Advice on Naim please!

If you can run to it, a Superuniti will significantly out-perform a Uniti 2 and you may continue to use your Sony CD player, particularly if it was a recent replacement.

Speakers can come later, both Uniti's appearing quite unfussy as to what they can handle, although, depending on what you already have, some decent speaker cable, Tellurium Q Black, NAC A5, etc. won't go amiss.

Note the Uniti range has just been 'refreshed ' which may be an opportunity or risk, or possibly both, and there should be some good value s/h, ex-dem kit around now.

KR, J

My local naim dealer has a Uniti2 demo for sale, £2499, which I'm tempted by. They have a superuniti for £3785. Worth the extra? I have also found a uniti2 on an auction site for around £2000, in excellent condition. I have got in contact with the dealer who sold it and they say the warranty runs until July 19.  Is it worth saving £500 or so, or a bit risky!

Thanks for the advice!

Duncan

Best to go and have a listen it might also be an opportunity to listen to some speakers at the same time, you don't have to buy the speakers but it will give the chance to hear the potential of the Naim equipment.

If you purchase ex demo from a Naim dealer this should qualify for the additional warranty when registered with Naim worth checking out with your dealer.

So which is the newest Uniti 2 and by how much and therefore which has the longest warranty?That should go a long way towards making a choice.

Price seems high for the SU, going for much less than that s/h or ex-dem at present, but if it's new......

SU much better than U2, but budget and common sense must prevail.... and lots of very happy U2 owners out there.

If your dealer has both SU and U2, why not have a comparative audition?

KR, J

Pcd posted:

Best to go and have a listen it might also be an opportunity to listen to some speakers at the same time, you don't have to buy the speakers but it will give the chance to hear the potential of the Naim equipment.

If you purchase ex demo from a Naim dealer this should qualify for the additional warranty when registered with Naim worth checking out with your dealer.

+1

Wholeheartedly agree!

J

I think you'll find you can get a good ex-dem or newish Superuniti for a lot less than that if you look around. Same with the U2, but I'll say no more as this is a strictly non-commercial forum. Think about weather you want to continue to play CDs or if you will rip them and store them on a NAS, along with any downloads you might purchase. 

With the new Uniti series due soon (though not as soon as planned) you should be able to cut a good deal on the obsolete demo stock.

ChrisSU posted:

I think you'll find you can get a good ex-dem or newish Superuniti for a lot less than that if you look around. Same with the U2, but I'll say no more as this is a strictly non-commercial forum. Think about weather you want to continue to play CDs or if you will rip them and store them on a NAS, along with any downloads you might purchase. 

I agree, you can find a Superuniti on a well known auction site (where I bought mine) for between £2500 and £3000 depending upon whether you want Bluetooth or not.

I have just phoned my local dealer and they have sold out of the uniti range, new and demo stock. The new range should have come out before Christmas, but it still could be a month or more away. The main difference is that the new range will have a hard drive so you will will be able store them on the unit. Price not out yet, but between £3-4k.

The uniti2 on the auction site, is now available to me for £1875, they have just got back to me to let me know there best price. Its in excellent condition, complete with box, manual etc and with the warranty until July 19. Half price of a new one...

My humble view is that there is no need to rush into any deal. With the new range at the horizon, there will be lots good deals in the months to come. From the thread so far, it wasn't actually clear to me whether you had listened to any Naim kit. What looks like a good deal might turn sour without proper demo and comparing it with alternatives...

The Uniti2 is basically a 5si amp with cd

These can be had s/h separates but will miss radio where internet is better than Dab

Notice if the cd need service/repair you will be without amp in that period

That said I think a U2 is a stunning maschine, more fun than SU

I suggest you listen to Uniti if possible with better speakers, use your time to find the right speakers for you, I wouldnt bother the SU unless large room and difficult speakers, beside I think its a bit muffled and as someone suggested using it with a Sony cd player will never be a marriage in heaven

If you decide for U2 then give speaker choice some thinking , preferable if you could get a pair home for demo ?

You must bear in mind that the five year warranty applies exclusively to the original purchaser. This means that the 2014 one you are looking at will not be under warranty should you buy it. 

If you buy an ex Dem one from a dealer you will be the first purchaser and the five years will apply from the date of purchase. 

It's worth ringing around dealers and driving a hard bargain - I'd expect to pick up an ex dem with five year warranty for around £2,000. If you still want to play your CDs I'd go with the Uniti 2; it's neat and tidy with everything in one box. In my view the SU is better, but if you want to play CDs it's not ideal. 

Re CD player, very recently the wise men of this Forum convinced me that there was no need for it after switching to streaming. 

I have an update on the new Uniti range. The uniti star, the replacement for the uniti2 is due in the shops in March/April, at£3299.The Nova replaces the superuniti is £3800.  It sounds like it may be worth the wait, the dealer said they are vastly improved on the old model.

PMC speakers are a good match I'm told.

Is that the case that the warranty only covers the first buyer? May change things!! 

 One of the things you will notice on this forum is that people always try to get  you to buy the next thing up the scale regardless of the financial aspect.  However, if the Naim Uniti2 is very good and if it meets your needs then get it. For the warranty i always prefer a dealer rather than eBay

I got a Uniti2 last year.  It really is a fantastic bit of kit. As for speakers, I'm taking my time and still looking.  I've tried the ProAc D20R but didn't like the ribbon tweeter; Focal Electra 1008be, nice but too pricy.  I've got auditions set up for ATC SCM11 and Dali Fazon F5 later in the month and I want to try some PMC speakers aswell. 

ashrafs posted:

 One of the things you will notice on this forum is that people always try to get  you to buy the next thing up the scale regardless of the financial aspect.  

And all free of charge as there are no ulterior motives from the good people here who offer their advice and knowledge absolutely free of charge.

You get what you pay for and in the grand scheme of things it also applies to Naim gear. 

I went from a Unitilite to a Superuniti, the upgrade was huge. I run mine with Naim Allae speakers and couldn't be happier with it.

Nick

PeterJ posted:

ChrisSU posted:

I think you'll find you can get a good ex-dem or newish Superuniti for a lot less than that if you look around. Same with the U2, but I'll say no more as this is a strictly non-commercial forum. Think about weather you want to continue to play CDs or if you will rip them and store them on a NAS, along with any downloads you might purchase. 

I agree, you can find a Superuniti on a well known auction site (where I bought mine) for between £2500 and £3000 depending upon whether you want Bluetooth or not.

You can find one for nearer 2k than 2.5k at the moment without Bluetooth.

farmerdunk posted:

 the dealer said they are vastly improved on the old model.

Surprise eh !

The Uniti2 is great on its own so try both at home creating own (unbiased) opinion

Drewy posted:

PeterJ posted:

ChrisSU posted:

I think you'll find you can get a good ex-dem or newish Superuniti for a lot less than that if you look around. Same with the U2, but I'll say no more as this is a strictly non-commercial forum. Think about weather you want to continue to play CDs or if you will rip them and store them on a NAS, along with any downloads you might purchase. 

I agree, you can find a Superuniti on a well known auction site (where I bought mine) for between £2500 and £3000 depending upon whether you want Bluetooth or not.

You can find one for nearer 2k than 2.5k at the moment without Bluetooth.

If both Naim and streaming are new to you, I think there's a lot to be said for having dealer support and most or all of the 5 year warranty. Otherwise, if you just want it cheap, they've been selling for under 2k. 

Based on how long you have kept your Sony system I would consider delaying any decision until you have had a chance to hear the new Uniti systems. The new software platform looks to be significantly more flexible which implies it's going to be relevant for longer. I think this a very important consideration when buying an all in one device. While you are mostly listening to CD's and radio today, streaming either locally or on the internet has many advantages, you may like to explore over time.

Being on the new platform would give you more options. Airplay and Google Cast are useful, particularly for guests, casual listening or services not supported by Naim. Roon support is planned. Just today Tidal announced MQA support with Tidal Masters. Naim have confirmed the new platform can support MQA with a firmware upgrade. Just to be clear it doesn't mean Naim will implement MQA on the new platform, but if MQA takes off, I think it's likely they would, considering Naim has gone out of it's way to let us know it's possible.