Naim’s Nait XS 3 integrated amplifier has won its price category as the 'best £1500-£3000' stereo amplifier at the What Hi-Fi? Awards for five consecutive years, including this year. That’s a remarkable achievement, but it takes more than half a decade’s worth of domination for a product to make our Hall of Fame list. The Hall of Fame Award considers not only the product itself but also whether its lineage has made a lasting impact on the world of hi-fi. There is no doubt in our minds that Naim’s Nait series of integrated amplifiers has done just that.
The original Nait integrated amplifier was launched in 1983. It was a basic half-width box with a claimed power output of just 13 watts per channel. Originally priced at around £180 (around £700 in today's money), it offered a cut-price way to access Naim’s famed sound. Up until then the company had only made separate pre/power products, and they sold at what would be considered premium to high-end prices.
That original amplifier was fun and entertaining as few others were at the price. This DNA has survived through the various generations of Nait products since then, and we feel runs as strongly as ever in the current XS 3. There are both cheaper and more expensive integrated options in the company’s current range, but for us the XS 3 is the best balance of performance and price.
It is now a full-width unit, of course. Remote control is standard and the power output has gone up to a respectable 70 watts per channel. It remains something of a purist amplifier though, with tone controls and digital inputs not even on the menu. There is a moving-magnet phono stage, though, and it is a good one that retains the pleasing character we hear through the four line-level inputs.
The Nait XS 3 isn’t a dead-end purchase either. It can be upgraded by adding one of the company’s outboard power supplies, and to terrific effect. A front panel-mounted 6.3mm headphone output completes the amp’s features list.
How does the Nait sound? The XS 3 is energetic and entertaining, bale to carry a piece's momentum and track its rhythmic pattern. As our expert reviewers noted in our Nait XS 3 review, "it takes the multitude of musical strands in Arvo Part’s Tabula Rasa and combines them to deliver a musical and emotionally absorbing performance. Detail resolution is excellent, but it’s the amplifier’s ability to assemble all that information into a cohesive musical whole that really impresses."
It's generous when it comes to dynamics too, with the Nait tracking the gradual ebbs and flow of the music impressively. Composure and refinement are certainly not lacking either; there's an unmistakable finesse to proceedings.
"That’s what makes this amplifier so special," we concluded of the Naim's many sonic talents.
The Nait XS 3 is a fit-and-forget amplifier in the very best sense, able to easily slot into your set-up and deliver the music accurately, with emotion intact. We can’t ask for any more from an amplifier than that. Its 2024 Hall of Fame place is richly deserved.
MORE:
Read the full Naim Nait XS 3 review
See all the products in What Hi-Fi? Hall of Fame
10 of the best Naim Audio products of all time
See all the What Hi-Fi? Awards 2024 winners
