Hello! New to this forum having just taken the step into Naim. A bit of background to my question first. I have an almost square room with a ceiling which is just a little half of the height of the walls. Big 37 hz peak (see pic).
This was earlier solved by a Linn MDSM/3 and soace optimization but it sort of never was really right removing too much of the base even when trying to trick Space into a @mild setting. K jept turnkng space on or off depending on the music. With space it got a bit booring.
I then got a Wiim Ultra for my small Stochholm overnight appartment and a NAP 100. While I was waiting fir the NAP 100 to arrive (from Denmark) i plugged the wiim into the mdsm3. The wiim room correction worked very nicely and i am no longer turning correction and off.
Then came the NAP 100 and i hooked it into the pre out of the linn msdm3.
Initial impressions are favourable. With the NAP 100 destined for the overnight apt I now looking at combining a wiim ultra (need the room correction) with a naim poweramp for the main apartment.
Which brings me to the question: what would you suggest in the 1000 - 2000 EUR range?
The best has to be a used NAP250DR. That said, I’m not sure that fronting such a fine amp with a Wiim Ultra is the way to get a nicely balanced system.
It’s not. It sounds dreadful. My Nephew brought his over to try on my system before Christmas. One of the worst sound experiences i have ever had to endure.
I’ve not heard one so was being circumspect. But experience suggests that using a £350 streaming preamp into a £4,000 amplifier isn’t going to be ideal.
Wiim DAC is a match for the mdsm/3 ad a preliminary so works for now with the addition of high res and better room correction (spoken after 40 years with Linn).
How does the 155 compare to the 100? I have one I can get for a good price. 200 vs 155.
Your Stockholm apartment (my favourite city - a lovely place to live) - does the system now consist of a Nap 100 and a Wiim Ultra or does it include the Linn?
The linn, as a Majik DSM 3, I assume this includes on-board amplifiers? Circa 100 WPC into 4 ohms.
Ultimately, at your main apartment, are you planning to use the Wiim as a streamer/DAC/processor/Pre-amp straight into whichever power amp you buy?
Alternatively, can the EQ signal from the Wiim be sent via a digital output into a higher grade DAC without losing the EQd output?
The Guru 28s appear to be a high quality speaker that would benefit from a good amplifier - I just wonder if the best results would come from the Wiim feeding another DAC digitally and then that signal be fed into whatever amplifier you choose?
Will for now stick with the Wiim looking for a good poweramp. It might be a missmatch but the wiim is pretty good - and can be replaced. The eversolo will be outside of the 2000 EUR budget even as a dem I would think.
I’ve only listened to a 100 connected to my UQ1 and can say it wasn’t much of an improvement on the bare UQ1.
I do own a 155 however and probably spend most of my listening time with it. It’s a massive step up on the power section of the UQ1. I’d have no problems whatsoever in recommending that with what you have. You’d have a nice upgrade path to an NAC-N172 or a 152XS and a ND5XS or ND5XS2.
But if you want to go further, then yes a 200 would better it, a 200DR better than that, and and a 250 better still - on and on until you get to the Statement level.
It took me about 9/10 months to find a good conditioned / recently serviced 155, and when I did I grabbed it. And it was somewhere around €700-800. If you can find the same for less, I’d be inclined to jump on it.
Edit to add: the 155 normally drives KEF LS50 metas which are 85dB and like lots of power; no issues there.
I have a WiiM pro plus (rather than ultra) and for me, the weakest part is the preamp. It has a simple digital volume control, which means quality falls with volume. So I wonder if using it with the volume control bypassed but into an integrated amp rather than a power amp would be a better solution. If so, a Nait 50 if you can still get one falls within the price range, at least in UK. Alternatively, there are still discounted Nait 5si amps around and there’s the new CI 102.
Because of insufficient quality as a preamp? My inpression is that the wiim DAC output is on par with the Linn mdsm3 (right now hooked up as line in bypassing the linn dac and with spdif).
Sorry for all questions but you seem to have alalysed things well!
Yup, I tried the pre-amp function out for a friend who has a Project turntable and needed a headphone amp to replace the integrated one on his TT, so I recommended the Wiim as it would give him a streamer as well.
So it gave me a chance to listen to it as a pre amp, and whilst it can perform the role it isn’t anywhere near the level of the power amp you suggest and therefore would be an obvious bottleneck and limiting factor.
The Wiim is a much better streamer than a pre amp, and again it can become a better streamer when used with a better DAC (Wiim have some of the best software in my experience).
So just think you will get more enjoyment and fulfilment with a decent integrated amp in front of the Wiim and the Guru’s will sing.
Incidentally given your location, are there any Densen amps in your local market, Guru’s really love them, I have a couple of Densens as well, fabulous sounding amps.
I can’t comment authoritatively on the Wiim’s DAC or ‘preamp’ as I don’t know it, however whilst the preamp stage might be the limiting factor, there is no harm using it with a good power amp, just bear in mind that performance couldn’t be as good as the poer amp’s potentioal, and you could always add a separate preamp later.
Received wisdom from others suggests that the streaming stage before the DAC is its best part, good enough to feed much better DACs, so a better DAC in due course might be benefiil, if you would b interested in upgrading. Altnatively if you consider getting a separate preamp then one option possibly worth thinking about is a combined DAC/preamp such as the 272, though how well its DAC compares to the Wiim’s would be the big uestion.
Regarding using the pre-amp section of a modern ‘budget’ DAC/Pre-amp to feed directly into a power amp, as alluded to, it is the digital volume control section that, due to the nature of their design, is the limiting factor. I have a Loxjie D30 that we use in the main bedroom - used in fixed mode into an Arcam Alpha 1 it sounds good, especially for its price. However, I once tried it straight (pre-amp mode) into an Arcam Alpha 8p power amp powering Tannoy R2s and the music lacked body/weight but also sounded a bit strained/harsh. That was fixed by using the Arcam Alpha 1 as a pre-amp in the same system and the DAC in fixed mode. I suspect the Wiim will be similar because of the implementation of the volume control.
One reason I use the DAC V1 as a pre-amp is because it has a ‘digitally controlled’ analogue volume control which, according to an interview of Steve Sells by the ‘Audiophile Man’ (Paul Rigby), is related to the one found in the Statement pre-amp. Regardless of what that actually means, it actually works very well, unlike the volume control in the Loxjie which made the sound both a bit bland and yet also a little harsh at the same time.
How about a SuperUniti - one box that contains a DAC, pre-amp and a pretty powerful amplifier in one Naim sounding box? A good used one should be well within budget and I suspect, would pair well with the Wiim.
