driving high end speakers

Hello from California. I’m new to the site and am considering the Supernait 3 or a Uniti amp+.

I just got a nice pair of Harbeth 30.2s. How important is it to have an analogue integrated amp, or can a digital amp work fine. I’m somewhat budget conscious, so please keep that in mind. cheers, js

Hi JS,

Welcome :slight_smile:

I cannot give you a technical answer to your question. But are you able to take your new speakers to a Naim dealer and form an opinion as to how the various combinations sound?

Chris

Hi welcome to this forum … you have a nice pair of classic British speakers … as this speaker is a 2 way with classic 8 inch driver … I think the SN3 would drive it pretty well…but obviously that speaker will serve you well and if you upgraded your that SN3 sometime in the future it would easily let the new amp shine through…

Hi JLSimon.

Welcome to the forum.

The only person who can ultimately judge whether an amp works with your speakers is you. The amp technology is a matter of preference, assuming it is well made. I use a Nord One Up 3 channel alongside my 300DR for AV duties. It is not as good as the 300DR through my SBLs in my room, or I suspect any other, but it is pretty good and excellent VFM, and something I know I could live with whilst saving for something better.

Harbeths are well considered, but I am not sure they are usually used with Naim amps, although I am sure there will be others here with some actual experience. Of course, to return to where I started, it doesn’t matter what USUALLY gets used together, it is your ears, your speakers, and hopefully a demo in your room.

Look forward to your thoughts as you move forward.

ATB,

M

…there have been a few members who have used Harbeth 30.1 and Super HL5 plus speakers with integrated amps. Perhaps one or more may care to offer some advise. From my memory some mentioned they required more power while others were happy. Room size and your own ears can only be the judge. So perhaps a home demo if you have a local dealer who provide a Integrated amp to demo. Otherwise arrange to bring your speaker to the dealer for demo in his room.

You may try the search feature for ‘Harbeth and SN’ or other specific search parameters and you will find some threads to read through.

I had a pair of 30.2’s on a home demo with my SN3 a while back, no problems there and it drove them fine without issue, nice speakers too.

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Hello & Welcome,

A quick look shows they need 25W minimum, 85dB/W/m so the SN3 should drive them fine.

follow up question: how big of a drop in quality were I to choose the versatile Uniti Star in lieu of the S3?

With the right source, a Supernait will be quite a big step up from the Star. An ND5XS2 might be a good match here, although it doesn’t have the CD ripper, but you could do that on a computer if you need to.
You could also consider ND5XS2/NaitXS which is a great combination at a liwer price that the Supernait.

On choice of amp, the room size will matter and UK rooms are typically smaller than US ones, so you may need to take that into account if your listening room is large. Personally, I would concur with @ChrisSU in choice of Naim boxes, but I don’t think it’s possible to quantify the difference in quality between the Star and, say, SN3/ND5XS2 as this depends so much on personal taste.

Can I suggest you look on the Harbeth website which has FAQs, including amplifier choice. I suspect it would be against forum rules to post a link but googling would find it quickly. There is also a forum where you could post your question.

Roger

Living proof that Harbeth M30.1’s are used with naim. Opposite coast and have gone from 200/202 to 282hcdr and 250dr. Rarely get the volume past 9 0’clock (starts at 6). Wonderful pairing, lacking truly deep bass, but listenablefor hours with no fatigue. My room is sort of an open “L” with speakers in the bottom portion (a square) and the upright which is 2/3 as wide holding couch/tv and rack with equipment. I think any 1 or 2 box from naim should work well. Couple of dealers in san Francisco/ Bakersfield I think. enjoy

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