I purchased a Nova as I no longer wished to fill the lounge with racks.
I’m wondering whether anybody has heard whether Naim intend to develop this line by introducing a Nova plus model to compete with the likes of the Hegel H590 or Krell 300i.
Naim has benefited greatly from the success of the Uniti range and I feel they need to develop it further.
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Would have thought it unlikely, not really any room left inside a Nova for substantive changes. I think Naim hope that the next rung up for a customer would be separates such as NDX2 and SN3. They never let on what is in their research pipeline…so its all guesswork.
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A Super Nova would be nice, in the meantime the Supernait and NDX2 is a nice pair and is lovely.
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I’ve heard the SN2 and NDX2 and liked the sound however these were both with ps. I’d like just the one box solution as I believe many people would.
I’m happy with the Nova but am tempted to listen to theHegel H590 to see if there is an improvement. Judging from reviews it should improve on the Nova all be it at twice the price.
I don’t want umpteen boxes which is what you end up with in the classic range after additional power supplies.
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Gaza, I wouldn’t mind a bigger box, the Hegel is certainly bigger. I’d just like an improved single box Nova.
Certainly Naim have picked up a lot of new customers with their Uniti and Mu-So ranges but need to further develop the Nova as an upgrade path for those of us who prefer one box.
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AGREED - i would and have said in the past maybe even a Statement One Box.
For many we require discreet solutions, i think Linn have twigged.
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I think it’s unlikely that Naim would develop a bigger, more expensive all-in-one player. Improvements from decoupling the various components of a hifi system, and their power supplies, is in Naim’s DNA, probably more than any other manufacturer, and I’m not sure that’s going to change. At least, not until energy efficiency regulations force them to put SMPS in everything and ditch those big transformers.
An interesting thought, got me thinking about what a Supernova would look like, Supernait 3/NDX2 as a minimum I would guess, where that would place it cost wise would probably be the challenge terms of it being marketable.
I currently run two Novas in the house, nice and simple, unobtrusive and a good sound, both connected to TV’s and Roon, certainly would be interested in an improved model.
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glasnaim, I’d say the price would be on a par with the Hegel H590 and I wouldn’t mind that if the quality is similar to the NDX2 and SN2 I heard last year.
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doesn’t the nova have the same 400VA power?? My ideal would be the 500VA in the “supernova” + a phono stage. My guess would be an external power supply would be standard and a 20K price point .
I guess the downside is that any internet device would “age” faster than the electronics of the pre/power, and that separates would still sound better.
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It’d be interesting to know the market potential for an even higher-end one box solution.
A large part of the Nova’s appeal for me - beyond the obvious acoustic performance and product features - was the aesthetic benefit of reducing from 6 non-matching boxes, down to one. But also it’s (so far) cured my constant quest for something better. I do understand the appeal of the modular approach, and why it’s necessary at the top end. I know that upgrading can be a wonderful, albeit bumpy journey. And while I had many years of enjoyment from switching out components to scratch that itch of always wanting “more”, I increasingly felt like I was coming up against a wall of mounting expense and diminishing returns. Selling it all and going for a one box setup has really allowed me to just enjoy the music, without ever wondering if a better DAC, preamp, amp, power supply, or ethernet cable (
) would make me happier.
I’m sure there must be more affluent people than me who would love a better Nova, for one reason or the other.
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Mark Levinson do such products…but my dealer has decided to stop offering them, for many reasons…biggest one they were not selling. Interesting market, but a lot of money to execute for…perhaps few customers. Or the product was not right?
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The reason I raised this subject in the first place is because nowadays you expect a product to develop and offer greatly enhanced options.
Gazza’s comments are interesting and perhaps a Supernova would have a limited market but I think this relates to UK rather than global demand.
Certainly American and European firms are developing Supernovas.
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I think my reason for hoping Naim will develop one is that my superuniti experience was so good vs. years of seperates - in terms of convenience, the sound and the app. I just want better - and the Nova feels like as much as a horizontal move as an upgrade. I have the money to spend - but not enough that I would forgo another vice (vacations, motorcycles) to do a somewhat lateral move.
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My Naim dealer suggested going to the SN3/NDX2 to replace my Nova. It made perfect sense. With System Automation it has the same ease of use as the Nova. The only drawback is that it adds another box.
Adding a power supply is optional since in my experience the pair offers better SQ than the Nova without modification.
There isn’t room in the Nova to equal the performance of the two box solution. Going to a larger case makes no sense because it will create as much inconvenience as going to two boxes. Besides those two boxes can be stacked.
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The box could increase in height which would retain the one box convenience.
I think there is definitely room for a supernova in order to compete with Hegel.
I thought about the NX2/SN3 combination but you will end up with four boxes because the PS improvement will be too tempting.
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At the price it would likely come in at I wonder if there is much of a market ? The NDX2/SN3 is already more than twice the price of a Nova without the additional power supply. In this kind of price range I think people will go down the separates route.
The Hegel is £9,000 so supernova would have a fair bit of room over the nova.
The Nova is the successor of the SuperUniti so it’s already “super”.
It seems really unlikely to me that Naim would make a “supernova”. It would cost a lot to develop and certify and how many would they sell? Not so many I think and you would need to subtract from that number the lost sales of Novas, SN3s and NDX2s.
Developing a niche product at the top of the heap, like Statement, makes sense because of trickle down technology as well as the trickle down kudos of doing it, but a niche mid-range product seems counter-intuitive to me.
Best
David
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