New Setup

You’d better demo UQ2 with your speakers in your environment. You may find that set up to your liking. Of course, when you have a Nap 100 you can try different amping combinations. But beware, adding a Nap100 does not necessarily give you a better SQ. Importance lies with solo UQ2 and speaker synergy. It is already good on its own. I think newly revamped UQ2 represents one of the best bang for your buck in Naim range. For the services you mention you can use your i device with a USB connection to UQ2.

On the other hand, XS2 is a solid foundation for a future set up. It is a very good integrated that can be even bettered with added PSUs. Also it is very convenient when you consider its connection possibilities. You can use your laptop via a good Dac with it. Getting a s/h SBT again with a decent Dac would give you a “streamer” streaming on the cheap as well. When the funds allow, you may consider getting a Naim streamer to your liking.

An interesting dilemma. The latest streamers include AirPlay and spotify, so now is a good time to be looking. I would suggest that you ask your dealer to let you have a home demo of the Qute, so you can see how it works with your speakers. Biamping tends not to work well with Naim, but you may not need a bigger amp anyway. If you do want to improve things later you could use the Qute as a source into the Nait XS, and then swap the Qute for the ND5 xs. 

The ND5 XS + Nait XS-2 is an exceptional pairing, particularly for low level listening.  I compared it to A Uniti 2 and A Super Unity and I found the sound quality superior to both those, particularly for detail and particularly when played at lower volumes.

Don't worry about the 30W+30W rating, that's the continuous rating and really only applies to test tones!  Real music has a lot of transient spikes in it so Naim kit is designed to reproduce these accurately and make music rather than being designed to deliver powerful test tones.

The progression that HungryHalibut suggests is a good course to get to that stunning system you heard.  Incidentally the XS-2 can also successfully drive quite a wide range of speakers and can justify some very high quality units, so there's plenty of upgrade potential even beyond the Neat Motives.

Dean

With a v1 Qute you CAN stream wirelessly from a NAS, PC or what ever but it won't (currently) do Spotify etc. like that (without plugging something else in).  It will also do iRadio wirelessly (and DAB and FM too).

It seems like that'd be an excellent starting point.  After that you have options - add a NAP100 to give it more welly, add a NAIT XS-2 and use the Qute as a source only into the amp, etc.

Spotify on the Unitiqute 1 or 2 is imminent - meaning it can be applied to older kit. So you're fine on that - buy second-hand and just apply the new firmware when it comes. If you want Bluetooth you'l have to wait a little while and buy new.

+1 for Hal, the UQ is great on its own. Yes, you can add a NAP100 (as I have) but unless you have a need for extra power, and it doesn't sound as if you have given the location, the bare UQ would be perfect for you. If you do add the NAP100, be wary of bi-amping. It can do it fine, technically, but I found it deleterious on SQ. Single amping just sounded better.

So you need a dealer to let you take a Unitiqute for a home demo. If you're happy with it, a new one will give you Spotify. But if you want more, i.e.Qobuz, Tidal, etc, you could have a long wait before Naim add that. So you may as well get a second hand UQ, and a cheap comupter to feed it. Mac Minis are popular for this, but an Intel NUC is cheaper. Virtually any computer will be fine, it just needs a WIRED connection to the internet and UQ. Forget your phone, your Naim gear deserves a better source than that!

A good dealer will be happy to help you with this, even if you're only after a used Unitiqute. He'll be hoping that one day, someone like you will fund his pension by buying a Statement.

You're not being dumb, there are a million different ways to play digital music, and technology keeps on changing. Take your time and enjoy the process, and you'll end up with a great sounding system that suits your needs.

Uniti players all include DACs, so you don't need the DAC in an Arcam Airdac, and you would still need a computer, phone, ipad or something to feed it some music. So just connecting a computer (eg Mac Mini) directly to the Uniti with a digital cable will give you all the Spotify/Qobuz/Tidal/iTunes music you want. You can also use the computer's hard drive, or an external hard drive, to store any downloads or CDs, so you can play them too.

Finally, integrating all this stuff into a network needs to be done right, but it's now past my bedtime, so lets save that for another day!

I do have one UQ2 in a 3x3 with pmc 20.21. It's simply great. My wife plays FM and USB (flacs (CD's) and flacs HD).

I'm so happy that I am ordering a UQ2 for one of my sons and the dealer told me to wait a bit because one of the coming improvements is Spotify.

The UQ2 has lots of features, including a selection for small or big speakers which is nice when you have small ones, and also a loudness option to play low volumes. Headphone output sounds very acceptable.

Go for it , if your current budget allows. Start enjoying naim sound instead of "sit back and wait".

Regards.  Erich

Dean, I just read the anouncement done 2 days ago. Go to the  hi-fi corner featured topics.

They say yes to your first question.

30w? It depends on the size of the room you want to fill.

My wife has the UQ2 in a 3x3 room with pmc 20.21 as I posted before and never goes beyond half the volume level.

Connections? I can't tell you. I can try similar devices on sunday and comment.

Regards.  Erich

The older version will eventually be able to get Spotify but not Bluetooth which needs major hardware changes. New versions should be out very soon though.