In this text the author agreed that an expensive 7,000 £ speaker sounds significantly better than a Focal Arie -1000£, combined with the Atom:
I think the point has been missed. The question isn’t whether a GBP7k speaker sounds better than a GBP1k speaker with the Atom. The question is whether that combo is the best system to build for a total of GBP9k
I am absolutely sure it isn’t by a long shot. But there will always be those that beat the drum of “Go Mullets! Business in the front. Party in the back.”
That’s fine. It’s their money. If they are happy then I’m happy.
What concerns me about these Naim/Focal deals is that choosing the right speaker is very much about finding one that suits your personal taste and your room, at least as much as your amp and source. I’m pretty sure these deals will distract people from that all important aspect of the system building process. Sure, Naim, Focal and their dealers are in it to make money, but it doesn’t seem to me like customer satisfaction is the priority here.
Totally agree.
All I can say is that to some extent Uniti is aimed at a different market. One that has cash to drop. Wants quality. Isn’t interested in the details.
Not everyone who spends money in a hifi shop is really that interested. I once sold a complete Quad 6 system with ESL-63s to some bloke who had a 20 minute shop floor dem, had heard the Quad name and wanted to pay and go 5 mins after that. I remember being flustered and confused by the sale but learned something about customer types that day.
I’m sure many of us are that same sort of customer willing to part with cash for perceived quality without getting involved to deeply when it comes to a few non hifi areas. I remember walking into a showroom and asking to be shown “the best washing machine you have” and just wanting to get it and be gone in 20 mins with no further work on my part. It’s the same thing.
I think you have missed the point - customer not equals to audiophile. There are people who are not audiophile that are buying this combos. They want something better than ordinary and they are willing to pay for it if it fullfills their requirments but they aren’t particulary into value for many ratio. On the other hand, I totaly agree with feeling_zen’s opinion if someone looks for the best sound you can get per pound.
I once bought a pair of Ruark Sabres because I loved the look of them, they never let me down and I was very happy with them.
Foolishly gave them to a friend . Regret it to this day.
Sometimes, the customer knows what he wants. I would suspect your customer with the ESL-63 knew what he wanted.
I think there are plenty of people who own Uniti products and consider themselves audiophiles. Have a read through this forum and look for people who want to put Unitis on Fraim glass, add Powerlines, power amps, etc. Even those who aren’t would be better served if they took time to choose speakers that suited their own room and taste rather than getting tempted by a package.
No doubt you’re right about this. But this forum does not overwhelm entire population that is eager to enter into the world of good sound/music.
I am not agaist that approach since it is a good start for to get to know what you can get with a proper system. Again, it is not all in good sound, there is something in good looking especially if you live with a wife. Personally I would match uniti with aria range since the aria range is deisgned to be closer to a wall while sopra and kanta aren’t. Focal incomes are 40 millions € per (last I know) year so that’s a lot of speakers to sell…
This is in case you are completely satisfied with Aria, but if you are still looking for better …?
Then buy combo with sopra or kanta and upgrade electronics later. I think uniti can serve as preamp while you buying power amp such as 200dr or 250dr. After that you buy preamp and change unity for a streamer or you keep it as a server for multiroom installation. There are lots of possibilities…
The Atom also makes for a good DAC. I’m using it as a preamp to feed Liquid Platinum -> HD800. It’s a very good match. Double amping doesn’t seem to be an issue. I keep the LP volume at 50%.
Anyone has experience with the Triangle Esprit line? I’m thinking about moving the Atom to my living room and pair it with the Australes. They are horn and pretty easy to drive on paper. They are suppose to be great as TV speakers.
Yeah I swapped out my speaker cables with the Naim I bought used and there is a significant improvement in sound quality . Of course the speaker cables I had in were just a run of the mill brand but you could immediately notice the improvement, particularly in audio resolution .
Hi gordec,
When Naim was preparing to launch the Uniti range, the company invited a few of us to the factory for a tour & audition (thanks Richard Dane!)
They demonstrated an Atom, Star and Nova in turn driving the Sopra 1 speakers.
The Atom managed to get the notes of a tune out of the Sopras.
The Star started to join those notes up.
The Nova was the only one that managed to turn the notes into music. In fact, I rather liked Nova + Sopra 1, even though it was a pre-production Nova and the production version is better.
By all means buy a pair of Sopra 1 speakers to go with an Atom. It will play all the notes of a tune but you may find yourself hankering after the much better matched KEF LS50, as Atom + LS50 plays music rather than just the notes.
This, I believe, is the essence of the well intended cautionary note from Xanthe.
I got a pair of Triangle Espirite Australe floor standing speakers. The Atom is driving them really well because the Australe is very efficient. Is the NAP 200 a good way of upgrading the amp section and use the Atom as preamp only. Obviously it’s sexier to just get a Star or Nova, but the NAP200 is only like $1200 used.
And the Atom- NAP 200 combo gets a lot of appreciation on these pages
The Atom is a very elegant piece of kit, there’s something nice about having it out front with an amp tucked away out of sight
I’m just not sure if I need to add the amp for the Australes. Kind of new to the speaker game. To me it sounds really good driven with the Atom. I guess I have to try it to find out.
Go with whatever you are happy with. The thing about Naim is that you can often build on what you have rather than replace and start again.
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