Hi NAIM community!
I am experimenting with different power amps connected to my NAIM Uniti Atom. The AMP I am currently testing (Class D Hypex NC500 based) has 26db gain. I am using the Atom’s preout to connect directly to the AMP.
Volume is way too high. Really. To bring the volume to somewhat acceptable levels, I used one -20db attenuator and one -15db attenuator in series (since I did not have attenuators higher then -20db…). That is crazy high.
I was about to contact the AMPs manufacturer and then had a chance to connect a Lumin D2 streamer to the AMP. With the Lumin, -10db attenuation works very well, has around similar volume range as the Atom with -35db.
I am confused here I must say. The Lumin specs clearly state it has 2V line level. I dint do the math, but the 25db difference between Lumin and Atom would mean the Atom’s voltage is several times higher, outside of any norm known to me.
Or am I mistaken and there are other factors that could explain this behaviour?
Can someone please enlighten me. If someone knows the spect of the Atom’s pre out I’d love to know these.
PS: I know I can set max volume in software via the NAIM app. I am not sure how good that volume is. I believe it is done in digital domain, meaning the DAC will wirk in a reduced range, probably affecting system SNR. No matter how max volume is implemented, I would still like to understand the difference between these two (awesome) devices.