Is the Atom’s pre better than that of the SN3? I’m suprised if that’s correct
Well as a streamer I’d be confident that the NDX2 will outperform the HE
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The Atom and Atom HE are different animals. I would say the HE has a better preamp than the SN3. That’s essentially what you’re paying for in the HE. They removed the amplification from the original Atom and fully redesigned the HE to be a much better preamp and headphone amplifier.
There is a podcast online where Jason Gould is discussing various products including the HE. He stated that using the HE into the NC250 is a “game changer”. Therefore, I believe the people at Naim think quite highly of it.
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As streaming dac, I doubt that Atom HE is on similar level vs Ndx2.
Would not be logical in Naim line.
I may be wrong. But some found little difference between 222 and Atom HE into an amp.
I should have finished my post by I suppose.
Interesting, I didn’t know that, can you elaborate ?
They are different generations, different design and signature
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I am confident it should soon have a place in the hifi section in the Design Museum in Kensington (if not already)
You can find a lot of information about it in the original announcement thread.
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I would personally choose the NDX2 feeding the SN3…
Your money, your choice… Good luck with your decision.
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Thats perfectly fine.
There’s reasons why people post what they post here, I would question if you need to defend.
As for dealers opinion, I don’t really care much, my dealer or anybody’s else dealers usually have a vested interest which is better ignored unless yourself is asking.
Perhaps people should form their own opinion.
Similar situation here, but it is my wife who is disabled and requires 24h care, also there is no proper hifi dealer where I live let alone one who sells Naim. So I can’t go far and to spend any time auditioning here in Spain I would have to take a whole day out to travel to Barcelona or Bilbao. The opinions on these forums are very useful - I can’t imagine I’d be disappointed with either setup but it really helps hearing others experiences.
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Ah ok, I’m not really good at reading marketing blurb.
Well, form your own opinion 
Here is a quote from our esteemed leader @Richard.Dane in May 2021, when the HE was announced.
“I reckon this could be a killer partner to a pair of active speakers for a really small but super high performance system - especially thanks to the balanced pre-out.”
How right that was.
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As another happy user of pre/streamer into active speakers, I’d recommend adding such a setup to your audition list. If that’s too pricey to jump to in one go, perhaps get the Atom HE now, enjoy that with your current power amp and then audition some active speakers and alternative power amps in the future.
Roger
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The potential of the Atom HE for a minimalist second system with actives is a very big pull indeed
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It’s good for a minimalist first system too.
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Mixing Naim preamps with other brand power amps is problematic?