Idle wonderings: Naim Uniti Star or standalone amp and half-size CD Player?

[Entrigo]

Have been thinking about streamlining my setup.

I have three custom-built floating shelves and no real space to add any other, so currently have my Wiim Pro Plus streamer and my phono preamp sitting on my CD player, which I am not too happy about .

As I don't really use my CD player much (despite recently upgrading) I was thinking of either swapping the full size Marantz SA8005 for a half size one (i.e. Rega Apollo).

However, as plan to upgrade my turntable to a significantly better one soon-ish, I would also need to upgrade my Rega Elex-R amp eventually,. So I started thinking about a little "magic trick" - do away with amp, Wiim and CD player and replace with a Naim Uniti Star.

Asking anyone who has used the Naim - leaving aside the streaming functionality for the time being:
1. Is it good enough as an amp to feed a decent analogue source into (Technics 1300/1200G through *Vertere Phono1)?
2. How about as a CD player - and how would it sound compared to the Marantz SA8005 (discounting SACD of which I have 3 and don't really care about)?

Or would I be better off with a standalone amp, like the Rega Elicit or Naim XS3 (Aethos/Supernait if I get lucky on the second hand market) and a half size CD player - the aforementioned Rega Apollo or similar - and possibly a Bluenode Streamer?

As mentioned, idle wondering as the turntable upgrade alone is probably still a couple of months away, but getting some market research in...

 

[jjbomber]

One box to rule them all, half width as well. Eversolo Play CD edition.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=movF8_Rrr-o&t=6s

 

[jjbomber]

Better picture of the CD tray here:

Eversolo Play, Z10 DAC, T8 Streaming Transport, Luxsin X9 Head-Amp/ DAC Munich Reveals

Eversolo is heading to High End Munich with its new Play series alongside a raft of new hi-fi separates.

stereonet.com

 

[Entrigo]

OK, I see it will retail at £700 - is it really a match for a £3500 Naim Uniti Star and a good companion for a £3/4000 turntable??

I think it would have been a good addition for me in 2020, now it looks like it would not match my current/intended system at all...

 

[manicm]

One box to rule them all, half width as well. Eversolo Play CD edition.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=movF8_Rrr-o&t=6s

Sonically it will come nowhere near the Naim. It's a budget convenience piece that is very good for its price. But stop comparing apples to oranges.

 

[manicm]

Have been thinking about streamlining my setup.

I have three custom-built floating shelves and no real space to add any other, so currently have my Wiim Pro Plus streamer and my phono preamp sitting on my CD player, which I am not too happy about .

As I don't really use my CD player much (despite recently upgrading) I was thinking of either swapping the full size Marantz SA8005 for a half size one (i.e. Rega Apollo).

However, as plan to upgrade my turntable to a significantly better one soon-ish, I would also need to upgrade my Rega Elex-R amp eventually,. So I started thinking about a little "magic trick" - do away with amp, Wiim and CD player and replace with a Naim Uniti Star.

Asking anyone who has used the Naim - leaving aside the streaming functionality for the time being:
1. Is it good enough as an amp to feed a decent analogue source into (Technics 1300/1200G through *Vertere Phono1)?
2. How about as a CD player - and how would it sound compared to the Marantz SA8005 (discounting SACD of which I have 3 and don't really care about)?

Or would I be better off with a standalone amp, like the Rega Elicit or Naim XS3 (Aethos/Supernait if I get lucky on the second hand market) and a half size CD player - the aforementioned Rega Apollo or similar - and possibly a Bluenode Streamer?

As mentioned, idle wondering as the turntable upgrade alone is probably still a couple of months away, but getting some market research in...

The Naim is a serious piece of kit, and its amplification is excellent.

 

[Entrigo]

The Naim is a serious piece of kit, and its amplification is excellent.

Good, thanks for the input. Suspected as much but it's always good to hear - especially when you will likely buy second hand and demoing is not really an option.

 

[skinnypuppy71]

I used to have the previous Superuniti and it was a great bit of kit...the usual screen failure was the only fly in the ointment, but easily rectified( at a price)....I'd probably be more into the Nova if going that route again, I already ripped all my cd's to flac, so the uniti star's cd drive would be surplus to me, but I also see it as something as a possibility to go wrong in the future, you'd still need a external phono stage though

 

[Entrigo]

I used to have the previous Superuniti and it was a great bit of kit...the usual screen failure was the only fly in the ointment, but easily rectified( at a price)....I'd probably be more into the Nova if going that route again, I already ripped all my cd's to flac, so the uniti star's cd drive would be surplus to me, but I also see it as something as a possibility to go wrong in the future, you'd still need a external phono stage though

Yes someone else on another forum mentioned the Nova - I hadn't thought about ripping CDs to FLAC... Not a bad idea. Though not having the equipment and thinking about the time and effort involved, I suspect would never do it. Keeping the CDs in the equation , would you think separates is better?

 

[skinnypuppy71]

Yes someone else on another forum mentioned the Nova - I hadn't thought about ripping CDs to FLAC... Not a bad idea. Though not having the equipment and thinking about the time and effort involved, I suspect would never do it. Keeping the CDs in the equation , would you think separates is better?

Yes the cd ripping is very time consuming and monotonous.
If you're keeping the cd player and turntable in the equation, I'd go with a dumb amp with a decent onboard phono stage, pretty pointless having a all in one unit if there's a turntable and cd player in the system anyway.
My Mytec brooklyn bridge and Brooklyn amp plus is great small footprint system, so keep a open mind towards class d amplification also, some great stuff from Lindemann, Burson audio and Mytec.

 

[Entrigo]

Yes the cd ripping is very time consuming and monotonous.
If you're keeping the cd player and turntable in the equation, I'd go with a dumb amp with a decent onboard phono stage, pretty pointless having a all in one unit if there's a turntable and cd player in the system anyway.
My Mytec brooklyn bridge and Brooklyn amp plus is great small footprint system, so keep a open mind towards class d amplification also, some great stuff from Lindemann, Burson audio and Mytec.

Yeah I have just got a Vertere phono stage which I plan to keep for a while. The main issue is space and having all units on a shelf as opposed to on top of one another... In which case the Uniti will allow me to free the shelf used for the CD player and put the phono stage and any future PSU on it..