It’s the top of the range all in one player. The 21st century version of one of these.
A jack of all trades, master of none.
There could well be 1k all analogue integrated amps out there, that perform better sonically with analogue inputs than the 4k nova.
Continuing the discussion from Vinyl, to keep or not? A crisis of conscience:
Keep it and be trendy - even my 14-year old daughter is getting a turntable for her birthday to play her ‘vinyls’ on. She even went for her first dem before buying. In my day vinyls were wall coverings!
I never parted with my LPs when CD came out and can remember picking up no end of LPs for £1.50 or less new. The exercise is good for you too!
The new Unitis (Atom, Star, Nova) convert their analogue inputs to digital, and of course back again.
In the world of hifi so much is relative, not absolute: so if someone suggests that Nova is rubbish it is relative to something [they think is] significantly better, which might cost a lot more, though not necessarily so. Such persons probably also dismiss the sub £1k amps as rubbish (even worse than the rubbish Nova). But to someone with only, say, just £2k to spend on a complete system, one of those “cheap” amps relative to another, maybe cheaper, one may sound the best of those they can attain, and be perfectly satissfying in their system - and if they hear the Nova along the way they may aspire to that as hifi heaven.
One thing that abounded in the Naim forum of old - and there is no reason to imagine it won’t happen here - is gross use of superlatives: The difference upon adding X is night and day; the old previously absolutely perfect, can’t get better (£10k) component “sounds broken” …because the person has heard a new higher level model just released. In reality, most of the differences in upgrading are incremental steps. Some can be very subtle and you need the rest of the system including room effects to excel in clarity and ears attuned to noticing fine differences, and listen very critically for them to be more than just a marginal improvement. Others can be more significant such that anybody would hear the difference in almost any system - but still just ‘the next level’ rather than a complete transformation. And occasionally something really can be a stunning improvement that genuinely stops you in your tracks and forces the word “wow” involuntarily from your lips within seconds of hearing (that happened to me once). But you would be forgiven for thinking from some posts that every change, even the most minor tweak, is like that last case! And the same applies if you look in reverse, comparing lower things…
My vinyl collection goes to about 250 LPs as well so similar to yours. Last year I upgraded my 1985 Michell Syncro to a RB808 tonearm with a Dynavector 20X2L cart and a Rega Aria phono feeding in to my XS2 and PMC twenty5.22s.This combo sounds better than my CD5si. OK that wasn’t a cheap upgrade but for me it was worth every penny because the end result sounds absolutely terrific. Friends hearing this system for the first time are astonished at how good vinyl can sound.
‘Join The Vinyl Revival’ was the title of an email I had today advertising this:
I shudder when I see such gadgets, perhaps I’m being unfair, but would anyone here risk putting an LP on that platter that looks as though it has 4 protruding screw heads?
My Nova does an admirable job with the audio from my LP12, thought I would have preferred the inputs to be non-digitised as there must be compromises here, but essential by design for multi-room I assume.
The all-in-one design will suit many people down to the ground, but the compromises become apparent when you’ve been used to separates and want to tweak things.
The Nova is pretty much acting as a digital/streaming source for me now playing 2nd fiddle to the LP12, both connected to pre/power separates. In fairness, this device was bought with the intent of being a lifestyle device for the family room but is being assimilated into a larger system, at least for now.
I think there lies the problem. No matter how much you have spent on your set up, in at least half the records (and i’m being generous) you buy the sound is not better than CD
Not sure I agree. It may not be good as analogue source but it certainly is a master of CD and streaming. I have no complaints about the quality of sound the Nova produces when playing Cds and streaming. In fact it is superb. Ok, it may not compete with a 20k amp but then again the 20k amp does not give you 5 times the sound quality of the Nova either.
The turntable for me is a tertiary source (after streaming and CD) of music so the money i have spent so far is the most I would have done anyway (even if i had to do it again).
I think I will try putting the whole thing (turntable, phono and records) for sale. If it doesn’t sell I’m in no rush. If it does I will put the money towards a decent set of speakers (around £3-4k) to replace my current Focals, and then look at room treatment option. And then I can enjoy music in digital format without all the headaches and wallet-aches that the world of vinyl presents. The more I understand vinyl the more I realise why it became nearly defunct and didnt survive in the mainstream.
try perhaps to borrow a true analog integrated, like rega elicit or naim nait , to compare the sound of lps vs same hirez through nova. You will be probably very surprised how your p3 can sound.
That’s similar to her original thinking until Daddy softened with an Audiotechnica 5 direct drive - not my usual dealer but a good first choice from Richer Sounds who were great with her.
It’s not quite the case, I have a few 1980s classical music LPs which were recorded using digital equipment. In fact one of the first such recordings must have been the 1979 New Year’s Day Concert in Vienna; I still have the 2-LP set, which states proudly that it is a “digital recording, for use on conventional stereophonic reproducing equipment”.
Hi Iliria,
as much as I would like to add some meaningful thoughts, Richard Dane pretty much summed up what I would have written down and in better words, too.
If the current Rega 3 is at least in the region of the old Planar, it can give you a glimpse of what vinyl can be, but not much more than that. You seem to like the Nova so much more as a streaming amplifier, so just use it that way and be happy with it. That’s very much what all of this is or at least should be about. For me vinyl is a part of it, for you seemingly not. Pretty much as easy as this.
I have the original RP3 playing through a second hand Uniti2 (predesecor of the Star) in my media room and I have a Nova in my main system in the lounge. My LP collection is from my earlier years, and is rarely used - but I enjoy the option to reminisce and play old records and it only cost a service of the RP3, new stylus and a phono stage, so money well spent. LPs sound different than my streaming, not so much better or worse, but a different flavor and still enjoyable. I like the old large covers and inlays. I haven’t bought a record for decades and now only buy CDs for high quality favourites that I try on Tidal hi-fi - if I like them and the recording is good quality I get the cd and rip it to my core (which has my CDs ripped to it)
Personally though, If I was starting now, I’d skip a record player and stream and rip only high quality recordings from CDs.
Maybe this is the future of hifi? They’ve created an all-in-one, and with Tardis technology, squeezing in large speakers, and clearly have solved the problem of acoustic feedback amongst all the other miracles. And all for under £30! No speaker cables, interconnects, power supplies etc - and its even a fashion statement in bright orange! If I was into vinyl I’d be ditching my old system now and going for that…!!
Guys - I stand corrected with regard to how the Unitis treat an analogue signal. Does the 272 do the same?
Regards,
Lindsay
Perhaps I was trying to be too clever with the Chord Dave demo, I hoped a really good dac would give a great analogue signal for the Nova to play…it did,not work for me.
Glad you are enjoying vinyl on your Nova it is a great all in one solution.
The 272 is a fully analogue preamp much like a 282. It does beg the question what Naim will do when and if they replace the 272. People have been calling for a replacement, not sure they would be wanting a fully digital version though?
The 272 does not digitise the analogue input (and you therefore cannot multiroom your vinyl.) If a 272-2 arrives, I wouldn’t be surprised if that does ADC, though. Time will tell.
Hi iliria. Thank you, exactly the reasons I abandoned last year, in exactly the same circumstances. Like you I fancied the idea, got hold of a half-decent TT (Project RPM3 I think) and a few new LPs.
It was always disappointing, the cost is ridiculous to the point where I asked the manager in HMV how come Nirvana Smells Like… is £25 on vinyl and a fiver for the CD 4 feet away on the opposite rack. Response? A shrug. And having to get up to continue is old hat; it breaks the moment being in a comfortable position with a glass of wine and a good book on the go and having to go across the room to carry on with side 2. And the mania for 4 sided 45rpm LPs that last about 12 minutes per side? No thanks, Florence & The Machine.
I sold mine after it had lapsed out of any use let alone regular use, and haven’t missed it one jot. The vinyl is stashed away just on the off chance, but it began to strike me as an affectation listening to vinyl in 2019.
And the mania for 4 sided 45rpm LPs that last about 12 minutes per side? No thanks, Florence & The Machine.
sorry i really don’t agree here on the remastered 45, having a number in my collection - Japan both tin Drum and Gentleman are superb recordings and on another level, but the one album of 2018 which for me proves the remastered 45 is Primal Scream - Give out, but don’t give in - is nothing short of sublime
for me it’s all about the presentation and moreover the Music - if your final source can go beyond digital music (flac or Wav) and you have the system it’s a choice, I have some Music Fiedelity albums and they are astoninishing but it is a personal perference and budget for me with my NDX and my LP12 i have the very best of both worlds and thats all I can ask for
