsider, the Heed Lagrange. Can you get your hands on a Lagrange for review Paul?

"A fool and his money are soon parted"!

Nice review. But a balance is not completely useless. In my setup I need to set the balance a bit more to the left, to get the image in the centre. Maybe because of the L-shape of my room. Did liked the review and love the brand 😁

Did you get a chance to compare with the Nait XS 3 ? Has less power, but might be singing even more than its bigger brother, the Supernait. Turns out even better in some setups, provided that the speakers are sensitive enough.

Thanks for the review, always interesting agree 100% the manual is a total car crash. Balance control is at least a quality one same as the volume alps blue velvet, can be useful for headphone use if you have a slight acuity issue one side to the other but also because rooms are not always symmetrical and often the furniture placement dictates the position of the speaker system in many homes, it is not always possible to arrange for the listening position to be centered exactly between the two main channels. So although not the opitmal solution its purpose is to equalize the output levels at your listening position even when its not centered between the two main channels. I take issue about Internal phono stages though they can be an after thought, its often not the case nowadays and there are some excellent MM cartridges on the market as well as some superb vintage ones like say the Shure V15 mk3. I'd much rather they include MM than a compromised MM/MC it seems to fit the price placement well. I have two preamps with internal phono stages and both are superb the EAR 912 and EAR 868PL both would equal or better most anything out there.

at 13:10 the balance control went missing... maybe the dude who did the sloppy manual also did the renderings? ;-) Very insightful review though, makes me lusting to hear a Supernait.

Talking of Naim build quality as we were, did anyone else notice the loop of blue wire playing peek-a-boo from behind the superfluous balance control knob? (3:45) If you watch on you will note that it incongruously flops about during operation, not a good look for such an expensive product.

I’ve naim stuff , it’s like a guessing game how to connect and work everything,,,,,,Richard

Did you enjoy it though?

Why show a different amp at 12 mins ?

Blue wire sticking out!😱😱

You ask a lot of questions about the manual! LOL. I usually just hit buttons and hope for the best

Every non entry level preamp from Naim has a balance control. Hard to understand why a person wouldn’t want one.

A balance control would drive me nuts!

A bit strange that it is only banana plugs for speaker terminals. Good review.

The Manual needs completely re-writing, agreed.

I couldn’t live with it after seeing that user manual.

I like you..Numanoid.

wrong picture at 13 min

Mate, you didn't actually say whether you liked it or not?😉

Just buy a Rega Brio and spend the money you’ve saved on speakers and a quality source.

All of the Supernait versions, and their Classic series Pre-amps have had a large balance control since the early 2000s. Their manuals have been like that for longer. Half of this review is pure waffle.

Remote controls for amps are used frequently and should be good looking. But this one looks like one for a cheap TV.

Manual Multilingual. It contains as well aramaic language. The product is unjustified expensive.

I did listened to separate ones... together with separate power supplies.... Overall, for this kind of money I wasn't impressed.

why cant they change the look a little. it look just like the previuos model

Because audiophiles don't have the experience or education to understand what matters (the skill of the original recording engineer, the choice of loudspeakers, their placement in a room and the acoustics of that room), audiophiles spend fortunes on the wrong things, which are the high-profit-margin and well advertised items like cables, power conditioners, amplifiers, power cables, connectors, resistors, and just about everything that has almost nothing to do with the quality of reproduced music - but makes loads of money for the people selling these fetishes.

I think the assumption is that youd use a sut. Come on. Use your noggin.

Horrible user interface design, horrible instructions on how to use said interface, absurdly good audio performance. That's Naim in a nutshell.

PRESENT NAIM IN 3 WORDS OR LESS: Low build quality. Must be left on constantly drawing massive electric current. Expensive recapping REQUIRED every 10 years. Use of overpriced DIN cables. Always an option to buy a new PSU for "better sound". Proprietary star-grounding mess equals incompatibility with other equipment without hum. Loudly humming toroid transformers. Famous Naim speaker hiss can be heard from 3 meters away with 87db speakers. Zero soundstage, only pounding exaggerated mid-bass. Naim "PRaT" is a marketing gimmick. Cold, steely, metallic and abrasive sound equals immediate listening fatigue. Naim repair service requires several months of unit immobilization. Naim has lost 3 CEOs, 2 Marketing Directors and countless technical engineers in the last 2 years. Naim INSISTS on using ALPS blue velvet potentiometers for balance and volume control which are ALWAYS imbalanced and SKEWED either left or right. It impossible to have a centered musical image for stereo listening with Naim equipment. Naim STILL will not update the omerta on using non-Naim speaker cables as they threaten this will "blow up" your amplifier because of inductance, resistance and capacitance values. Naim is now obligated to demo with Focal speakers, and vice-versa, due to the unnatural and illogical marriage of two brands managed by Vervent Audio Group. This entity is managed by Cedric Boutonnet from Saint Etienne, France and who doesn't give a SHIT about Customers in general and the Naim brand in particular. It is a well-known and well-documented fact that Naim and Focal do not work together and should never be in the same system. Imagine associating Naim with beryllium tweeters = instant ear bleed. Shall I continue? There's lots more to be said

That balanced knob is one of the stupidest controls I've seen. Same size as volume knob, and right next to it! 🤦

Naim I'm sure make great sounding products but they're whole range is the ugliest equipment I've ever seen, anyone agree? Looks more like an xbox than a hi end amp. As a consumer I'd actually like some colour options. Also something like the Audiolab 6000a always you to press in the volume knob to double up as balance control, so much more refined. I understand it's subjective but feel like product aesthetic is seriously lacking.

That "balance" knob is pretty much unnecessary and useless. Should look more like XS3. No need for balance knob.

The balance nob and wonky power lead puts me off totally