I have had my SuperUniti since 2013 and I’ve long been tempted to replace it with the very highly regarded combo of the ND5 XS2 Streamer and XS3 Amp. However, I was put off by the concern that I might not see much of an improvement. In fact one Naim dealer told me they thought it would be a sideways move.
However, when I saw that the ND5 XS2 and the XS3 were being phased out I thought it was my chance, and I managed to grab both units for a combined price of very little more than I paid for the SuperUniti 12 years ago - Which looked like a steal to me.
But the big question was how much, if any, difference would I hear when hooked up to my existing Dynaudio Special 40s?
Well, this has not been a small improvement. This is a whole different listening experience. Just a much livelier sound, more air, more separation, more detail, better control, slap and punch. And the bonus of compatibility with Spotify Lossless (which the SuperUniti couldn’t handle).
I am blown away.
I know there is a risk Naim will replace both items with something even better - but, no doubt with a serious price increase and nowhere near the £3600 I paid.
I know another amp, another streamer, another power supply, etc. might be better, but I don’t care, my very modest system sounds absolutely great to me.
So if there are any other legacy SuperUniti owners out there wondering, now is a great time to nab a deal you won’t regret.
I’ve been equally happy since buying the same (both boxes) in 2019 new. And the XS3 has upgrade options (not tried and others here may say you should go up the current Naim amplifier hierarchy, or retro, instead of adding boxes to an XS3). It is possibly modest in Naim and equivalent brand terms, but not domestic hifi generally.
I wonder why he came to that conclusion, the difference is indeed important as you have experienced yourself. By the way congratulations for your purchase, have lot of fun with it!
The SU is being retired to my son’s room - I’m sure he’ll enjoy it. Just need to get the screen replaced so I can tune it to the wifi as there’s no hard wired internet up there.
The ND5XS2 is a great streamer and if CDs are of interest to you, works great with an inexpensive CD transport. I have an Audiolab CDT6000 which is way better than the Naim player it replaced.
When I bought a Superuniti some years ago my dealer suggested an ND5XS/NaitXS2 as an alternative, but it really didn’t sound better to me, so I went for the SU. I haven’t heard an XS3 enough to judge, but the ND5XS2 is certainly a good step up from it’s predecessor
I liked the idea of an entirely separate, all analogue amplifier, with a separate streamer that could be replaced later as technology progressed without having to replace the amp.
Also, at the current discounted price, the XS pair are actually cheaper than a Nova and close to a Star.
