Upgrade from the uniti atom

Great suggestions. Lots of options there for sure.

Dynaudio Special 40’s need more power than your Atom can supply. However, they work very well with the Nova. They were paired together for a couple of reviews and I have heard them together and they are excellent. Now that 222/250 is out a lot of Nova owners have upgraded to that ( me included) so you can get a good deal on a s/h Nova now

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Yes. I was thinking selling my atom
Or trading on a nova … there’s a few for sale here in canada but prices are still fairly high.

I’m not sure if you have a local dealer but maybe you can see if you can demo any of your options that way you could see if it makes the change you want.

Yes. That’s possible

I also had an Atom for a few years and found it to be a good device with a nice closed sound image with suitable speakers, a good set-up and proper cabling. I listened to the Atom several times at my dealer in comparison with the Nova and found the improvement in sound quality to be too small compared to the additional price. Some good suggestions for an upgarde have already been mentioned above. If you don’t want to invest that much, the Nait50 with ND5XS2 is a very good alternative. There is a detailed thread on the Nait 50 here in the forum (Click here). It is an exceptionally good amplifier in relation to the price, although it is a limited edition. There are currently still a few units available at a significantly reduced price from approx. 1700 euros. ND5XS2 and upgrade options, e.g. with NDac and XPS, are also available second hand at an attractive price. I went down this route and now have a great sounding system that I enjoy every day. The Nait50 also seems to harmonise well with the Dynaudio Special 40. There is a video on youtube ‘unboxing the Nait 50’ by ‘Signals’ in which it is also demonstrated with the Special 40. The disadvantages are: the Nait50 has no remote control (which doesn’t bother me) and the number of boxes then increases rapidly. A rack (preferably Fraim lite or full Fraim) and appropriate cabling is then also necessary. If you are prepared to put up with this, you will get a great system, well beyond Atom or Nova.

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Hi Ger,

i come from a Uniti Star and i bought a SN3 & NDX2 this year and for me it was the best purchase.
So, for the beginning you can use your Atom as Streaming client in to a SN3 and after a while you can buy a NDX2 with great integrated DAC. How it is better for your wallet.
Step by step.

Cheers

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That’s a great option, I’d definitely want a remote though.

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Another great option, I wonder would a ND5 XS2 be good enough, what about the xs3 with the ND5

With the Atom you are quite short on amplification for the SP40 so trying a more powerful amp may be the first thing to do to see if it changes things? But I also wonder if these are the speakers for you? The SP40 may appear a bit too smooth, disciplined and lacking “flare” especially with some types of music? But with more power, at higher volume and with classical or e.g. electronic or rock music they can be quite something.
If I were you, I would first take the time and visit dealers if possible to listen to some different speakers and combinations within budget.

I really like the Sp 40, actually was led me to explore a better amplifier and a better digital front end is that I have a Macintosh 12000 intergrated and a bartok dac /streamer, I’m storing it for a friend of mine and of course it’s very expensive… higher end gear , it really improves on all aspects of sound quality as it should for the price over 40,000 Canadian, actually the atom has stood very well given to cost difference. But of course there’s a huge difference in a 5000 component verus a 40,000 components . I’d like to see how close I can come for a lot less money.

An ND5 XS and an XS 3 would also be an excellent combination.

If you bought the Atom from a reputable dealer, you should be able to tell them you are looking for an upgrade, state your budget, and they should be able to demonstrate a few things, one of which will knock your socks off.

I don’t think we can do that as effectively on the forum.

Thanks for your input

That’s an interesting question because I’ve started to think differently about my Atom.

I initially got it just as a toe in the water for streaming (and being self-contained could be repurposed later) since I’m primarily a CD and FM or vinyl dinosaur.

Consequently my Atom operates as a source through an active pre/power set up with SBLs supported by a sub, so a true ‘mullet’ from its perspective, and I’m increasingly amazed how good it is at the things you describe, depending on the quality of the recording it’s retrieving.

The Atom itself does have a pre out connection, which suggests a good degree of confidence from naim as to what they created. If you can, I’d be tempted to try it with a different amp/speaker combination and then you’ll know.

For my part, I’m beginning to think I’ll try that too, just to see.

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That’s great and that’s what counts, then it’s “easy” - adjust the other things to bring the SP40s more to life, yes:)

I think so as well.

Yes… I’m very curious about just adding an external power amplifier.

I drive my Special 40s with a Supernait 3. To my ears, it’s a superb combination.

That’s definitely on my radar… what source do use with the supernait