First post. Occasional lurker.
Looking at tweaking/upgrading my home office system - which is UQ2 and Dynaudio Excite X12 loudspeakers.
Don’t have room for Fraim. Am using the Dynaudio loudspeaker stands.
Most of my listening is BBC Radio, Naim Classical and Radio Paradise.
I guess a Powerline could be a good first start. What are all your thoughts on adding more power? NAP100 or 155XS?
I think the loudspeaker cable is Chord.
The UQ sits on a table.
The Qute is a fine all in one, but does lack power for your speakers. People have found varying degrees of success through adding a power amp, which while giving more power can change other aspects for the worse. I’d probably swap the Qute for a SuperUniti, assuming you are happy with its functionality. If you wanted the up to date functionality such as Qobuz and high res radio, a Nova would be really good, but more costly.
I like my UQ1, so much so that I spent the cost of another one on getting it serviced and upgraded with the board from a UQ2, plus the new screen it needed. That’s more or less what a power line would cost, at least at new prices. It came back sounding better. Has yours been serviced? It isn’t something I’ve seen many do on here, I suspect because it doesn’t make much financial sense X) I chose to do it because my UQ1 does exactly what I need it to do, I don’t need anything more, and it’s now good for a good few years of service.
I don’t know the speakers you use, but maybe rather than adding the Powerline going to a better base unit would be a more cost effective use of funds, as Hungry Halibut suggests. If space is an issue maybe the Atom? I suspect it has a bit better amplification on board than the UQ, on paper it is up 10W over the UQ2, to 40W.
Adding the proceeds of a UQ2 sale to the cost of a new Powerline, and adding in a virtual service cost saved, gets you close (but maybe not quite all the way!) to the price of used Atoms I saw on a quick look at eBay UK just now.
And welcome 
I’ve paired my UQ2 with active Focals (Shape 65). Terrific combination! No amount of power would have made any other passive Focals sing like this.
Thanks.
I have heard the Superuniti - several years back when my dealer held a Naim evening. It was really good. I am more interested in hearing what the UQ tweaks could be. In my home office I physically do not have the space for any of the full size boxes. I think the 155XS might fit underneath my monitor.
Have been looking at Powerlines, and Mark Grant cables.
Yes - my Qute went to Naim for the hi res board. It was several years ago now so I cant remember if it was a Qute 1 or a Qute 2. I have a bit of Naim gear at home. x3 Qutes in offices and kitchen. A Mk1 Supernait and HiCap and also a NDX/nDAC/555PS/552 DR and 500.
The Qutes are the most heavily used.
The standard Naim cable is already very good. I’m not convinced a PowerLine would be worthwhile on a Qute. Maybe a Mark Grant cable would be better but try to get it on sale or return. I’d suggest you’d be better trying to rearrange things to accommodate a SuperUniti, just be happy with what you have, or go for an Atom.
That sounds like quite a bit of Naim gear 
Yes, something like that.
I think upon reflection I should not have used the word úpgrade’ with my posting. I meant to say I was interesting in what others experiences were with some tweaks to the bare Qute.
We could always upgrade to the latest gear. I took my NS01 in for repair the other week. The dealer was pleased to see me and wanting to tell me about the latest Naim stuff.
Can anyone tell me what the power amp options are? I remember seeing 155XS at the dealer.
I was just in the mood for some tweaking really. And I used to think Powerlines were dear at 400 pounds. I see they are 649 now. I could add another Supernait 1 for close to that.
PC gaming sounds good also with UQ.
Well, my first tweak came yesterday when I found an QED branded optical digital cable in a box. Used that to replace the one I was using out of my PC.
Signed up to a free trial of Tidal. But then found I need to update the firmware of my Unitiqute. Have ordered the USB to RS232 from Amazon and it should arrive today.
Music was sounding good with Tidal out of my PC but not yet at the full bitrate.
Next thing to try will be trying some Blue Jeans Cable loudspeaker cable. I had wanted to order from them years ago but the overseas shipping was really high at the time.
Fingers crossed I can remember how to do the software update…
Personally I’d not be buying power or other cables but looking for a nice old but serviced power amp. Anything 140 upwards, 250 ideal. Mine really sounded loads better with the latter into my SBLs.
I would say in general (and be prepared to be contradicted) that the lower down the Naim food chain the less value comes from supports, cables, powerlines etc.
Much as I liked the Qute I found the Atom knocked it sideways when I switched. It is just superb for the money.
Bruce
You mentioned previously that you had a Unitiqute 2. The Mk2 version has a Mini USB port, not an RS232, so you would likely want a USB to Mini USB cable.
If yours is a Mk1 version there’s a possibility that it has the earlier streaming board which cannot support some services, including Tidal. You might want to check this, although it’s generally worth doing the update anyway as it includes other fixes apart from Tidal support.
The UQ in question has had a new high res board, it might be a UQ1.5 (which is my jokey name for what I have, a UQ1 with the slightly better streaming board) in which case the hardware i/o will be as UQ1 I guess
Like you I have several Qutes doted around the cottage. Mine are around 10 years old and I have not considered a service. The best thing I did was get a Roon subscription, after I had ripped my CDs, not because of any sound considerations but for ease of use - moving whatever I was listening to around the house. Also it a timed turnoff/stop function, which I wish the Qutes had.
I use a UPnP solution with a Raspberry Pi, but as your listening appears to radio rather than streaming then the only benefit might be you would not need to replace screens on the Qutes as you would control your music from a computer, iPad or phone.
BTW since going down the Roon route I don’t listen to Radio Paradise as much as I used to, because I use its radio service and recommendations.
I kind of agree w HH. As a UQ(1) devotee, I’m not sure that there’s much you can do to sonically improve what you’ve got. An Atom or SU would be the option depending on whether you wanted updated streaming capability or more power. Otherwise, you’re back to a NAP 100 - which I’m not sure would sound that much better given those Dynaudio Excite are reasonably easy to drive?
Hmm, the update process is slow. The installer tries to open a now dead link. And the help/support pages from Naim on the 4.8 update are also dead. I can see the page using "internet wayback machine"but I cannot see the relevant .pdf.
Am all for companies moving forward but surely keeping a few web pages for legacy kit is worth it as well?
@BruceW - Oh I totally agree with you. If this was my main system then of course I would be moving upwards. But this is just the ‘side system’- or at least one of three of them. I just thought it would be fun to experiment and explore a few audiophile tweaks. A bit like tuning up an old car. How can I get the best from it. I love the unit and love the speakers. But let’s have a play - I’ve got all Powerlines on the big 500 system. Maybe a Lite would be fun? Or some foam underneath the Qute? Or a different cable?
That’s all. Have to agree 200 would be awesome. There’s a NAP 100 on eBay and I’m tempted.
I think the general view I have seen has been that a NAP 100 on a Qute may not be a big step. I would say 140 minimum. You sound to me like you need to spend more time listening to music instead of fiddling!
I am not a tweaker, as you can probably tell.
Bruce
Come for the music, stay for the upgraditis…
I added a NAP100 to a UntiQute2 when I first started with Naim. But these days, Id suggest sticking with the Qute2 as it is, or swapping for a new Uniti.
