Replacing SuperUniti?

Hi Well having decided to keep my SBL’s I’m now looking at my SU which isn’t going to benefit from the same functionality as the Atom, Star and Nova such as Chromecast Qobuz etc. So what to do ? Think the Atom is probably not quite enough to drive the SBL’s Don’t need to CD part of the Star and the Nova’s a bit much!
Maybe need to look at another brand ?
Cheers

The Nova is the nearest thing to a SuperUniti replacement. Even that may be pushed to drive your SBLs though perhaps? I have a Nova driving my SL2s and I have had to put a beefier power amp after the Nova to get the SL2s to sound right.

Best

David

Would the budget stretch to used ND5XS2 and SN2?

Roger

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Interesting. That combo would be more than a Nova

I would keep the superuniti and add a dedicated streamer upfront. Nd5xs2 is the obvious candidate. Why replace the su? it’s a great bit of kit.

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Well I did a bit of checking before making the suggestion and found an ex demo ND5XS2 and 2014 SN2 for less than the price of a Star. I would expect that combo to outperform a Nova into SBLs but have not made the comparison myself.

Roger

It is but would like to stream a higher rate than 44.1kHz

interesting, time for some digging

Why would that stop you from choosing an ND5XS2?

The nd5xs2 can stream hires from tidal or qobuz or local storage. You dont need to replace the superuniti, just stick in a dedicated streamer as a new source component, and use the superuniti as your amp. You have 3 analog inputs, one of which is a din, the latter ideal for a naim source. There are cheaper options such as the bluesound node 2i £500, or a cyrus streamer.

You could look at getting a streamer like an Innuos Zen or Zen Mini and adding it to the SU for streaming Qobuz, Tidal and using Roon if you want. It also rips CDs and stores them on internal storage. Zen will need a USB to Coaxial converter, but the Mini has a built in Coaxial out. Which connects into the SU’s digital input.
It’s how I use my SU and am happy with the result.

The SU’s DAC can play up to 192 as well as DSD64 so unless you need very high bit rate support, it’s actually not bad.

Exactly. You don’t substitute Naim gear. You upgrade. (The old gear turns to relic/ collection piece… :muscle:)
And the SU still is a marvelous kit

Think I favour the ND5XS2 although the options mentioned are interesting. I ripped all my CD’s years ago onto a QNAPS NAS. So don’t want to buy features I wouldn’t use

If it were me I’d ditch the SU and get a Supernait 2 or 3. The ND5XS2 would go well, and you can link them through system automation to control the volume. The SU has quite a lardy sound that you only notice once you get a more sprightly amplifier.

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How about a Raspberry Pi running Bubble UPnP Server? It’s how I added Qobuz to my NDS.

I have a SU and stream hi res every day. Can’t comment on the SBLs though.

There are Novas coming up frequently at fair prices on the second hand and ex-demo ‘market’, not all of which are on eBay, so it is worth using a search engine for ‘Nova for Sale’ - most Naim dealers offer a warranty as well.

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I agree with T-elmi. I went from a Superuniti to a Nova and apart from the upgrade in functionality, the improvement in sound quality was substantial - much more than I expected.

Stream what from where, and at what level?

Local files and internet streams via my QNAP NAS. The internet streams are streamed through minimserver since the SU is a legacy streamer but I still get the high res FLAC streams.