Naim 5i vs UnitiLite

Nobody? The dealer just sweetened the price to €1600 and assured me the amp stage in unitilite is superior to the one found in 5i. Guess I'll just demo the unit myself and decide. Keep you posted folks, maybe this helps someone else too.

Dan.S posted:

…and assured me the amp stage in unitilite is superior to the one found in 5i.…

Somehow I doubt that. You really should demo yourself. 

I'm pretty sure the dealer was wrong and, if did say that, he just wants your money.

But if he advised you to ditch the Nad and have a nice all in one solutions with your speakers and stop there may have had good reasons.

Dan.S posted:

Nobody? The dealer just sweetened the price to €1600 and assured me the amp stage in unitilite is superior to the one found in 5i. Guess I'll just demo the unit myself and decide. Keep you posted folks, maybe this helps someone else too.

Not sure I'd agree with that assessment, but given he has come down €600 I might be tempted to play hardball and see how much further he'll sweeten before he gives up on you!

Andrew Everard posted:

Not sure I'd agree with that assessment, but given he has come down €600 I might be tempted to play hardball and see how much further he'll sweeten before he gives up on you!

That's the lowest he'll go. I gave my best shot . Anyway, this is a demo unit (18 months old and mostly streaming) but I'll have 2 years of warranty should things go sideways with the optical unit or anything else. 

The Lite is very nice, but is of course a dead end, other than the potential to add a power amp. Is that what you want? Do you still want to play CDs, or do you plan to major on streaming. Might you be better adding an ND5xs and keeping the Nait?

Just be sure of your future direction before grabbing something the dealer is obviously keep to offload, just because it seems like a bargain. 

My limiting factor is the budget but I'm not particularly fond of multi box rigs either to be completely honest with you. . I do like minimalist systems so one box should be enough for the moment, driving my bookshelfs. I hope, that is.

In preparation, I've already purchased a Sandisk Ultra Fit 128GB usb 3.0 mini stick. Should be good for  250 albums or so.

So I've put my 5i and my Nad player in their original packaging after taking pictures and composing their obituaries on ebay. 

Pluses: everything, especially the optical section. It sounds way more detailed and refined. It actually sounds better than Naim 5i + CD5i. I really hope I'm not hallucinating this. My movies also sound better given the tv is now hooked directly to the amp via optical cable. I can now play 24bit 192Khz flacs from a 128GB usb stick. And don't get me started on iRadio and Tidal. What a treat!!!

Cons: it gets warmer than my 5i and draws more power (about 25% more). I'm not sure this translates to a less potent amp stage that struggles more driving my speakers or not. 

Yes, it will get warmer. I think it's the streamer board that gets quite hot - when I had a SuperUniti it got quite toasty in summer. There is an awful lot of gubbins in that little box. I'd get hold of a NAS if I were you - you'll need one long term. 

Update: yes, UnitiLite is about 20% less powerful than Nait 5i. And mine has the disk skipping problem, which Ive been assured it will not have, being a 2015 unit.

So we've sorted out the skipping problem. Switched the Ground to the other position and voilà! Problem solved! No more heating problem leading to disk skipping. However, the power stage in this unit is weaker than the one found in Nait 5i. Gets into clipping if pushed beyond volume 55 on my Monitor Audio Gold 100 which are bookshelfs mind you, not stand-floors. I've already talked with the dealer for an upgrade to NaimUniti2. 

Keep you guys posted, as soon as the NU2 gets delivered.

ps. my motorcycle costs a bit less than this all in one crate for fsake.

The upgrade to the NU2 (amp stage based on 5i) somehow morphed into an upgrade to SU (amp stage derived from SN2).

That's the way it goes! But I think it's the correct move - the SU is a fine one-box solution and it'll pair comfortably with some pretty expensive speakers.

(As an aside, I actually demo-ed the SU with Joseph Audio Pulsars, speakers which cost US$7,000 (not sure if they are available in the UK) and the sound was very, very good. The JA dealer who doesn't deal in Naim and who usually demo-ed the Pulsars with Electrocompaniet monoblocks was also very impressed).

I've been officially notified my beloved MA gold 100 would become the bottleneck now and I should start looking for replacements, as soon as the whole in my pocket gets patched of course.

I have access to the following brands: Focal, Piega, SF, ProAC and Ovators (can audition at home), Elac & ATC (audition at the dealer only), MA (can audition at home without supervision), Spendor (audition at the dealer only). No Dynaudio dealer close to me I'm afraid.

I'll report back as soon as the new unit arrives. Cheers everyone, thanks for listening.

I have a pair of Focal Arias. I've been using them with my Unitilite and they sound fantastic together, the UL drives them effortlessly.

Nick

Dan.S posted:

The upgrade to the NU2 (amp stage based on 5i) somehow morphed into an upgrade to SU (amp stage derived from SN2).

 me too

 After only 2 months with UL

Next step a pair of PMC Fact 8 speakers or Spendor D7

I'm thinking Monitor Audio Gold 300 or Elac FS249.

The SU has arrived! And it properly drives my monitors, thank you very much 400VA transformer. I would not say it  sounds like crap but there's a long way to my previous ex-demo UnitiLite or my long term Nait 5i sq wise. I'll try to remember to update this topic in the months to come, let other folks know this burn in process is normal (fingers crossed).

In my experience with UL,  I  remember a more dynamic and lively sound; the SU is much more controlled and warm. But the surprise with the SU is when you increase the volume control and push it up to 50; with a pair of a very quality speaker you will get e BIG BIG sound.

I would like to wish you  to win the lottery and buy a couple of PMC fact 8, it would be a good match with the SU

I'd look at Focal Aria for the SU. They sound big, are transparent yet smooth, and no danger of sounding thin with the SU, which is warm-ish.

I already have speakers way above Aria's level. And I do not like Focal. Not even Electra. They sound too aggressive.

Hm, well that's one view, certainly