NaimUniti2 or Not
- Thread starter fibreopticjesus
- Start date
Right this is what I typed first time round (I think).
"I had been looking to upgrade my amp/cd player and speakers. In the upgrade I wanted to add a quality streamer to connect to a NAS. I also was looking to connect to Spotify for fun (not for the sound quality). Imagine my delight when I read about the NaimUniti 2 (all in one box). I contact my local Naim dealer to arrange an audition. They ring me and advise that Uniti 2 not available yet but they have set up a Naim Nait5i and CD5i with a pair of Kef R300's and B&W CM8's to give me an idea of the sound quality that the Uniti 2 should have. Well it would be rude not to accept their invitation. Upshot is I loved the sound especially with the CM8's. 2 hours of top quality fun. Two weeks later they have the Uniti 2 paired up with the CM8's. Oh my god is there something wrong with my ears? The sound quality was not a patch with that two weeks ago. The music sounded ...is the word tight? It had no soul/body. They said it could be that it was brand new and had only been run in via the radio over night. Now that makes sense as I have found that even TV's need to be run in. So here's my question is the Nait5i and CD5i pairing a higher quality combo than the NaimUniti2. If so would I be better off buying the 5i's and adding a Cambridge Audio Stream Magic 6? The speakers will either be the Kef R500's (my first choice and will hear them next week via the 5i's) or the CM8's. My listening is rock/indi/alternative/electronic dance. Question 2 could the Nait 5i or the Uniti2 have enough grunt to power the Kef R700's as my room is 6.5x5.5m and my concern is that the R500's might not fill the room. I know this is not high end kit but my outlay will be circa £4-5k which is half a years uni fees:O Your help and advice will be very much appreciated"
"I had been looking to upgrade my amp/cd player and speakers. In the upgrade I wanted to add a quality streamer to connect to a NAS. I also was looking to connect to Spotify for fun (not for the sound quality). Imagine my delight when I read about the NaimUniti 2 (all in one box). I contact my local Naim dealer to arrange an audition. They ring me and advise that Uniti 2 not available yet but they have set up a Naim Nait5i and CD5i with a pair of Kef R300's and B&W CM8's to give me an idea of the sound quality that the Uniti 2 should have. Well it would be rude not to accept their invitation. Upshot is I loved the sound especially with the CM8's. 2 hours of top quality fun. Two weeks later they have the Uniti 2 paired up with the CM8's. Oh my god is there something wrong with my ears? The sound quality was not a patch with that two weeks ago. The music sounded ...is the word tight? It had no soul/body. They said it could be that it was brand new and had only been run in via the radio over night. Now that makes sense as I have found that even TV's need to be run in. So here's my question is the Nait5i and CD5i pairing a higher quality combo than the NaimUniti2. If so would I be better off buying the 5i's and adding a Cambridge Audio Stream Magic 6? The speakers will either be the Kef R500's (my first choice and will hear them next week via the 5i's) or the CM8's. My listening is rock/indi/alternative/electronic dance. Question 2 could the Nait 5i or the Uniti2 have enough grunt to power the Kef R700's as my room is 6.5x5.5m and my concern is that the R500's might not fill the room. I know this is not high end kit but my outlay will be circa £4-5k which is half a years uni fees:O Your help and advice will be very much appreciated"
If you went the 5i route with the Cambridge streamers you essentially are buying a DAC twice and would of thought the DAC in the Naim better than the Cambridge!
technically shouldn't the uniti 2 sound better than the 5i seperates????
technically shouldn't the uniti 2 sound better than the 5i seperates????
jjbomber
Well-known member
- Dec 22, 2006
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The important thing is to buy what is best for you. By all means listen to the advice of your dealer, WhatHiFi and the forum, but you have to live with your decision. Do what is best for you and your ears. I have a Uniti, so should be biased. However, if you prefer the seperates route, then go that way.
Have you thought of listening to the SuperUniti? as that is quite a large step up in overall sound quality compared to the Uniti2, I would have thought that the Uniti2 and Nait 5i / CD5i would have sounded similar but as good as the Uniti2 is you are genearly always better off with seperates if sound quality is more important than keeping everything tidy with the one box solution, also very shortly the CD5si will be available which will sound better than the CD5i.
Alot of customers I have dealt with over the last year or so come in to listen to the Uniti, or uniti2 as it is now, convinced they need a cd player, but after hearing the SuperUniti most go for that with the view of adding a seperate CD player later or using an exisiting one, but once everything is ripped to a NAS they realise they don't actually need a cd palyer anymore.
Decisions, Decisions.
Alot of customers I have dealt with over the last year or so come in to listen to the Uniti, or uniti2 as it is now, convinced they need a cd player, but after hearing the SuperUniti most go for that with the view of adding a seperate CD player later or using an exisiting one, but once everything is ripped to a NAS they realise they don't actually need a cd palyer anymore.
Decisions, Decisions.
Paul@HiFi-Lounge said:
+1 I I didn't like the supernait with my current streamer and assume seperates are around the same quality amp.. The superuniti sounded so much better all round and more powerfull sounding.. Should drive r700's no problem too.. Once you start ripping lossless, with the app on your phone it becomes very tedious to change CD's
Plus you could add and cd player with digital out and use the Naims DAC :rockout:It will interesting to see how the Unitilite sounds when it gets to dealers in the next few days!
I have a PMC 24 and I am looking for a simple all in one solution like uniti2 for amplification. But I am concern if it will drive PMCs well and about limited upgrades.
Any advice?
Any advice?
plastic penguin
Well-known member
- Apr 28, 2008
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TC_Foo said:
Generally PMCs are fairly easy load, should be fine for the Uniti2, but whether this particular Naim has the quality to make the most of the 24s is another question. Definitely need to demo the two and decide for yourself.
Hi,
it could well be that the uniti2 had not been run in. Both my old uniti and new superuniti took literally months to open up! If you are set on having a CD player then the uniti2 is too hard to ignore!
Good luck
it could well be that the uniti2 had not been run in. Both my old uniti and new superuniti took literally months to open up! If you are set on having a CD player then the uniti2 is too hard to ignore!
Good luck
Novaportian said:
Hi,
Thanks for your reply. I am now thinking of Uniti2 or Superuniti and upgrading to NAP200 or NAP250 in the next steps. I heard the new NAP150 vs Superuniti and I liked the superuniti as it comes with a more open sound. No sure if the reason is because the new Pre-Power NAP150 has not burned in.
Currently I have a Cyrus 8XPD/Quad12 & thinking about reselling it and converting to all Naim/PMC24 system.
Coming back to uniti2, it comes with a good CD player and it is so neat that it is hard decision to give a miss.
BTW, does bi-amp do any good to PMC24? Any idea?
Thanks for your input and replies.
Novaportian said:
Hi,
Thanks for your reply. I am now thinking of Uniti2 or Superuniti and upgrading to NAP200 or NAP250 in the next steps. I heard the new NAP150 vs Superuniti and I liked the superuniti as it comes with a more open sound. No sure if the reason is because the new Pre-Power NAP155 has not burned in.
Currently I have a Cyrus 8XPD/Quad12 & thinking about reselling it and converting to all Naim/PMC24 system.
Coming back to uniti2, it comes with a good CD player and it is so neat that it is hard decision to give a miss.
BTW, does bi-amp with NAP200 or NAP250 do any good to PMC24 that is worth the money? any comments?
Thanks again for all inputs and replies.
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