Hi all,
I am looking to enter the world of Naim, but unsure of the best route to go, and hope for some gentle pointers/ideas before I finally go to the dealers and hopefully arrange a home audition. Before anything, my current setup is;
Speakers - Focal Aria 906
Pre-amp - Heed Questar MM
Amp - Nad D3020
Sources - Project Debut Carbon TT, Mac Mini (Spotify Premium & Flac on external HD), TV & Bluetooth iPad for (Spotify again).
This is in an approx 5m x 3m living room with speakers facing across 3m distance, they are setup 2m apart and about 2.5m to listening position.
I have recently upgraded the Preamp and Speakers and will eventually upgrade the TT, but for now I am looking at replacing the Nad D3020. I recently made the 'mistake' of listening to a couple of more expensive amps. A Creek Evo 50A and then going far too far up the Naim ladder with a Nac-n 172XS & Nap 155XS. I heard the Naim combo with my current speakers and was very impressed, however, I simply do not have that kind of budget or space.
My thoughts are that a Unitiqute 2 with Bluetooth would offer me everything I currently have input wise and onto the Naim ladder, with the option of adding a NAP100 later. A UQ2 is slightly over my budget but I feel I will stretch if worth it. I know a few members of this forum have or have tried a D3020 and I would be grateful if they could advise whether they felt the move would be worth it? Price is about £1000 difference so quite a jump for me.
Would you recommend any alternatives? I had thought that an Arcam Airdac & used Nait XS might be an option but the half box size of UQ2 would be more 'wife to be' friendly! She uses the ipad bluetooth option which is why I'm thinking about the UQ2 with bt.
Thanks in advance for any input.
J
Posted on: 19 December 2015 by jme
Hi all,
listened to the qute with my speakers today. Sounded great, although getting one home will be the real test.
First impressions are good. I feel it has better tone than my Nad, listening to Clapton I could much more easily differentiate nylon vs metal strings which was nice. Voices clearer and drums and cymbals 'sharper'. It felt like it had more control over the speakers and no bass notes lingered too long. Although some of this could be down to the room.
It is a much bigger room and quite bare so home trial will be key although I think it's pretty safe to say I liked what I heard and feel it is a definite upgrade.
Unable to try nap100 but didn't feel it needed it tbh. 20% off at the mo so not much different to a second hand and I appreciate the hour spent listening and the warranty.
I will likely take the plunge in the new year and join the Naim ranks.
Thanks again.
J
Posted on: 21 December 2015 by rainsoothe
Hi - just so you know, I started with a Supernait 2 + Martin Logan Motion 40 which got sold because of lack of money. I lived for almost an year with Dac V1 + Arcam A19 and Focal Aria 906, and while it was good, I was missing the Naim traits. I am now running a Unitiqute 2 + Nap 100, and still have the Aria 906. Imo they sound amazing together. The UQ2 is enough for the Focals, but the Nap100 adds so much more imo. And if you later feel the need to upgrade speakers and dont mind their behemoth size, take a look at Wharfedale Jade 3 - had them on home dem, and bi-wired (UQ2 to tweeters, Nap to woofers) they sounded stunning. Not a whole lot better then the Focals, but definitely different: bigger, warmer but airier at the same time, less forward and more enveloping. Bass could boom sometimes though.
Oh, and as for speaker cable, check DNM Reson or Chord Clearway or Rumour 2.
Posted on: 21 December 2015 by DC71
Re the UQ2 losing its magic with NAP100, this is entirely dependent on the speakers you want to use. UQ2 is wonderful with the right (efficient) speakers, and with those the NAP100 would not be needed and may even 'lose' something. But with anything remotely inefficient or harder to drive the NAP100 would be the minimum needed to add authority, control, bass extension and open up the sound.
+1 on Wharfedale Jade 3's. But having run these with UQ2 and NAP100 I found even that combo is not ideal for these speakers. I recently swapped out the NAP for an Odyssey Khartago SE and this has taken the sound to another level entirely. The more powerful amp really opens a window to the quality of the Qute, and has advantage over the NAP100 in all areas. Dynamics, bass extension, punch and definition are way better, and singers on every track sound like they are enunciating more clearly, I can now hear the singers' words far more clearly. Best of all, the slightly raised tweeter frequencies of the Jade 3's are now perfectly balanced with the mids and lows.
Value is quite spectacular for this combo, however the Odyssey is a big'un compared to most Naim amps. If (and only if) your speakers would benefit from greater power than the UQ2 could provide on its own, I would also look at the Job 225 amp as it apparently has a similar quality/value proposition with a much smaller footprint (although bigger than half-width).
