superuniti or separates?

Sounds like a good decision to me, hope you enjoy it!

Sounds good enjoy. Hope it puts a  on your face.

for the money i would have bought 172/200DR... i haven't heard Linn speakers, but if they are not easy to drive, the difference from NAP100 to 200DR will certainly be significant...

but, nonetheless, it is important that the owner is happy.

You have a plan! Enjoy what you are about to get now with the 272 - and look forward to pairing it eventually with the 250DR.   

The 272/100 is a cracking system -enjoy!

Not me. I'd get the best source I could afford, and add more power amplification later if / as needed.  I'd have voted N272.

sorry to be contrarian but 172/100 is a good option, nothing wrong there, but at the same time, I would change to the usual suspect speakers - Naim speakers, Neat Motives, Kudos X2/X3, Dynaudio, PMC, Focal aria.

The speakers are actually the ones that translate the signal into music, and if they are too slow, then - you won't get the fast dynamic Naim musicality.

Congrats on 272, it can be your last preamp/source now.

REALLY???

I agree, and in any case this is what i am doing.  The power output difference between a 200 and a 250 is very small but the price difference is almost double.  Therefore there must be something seriously different inside the 250.

Similarly with the 172 and the 272.  Truth is i didn't hear the 272 nor the 172, i decided based on the UQ2 that i already own, and Naim's reputation.  Plus of course  reviews and valuable comments in the forum.

I will not regret this, i am sure about it.  And this is the end of the line, no more upgrades in the preamp/streamer front.  Perhaps power supply later on.

Next (after the 250) i want to save for an LP12, which is a life's dream ever since i was a student.  I have an Axis for almost 30 years, and it is going fine, but an LP12 is an LP12

Yes i agree about the 272.

I already have the Linn Majik 109 but i just about bought a used B&W PM1, if anyone knows them.  They are superb.  I don't think i will spend more on speakers for some time.

Thanks and regards.

Thanks Richard, in the end i decided to buy a NAC N272 and leave all else as they are for now, and later on move towards the NAP250.

Reading the description of the N272 it talks about hand wired certain parts, and i quote below from the Naim website on the 272:

"The sound critical resistors used arrive at Naim matched to within 5%. This already high tolerance is improved before assembly by hand-matching to within margin of just 1%. We then go even further by introducing a slight mechanically compliant bend in the legs of each one during assembly."

Could you please explain e bit more what exactly these things mean, or it is too difficult to explain it?

My post was in the context of choosing between separates (NAC202/NAP200 etc..) and A Superuniti.  

I'm sure you have made a good choice, and adding a NAC-N272 to your existing NAP100 would by my choice too over NAC-N172 and NAP200.

As for the bit about resistors, it's just one of the many critical processes that Naim carry out on the parts  supplied.  Naim doesn't rely on the manufacturers tolerances - they are far too wide anyway.  Instead parts are measured and matched by hand to within very tight margins.  With resistors in certain parts of the circuit, Naim found them to be quite microphonic, so they create a sort of suspension system by carefully hand forming the legs and allowing them to stand off the PCB.  It amy seem a small thing but when it was originally applied during the classic/reference kit it brought considerable benefits.  So much so, that early NAP500s have the so-called "resistor lift" done as an upgrade as part of the service routine - the difference it makes is appreciable.

If you ask your dealer they may well arrange for a factory visit.  That way you can see the processes for yourself.  There's no better way to understand and appreciate what goes inside the box.

Re the 200/250 difference, the numbers as so often tell only a very small part of the story. Though I was first tempted to stray from a one-box solution by the 272/200 combination, I decided finally to go to the end of that particular line and get the 250DR. That gave a further - and quite noticeable - improvement; more power, more 'grip', alltogether a bigger and better, more articulated sound. Whatever is inside the box certainly pays off outside, in the listener's ears and head!

Enjoy the journey you are taking...

Rob

Thanks for the reply Richard.  Especially on a Saturday.

Concerning a factory visit, is this something that Naim offer to customers, or is it something people have to pay for it?

In my case i live in Dubai, but i do visit the UK from time to time, i lived there for 20 years after all.  I would love the opportunity to visit the Naim factory, how do i get this organised please?

Regards,

I cannot answer your questions. I was in a similar situation about one and a half years ago and I found Naim's product information lacking to say the least. I could get some understanding of Naim's range of products by carefully reading the downloadable user guides and keeping in mind Jan-Erik's chart Naimdigitallineup2013-02-12B, see

https://forums.naimaudio.com/to...ac-or-unitiserve-ndx

. Reading the user guides costed me a lot of time but turned out to be very helpful, in particular when talking to dealers. In the end, I went for a new Supernait2 and a second hand Naim DAC. One idea was to minimize the number of boxes while keeping digital to analog conversion and amplification in separate boxes. Another idea was to avoid streaming over LAN. So far, I am very happy with my system and I know that I could easily further improve it by adding a power supply to the DAC or by replacing it with another DAC. Good luck with your upgrade! nbpf

Paristhea,

have a word with Steven Hopkins, Naim Customer Service manager.  Given enough notice he should be able to sort something out.

Sorry to be a pain, but how do i contact Steven Hopkins please?  A bit of a newbie, in case it is too easy and did not think about it.

One more silly question.  Although i ordered and paid 50% for the N272, i was wondering if a pure DAC with an integrated amp would be a better combination than N272 with NAP 250?

info@naimaudio.com

As to whether you'd prefer an DAC and an integrated, only listening can tell you that. Don't forget that if you had a DAC, you'd need to be able to connect your music source to it and control it. I own a 272/250DR and it's great. You ordered one, presumably for a reason, so why change your mind just because someone else has made a different choice. You wouldn't repainted your walls if someone else said fawn was better than cream...... Or would you?

Totally agree, i was just thinking of the electronics more than anything.  Also i was wondering what is the purpose of the streamer, is it only for internet radio?  Cause someone wrote in this forum that you do not really need a streamer to play music from say a Mac mini (which is what i am using for storage at present).  I also bought the J River media centre, i therefore think a streamer would not be needed, i am not sure.  The NAIM DAC is as expensive as the NAC272, so the money would stay the same basically.

I was just wondering and possibly a bit confused as to the purpose of each component.  And on top of all these, NAIM also make the network players, another confusion for me.

I attach one useful table i found in the forum, but which needs to be updated by NAIM i guess. (sorry i can't find a method to attach this table, anyone knows how?)

Regards,

Paristhea,

if you search the forum you will find more authoritative explanations but, in a nutshell, there are two popular ways of getting an analog signal into your preamp or integrated from digital data stored on a HDD or SSD: 

1)  Computer running a UPnP server -> LAN -> UPnP client -> DAC

2)  Computer running a music player -> USB -> USB to SPDIF converter -> DAC

What is usually called a "streamer" is often a device incorporating a UPnP client and a DAC. In this setup, 1) becomes just

1')  Computer running a UPnP server -> LAN -> Streamer

Many DACs (Naim's V1, for instance) actually incorporate a USB converter which reduces 2) to just

2')  Computer running a music player -> USB -> DAC

A very popular implementation of 2') is by using a mac mini as a computer running Audirvana as a music player software under OS X and Naim's V1 as a DAC. A very popular implementation of 1') is by using a NAS running a UPnP server and Naim's NDX as a streamer.

The advantages and disadvantages of 1) vs. 2) (both in principle and for specific devices) have been discussed at length in many posts, among others in this forum. If you need detailed references, please let us know.

Best, nbpf

Thank you very much for the brief but hey opening explanation above.

And yes please, i do like more explanation, so if there are links providing more detailed explanation and information please direct me, no need to retune everything.

But yes, once one starts spending serious money, it is good do know all these things.

I wonder what is the advantage of a streamer over the DAC really, other than internet radio.  Is there a difference in quality of the end result?

Regards,