The NAP 100 replacement has to support more than RCA. It’s either DIN or XLR support and I think including XLR support on the Atom HE is the writing on the wall for DIN.
Well, time will tell. But in my opinion, the XLR preamp output is on Atom HE mainly because they decided to provide balanced headphone outputs. At that point, what the heck, we can add the XLRs on the pre with little trouble.
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Balanced XLR comes into its own when driving a long cable, which might possibly be useful if you use a pair of monoblock power amps sited close to the speakers. For an entry level power amp I can’t see how this would be relevant.
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There can be advantages for other scenarios with high signal-to-noise ratio too. Balanced will come in hotter and is shielded better, which means that both the signal and any low level noise won’t be amplified as much. Quoting from the Moon Audio blog:
balanced lines are always going to be more resistant to noise due to what is called common-mode rejection . This is the process where balanced cables that have dual-polarity lines end up phasing each other out and canceling any noise that is in the signal.
[…]
Regarding circuitry and design, a “true” balanced circuit (being balanced from input to output) will always sound better than a single-ended circuit. Pseudo-balanced circuits (using operational amplifiers or transformers to achieve a balanced output from a single-ended source) will not necessarily sound better than a single-ended circuit.
I think most active speakers have XLR input also. I was under the impression that this is why they were on the Atom HE.
Indeed, which is what I think Naim anticipate it being used for, thus their feeling that a matching power amp has no place in their range.
And Steve Harris writes about using the Atom HE with active ATC SCM 50s further up the thread. Ought to be a mullet, but his enthusiasm suggests the Atom really does exceed expectations.
Roger
I’ve changed my mind, I’ll use RCA ICs.
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I am about to reveal my ignorance but please could someone explain what is meant by balanced outputs and why it matters? Words of one syllable would help. 
You can look up “balanced audio” on Wikipedia for the long version.
In short: you take more effort to transmit the signal, especially by putting (kind of) the same, but electrically inverted signal across 2 wires (per audio channel). (So you need more wires per signal; whereas classical connectors use 1 cable/pin per channel.)
The “weaker” the signal, the more it is exposed towards externally induced noise.
Goal is to have a “robust” signal, which you can run across lengthy audio cables - imagine a live performance in a stadium, where the band and the speakers (and everything in between) is spread out quite a bit.
So, when you use “low level” signals towards active speakers (including subs) across length of more than a few meters (and with all the electrical noise around in flats these days), you can start to benefit from this without owning an own stadium.
(Interconnects <= 1 m are usually not expected to benefit from the additional effort. Hence you don’t have this in your typical - even high end - stereo setup.)
Many thanks - that really helps.
Must admit as an alternative to Active Speakers a dual mono system could also appeal
These are from Audiolab
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After some careful consideration I have just ordered an Atom HE. My dealer had one in back-order which he now reserved for me. Let’s see how many weeks it will take before it arrives. 
BR,
Richard
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Just out of curiousity: are you going to replace your current Atom with the Atom HE, or … ?
Yes. Having an Atom in the attic (my home office) is overkill, hence I will sell it.
Have you had an audition of the HE and did your dealer give you a actual delivery time?
Next Wednesday , I have an appointment with my dealer to listen to the SN3 and Atom HE.
Just wondering how long I’d have wait if I click the buy button.
I had a system like that (my son has it now) before moving to Naim. The amps were Musical Fidelity MA65 monoblocs — 65w of Class A goodness! I ran the system with each power amp near to the speaker it was driving, which meant short speaker cables and long interconnects from the preamp. Balanced was not an option so I had to use long RCA interconnects. One minor inconvenience was having the amps, which ran very hot, on the floor next to the speaker. I much prefer having the amp packs bolted on to my active ATCs.
Roger
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No, I did not audition it. I bought it purely on my excellent experiences with the Atom, the good reviews and my trust in the Naim brand. My dealer was not able to give an indication on when the unit will approximately arrive unfortunately.
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Look at this earlier post
Thank you. I’ve never been interested in the original Atom , then Naim dropped the Atom HE on the world, which made me sit up and take notice. I became instantly interested.
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