Naim UnitiQute 2 why five stars?

[SiUK]

Hello

I was looking at the WHFS&V review of the Naim UnitiQute 2 and the summary (cons specifically) suggests that it doesn't handle (sorry, is 'intolerant of') low-quality, High-compression music. But does this solely refer to the ubiquitous MP3, or does it mean in general, say even any CDs ripped to flac, so anything with less than perfect source material? The thing is, not all CDs are equal, that's a given, and therefore anything that attempts to play back music surely must be able to 'handle' what is fed to it, good and bad, and do the best it can with it. Now I have been thinking of selling one of my Marantz M-CR610s already (perhaps following a suggestion first given here on these forums) and buying a UnitiQute 2 (and using my existing TEAC VRDS10 for CDs) but quite frankly the review makes it sound like the Naim will only be good with the best quality music...which is not really practical for me given the number of 'average' cds I have which are now converted to flac. Some aren't great at all but I don't want them sounding horrible. Are there any Naim UnitiQute 2 users here? What are your experiences? The only other concerns are the single set of RCA inputs and no rear USB (other than the update one).

(oh and the 30w per channel is a concern)

 

[manicm]

What the review meant is the Qute2 loathes any compressed format at less than 320k, be it MP3, AAC or any other such rubbish oke: FLAC is compressed but lossless - so the Qute 2 will love these.

Enjoy!

 

[hybridauth_facebook_100003581026303]

Bought a new Unitiqute2 3 weeks ago, sound is coming into its own now, excellent with Audio Physic Spark MKII floorstanders. Excellent bass as well. Spotify streaming in 320kb through Logitech Squeezebox Pro via digital coax is music. Very, very nice comboon its own. 30 watts per channel is capable, no question. My room is 4x7 meters......

We"ll see what the Naim Nap 200 power amp is going to bring tomorrow...... bought one from 2010 for a good price. Still plenty of life in that one.

Come to think of it, might get the Sonics Allegra's for sale nearby......

Very happy with the enchanting sound now though.... Sara K. is magical.

 

[Hi-FiOutlaw]

I had the Qute 2 for a week in home demo, and loved it!!!!the power ratings of Naim are misleading, it drove my Dynaudio X12 with authority and control, just like my Rega Brio R that I had for one year, or better, but definitely not worst!The Qute is a Swiss army knife, it can be used as a streamer, external DAC through is rear USB port, and has a built in amp that can drive almost all medium range speakers, just go out and demo one.Regarding not being good with less than 320kbs mp3 I can't really say anything as it is the minimum resolution that i've in my library. Regarding CD rips into Flac i've 2tb of it in my NAS and ALL played nicely in the Qute!If it is a 5 stars product? Hell yes, in my book it is!

 

[Jota180]

Frankly, if your music collection is majorly in a lossy format and well less than 320kbps then you shouldn't be spending more that 50 quid on the hardware to play it.

HiFi means High Fidelity and the definition of fidelity is - "the degree of exactness with which something is copied or reproduced." Low rez MP3 and the like is not HiFi and you'd be wasting your money buying a machine capable of HiFi just for LoFi music.

FLAC is the same quality as CD, nothing is lost when converting the CD to FLAC.

HiFi should do it's best with whatever is thrown at it? HiFi should faithfully play what is on the media without adding or subtracting anything or colouring the music in any way. It should be, in other words, High Fidelity. If the CD is badly recorded, it should sound like a badly recorded CD.

If you want hardware that flatters bad recordings, you don't want HIFI gear.

 

[Broner]

I seriously wonder if the reviewers are capable of distinguising whether one amp has more problems with low-quality music compared to another.

 

[Hi-FiOutlaw]

Frankly, if your music collection is majorly in a lossy format and well less than 320kbps then you shouldn't be spending more that 50 quid on the hardware to play it.

HiFi means High Fidelity and the definition of fidelity is - "the degree of exactness with which something is copied or reproduced." Low rez MP3 and the like is not HiFi and you'd be wasting your money buying a machine capable of HiFi just for LoFi music.

FLAC is the same quality as CD, nothing is lost when converting the CD to FLAC.

HiFi should do it's best with whatever is thrown at it? HiFi should faithfully play what is on the media without adding or subtracting anything or colouring the music in any way. It should be, in other words, High Fidelity. If the CD is badly recorded, it should sound like a badly recorded CD.

If you want hardware that flatters bad recordings, you don't want HIFI gear.

*i-m_so_happy*