I’ve been a proud owner of PMC Twenty 5.23s paired with a Uniti Atom for 18 months. It was my first entry into Hi-Fi and I’ve been loving the combination since then. Last week a local dealer had a sweet deal for a Nova and I purchased it.
While writing this post it’s the third full hour trying the new combo. What I feel is that the Nova is way more capable to drive the Twenty 5.23s with a balanced soundstage at every volume level. Also the appreciation of detail is way more noticeable and the behaviour is less irregular.
However, what I find surprising is that the Nova demands more volume (numerical dB) that the Atom while listening to the same albums. If with the Atom I was using 35dB on average, the Nova demands 42-45dB. I got surprised with this because I was actually expecting the opposite: less dB as a result of more powerful amp (80w vs 40w).
Do other who have tried the same combo felt the same?
The numbers - presumably from the front panel - aren’t decibels, they are just numbers. I would not be concerned. Because the Nova will drive the speakers better there is less strain, so you are probably listening louder without realising it. When I swapped from a 250 to a 300 I started using a higher volume setting, which is a similar situation.
The most important thing is that you are happy with your Nova. It’s a much, much better match for the PMCs.
I have the same combo in my study/office system, not a large room, about 6m x 4m. If I was playing at 42 - 45 it would be loud, normally I’m at 35 but this may be down to the room. You can go into the Naim app and change the volume range, I think from 75 to 100, not sure if this will put you numbers down or up re loudness, will check later. I did have a Star for a while but found it required a higher number setting re volume level as you expected when comparing the Nova to the Atom.
Nice pairing by the way.
Quite likely this is what’s happening. You can play it louder with Nova and you feel way more comfortable. The Atom had kind of a sweet spot but when you went above it, it did not behave the same way.
Another significant jump is that differences among Vinyl, SACD or CD are much more noticeable. Sensitivity wise is another world.
My room is 7,42m x 3,85m --I have it in the living room.
The 45-50 would be when playing Vinyl. SACD rips from MOFI, AP, etc. closer to 40-45. Now I’m playing REM - Automatic for the people (regular CD rip) at 35.
