It just seems to me that if you find (as you said in your post) that, “New Naim systems just get brighter and brighter,” a cheaper, simpler, and more reliable way to solve this problem than the “massive hit and miss mission costing thousands to get speakers / cables balancing the room sound,” would be to find a brand of source and amplifier that’s more to your liking, perhaps a brand with tone controls or some other form of optimization that would enable you to balance room response without treating the room.
Still, why so defensive? Atom is pushing all sound through dsp anyway. It’s not a religious decision and would not break Naim. It’s still best design, direct vivid sound, with very direct analog presentation, but with entry system would help in ordinary rooms to balance the low frequency suck outs or boosts in untreated environments.
I understand that puristic approach in higher end systems that most often are installed in treated listening rooms.
I get that some want tone controls, and some don’t (full disclosure: I like them )
The solution is / was easy. Tape Monitor Loop. Meant that purists could keep a perfect signal path (not even need a “source direct” button). And those that wanted to tweak could insert tone control into the tape monitor loop (usually a graphic, but also tube buffers that could warm up the sound).
With cassettes and Reel to Reel still having a degree of popularity, never understood why tape monitor loop is no longer found on the majority of amps. A simple solution that keeps everyone happy
An update to the Gen 1 Unitis primarily for the SU to let them be a “slave” to an ND5XS2, so volume control , input selection etc would work from ND5XS2 app. Even if this effectively disabled the built in streamer.
A simplified high-pass crossover like the Bryston 10B so you could feed a subwoofer and main speakers. A NAP250 high passed into a high quality set of bookshelves together with a good REL/BK sub would be a very potent combination. (The Uniti(2) and UQ(2) had this!)
Bonus if a new “SuperNova” included the above.
Line outs back, please!
The updates for 1st gen streamers that were promised for 2023
If you want room correction for your Atom and use Roon then you have that capability in Roon via DSP.
I know, but that requires a Roon server, a separate box, or a constantly running PC, and that plays against the “all-in-one” idea. I ask for simple tone control or even simpler brightness balance, like in the Dynaudio Focus line, where the whole tonal curve flatly rotates around a 1kHz point.
I think Room Correction and Tone Comtrols, while similar, are philosophically different. Naim already does offer Room Correction… in the Muso.
What happened to your CDS3?
So many discussions of Alanis Morrissette - that I am hesitant to say that I intended irony, but …
Class D! Dry as my humour.
Ok I’ll bite…WISA integration. I would like to wirelessly integrate my two channel HiFi into a wireless Dolby Atmos setup.
HDMI integration gets 2 channel, using AV passthrough works, but then requires an AV receiver and then wired centre and surrounds.
As said earlier but unlikely legendary Naim sound quality.
New signature it seems for new times.
I doubt that ‘the marketing people’ at Naim are holding back the development of a high-level integrated amp that would sell.
The problem might be that a key aspect of the Naim approach to HiFi has always been separation of power supplies from the head unit.
I’d like any new box or boxes as it means there will be a chunk of used gear come onto the market.
what means : " typical Atom buyer" ???
Someone who likes a large slice of Sacher torte with cream!
An Naim integrated with a a separate PSU might be an interesting compromise
I am sure naim could build a fantastic integrated amp that’s all in one bigger box.
But if they really went for it like other manufacturers have, you can end up with something so good it makes buying the separate boxes a bit pointless as the difference in price over the very small gain is just not worth it.
But you do end up with a product that hopefully sells well.
2 casses off this are the humbolt against the massively more expensive 3 box separates and the vitus sia030
Squeeze the preamp and power amp head units into one box.
It’s not natural!