I was wondering sound quality wise for these 2 as a source, the budget does not stretch to an NDX2 and i would like to have a remote, but not lose sound quality.
They are very different things… nd5xs2 is a line level source that needs a pre amp whereas the atom he is already a pre amp. What are you going to use it with?
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I was thinking nd5xs2 with nait xs3 or atom he with nap200dr?
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I would expect the Atom HE / NAP 200 to win that easily, but I’ve never done the exact comparison so that’s pure speculation. BTW in that configuration, the DR in the NAP is not used so you could save money with a non-DR version.
Roger
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There’s no remote with the ND5XS2
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I’ve indeed owned both however I had the NDX2 in between them, so never had a chance to compare them directly. And, of course, they cannot be easily compared directly anyway as depending on what one uses as pre amp, the results would be different for the ND5XS2. The closest I can think of might be ND5XS2 into 222 vs the Atom HE?
Still, I think the way everything is put and tuned together in the HE makes it work like a charm and its pre amp section is really good. I guess the streaming board and DAC might have small differences and/or filtering.
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Moving up the Naim hierarchy will always bring better, but with the caveat that you may not like how it is better.
Having lived with an Atom for several years I can say without hesitation that the Atom is a fantastic little machine which, with careful speaker matching, is a truly superb one box solution. The control integration is seamless and the value vs. sound quality is outstanding. That said, I did upgrade to the ND5XS2 (+Supernait3), which was a significant step up for what I wanted to get out of my music… but we’re talking about a 3.5x cost delta.
For a sightly more fiscally responsible upgrade, I also spent time comparing the Nait XS3 + ND5XS2 with the Atom. This was more ambiguous to me, and I wasn’t quite prepared to spend the $ for what the XS3 + ND5 did over the Atom. It was better, but not in a way that really made me sit up start thinking about how soon I could get one home. I felt the same about the UnitiStar and Nova, neither of which made me want to part with the money to upgrade from the Atom. With the SN3 in the system, it became clear that the ND5XS2 was the superior source vs. the Atom, and that the SN3 was a substantial step up from the amp in either the Atom or the XS3.
Once we’re playing with hifi at this level, it’s less about outright quality and price, and more about subjectivity and preference, in my humble opinion. I’ve heard systems worth $200K that I enjoyed less than my old Nait3 + CD3.5 through a pair of speakers I built. All this to say, your mileage will vary, but the fun is listening to different pieces of gear and combinations to figure out what you want to hear and what serves your music best.
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All I can say is that my HE, with a Vertere Redline RCA-DIN into a 332/300/250 is a lot better (more space, more distinct hf transients, more pace) than a 222.
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This is super interesting! I would have expected the 222 to significantly outperform the Atom as a source, especially with the addition of another cable and 2 non-soldered connections, not to mention the price difference. Any chance the 222 needed running in?
My 2c worth is that with the Atom HE you have reached a ceiling of performance. As long as you’re happy with that, then fine. I think for most, that ceiling is pretty darn good actually.
Mine is in a second system but I rotate speakers through it - SF Lumina 1, Harbeth P3ESRXD, even Neat XL6. It’s tweaked with a Powerline (slight-moderate improvement), Isoacoustic Gaia feet (similar level of improvement in all areas, quite surprising actually). I’ve tried three amps - Perreaux Prisma 350, Chord TToby (it’s usual partner) and Moon 600i on bypass mode. Not a huge difference between them.
If you are a serial upgrader, tweaker, improver you have options with a streamer/integrated system. Every so often I wish the HE had a digital out to play with for instance. If you are happy with the resolution of the HE then fine, if you might itch for more then I would say go the other way.
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No it’s well run in. Ex dem and used by me for 9 months.
I think people under rate the HE.
Also the Vertere Redline cables make a massive difference.
I would need to spend many £1000s more to better the HE.
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Indeed there is, through the app, its great!
Martin
I like the fantastic volumecontrol of my Atom HE.
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I like the Atom HE because my wife uses and likes it.
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As @ameads noted
I’d agree.
If you’re looking for a one box option it’s hard to beat - it looks great, sounds great and best of all is fantastic value for money.
The HE with active speakers is the way to go in my opinion - fabulous (for the price).
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Has anyone active pmc bookshelf speakers partnered with the he set on bookshelves close to the wall
@Andy58, I’ve got floorstanders but around the time I bought my Atom HE I was on here looking for advice and I think someone suggested PMC Result6 active studio monitors for near field listening. I’ve never actually heard them though so can’t recommend them myself. Maybe you could check them out.
Try this thread:
Had a look through some threads nothing specific but will look at the AE1/PMC and ATC 20s, thanks for the responses 