@anon4489532 as a PP. Why do Naim (there are other hifis out there!) allow for a power amp upgrade on the Unitis? Simply so that users can adapt/configure their systems to run with bigger/better speakers according to need.
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Iâve always thought that itâs to enable a phased upgrade to separates, rather than leaving the Unitis as a dead end.
I still think using ÂŁ12,000 speakers on the end of a Nova is misguided, whether a 250 is in the mix or not. Ask any competent hifi dealer and theyâd very likely say the same. Give them a call. Tell them youâve got ÂŁ20,000 and want the best system for the money. See what they suggest. It sure as hell wonât be a Nova, 250 and Sonus Faber Nova 3.
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I wish you all could hear what I am its simple and sounds wonderful in my lounge.
in any event If I ever get the desire to add boxes, remotes and IMO complications I could. more likely If made available ideally by naim a 1 box solution to replace the nova and dr250 that would be for me utopia all that said Im minded as good as they sound they are likely a bit big for my space so the quest will continue .
I am sure you all have a better sounding setup with you collection of boxes but for me If I must sacrifice on SQ to reduce the box count then so be it .
Thanks all
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Is it bonkers to have those speakers on a Nova? Yes. Does it matter so long as you think it sounds good? No. The issue is youâve asked for thoughts on an open forum.
What I canât get my head around is if youâre so wedded to a âtwo boxâ system, why not get a Gryphon / Hegel super integrated with a DAC card then bung a streamer or laptop in. Itâll sound better in every regard.
The Nova doesnât exactly exude the Naim sound, to my ears, so if itâs Naim-ness youâre after then youâre better of elsewhere anyway.
But I do mean it - it doesnât matter if youâre happy, ultimately. But this Forum isnât always the place for back slapping!
Yes. But I donât use the âIMOâ expression indeed. Maybe I shouldâŚ.
Thereâs no need to state IMO in this context, itâs quite clear what you meant.
IMO of course 
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I feel Lindsay thinks that SN3/ Ndx2 is not forcefully better than Nova/ 250 dr. The reason of his post.
I actually think that if everything else is equal then a NDX2/SN is very likely to outperform a Nova/250 but that might be speaker dependent, a more demanding speaker could be better served by the 250 configuration. Who knows? However, that is not the issue here. The OP has a Nova/250 and has decided to improve his listening by upgrading his speakers. Heâs done the test, likes what he hears. I recently upgraded my speakers but I suspect many would have said that I should have upgraded my amps first but to my ears the speaker upgrade was very very considerable.
And on that Iâm off to make the coffee and enjoy the cricket, and then the Grand Prix.
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Enjoy Zandvoort 
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There is another thread where the OP has made a marvellous job of building his own loudspeakers with expensive drive units and powers them with a unit well down in the Naim hierarchy
I suspect that much of the forum advice is received wisdom and hardly ever based on personal, real experience
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If you read through the building a speaker thread, you will see that the speakers the OP built are semi-active, so not comparable with pure passives. Also you will see he is planning to move up from his Atom, NDX2/SN3 was mentioned, to something more âappropriate to the speakersâ or words to that effect.
Roger
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For the record, I will definitely upgrade and I am sure I will hear the advantage of that when the time comes. ButâŚ. I absolutely love my speakers and if I had to stay with the Atom then Iâd still be happy. It sounds perfect to me. Recently adding a NAP 200 has improved things further. Higher quality speakers can offer lower distortion, cleaner bass, less box coloration, more transparency. If the speakers can be driven well, that is. The list goes on. This all adds to the enjoyment and is evident with even the lesser priced gear (IME). You only live once. If you want a nice car, get a nice car. If you want nice speakers get the nice speakers. I have actually stopped coming on here recently. It gets a bit tedious reading the same responses. If anyone wants a pair of speakers worth more than 2000 they have to first spend 20,000 on electronics.
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I think thatâs a little unfair.
The âusualâ advice offered is intended to get the best SQ for the budget but of course itâs down to the individualâs choice in the end.
If you have full confidence in your choice then donât ask as sometimes the answer you receive is not the one you wanted to hear.
Itâs not because you find the Atom into 10k or more speakers sounding fine to you that you would not experiment a better sound in that budget level.
Till you didnât have heard better you will think it would hardly sound better.
From my experience and many here, the crucial parts are the source and the preamp. Then amp / speakers combo.
Donât forget the posh cables.
Oops what did I say.
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Yes, from importance, it would be:
- Source
- Preamp
- Speakers and amp, as a combo.
- Cables
- Rack and isolation devices.
- Network switch
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You assume too much. I have heard more expensive systems. Your response is always the same to me @frenchrooster â if you have not heard better you wonât understand â
Everyoneâs story is different.
Personally, I started with the speakers as they offer a bigger upgrade in sound than the same money will buy me with electronics. I am pretty sure that many many people on here will never actually hear what their expensive equipment is actually capable of as they skimp on speakers.
I have experimented with enough different types of speakers to know that inherent weaknesses such as cone breakups, cabinet resonance, poor quality crossover and crossover design is not compensated for by buying expensive equipment. There are so many that come on here complaining of sibilants, bright sound, brittle sound, no bass, edgy mids etc. quality speaker design plays a large role in enjoyment in my experience.
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@Mark84 My own experiences align well with yours in the sense that I find speaker choice has the biggest factor on SQ. Finding a speaker that matches well to your own sound preferences and to the room you listen in is more important than any electronics. I find it perplexing at the amount of money some people here spend on their source and amps in comparison to their speakers. Iâve no problem with that - each to their own - but doesnât make sense to my ears. As this is a Naim forum, I guess thereâs also likely to be preference towards a source first approach.
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For sure. I also think thereâs a large element of space/room size/spouse being the limiting factor in speaker choice leading to the only upgrade available being black boxes. And of course you will hear a difference when you do this. But man do you pay dearly for small increments.
Donât get me wrong, I donât deny that the source is important. I am just an advocate for being able to reproduce the source to its potential, or near it.
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