Just thought I’d share some more thoughts after a few weeks living with the Atom HE. Athough I did go back to the Heed power amp after all, this setup with the Technics amp worked very nicely too. I was surprised that vinyl was still producing the best sound quality as here the signal from the Heed Quasar phono is being digitised by the Atom, converted back to analog, converted to digital again by the Technics before passing through DSP and PWM before the final output. Despite all that the Technics is very transparent to whatever source it’s fed, it just amplifies and that makes it clear the Atom HE is a very good sounding source. (I say source in this instance as it isn’t a typical pre-power setup - it just bypasses the volume control in the Technics, otherwise it follows the same signal path as any other input).
The Heed power amp is capable of a more seductive sound, quite a bit meatier and sweeter than the Technics. But the Technics is a bit more open and more nimble in the bass. They both boogie in their own ways fed by the Atom HE. If I move on to a Naim power amp, I’d hope it would combine the best qualities of both.
Another update as in a moment of madness or inspiration I bought a used SN2…it should arrive today. It’s been out for delivery since 10am and I’m still waiting at 4pm…
Regards the Atom HE, last night I setup a second system in the living room after a few years without and it’s been playing internet radio all morning as I’ve been doing stuff round the house. Background music really, at a decent volume but not too loud - but hard not to get pulled in. Very engaging. It’s really opened up after a few weeks use, the Heed Enigma help in that regard too.
Now I’ve got several options to mix and match gear between the two rooms, but I’ll probably be using the living room system the most and for that the Atom HE might stay there as a pre/streamer source which is an absolute pleasure to use. No criticism of the app from me.
As seen in the photo there’s also a WiiM Ultra on hand but that’ll probably go downstairs into the more vinyl oriented system. The Heed speakers will certainly remain upstairs, the Q Acoustics Concept 300 downstairs.
So it just remains to be seen (heard) whether or not the Supernait 2 will drive the Enigmas or Q Acoustics better. The Technics amp does a sterling job with both, but if the SN2 performs better at a lower volume it’ll probably be better used in the living room. I think the Heed speakers boogie better than the Q Acoustics so I’m excited to hear that combination.
It arrived 2 days later as despite waiting home all day DHL decided not to call and return it to the depot instead, but here it is. I would have preferred a newer SN3 but it’s in very nice condition and I think it’s a very good purchase for around £1400.
Not quite sure how it sounds best yet, with AV bypass using the Atom HE for volume or Line in using both volumes. Either way it’s really good at low volume listening though which was something I wanted.
I know it would have made more sense to go for a NAP250 but the SN offers up an optional future upgrade path… the Atom HE route with the new NAP250 and maybe later NCS222 or the classic SN route with HiCap DR & NDX2…I do prefer the classic design
I tried my SN2 and SN3 (both with HiCap DR’s) in both line level input and AV Bypass using my Lumin P1 (fixed output on the line level inputs so only one volume control in use on the SN’s) as the source and both sounded much better using the line level input.
I think the AV Bypass is OK for Movies fed from the Pre-Outs of an AV Amp for surround sound duties but nowhere near as good for a very high quality music source.
Agreed, after switching off the AV bypass and running the Atom through the aux input I came to that conclusion.
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