Hi Audionoob,
May I ask what turntable you have and how often you use it, relative to streaming?
Joe
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Funny you ask that. When I went to listen to my friend’s system, I brought my turntable and phono stage with me because I wanted his experienced eyes and ears to review how I set it up. I’ve got a Dual 522 (mechanically restored) with a Schiit Mani, which I got recently as my first vinyl source. We were both really surprised how good it sounded against his Linn LP12 with Naim phono stage. Of course it didn’t sound as good as the Linn, but he was a bit shocked that the difference wasn’t bigger.
Being a beginner with vinyl, my record collection is tiny. Corona didn’t help either as I really enjoy just perusing the 2nd hand stores and music stores looking for my little gems. So I’m not using my turntable as often as I do streaming, but when my record collection grows I know that I will be using it more and more. And upgrade it in the future as well.
Cool! If your TT was sub-par and you listen to a lot of LPs, a more-revealing separates system might have cast an unflattering light on things. Sounds like this is a non-issue.
Here’s what I’d do if I were you:
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Look for a chrome-bumper 32.5/Hicap/250. This setup will better what you’ve got by a significant-enough margin to be worthwhile. Have these serviced at Class A, if needed.
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Sell the Atom and get a cheaper streaming system. Really high-quality digital sound can be had these days for relative peanuts. A Topping DAC with volume control (necessary because Naim pre-amps tend to be unhappy when presented with lots of volts from modern sources) and the streamer of your choice would be great. The Bluesound Node seems to get good reviews, but there’s lots of choice here.
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Don’t worry about racks and/or cables at this stage. Just use the cables that are supposed to be included with Naim equipment. Note, however, that with a vintage Naim system, you have to use NAC A4 or A5 speaker cables, so factor that into the costs.
That’s it, really. The CB gear will look cool with your Dual TT and your speakers will sound like they’ve doubled in size. Result!
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I had to look that up 
Those classic modules sure look cool! I’ve never seen any of those offered for sale here, I guess maybe that’s why I don’t know about them. Ebay in UK seems to have some but I’m weary of importing it, tbh.
I might get my hands on a NAP 200 but looking at the back of it, how would I connect the Atom to it? It only has one connector for snaic 4 lead. I can’t find anything about that on the web either.
And would I be able to use my current audioquest speaker cables with banana plugs?
You need a 2xRCA to 4-pin din cable to connect from the pre-out of Atom to NAP 200 input.
Perhaps check with @afgverhart, I think he’s had one with an Atom so can probably tell you about any improvement.
Hi @Audionoob
I have been using a NAP200 behind my Atom, mainly because my Dynaudios love current. The sound did improve but mainly due to the added current. The NAP200 sounded a bit thinner and in the end I preferred the more coherent sound of the Atom. I used a flashbacksales.co.uk cable from RCA to DIN. Not expensive, good quality and worked perfectly.
Today I use a Purifi EVAL1 power amplifier behind my Atom using a RCA to XLR cable. I feel this amp does not change the typical Naim Atom sound signature that I love so much and at the same time it provides more current to my speakers, even more than the NAP200.
Using banana plugs on the NAP200 is no problem at all. I have been using Atlas Hyper 3.5 speaker cables terminated with banana plugs and that fitted perfectly.
BR,
Richard
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