Hello. I think I have understood correctly that it’s not possible on a Naim Uniti Atom to connect phono cables to the preamp out at the same time as speaker cables and have sound from both. Given that this is not possible, I am wondering about the next best solution.
My scenario is that I have a dedicated Stax amplifier for some Stax electrostatic headphones and I would like to connect this to the Naim Uniti Atom but also have the option of playback through speakers as well. I am aware that I could use a minijack to 2 x phono cable to plug in the headphones when I want to use them, but I am looking for a solution whereby I wouldn’t have to keep plugging and unplugging cables. I also suspect that the sound quality from the preamp out would be better than the minijack headphone output at the front of the Uniti Atom.
I suppose that any solution would involve adding another unit - most probably a separate integrated amp - but I am looking to keep everything as compact as possible. Maybe I should look to another integrated streamer that could do everything I’d like it to do?
If I understand you correctly, this is definitely possible, as I used to bi-amp my B&W speakers in the following setting: For HF, Atom → speaker cable → speaker; for LF, Atom → RCA to XLR cable → NAP-250 → speaker cable → speaker.
The Atom’s power amplifier is always on, you can’t turn it off even if you want to. Would you mind sending us some photos of your connection so we can get a better idea of what is going on? To which input of the Stax amp do you connect the Atom’s pre-out?
Thanks again for your reply. Sorry, I have made a mistake. What I actually need to be able to do is to cut the sound to the speakers when I am using the headphones. The minijack connection on the front of the Atom does this, but the preamp out does not do this - sound still comes out of the speakers, when they are wired up. The volume control on the Atom effects the preamp out, when I am actually looking for something like a tape out, which sends the same level regards of the volume setting. If there isn’t a workaround to get this working with the Atom, I am wondering if there is a similar all in one streamer that would do this?
No, you can’t cut the sound from the speakers without unplugging them if you are using the pre-amp output. I had the same dilemma with the Nova. I did use a Uniti2 for thsinthiugh, as it has a tape out.
No, it doesn’t, that’s the issue. If you use the headphone socket, there is no output from the preamp out, so you can’t use the output for a headphone amp. If you do use the preamp,out, you still get sound from the speakers. Hence the problem.
