HDX to ND5XS or SuperUniti?

Option 2 is a neat solution. Final arbiter is your ears so try both options and see which you prefer. 

No personal experience but the collective wisdom at my dealer prefers the HDX to the NDX so I would guess either the SU or ND5XS would be a step down from what you are used to.  

If you want to avoid a drop in sound quality, I suspect you'll need to swap the HDX for an NDX (plus a NAS).

Whatever you do, I'm sure you'll appreciate the use of the Naim app for both streamers, and multiroom, rather than flitting between the Naim and N-Serve apps. 

I'd look at either an NDX to go with your Snait, or a 272 and swap the Snait for a used 200, or a 250DR if the budget will stretch. 

+1 HH

Used 200s are a bargain at the moment as people swap them out for the DR, but you don't need DR with a 272. There are few used 272s around too (or were) . If you can stretch the money that little bit you'll be in a different league from the other options. 

I would suggest an NDX. Given the level of the equipment you currently have I fear you may find both your option 1 and option 2 a step back.

If you want to go to a networked music solution, which seems a possibility for you, I'd move away from the HDX to a reliable 2-bay QNAP nas and run Asset upnp server on it.  That will free up funds to then go towards a streamer player; an NDX or an N272.  Either would be happy to be at the receiving end of music served from a relatively inexpensive nas running WD Red hard drives and Asset.

Add an nDac and a sonos box or just a sonos box?  More boxes but a good step up in sound for not much money..

I'm not sure why you'd want to add a Sonos to a SuperUniti. 

I did exactly this move in the past - HDX to ND5XS albeit with ndac in the chain.

Two things:

1. The ND5XS is a sonic step back - even as a streamer into ndac

2. If your HDX files are WAV you need to reformat them to flac before an ND player can read them.

G

Hungryhalibut posted:

I'd look at either an NDX to go with your Snait, or a 272 and swap the Snait for a used 200, or a 250DR if the budget will stretch. 

+1

A ND5sx is a move down

Wow, what a lot of replies! Thank you very much!

The NDX was also considered, but unfortunately - due to personal circumstances - funds do not allow me to take this step currently 

Any thoughts on the SuperUniti?

Many regards,

Michel

Klout10 posted:

Any thoughts on the SuperUniti?

 

It's very good if you want to downsize, but quite a big step down from your current system. You get what you pay for in the Naim heirarchy.

Graeme makes a good point above: if you transfer your CD rips made on the HDX to a NAS, you must convert them to FLAC on the HDX before you part with it, or you won't be able to see the metadata.

Michel

I think it will be a step back for you.

Unless you really want a obe box solution. I happily own one - it's a great piece of kit. But it cannot be upgraded with off-board power supplies, dac cannot be added etc, etc..

Having said that - within its own category - it is a really good piece of kit.

Adam

If you don't want to take a hit on sound quality you'll be wanting the NDX. If this is not possible I would stick.

Klout10 posted:

Wow, what a lot of replies! Thank you very much!

The NDX was also considered, but unfortunately - due to personal circumstances - funds do not allow me to take this step currently 

Any thoughts on the SuperUniti?

Many regards,

Michel

 

I'm just amazed no-one's mentioned the Hugo yet. Am I on the right forum? Where have all the Hugonistas gone?

Thoughts on the SuperUniti? It's an excellent one box solution, but it won't sound as good as an HDX and Supernait. But does that really matter? If not, an SU and a good NAS is a great setup. 

You might also want to think on whether it would be a good time to trade in the HDX, given its age. I recently traded mine in and bought a NAS instead.  The motivation behind it was somewhat different in my case, but the potential lifespan of the HDX was a concern to me. Mine, like yours, was a very early one and I was worried about being landed with a pretty hefty bill to repair what is in effect now an eight-year-old computer.

Well, yes, but if the OP gets shot of the HDX and gets a NAS, a streamer will be required, which is what they are asking for guidance on.

There's always that question, isn't there? If you got a better hi-fi, would you enjoy the music more? That's actually what holds me back from upgrading at the moment, a sense that a 272 may be 'better' than a 172, but what does that really mean to me when I'm sitting and listening to Joanna Newsom trilling away? I would suggest that if my hi-fi means anything to me at that point then I'm not really listening to the music at all. 

A SuperUniti is, by any normal standard, a fantastic piece of hi-fi. It has a full-on Naim sound with great rhythm and energy. It isn't the most transparent and detailed, but it more than makes up for it in foot-tapping and singing along. In the Naim hierarchy you generally get what you pay for, but inevitably one likes some more than others. I like the SuperUniti a lot whenever I hear it, and it's generally well thought of on this forum and by dealers. You won't go wrong with a SuperUniti.

That sums up the SU very well. I had one until last July, when I sold the whole system and bought a completely new one. Do I enjoy music more with the new one? Unequivocally yes. But it costs three times as much so jolly well should make music more enjoyable. But I've done many upgrades in the past that simply made music sound different and no more enjoyable. Some people are happy with an iPod; others seem to need a lot more. It's about finding that magic position with a system that you can afford and gives you what you want. 

I bought a SU in late 2014 due to a change in circumstances & available space, I sold all my stack of hifi separates built up over many years ... dread to think how much I had spent over the decades certainly well over £10K .... but kept my Living voice Avatar OBXR

The SU was without doubt less detailed , transparent BUT it sounded, well in a word coherent .  I found myself listening to music again more and more.  The 4.4 update adding tidal steaming and the BBC HD radio has increased my listening pleasure immensely
like many others can't wait for the next update

I see references to Hugo have been missed...  So here goes!

I used to have ND5XS+XP5XS and a NAS that was annoyingly noisy. Replaced the lot with a (silent) Mac Mini running Audirvana into a Hugo, giving Better SQ  and at a net cost saving. Search Mac Mini + Hugo on this forum for more info

oscarskeeper posted:

You might also want to think on whether it would be a good time to trade in the HDX, given its age. I recently traded mine in and bought a NAS instead.  The motivation behind it was somewhat different in my case, but the potential lifespan of the HDX was a concern to me. Mine, like yours, was a very early one and I was worried about being landed with a pretty hefty bill to repair what is in effect now an eight-year-old computer.

I believe oscarskeeper has just hit the nail on the head!

With my HDX I first changed it to an SSD model - that solved the immediate worry of disk failure after (8) years of duty and gets all your music out on to a NAS drive (of necessity).

But later on I exchanged the HDX for an NS01simply because the HDX performance and indexing capacity were causing problems and the lure of a brand spanking NS01 was strong.  And that's where I am now.

However, if I were you Klout, I would most definately go for the Super Unity and discard the HDX altogether, more especially if your dealer is supporting you in this option*.

Roger

*PS - I guess it would be unethical to let us know who your dealer is so that we could avoid buying any used HDXs from them for a while.