Av receiver with Nait XS2?

Hi-Fi Corner
1

Hi, I am thinking of getting a Nait XS2 and use it also for the front speakers in a 5.1 (or 7.1) system. My old pioneer AV receiver is on its last legs. Any suggestions on an AV receiver with pre-outs for the front to be connected to the Naim?

Thanks

Andrew

2

Hi Andrew,

Personally I use an Oppo 105D to do my decoding, and then take the outputs into separate power amps, as I have a number of old Naim boxes hanging around.

A friend of mine would point you at high end boxes which allow you to use Dirac, with which he is mightily impressed, and he IS knowlegable.

Some noteworthy products from the likes of Arcam, NAD and Anthem.

Another route would be to look to picking up a second hand Onkyo; which is what I do for my second system.

One other brand that always tickles my interest is Emotiva.

Obviously, the ideal would be to spend time going through an audition process, IF you are looking at the higher end AV solutions this will be possible; or if you combine the XS2 with the AV solution.

As I sit here typing I am listening to my Oppo 105d in stereo mode streaming from my NAS into Nord NC500s to Naim SBLs …damned good. OK not as good as my ‘proper’ front end, but I can listen to it enjoyably for hours, and not feel short changed.

Cheers,

M

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Thank you for this, it has given me some food for thought. I will take a look at your suggestions.

Cheers

Andrew

4

Hi Andrew,

Just to load on a bit more:
As you will know for good AV ideally you want to have your system tonally matched across the front (at least). In my case I use a 3 channel NC500 power amp. With the XS2 it would be interesting to try and confirm what would work best, possibly a NAP175? This would give you three channels and they can be picked up for reasonable prices second hand.

IF you wanted to go that route then you would need to decide how to do your decoding: BluRay player with outputs; or, AV Processor.

May be worth doing some searches on the old forum.

M

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Anything by Denon or Yamaha.

Be careful with ground-loops when connecting (quite often demonstrated by excessive buzzing). Ground-loop isolator may be needed.

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I pair my Atom with an Arcam AV Amp very happy with it.

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I use a Marantz 5010, I had an xs2 before and now a nova works great!

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