Howdo.

Greetings!  Your post stands testament to the fact that streaming from a nas, with a decent server package such as Minimserver, is a fine and not-so-difficult solution for in-home streaming.

Enjoy your Qute2; I love mine!

PS - I am vinyl-free ;-)

Indeed! My first attempt with another manufacturer's equipment was not so successful, but I'm not here to slate other people's kit. Naim seem to have the whole streaming thing nailed in a truly plug 'n' play manner, there were no setup issues whatsoever and I really can't fault it.

I'm just concerned how much the inevitable upgrades to the rest of the system are going to cost me now!

Welcome

As to your last sentence on the upgrades - let me quote Master Yoda:

"Much to learn you still have my old padwan. This is just the beginning"

Enjoy!  Lovely device. I have mine for some years without any upgrade yet.

Blue.Dog posted:

Indeed! My first attempt with another manufacturer's equipment was not so successful, but I'm not here to slate other people's kit. Naim seem to have the whole streaming thing nailed in a truly plug 'n' play manner, there were no setup issues whatsoever and I really can't fault it.

I'm just concerned how much the inevitable upgrades to the rest of the system are going to cost me now!

Welcome Blue.Dog.

Glad you are enjoying the convenience of streaming and the brilliant Unitiqute 2. After years of using a number of great pieces of Naim kit, I can assure you that Naim are (one of) the best in the business when it comes to sound quality and the ability to convey the emotional connection with music.

There is a problem however which you have already touched on. Naim, as I am sure you are aware, have extensive product ranges which extend up to the frankly unaffordable for us mere mortals. So a piece of advice for you. Enjoy the pleasures of the Unitiqute 2 for as long as humanly possible, visit this place as little as possible and don't, absolutely don't, start auditioning kit higher up the range. That's how it all started for me.

You have been warned! 

Blue.Dog posted:

I'm just concerned how much the inevitable upgrades to the rest of the system are going to cost me now!

That depends on how much time you spend here, as the graph below demonstrates:

Jan-Erik Nordoen posted:

Blue.Dog posted:

I'm just concerned how much the inevitable upgrades to the rest of the system are going to cost me now!

That depends on how much time you spend here, as the graph below demonstrates:

 

 

Jan-Erik,

The urge to spend appears to really kick in above 64 forum visits per month. Yeah, I recon that is about right from memory.

Dammit, I've just added another visit.

I am out of here!

Blue.Dog,

Remember, you can check out any time you like but you can never leave! 

nigelb posted:

Blue.Dog,

Remember, you can check out any time you like but you can never leave! 

Indeed, for many here this place seems to offer the same effect as the "warm smell of colitas rising up through the air"

I'm not a number, I'm a free man!

So he thinks, contemplating yet another upgrade....

Blue.Dog,

This must sound like a scary place right now. Don't worry, you'll be fine. Just be aware of upgraditis symptoms - sweaty palms, high temperature, a desperate urge to visit your local Naim dealer, constant checking of your bank balance, an inexplicable interest in bits of wire and finally spending way too much time on here (bit like me really).

As a cautionary tale, Adam (above) used to be a normal individual, quite happy listening to his modestly priced Japanese hifi, then one day he happened to hear a Naim system. Now look at him! Actually that also sounds like me.

Be aware, upgraditis creeps up on you when you least expect and there is NO CURE. 

Flippin' Hotel California tune keeps playing in my head.

nigelb posted:

Blue.Dog,

This must sound like a scary place right now. Don't worry, you'll be fine. Just be aware of upgraditis symptoms - sweaty palms, high temperature, a desperate urge to visit your local Naim dealer, constant checking of your bank balance, an inexplicable interest in bits of wire and finally spending way too much time on here (bit like me really).

As a cautionary tale, Adam (above) used to be a normal individual, quite happy listening to his modestly priced Japanese hifi, then one day he happened to hear a Naim system. Now look at him! Actually that also sounds like me.

Be aware, upgraditis creeps up on you when you least expect and there is NO CURE. 

Flippin' Hotel California tune keeps playing in my head.

One must embrace a 'new me' - a path to self discovery starts with an acknowledgement: 'there is no cure and upgraditis is stronger than I'.

Once I understood this, it became much easier

nigelb posted:

 

Flippin' Hotel California tune keeps playing in my head.

I'm off to play Hotel California - 192 kHZ / 24 bit re-master.... 

wlcome - to the Music - use QNAP with asset - simple! also vinyl - best of both worlds!!

See what you have all done now, you have frightened the OP off with all your craziness!

Blue.Dog, please respond, we are not that weird really.

Thank you all for the replies and the warm welcome, the warnings have not gone unheeded, but I fear it's pointless fighting the urge to upgrade!

Like most people, I've been through a fair number of components over the years but I think I've always been in denial as far as Naim is concerned: "It can't sound that good, right?" Of course, this all fell over when a dealership opened up here in the Highlands at the tail end of last year - something that has been lacking in the north of Scotland for far too long - and I've actually been auditioning some of the Naim components over a cup of coffee or two.

I'll be completely honest and say that I bought the Qute as I was still to be convinced that streaming would compare sonically (and favourably) with CD and I didn't want to splash the extra money on the NDX. The Qute has proven to me that streaming can be equal in quality and is a source which I would now like to stick with. So there we have it, the plan is to now buy the NDX for my 'listening room' and move the Qute into the living room with a decent pair of smaller speakers. The natural progression will then be to start looking at Naim amplification to replace the Roksan; having already auditioned the Supernait 2 with my D20/Rs, I would think that this would be the absolute minimum requirement! Or the pre/power route ... And so it begins (again!) ...

I still have a lot to read through on here and I may even bother you with the odd dumb question. I've also seen a fair few photos of equipment I can only dream of owning, but that's all part of the fun of this 'hobby'.

Pete - Luck you living in the Highlands. My family took a nice holiday in Scotland just a few weeks ago and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  The drive from Inverness down to Oban, through the lochs, was a highlight.

Yes, it's beautiful up here, I live about 12 miles from Inverness - halfway up a mountain on a single track road and the best thing is that I have no neighbours!

Mmm, no neighbours, now that would be nice, I live in a semi and do take a very keen interest in the neighbours' daily routines (ie. When they are out!).

Welcome, BlueDog!

I feel your pain, I was in a similar situation before I moved up here. The only downside of being where I am is the pitiful internet connection, 1Meg (on a good day) plays havoc with internet radio when surfing at the same time. No 3G coverage either ...

Good point. I got fibre connection and neighbours. For you its in reverse.

Main thing though is we both enjoy music via Naim kit :-)

I'll take a crappy internet connection over neighbours any day.

And, yes, it's all about the music!

I also started my Naim joirney with a Uniti (SuperUniti). Things got a little bit out of hand thereafter.... 

I too started my (second) Naim journey with a Uniti. It was a great and inexpensive way of testing the waters with streaming, worked flawlessly and sounded pretty good too. But it is not until you venture into the Classic range of separates do you start to get that wonderful emotional connection to music that is simply effortless - particularly higher up the Classic range.

Just saying!

Blue.Dog is already showing signs of going down this well-trodden path and I too moved on to the NDX and amp separates after the Uniti. All I would say is don't rush, do it slowly and that way you can afford to take some bigger steps into the Classic range. It can be very expensive to go up the separates hierarchy from one model to the next one up. For example I went from a NAC202 to NAC 282 and now have a NAC 252 and from 200 to 250.2 to 250DR and from NDX to NDS. There were also baby steps with power supplies starting with bare pre and streamer and then upwards. And let's not get into cables and the SuperLumina thing. In retrospect I wish I had taken longer over this journey and taken bigger steps (maybe one step if that is possible) to the end game (if this journey does ever end!).

I will say the journey has been very enjoyable - mainly because all stages of this rather complex route have brought something positive to my enjoyment of music. It is not that I would not recommend any of the steps I took, but I wish I had taken bigger steps - that's all.

Above all, home-demo each potential upgrade (your new Naim dealer should help here), avoid listening to 'equipment' as you go on this journey and just listen to 'music'. That will tell you all you need to know about the VFM of your proposed upgrade.

To the OP - have fun!