Hello everyone
Since yesterday I have a Naim Atom with very efficient speakers, Spatial Europe No2.
The Atom has quite a lot of noise, audible from 3m away. I’ve read about it before but didn’t think it was that strong.
Does anyone know if this is also the case with the Star?
Greetings Christian
What is the nature of the noise you’re hearing and can you hear it when listening to music? If it’s a hissing sound, it’s may be a consequence of using the Atom with such sensitive speakers. If so, I doubt a Star would be much better, but it could be worth trying if a dealer can lend you one.
Whilst there may be technical tweaks, which I’ll leave to others to suggest, it might just be that your streamer and speakers are not well matched and you’ll need to consider changing one or the other.
Roger
These have a really high efficiency of 95 dB/W which in this case is not helping …
Just so. I wonder if the speakers were designed with half a mind to their use with a relatively low powered tube amp. It seems Spatial Europe do offer their own tube amps tuned to the specific speaker model.
Roger
Welcome to the Naim Forum. I had the Uniti Atom with traditional speakers (Vienna Acoustics Haydn, bass reflex, 89 db) for several years and the system was completely silent. I never had any annoying noise or humming, if that’s what you mean by ‘noise’. Perhaps you could clarify the problem a little more.
Hello Guys
Basically, it’s a faint hiss.
It’s always there as soon as the Atom is switched on. When music is playing at a normal volume, it’s not really audible. But it bothers me just knowing it’s there.
I understand that my efficient speakers amplify it.
Regarding the spatial tube amplifiers built by Audion:
Yes, I have one too. Audion 300B, the Spatial Amp No. 3.
I use the Atom for background music in everyday life and for TV sound.
When I’m listening to music intensively, I connect the Atom to the Audion by the Pre Out and use the Atom as Streamer and Volume Control.
This adds a significant amount of detail, spaciousness, soundstage, and airiness to the sound.
I previously had a large digital system connected to the Audion: a Lumin U1 streamer with a Canever Audio Zero Uno DAC.
I’m selling these two devices because I haven’t listened to music as much as I used to, and I don’t want them just sitting around.
That’s why I was looking for a good-sounding all-in-one device that I could also run through the Audion system if needed.
By the way, the Atom also passes the noise signal to the Audion system via the pre-out.
That makes sense. Most (all?) Naim amps will produce some audible hiss when used with extremely sensitive speakers, so I suspect swapping to a Star will not make a material difference. You may just have to live with the hiss if you want to stick with Naim.
By the way, would an Atom HE fit your use case better, since you’re not using the power amp section of the Atom? That’s if I understand your setup correctly. You’d get better quality for the same price.
Roger
The Atom HE Edition doesn’t make sense since I need an amplifier for everyday use.
I don’t use the 300B for TV sound or background music.
My actual question was whether anyone is familiar with or has owned both amps—the Atom and the Star—and whether anyone can confirm that the Star has less noise than the Atom.
This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.