Thanks a lot for your reply Tarquinh!
Basically my hifi searching has led me all over the place.
My 'system' - if u can call it that! (more a random collection of differerent hifi gear) is a bit all over the place and largely the result of slightly spontaneous ebaying! Although it has let me get components at much cheaper prices than their RRPs, it's probably not amazingly matched. Anyway, I started off with a Bose wave system that's pretty good for it's size, but obviously it's limited in terms of soundstage and is quite a veiled sound. We've had this is at home since my Grandad passed away, who mainly used it to listen to radio, and it got passed on to us.
In the lounge I'd listen to the Bose and in my bedroom I'd listen to tunes off windows media player with my creative itrique 3100 2.1 speakers plugged into a Creative X-fi soundcard. It sounded really very good, especially just for listening on my own.
Last October I got an iPhone, and wanted to marry this idea I had in my head of having a hifi in the lounge and lossless files rather than a CDP as a source, or at least have the flexibility to play files as an alternative source to CDs. It came up in conversation that my driving instructor had an old Pioneer hifi from 1982 he wanted to get rid of to clear space cos he didn't use it now as much as he wanted to.
I tried plugging the Bose in, switching the volume of the Bose down to minimum and up on the Pioneer SA-130 amp into the CS-363 speakers that came with them, and was taken back by it's power at just 4 (/10) on the slider control! The speakers were kinda monstrosities and I decided I could get a decent step up from upgrading them, because they sounded slightly bloated and did not fit our lounge that well. Attracted by the fact that it was a design that suited wall reinforcement and seemed capable of producing quite a dynamic sound, I bought a pair of Monitor Audio Br2s with custom design stands.
Now I had a system that really sounded quite impressive which had cost me no more than £150. I still wanted to utilise file playback from my iphone and Dad's iPod though and opted for the Arcam rDock, believing that although it was still 'limited' to analogue output (thus using the ipod's DAC) unlike a Wadia i710 for instace, it would not impose the same barrier to performance from the source that getting an Apple universal dock would, provided I used lossless files.
I had the Arcam rDock and Bose feeding the Pioneer SA-130, powering the MA BR2s for a while (and with the idea of updating my hifi chain not going away!) I was curious if changing the SA-130 would bring an improvement. I think maybe I should have stopped there having arrived at a pretty decent system for £250. I thought to really get much of a step up from the Pioneer though I'd have to be looking around the Naim's level.
I was impressed enough with the Nait 5i in an audition to order one, but having had it for a while I kind of regret doing so, cos the Nait seems to accentuate the slight brightness of the MA BR2s. Although the Naim probably would be more of a step up if I changed my speakers now as well to a pair that suits such as the Epos or Neat Motive 3 etc and got maybe a Rega apollo, I'd end up looking at a substantial outlay.
I am really attracted to the idea of the Unisons and think they would sound less harsh. For a sound that's as bass heavy as the Naim I find the lack of tone controls quite annoying, which the Pioneer has. Now, I would be looking at keeping the Naim because the rdock is less of a loud and less forward presentation than the bose and just generally more natural if less punchy (this is what I discoverd when doing a blind test with both on the Pioneer amp)... However, annoyingly there's a really loud humming sound emanating from the speakers when I connect the Arcam rDock to the Nait's CD input (which I was told was the right one). Mind it's the same using the AV input instead! So, as far as I can tell my options are ditching the Arcam rDock and home demo a Wadia 170i using the SPDIF output into the Nait if I want to keep the Nait amp and maintain ipod playability at decent quality. I've tried plugging into a different mains point and the sound does not stop. If there is no hum than I could opt for this, but I still regard as not a good match for the MA BR2s. I really shouldn't have bought the Nait having only demoed on other speakers. My thinking though was that my current speakers could at least serve for an interim period before I considered pricier standmounters like the Ruark Sabres.
So keeping the Nait 5i will be a pretty costly affair cos it wil require changing the rest of the system. Despite the hard treble and overblown bass with the Bose as a source, and hum with the rDock, they do sound great with acoustic stuff and anything more laidback. Hand them rock music (Which generally seems to be regarded as as a genre which the Nait's are strong on) and they're excessive, but with conveying emotion in voices such as Tracey Chapman in Revolution or Fast care they really soar and actually are very exciting but not at the expense of souding natural and if they the singer is in the room . However, as an all rounder with the BR2s I prefer the 27 year old Pioneer. True I need a more revealing monitor to reveal the detail the Naim are capable of, but I still can get a fair impression of their potential and I'm surprised that, to my ears, in terms of conveying detail, amplifiers have not moved on more from the Pioneer - the main difference is different in presentation.
Before I decide to sell the Nait though, I wondered if the hum problem with the rDock might be because of a rubbish DC in cable - could this be the case?
If the DC cable is not to blame and the rDock and nait 5i are just incompatible I could either keep the set up as it is, which works great despite the lack of ability to control the rDock's volume. Of course I could have gone for the Solo music or mini (former went for a bargain of £510 on ebay recently) but I was persuaded the separates route would have more longevity. If I sell the Naim I'm likely to make a £50 loss once the cost of delivery is taken into account, but it's not too great!
Ah, my head hurts. Sorry for the length of this post. By the way I'm only 18 and don't have a massive music collection or a massive budget, but if I recoup almost all the money from the Naim (Which is a fair wad) than I could easily afford the Unison Research Unico if I like it in my system on a home demo from Guildford Audio. However, my perception from reading various threads mainly on What hifi but all over the net too, is that speakers become a 'limitation' much quicker than the actual source, and to a lesser extent, less quickly than the amplification.
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