I'm taking my first baby steps towards 'serious' HiFi and I think I've found the product for me. After demoing the Arcam Solo Neo and Naim UnitiQute; it needs to be a 1 box solution, I've settled on the Naim UnitiQute.
They both sounded fantastic; the BOSE Wave Radio/CD that wakes me up in the morning is my reference! Ultimately the Naim UnitiQute sounded more open, neutral and pacey - but in a good way! What convinced me was the way it made the Mick Fleetwood, John McVie rhythm section sing when playing some early Peter Green Fleetwood Mac FLAC files. The Naim's features and lack of them i.e. CD player are also a good match for me.
Here's the situation/plan:
- I listen to an eclectic mix of music but my iTunes genres and play counts tell me I listen to more blues and classical music than anything else.
- the principal listening environment is similar to the room used in the What HiFi 2010 awards videos. Open plan with two large glass windows which the speakers would back on to. Specifically it's a 8.5m x 8.5m (28ft x 28ft) combined kitchen/living/dinning room with wooden floors, and on two sides 6m (20ft) floor to ceiling windows. The room is about 3m (10ft) tall.
- despite it being a largish room we actively don't want to fill it with sound. While we have good sound insulation, we still have neighbors on one side and are only looking to fill the living area with sound.
- hardwired CAT 6 (2 subnets) and a WiFi network
- I buy CDs but don't play them. I rip to FLAC and then convert to 320 kbps AAC files for iOS devices.
- the AACs live on a shared Mac Mini OS X Server, the FLACs on a primary NAS and a backup NAS
- the Mini will push the AACs to the Naim UnitiQute via an optical input
- the Naim UnitiQute will pull FLACs from the NAS
- wireless control with Naim app and Apple Remote. My wife loves the convenience particularly on her iPad and I must admit, so do I.
- I'd like to experiment with Apple TV2 streaming as it appears to buffer content in memory before playback, which could be interesting
BUT. There's a problem and I'm sure I'm not the first. The Naim UnitiQute will take most of the budget. When I demoed the Naim UnitiQute it was with the circa GBP 1000 n-SAT speakers, and while I liked the sound my wife didn't like the price!
Fortunately I have a flexible dealer who is prepared to let me take a demo unit home for a few days over christmas, to help me decide. He's suggested a new speaker from Monitor, the BX2, which he felt might suit me.
So after a long preamble there are two key questions:
1. Can I do the Naim UnitiQute and myself justice with a 250-300 quid stand mount speaker (Excluding stands.) for a couple of years
2. Are there other speakers I should consider testing, the dealer is willing to source
If you made it this far, you deserve a medal. Thank you
They both sounded fantastic; the BOSE Wave Radio/CD that wakes me up in the morning is my reference! Ultimately the Naim UnitiQute sounded more open, neutral and pacey - but in a good way! What convinced me was the way it made the Mick Fleetwood, John McVie rhythm section sing when playing some early Peter Green Fleetwood Mac FLAC files. The Naim's features and lack of them i.e. CD player are also a good match for me.
Here's the situation/plan:
- I listen to an eclectic mix of music but my iTunes genres and play counts tell me I listen to more blues and classical music than anything else.
- the principal listening environment is similar to the room used in the What HiFi 2010 awards videos. Open plan with two large glass windows which the speakers would back on to. Specifically it's a 8.5m x 8.5m (28ft x 28ft) combined kitchen/living/dinning room with wooden floors, and on two sides 6m (20ft) floor to ceiling windows. The room is about 3m (10ft) tall.
- despite it being a largish room we actively don't want to fill it with sound. While we have good sound insulation, we still have neighbors on one side and are only looking to fill the living area with sound.
- hardwired CAT 6 (2 subnets) and a WiFi network
- I buy CDs but don't play them. I rip to FLAC and then convert to 320 kbps AAC files for iOS devices.
- the AACs live on a shared Mac Mini OS X Server, the FLACs on a primary NAS and a backup NAS
- the Mini will push the AACs to the Naim UnitiQute via an optical input
- the Naim UnitiQute will pull FLACs from the NAS
- wireless control with Naim app and Apple Remote. My wife loves the convenience particularly on her iPad and I must admit, so do I.
- I'd like to experiment with Apple TV2 streaming as it appears to buffer content in memory before playback, which could be interesting
BUT. There's a problem and I'm sure I'm not the first. The Naim UnitiQute will take most of the budget. When I demoed the Naim UnitiQute it was with the circa GBP 1000 n-SAT speakers, and while I liked the sound my wife didn't like the price!
Fortunately I have a flexible dealer who is prepared to let me take a demo unit home for a few days over christmas, to help me decide. He's suggested a new speaker from Monitor, the BX2, which he felt might suit me.
So after a long preamble there are two key questions:
1. Can I do the Naim UnitiQute and myself justice with a 250-300 quid stand mount speaker (Excluding stands.) for a couple of years
2. Are there other speakers I should consider testing, the dealer is willing to source
If you made it this far, you deserve a medal. Thank you