Hello everyone~~
I have just joined to get help from you audiophiles~
I am a keen music lover but have no clue in sound system. Have been happy(well i had to! ) with Harbeth compact SE and entry level cambridge inte amp for more than 10 years. Recently I upgraded to Naim Uniti Star and Dynaudio evoke30, but to my dismay it does not sound what I wanted or expected.It plays significantly better on the higher volume especially from spotify or Dab radio. But the Cd player sounds wet and metallic especially on low volume. I am a near field listener and want clear, richer and dense sound on a lower volume and better expression and sense of stage in general. I searched google, asked chatgpt and the answer is either add preamp like naim 202 or 252 or add power amp like naim nac200 or 250. I have always used inte amp, I struggled to put blue jeans banana plug into the speaker holes yesterday.
I will be very very grateful if you could help me out with the solution. My budget is no more than £1000 but can stretch upto £1500 for possible phono stage. I am open to tube pre amp despite higher price but my music source is mainly digital at the moment.
Thank you so much
Joy
The Star doesn’t have a preamp input, so you can set that option aside.
The Uniti products are designed as stand alone devices and while you can add a power amp you are unlikely to see a worthwhile improvement.
I’d suggest that your problem lies in the speakers. The Evoke 30 isn’t easy to drive and isn’t a good match for the Star. I’d return the speakers and either use your Harbeths or find some speakers that work well with the Star. Ideally you should try them at home before buying, to make sure you are completely happy.
Well the first two simply cannot be done (that’s chatGPT for you), and I agree with HH re adding a power amp. I would look for more sensitive speakers, although don’t choose on specification alone. You really, really need to try them in your space.
As a suggestion the Neat Iota Alpha was good at lower volumes when I heard it. Very compact and easy to position too. Selling your Dynaudio would get these inside your budget. Other Neat speakers are well regarded with Naim but there’s plenty of other options. What does your dealer stock?
Suggest it might be your speakers.
I’ve got the Star and PMC Twenty5 23’s and it sounds really good even at lower levels.
I am afraid I am stuck with my speakers(return period ended). Thanks for Chat Gpt who suggested this combination. Sigh. Now my option is to buy an amp and learn how to connect 2amps to a set of speakers.
Thanks a lot for your advice.
I was split between Dyn and PMC in the final decision. PMC will pribably be my next speaker~~
There is a way forward here if your speakers have two pairs of connectors. You could then add a Naim power amp in a bi-amp configuration.
Oh, it looks like your speakers only have a single pair of connectors….
How do you know that adding an amplifier will address the low volume characteristics of your existing speakers? It’s your decision of course but I think it would be foolish to add an amplifier. You are much better finding speakers that work in your room.
All I can say is that I had great results when I had some ATC SCM 19s but the Star couldn’t get the best out of them so added the ATC power amp. Excellent system now gifted to my son.
Most decent dealers will consider a part ex, especially if they have an alternative for you to demo (ideally at home).
Bruce
The Uniti Star isn’t really an amp with a CD player built in. The primary reason for the CD was to enable easy ripping of CDs to its internal storage. It uses a ‘computer’ type drive precisely for that reason.
It would be worthwhile at least trying an external player in to the Star and see what you think then, if CD is your favoured source.
Oh shame …
I am not adding an amp on top. I was originally going to have 2amps independently connect to evoke30 and switch one at a time. But I guess I will have to ditch Uniti star along with Harbeths to my daughter who only listens to hiphop occasionally. What a shame~but I am quite leaning towards to Hegel 190 or 360. Or musical fidelity m6i or Simaudio.
You may well find adding a used NAP200 or 250 is worthwhile though. I ran my NAP300 off my Nova for a while and that certainly added lots of drive and control over the speakers. Unless you change your speakers or the Star, I think adding a Naim power amp is your best option here - just use the Star as a streamer/CD/pre-amp and connect the power amp to the output on the Star.
I have a nad cd player which I really don’t like as it sounds tinny and flat, which was recommended by what hifi. I don’t listen to CD often anyway. I am thinking of digging out and start playing old vinyls from the shed in the near future.
…or try some different speakers with what you already have! You seem very resistant to that route despite the arrival of the Evokes coinciding with your dissatisfaction. Can you demo alternatives, in a dealer or better still at home? This will at least show you how big a factor the Evokes are in what you like/dislike. Did you demo the Star and Evokes together initially?
Bruce
Indeed. Trying to get electronics to make unsuitable speakers acceptable is a fool’s errand. We’ve given advice and can do no more really.
I know it is getting more and more ridiculous. I will be spending twice the pricetag of the speaker for the amps just to revive the speakers as if I am on a mission to see the true potential. I heard the real thing at the audioshow few years back and the matching amp was something very expensive Simaudio. Little did I know the nature of Dyn. In my small city, there is one posh B&W ( never interested in them) showroom and Richer sound( Their stocks are quite restricted). I need to travel about hour? to get to where decent? audioshops are dotted. Another possibility is 
using the Star as a streamer only and use Hegel 190, or call it a day with Hegel 360(with dac). This all in one amp is such an eyeopener for me. Thanks a lot.
I think time invested doing a good demo in a realistic environment with your actual kit (if you cannot have them at home to try) is going to potentially save you a lot of time. And money.
Bruce
After some consideration, I reached a conclusion my taste does not agree with naim amp and evoke combination. naim poweramp could only accentuate the character of the sound, is my concern re adding a poweramp. If I can I would love to use the star as streamer only, connected with Hegel power or inte.I think I prefer a slight dark nuance of Hegel.