Excited to finally be part of the Naim community, something I’ve dreamt about for over 10 years, ever since an old boss showcased his Naim Statement driven media room to me. Having started off studying sound engineering, I oddly ended up preferring tech/business, yet maintained the bug for sound reproduction from a hobby perspective. However, it’s taken time to build up the required funds and justification of a proper system!
Recently, we downsized and moved back to central London, where I swapped my Yamaha / Floorstanding MA Bronze setup, for a more neighbour and room-friendly Muso 2. Fantastic piece of kit for the open-plan kitchen/lounge, but left a hole in my heart and ears.
Fortunately, my loving wife has just given the green light to turn our spare room into a media room-come-office. I listen to a broad range of music: classical, electronica, soul, punk/rock. Plus, my wife enjoys films, so having an HDMI-enabled stereo system makes sense for those occasional movie nights.
The room dimensions are 3.2 x 3.7m, and here’s where I need your collective wisdom. I’ve got a budget of about £4-5k (excluding a turntable and phono stage, which I’ll be adding later). Should I go for an all-in-one solution from the Uniti range paired with some bookshelf speakers?
Or should I delve into the world of separates, perhaps getting a Naim streamer and amp? I’ve got hundreds of vinyl records with sentimental value, which I’ll be dusting off in the years to come, so a turntable is definitely in the future.
I’m seeking the best overall return on value, happy with used kit for either option to maximise value. Although I enjoy researching the product and trying out the options, I will become tiresome of something that needs regular tweaking and warming up etc. Looking for a set-and-forget setup, with occasional maintenance/tweaks.
There’s no rush, but I’m keen to hear your thoughts. Cheers for reading, and looking forward to your suggestions.