Leeps said:
rainsoothe said:
My previous setup was Arcam A19 + Focal Aria 906. ...
If you want an all in one sollution, Naim Unitiqute 2 is unbeatable in functionality and sound quality for the price imo. This also goes great
Hi Rainsoothe
interested to know your experience comparing the Arcam and the 'Qute. Both are on my short-list for the future. I have some Ruark Epilogue II standmounts I want an amp for at some point. My main music source is Tidal which is why the Naim appeals. If I went for the Arcam I'd need a separate streamer like the Bluesound Node. The other consideration is that I want a reasonably high-quality headphone output.
I have heard the 'Qute with some Focal headphones and was impressed. But I wasn't sure whether it had the grunt to control the bass of my Ruarks. Flabby bass is one of my main pet-hates with any system and I tend to notice this very quickly, so that and timing were among my concerns.
The other amp I've thought about is the new Marantz HD-AMP1, which has the high quality headphone out and the DAC, but I'd need to add the streamer as my source which would bring it up to the price of the Unitiqute anyway.
Hey. Well, ideally you'll be able to hear the stuff for yourself. The Marantz looks like a great product, actually, and I'm thinking of auditioning one just for the fun of it.
As for the Arcam, its bass can be ever so slightly tubby sometimes (material matters a lot), but again, you need to check that for yourself. It doesn't happen in an acoustically treated room, but in normal living rooms it can be a problem (and my room is very problematic, because it's square). It's not muddy or anything, and it does the rhythm thing very good, but sometimes it can be a bit tubby. Naim don't have that problem, and I find Naim's rhythmical abilities awesome. On the other hand, the Arcam seemed to have a... "bigger" sound then the plain UQ2. The UQ2 soundstage is wide as well, but not as tall and deep. And... well, big!
The Nap100 corrects that.
Also, using Naim Nac A5 speaker cable on the Naim + Focal combo din't sound right - my dealer actually used NacA5 on an Arcam setup instead. I wanted to try it anyway, and they were right. They used Chord Rumour 2, and it sounded great, but when I tried it at home I would get bass modes (resonances) in the room. Using DNM Reson now, and I'm not thinking about changing anything till, maybe, I get enough money to afford Nac N172 + Nap155XS. But that might be overkill.
Looking around on the web, I found that your Ruarks have a warm-ish sound, so I would defenitely consider Naim and also Audiolab or Exposure. Also, Naim Nait 5si might not be a bad idea for the 87db sensitivity Ruarks.