Hi all!
Facing a typical dead screen on my UnitiQute v1 (upgraded 24/192) reminds me that I’m missing little of the excitement I get in front of some floor speakers and it might be time for some changes.
(I do love my P3esr, but later I’ll get floorstanders. Room is 3.8 meters X 11 metres. (12X36feets) I’m listening in middle in the smaller axis of the room.)
My Naim taste is bigger then my wallet so I’m looking for second hand solutions. All kinds of solutions to keep a Naim sound as much as possible. (Boost with Nap 100, 150x, Bluesound, older ND5 with XS2 but that mean upgrade over 2 years if the market is good. Atom Second hand Nova is out of reach for now )
So, here my technical questions to help me think and search:
-Let say I get a Bluesound with a Nait 5si, can I manage volume with my iphone apps? (Spotify, Tidal, Airplay or Naim or Bluesound app)
-Same question for Bluesound with Nait XS2 or XS3?
-I assume the answer would be yes you can for a ND5 and Nait XS2 (with that little wire in between, if I got it right)?
-Am I missing something?
Thanks for your help!
I live in Canada so maybe there will be some delays in the back and forth.
Hi, you are correct that a Naim streamer can, using its control app or remote, control the volume of a Naim amp. A non-Naim streamer can’t.
However, note that the Nait5i is the exception, only the XS and higher amps have this ability.
I was hoping a Bluesound app could control music volume of the Nait XS2. Let say I set the XS2 physical volume set to 50%, I was hoping the Bluesound could have able to adjust from 0% up to the 50% of the Naim. While the app would have shown 100% when set to max.
There’s a nice second hand Nait XS2 at the local store, half price. That amp would have get me good freedom to upgrade to floor stand speakers eventually. I like my Qute v1, but at 30w (even if it’s a strong 30) choices get limited.
I presume the Bluesound you are referring to is the Node? If so I believe it has an optional digital volume control. If you enable this you can use it instead of the Nait control, although you may find it sounds better with fixed output, using the Nait analogue volume control, especially at lower volumes where digital controls often degrade the sound more.
Whether any loss of sound quality is unacceptable, or even noticeable to you is something you would need to check out.
Indeed, I had the node in mind. This could be interesting!
I could make it digital control on node for the casual listening like when my girlfriend listen the radio. Then for listening sessions I set it to fixed output.
Oh! You just shown me something that was in front of me all the time without me seeing it!
Very good suggestion. Seeing my little 30 amp working, I have no doubt the 80 will drive anything I’ll go for. (Considering I’m not aiming for big)
And you are right, a local dealer here have a Superuniti at the same price of a Nait XS2. (2000$Can). Very tempting, both…!
I’m in deep reflection about keeping the one box do it all setup (I do like) or go for a good amp like the XS2 and upgrade around as tech level up.
.wav, flac, dds, mqa,etc 24/192, 320kps, 10411kps, 9216kps… roon, things will keep moving up.
Since I’m in the second hand market, I get great deal to reach great and fun sound quality, but the draw back is the technical development that is getting older more quickly. A simple example could be the Airplay2. No big deal as it is not my main concern for audiophile listening and there is a simple work around by plugging in an Apple TV or similar. For casual listening in back ground it’s perfect and the girlfriend gets happy to easily listen what ever is on the radio.
The Superuniti seems to be a wonderful machine. Sound wise, let say the SU vs XS2 with ND5 X… or BS Node. Is the difference big or we are more about very little fine tuning taste?
I have little to compare, but the SI series components are no better to my ears. The Nova is a bit sharper and in my listening room with its little acoustic treatment, very little carpet and no curtains with my Harbeths th SU beats the Nova. Multi-Box approach in the XS and Classic may be better, but I lack this experience.
The “new” streaming features the SU does not offer can be bridged with a little streamer without DAC, you use the SU’s features for that. But then you have the nuisance with different remote. I do not have that problem since I am OK with my ripped CDs, Tidal and Webradio.
Thx for the info. May I ask what Harbeth you are listening?
I need to think about it. There are pros and cons.
SU, need to check as i might get another unit like my Qute with screen fading. (Still very tempting)
As for Nait XS2, let say at the end of the upgrade I get a ND5. From the pictures I see, having them in a racking with space in between seems to be important(?). Will I get sound cursed if I put both box stack over each other other directly without any racking?
I have and love Harbeth 30.1. They go together very well with the SU. But be careful, some find these too analytical. Highly subjective of course, but this is what I like about them. Auditioning in your room is highly recommended.
Since I grew out of multi-boxing I cannot comment about stacking, but as far as I know Naim does not recommend it.
