The NAC 552 is by some distance the most advanced Naim pre-amplifier ever and has some claim, therefore, to being the best pre-amplifier, period.
The introduction of the NAP 500 in 2001 brought with it a new level of technical and musical performance. A Naim design project group began reviewing the existing pre-amplifier designs exploring possibilities for major design improvement over the existing reference pre-amplifier, the Naim NAC 52.
Power supply design has always been at the heart of Naim research and this project was no exception. For the NAC 552 a radical new split rail power supply configuration has been employed that almost eliminates power supply noise in the signal earth. Housed in a separate, full-width brushed aluminium case; the power supply features a massive 800 VA toroidal transformer, three enormous smoothing capacitors and fourteen hand selected power regulators to independently supply the different stages of the pre-amplifier.
As pioneered in the Naim CDS compact disc player fully suspended sub-chassis mounted circuit boards are used in the Naim NAC 552. This method of suspension maximises isolation, hence minimizing the effect of vibration on the highly sensitive electronic components.
The NAC 552 owner can configure two of the inputs for use with the more common RCA phono type connectors, enabling the use of alternative components with pre-owned interconnects. Each of the six inputs has separate listen and record facilities. A dedicated unity gain input is provided for use with the Naim AV2 processor or similar.
Specifications
Analogue inputs 6 (configurable)
Tape outputs 3
Input sensitivities 75mV, 47kOhm
Output levels, tape 75mV, 600 Ohm
Main output 0.775V, < 50 Ohm
Overload margin, all inputs, all audio frequencies 40dB
Dimensions (H x W x D) 87 x 432 x 314mm
Finish Black, brushed aluminium