Moving on from Super uniti

[neilthelawnman]

Hi,
I've owned a Naim Super Uniti for around 6 years now. The unit is paired with a couple of Focal Aria 936 speakers. I'm looking for an upgrade from the Super Uniti. I have a couple of questions which i hope will help me make up my mind on the best path to take.

1, The Super Uniti sounds great but it's getting a bit old in the tooth now and i want something that supports Roon and the new Tidal connect, Naim are updating their range early next year with firmware for Tidal so i was wondering whether to buy a Uniti Nova or a NDX 2 streamer? Or any other recommendation.

2, On top of the £5000 i want to spend on a streamer should i pair the Naim with an amp.( Naim NAP 200 Dr or 250 DR)? or any other recommendation. Would this significantly improve the sound?

3, Should i forget the £2500-£4000 on the amp and instead upgrade my basic speaker cables?

I'd like to keep the total costs to anything between £7000-£9000.

I really hope I've put all the information needed in and look forward to any responses.

Thanks

Neil

 

[jjbomber]

Avoid anything from Naim with a screen. They don't last long and cost around £400 a time to replace. The boring old ND5 XS will do a good job.

 

[Deleted member 116933]

Hi,
I've owned a Naim Super Uniti for around 6 years now. The unit is paired with a couple of Focal Aria 936 speakers. I'm looking for an upgrade from the Super Uniti. I have a couple of questions which i hope will help me make up my mind on the best path to take.

1, The Super Uniti sounds great but it's getting a bit old in the tooth now and i want something that supports Roon and the new Tidal connect, Naim are updating their range early next year with firmware for Tidal so i was wondering whether to buy a Uniti Nova or a NDX 2 streamer? Or any other recommendation.

2, On top of the £5000 i want to spend on a streamer should i pair the Naim with an amp.( Naim NAP 200 Dr or 250 DR)? or any other recommendation. Would this significantly improve the sound?

3, Should i forget the £2500-£4000 on the amp and instead upgrade my basic speaker cables?

I'd like to keep the total costs to anything between £7000-£9000.

I really hope I've put all the information needed in and look forward to any responses.

Thanks

Neil

I had a Naim unit 2 and a super uniti on the loan while it was getting repaired for a few months, came close to keeping the super uniti. In all honesty, if your speakers are easy to drive you won't notice any difference moving to a nap 200dr/250 sure it will go louder with more ease and won't tighten up as much but I'm talking really loud at this point. I didn't moving on to a 202 and nap 200dr. Probably one of my biggest let downs in hifi and wasted my money some what.

The super uniti really is a very good device and i wouldn't be in a rush to replace it. Good DAC great amp just a better streamer which can be added much for cheaper that 5k! In my experience, these streamers sound no better than a mac with the correct software but that's another argument for another time.

I personally have a funny relationship with streamers and cant recommending buying one 5k one the tech is just moving so fast, In all honesty, you're better off buying a M1 mac min (or similar) and running roon on it and using you iPhone/smart device to control it.

I think if it where me id look at this as another option.

Nait XS3 and/or super nait
a chord qutest
a mac mini and roon

 

[Roog]

Hi Neil,

I am in much the same position as you, I have owned my SuperUniti now for 5 years and since buying bigger, more power-hungry speakers I have had a wish to upgrade, so I added a Naim power amp, the Nap 250 sounded fine at the dealership, but I got greedy when I spotted a used nap300 and bought that instead. After a much-needed service, plus (I suspect), a less necessary DR upgrade, it sounds pretty good, but it has still left me wondering about what to do next? I have tried an NDX2 and a nac 282 plus Hicap, and although the NDX2 is more resolving than the SU I wonder if it is worth the £5k asking price. I didn't think the nac 282 plus Hicap added much over my SU internal preamp, and for me it was a massive disappointment considering the extra pile of black boxes and the money and for me, defiantly not worth the £11+k cost! (nac282, hicap & NDX2)

I think the Uniti products are great value, I think the Naim ladder 'O' black boxes is poor value and dare I say it, a mugs game. As a bit of light relief I have just bought a RME ADI-2 DAC fs for a little system in my office, but it is currently sitting in my main stereo system where a new nac pre amp might go, it drives the nap300DR very well indeed, has lots of interesting features including very useful EQ options and I use the poor old SU simply as a streamer via SPDIF through the RME DAC into the Nap power amp. Volume control is via the RME which has a real vol knob plus remote control. For the asking price of £850 the RME is a revelation. It also worked very well at driving my active monitors in my office for the short time it was there!

My suggestion is to try a proper demo of few combinations of Naim bits, and be ruthlessly honest with yourself, "is it really that much better?"

Just my thoughts.

 

[djh1697]

You should try consulting your local Naim dealer, taking your SuperUniti with you for comparative listing tests. I ungraded a 112x/150 to a 202/200 with a TeddyPardo supply, which was quite a step up.

It would be useful if your SuperUniti could support Roon, but I cannot find anywhere that it will do? Perhaps Naim could advise if there is an update for this, because I believe it offers the best streaming experience, especially if there is a DSD upgrade too. The addition of a 250 or 250DR would be a useful upgrade if you want more Naim sound. You would need to spend money on a Roon server.

I would strongly go down the route of trying the Titan STYX mains cables and Kudos KS-1 speaker wire, I found it to open up the sound stage compared to Naca5, but not as much Bass, a personal choice I guess