UnitiQute2b upgrade path

Posted by: Skip on 06 May 2018

My son has a recent UQ2b (Summer 2015) and has enjoyed it very much for a dorm room.   He uses it into a pair of Crimson Electronics speaker cables and a pair of Blumenstein Audio Tritons (upgrade Thrashers).   We got the whole rig via Peter S at Venice Audio and could not be happier.  Now he is graduating and is interested in a upgrade.

We also have a NaitXS with FlatcapXS and CD5X into nSats upstairs that we could roll into the mix. 

What is the logical upgrade path for someone who is perfectly happy and has too many Naim boxes?

1) Nova.

2) Upgrade amp to pair with UQ2b which has a nice front end and still has FM radio!   

3) Speaker (we heard the Neats at Venice and they rock but will need a bigger amp).

4) Use the UQ2b as a streamer source for the NaitXS setup to do a nicer speaker.

My thoughts:  UQ2b is plenty good.  Nova reviews are not so hot, and the unit is very expensive for what it is and bound to be upgraded/obsoleted soon.   Speaker choice will be constrained without a real amp.

What do you guys recommend as an upgrade path?  

I have heard of people using the UQ2b to drive a Naim amp upgrade and have heard as much as a Naim 300.  Does anybody have experience going that route?

Posted on: 06 May 2018 by Bob the Builder

I had a UQ2 into a Nap 150, then a 122x/150, then 122x/FCXS/150, then 202/HC/150 and finally 202/HC/200 until I replaced it with ND5XS.  It sounded great with every set up and I would say the greatest improvement came when it went through a Nac first.

IMO though the UQ2 is a fantastic little all in one and I would concentrate first on upgrading speakers and perhaps a sub.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Posted on: 07 May 2018 by SongStream

Vs spending £4k on a Nova, with the boxes you've got kicking about, seems entirely logical to me that UQ to Nait XS should give a welcome boost, and invest in a nicer speaker....or maybe just leave the speakers as they are for now.  I'd listen to how that sounds before worrying about throwing cash at any more boxes.    

Posted on: 07 May 2018 by SongStream

On second thoughts, the 'logical' upgrade path for someone who is 'perfectly happy' doesn't exist.  In that scenario upgrading is illogical.  ;-)