I’d love to hear from anyone who has experience using the Naim Powerline upgrade with the Uniti Atom Headphone Edition. I’ve previously owned Naim gear and had a fantastic experience with the NDX/Supernait 2 as well as the 272/250 combo.
I’ve always found that Naim-branded upgrades tend to work exceptionally well with their own products, so I’m curious if anyone has tried the Powerline with the Atom HE. I’m considering picking up a pre-owned Powerline and would appreciate hearing your thoughts before making a decision. If it doesn’t work out, I’m confident I can resell it with little to no loss.
I primarily use the Atom HE with some demanding headphones and ATC active speakers connected to my desktop, so any insights from similar setups would be especially helpful.
In my experience, it makes perfect sense to invest in a good power cable for the Uniti Atom (as with devices in the Uniti series in general). The devices react very strongly to the power supply. There is certainly nothing wrong with the Naim Powerline. For my Atom, however, it seemed too expensive in relation to the original price of the Atom. I have used a Vovox Excelsus Powerchord with great success. It is very high quality (conductors made of continuous cast copper, high-quality Furutech plugs) and costs half as much as the Naim Powerline. However, it is only available in a Schuko or NEMA version (no UK plug). The Excelus was the best update I bought for the Atom. Other users have also had good experiences with it.
Very interesting thanks ! I have a HE as well and power cable is probably my next upgrade …
How about the power line in Switzerland (or outside UK)?! It’s not the same plugs…
Unfortunately, there are only a few manufacturers that offer hi-fi power cables with CH plugs. These include, for example, Supra, Essential Audio Tools or Rowen. Naim Powerline or Vovox (as a Swiss manufacturer) do not offer CH plugs as standard, but use Schuko plugs (from Furutech). A dealer could retrofit a Naim Powerline or Vovox Excelsus with a standard CH plug. But I would advise against it. The plug is an integral part of the design of the power cord. You will then lose important advantages of an audiophile power cable. Of course, you can also use a Schuko power cable with an adapter at the Swiss socket. But that is certainly not optimal either. I had an electrician install a Schuko wall socket for me. This is permissible if a Swiss outlet is also available nearby. If the electrician is in the house anyway, it’s not a big deal that doesn’t cost much. If you want to do more, Furutech, for example, offers audiophile Schuko wall outlets. They are excellent, not very expensive and provide a significant improvement.
If you want to stick with the Swiss plug and Swiss socket, I would borrow a cable from the dealer and try it out at home with the Atom HE. I have no experience with the products in question or the manufacturers mentioned above, so I can’t make any recommendations. However, borrowing a cable for testing should not be a problem. You might be surprised at how big the differences are.
I’m lucky to live in Hong Kong, which uses the UK standard, allowing me to enjoy the engineering behind the original UK plug. I’m also extremely happy with my decision to go with the Naim Powerline. It immediately elevated everything right out of the box. It’s a pre-loved unit that didn’t break the bank, and I’m confident I can resell it with little to no loss in the future.
Only the UK powerline uses the decoupled AC plug. The others are just bog standard off the shelf plugs. No harm at all in replacing with a Swiss one of high quality.
Naim uses a Furutech FI-38 Rhodium power connector for the Schuko Powerline (in Switzerland this costs 160 CHF). As I read in the forum, this was chosen by Naim after listening tests because it comes closest to the UK plug. I fear a significant sonic step backwards if it is replaced by a standard Swiss plug from an electronics store.
I added a PowerLine to my HE and the SQ improvement was immediate - more detail, blacker background and the difference between CD & true hi-res audio widened further. Felt it was worth the investment. As others have said - a used PL could be a bigger bang for the $$. I don’t have experience with the same from other manufacturers.
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