Upgrade Star to Nova?

Thank goodness I didn’t have to and haven’t noticed any issues with my Nova. I would definitely recommend tightening all screws on loudspeaker. Of course with the correct screw driver and do not over tighten. I am not responsible if you strip screws or end up putting screw driver through the driver!

@Mrpseudonym, I am practicing wringing everything - hands, feet, face in front of the mirror… Lets see how far that would get me! Thanks! :+1:

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Ok so the single technical guy at the local importer is on holiday so I will have to apparently wait until he is back before I hear what will be done.

Man, oh man I am one frustrated Naim owner right now.

First had another reply here. But felt that does not add to anything.

Lets summarise by saying I have one piece of Naim kit. It has been hit by numerous firmware issues and now has a detached front panel.

I am still here, and joined the beta test team, in the hope that it all can be fixed and because I have invested in it. Perhaps not as much as many folk here, but I still consider it an above average investment. So my needs are what the Uniti range offers and my requirements are that it does what it says on the box and not fall apart.

So far my needs are met but my requirements not.

If it turns out that Naim cannot meet this in the long run for me as a customer I will most certainly switch to a brand that can.

I feel for you, bad luck about the vacation delay on top of the technical issue. Joining the beta team was a smart idea: I’ve felt a lot more connected and engaged by being on the “inside” since about ten years ago when there were tests being done with changes to buffering and wifi on the v1 UnitiQute and I participated in early release firmware updates. Somehow took a lot of angst away, even though there were still issues and problems. Thinking on it, it makes sense that the little bit of feeing like you have extra control was likely just as important as having the fix in hand. Your Nova will get fixed or replaced, you will be back in a good place, enjoying your system and the new relationships formed during and after this negative experience. Good luck, stay cool over the next few days, see if you can borrow something to keep you going while you wait… or get your mis-aligned Nova back, if it is functional. Fingers crossed the tech guy is on a mini-break for a day or two and comes back refreshed and ready to fix your Nova.

Regards, alan

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Thank you for your awesome response!!

Actually I was experiencing this already. In part that was what made the frustration hit super hard upon discovering a hardware issue. Kinda like yay getting a hold of the firmware issues after all this time and then BAM sorry its also falling apart LOL

FWIW it is Star (was asking initially here if an upgrade to a Nova was worthwhile as the Star had to be returned anyways) and luckily I still have it at home. Definitely something for the positive column!!

Glad you are in a good place even though a tough situation.

FWIW, I have the Nova and the Atom (upgraded one-for-one from SuperUniti and UnitiQute when first available). Both are fantastic, as I’m sure the Star is too. That said, the Nova is simply “more”: a noticeable amount better at everything. I guess all the small engineering improvements add up to better performance, since it is not just one thing. No issue to live with and fully enjoy any product, for sure. In fact, our family situation has changed and we have two homes for a while, so one system in each - and I did not sit there with the Atom just missing the Nova if you know what I mean. That said, I bet there is also “more” from the Nova than from the Star - it is the way of things. If your confidence or happiness at ownership has taken a hit, and if your dealer would help you with a good exchange to upgrade, then I’d say you would have a happy experience ahead. But if the price of upgrade would become its own anxiety or regret, then it’s not like pure performance would compensate and you’d be better off not going that route. My experience is that comparing and analysis might be useful when making a choice, but it’s best left at the door once you’ve chosen so that you can focus on enjoying what you have. For you, a significant part of the satisfaction should include getting over the stress and, since you raised the upgrade idea when the Star needed repair, I think you know in your heart what you’d like. The trick is to include your wallet into your heart’s desire so that you can settle with whichever system you choose to end up with. Both are totally capable of pleasing you, of that I’m absolutely certain!

Good luck with the next days and weeks and years! Stay safe, stay healthy - including your own mental wellness in these crazy and trying times! I hope music really is that cliché balm to the soul - it is for me these days, and I’m very grateful for it.

Regards alan

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This suspicion is the basis of my question. Thanks for your kind words, however my question is mostly based on the fact that what I have read here on the forum has said enough to me that I may enjoy the sound of the Nova more. Seen some comments on the sound being “deeper and less up front”, it “showing a huge difference in older recordings” and “really shining at low volume”. All of these ticks boxes for me. So the idea rose that if I have to take the effort of returning the star, perhaps to use that time and effort more wisely if the Nova is indeed a better bet for me.

But that said I am going to see how things develop and may ask the dealer for a Nova loaner at the time to see for myself.

Ah yes that is it exactly. Sinking into the music is indeed a safe harbour for me in these times. Being rudely yanked out of that makes the frustration feel worse, I guess.

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Wise words here. This quote should be pinned to the top of the forum as a warning!

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As it turns out the dealer wants 2500 Euro to upgrade my Star to Nova. For that cash it has to be one hellova upgrade over current.

Not gonna do it.

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Understandable, think about the music you van buy for that!

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That was indeed my very first thought.

In fact I thought about it so hard my vinyl shelves started sagging under the potential weight of the future purchases.

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I’m not sure I’d agree with this unless there have been any significant hardware revisions - far more likley that the change was either due to firmware (potentially huge sonic changes) or natural sample variability between ‘identical’ devices.

Don’t blame you. I sincerely doubt there’d be a significant difference to justify that cost.

Not sure in Euros but what’s the current cost differential €600-700 perhaps?

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With €2500 you could tweak in other areas such as interconnects, Powerline (big on Nova), speaker cable or a dedicated NAP - believe me my old Olive NAP 250 really enhanced the sound of my Nova compared to the already excellent in-built output.

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Yeah price diffs new is 900.

My focus now is definitely cabling. Would have done that anyway even if the Nova upgrade made sense.

Honestly I am very happy with the sound of the Star. But no harm investigating hey.

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Both had 2.5.0 installed at the time. Sample variance that affects SQ to the degree that it would be that noticeable would be alarming (certainly to me) and would suggest (to me) poor quality control which I would hope would not be the case. I know that Naim make odd tweaks over the life of a product (as one would expect) so it’s normal to expect a new product to perform marginally better than an earlier release. Anyway, unless the new item is greater than 100 Hrs old it would be difficult and all judgment bets are off due to the burn-in cycle, as I am now experiencing.

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Agree with both; Powerline is big on Nova, and 250 is a substantial enhancement, and could be so on the Star…

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That is a strangely high sum. I thought the difference between the two was around half that amount?

Yeah it is. But apparently not when the Star is a year pre-owned.

Anyhoo, my issues have been sorted and with new power cables the Star is sounding better than ever. I have not the slightest problem keeping it.

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Which power cable did you get?