Streaming

Have you considered used equipment?  It's pretty easy to find the Naim Dac on the gently used market.

Not in Denmark i am afraid.

But i also need new speakers. So a cheaper solution must be found.

Why group th nDAC & ND5XS together ???  the ND5XS works as a stand alone player

Adding DAC improves it, as does a PSU,  bit its perfectly good on its own

If you can afford the 152/155, surely the ND5xs/Nait XS2 is the answer. Or a SuperUniti, which you won't feel you need to upgrade with power supplies or a dac. 

You are right Mike-B. I did not consider that the streamer could be used without the dac.

I will be able to afford the Nait and could perhaps stretch to the 152/155.

But the Nait and the ND5 is still almost double the price of the 152/155.

How about the UQ2? That can not be connected without a dac right?

Wrong.

Is it possible to connect a UnityQute 2 to a Nait XS 2, by-passing the amplifier sections of the UQ2 and using it as a stand alone streamer? I understood that could only be done by wiring it to a dac.

You can plug the qute straight into a power amp or integrated amp, it has a built in dac

I know that. But how can i bypass the internal preamp?

If/when you have UQ2, you do not need an outboard Dac for XS2 or 155 XS connection. You can run UQ2 as a source with XS2. Though it is not imperative you’d better get a phono to 5 pin DIN i/c cable for that. You plug in RCAs on the Qute’s pre amp output and DIN on the AV input of XS2 while setting AV mode on. Likewise you can connect pre amp out on the Qute and pre amp in on 155XS with Naim’s own phono to 4 pin DIN.

UQ2 and XS2 would be less expensive and pretty flexible combination to go for. Yet, you would be dumping off power amp of UQ2 and very nice pre amp section of XS2. If there should be a Naim network player in your system a NAC 172 and 155 XS might be a more sensible option perhaps? Audition is a must, as always.

The reason for getting a UQ2 is that this is the cheapest possible way of getting a Naim streamer. But if it can not be done using the XS2 for pre- and power duties and the UQ2 as a source only then it is not a good solution in my view. Do i get the same pre amplifier section in the 172 and the 152? 

The Dac V1 is not an option as preamplifier since i can not connect an analogue source to this.

But i  wonder if it is possible to use this as a dac only and connect it as a source to the Nait XS?

Just to clarify - the Qute CAN be used as a source into any Naim integrated or pre-amp.  You simply set the Loudspeaker setting to 'No Speakers'.

Okay. But how is the connection done? Because if its done with rca via the XSs AV input then suppose the XS pre-amp is bypassed?

You connect the RCA Pre-amp Output to whatever input you wish - mine went to the Tuner input on my 252.  You can change the remote codes for the Qute such that the amp's remote only controls its own volume, not both.

If you have a DAC you could feed the Qute's digital out though this before your amp.

I would either go 'low budget' and get a UQ/NAP100/amp of choice or stretch the high budget a bit and go for a Superuniti. But you really need to listen.

I bought a uq2 because it was the easiest,  cheapest way to be up and running with a decent streamer with the money I had at the time and because I felt I could upgrade in stages using that as a source which makes it more affordable.  I run it through a nap100 at the moment and its better for the money than I expected but I aim to bring in a nap200, and then a nac202 with the uq feeding both until I can afford a dedicated streamer. I will probably keep the uq in another room because its a fantastic piece of kit and I have an emotional attachment to it, which is probably sad but true