Uniti Star and Ovator S-400

Ovators can be placed about 15-30 from a rear wall. They differ from earlier Naim designs that  were designed to go against the wall. The Star will sound great with the Ovators , but the Ovators will continue to improve as you upgrade. Mine sound fantastic with a 250DR. If you intend to stay with the Star in the long term you may get even better results with a more sensitive speaker, otherwise you will start hankering after a more powerful system .

I have S-400s and have borrowed a Nova (not a Star) for a home demo. As far as I am concerned, I'd say that the two complement each other wonderfully. If you have the budget, I'd say a Core and a Nova. It is the only combo that now would make me move from CD to HD replay.

Best

Massimo

P.S. I know you asked about the Star, sorry, but I haven't tried it with the 400s. Hope it helps anyway.

I don’t think the Star is powerful enough for the Ovators, at least not enough to make them sing like I know they can. After saying that I haven’t tried a Star but I did use a SU with my Ovators and they didn’t really come to life until I upgraded to a 300dr.  

I ran the S-400's with my XS 2 (70w) amp and enjoyed the combination quite a bit. When I upgraded to a SuperNait2 (80w) the S-400's sounded even better.   You may be quite pleased with a Star/S-400 combination but have not heard it personally. Hopefully you will have a chance to demo prior to final purchase.

Good luck with your decision.

One thing with Ovtors - make surw you get Ovator speaker plugs at the end of your speaker cables. Does make a difference,

Yes it will work. And yes the S400's will also effortlessly pass on any later amp upgrades. 

Do you already own S400s?  mine are 22cm from rear wall. Your room should be fine for S600 as well. My 600's room is a little smaller than your.

Regards

Roberto

Max_B posted:

I have S-400s and have borrowed a Nova (not a Star) for a home demo.

I'll be interested to hear your thoughts, Max when you've decided what you want to do. 

James

Adam Zielinski posted:

One thing with Ovtors - make surw you get Ovator speaker plugs at the end of your speaker cables. Does make a difference,

Hi Adam,

I have my Ovator plugs but laziness has prevented me so far from having them properly soldered. I'll do it because you say it, else I'd think it's the same old OCD from the same old nut..

Will let you know if I hear differences, and will be honest, swear.

Max

@ James N:

James,

the experiment with the Nova took place some time ago. I remember it did sound really well, airy, powerful, still 'Naim' but also 'modern' in a smart way. I had been very much struck by it in the store too, with the Core, that had seemed to me a good step forward from the UnitiServe.

My issue, in a nutshell, was that I liked them a lot, and I love the Uniti look without terms; but I just had my 2003 CDX2 completely rebuilt to current specs, and something still keeps me from leaving 20th century for the 21st. Yet, all of the times I compared a CD replayed optically vs its rip on a decent to serious system, the rip sounded at least the equal, in many cases better....

Anyway, my recall of the Nova - as concept and as sound - is of an excellent unit. I really like it, and it will probably be my only step onward from my current classic amp.

Best

Max

Alberto,

sorry I never look at profiles (ah, the subtle pleasure of knowing this will annoy someone) but it seems you already have a Star, so my post was useless. I see you play live (if it's you in your avatar); I suppose you don't want the same excessive (and usually distorted) levels of sound in your home, so trust the Star to be ok with the S-400s.

If you want S-400s.

Best

Massimo 

Max_B posted:

Adam Zielinski posted:

One thing with Ovtors - make surw you get Ovator speaker plugs at the end of your speaker cables. Does make a difference,

Hi Adam,

I have my Ovator plugs but laziness has prevented me so far from having them properly soldered. I'll do it because you say it, else I'd think it's the same old OCD from the same old nut..

Will let you know if I hear differences, and will be honest, swear.

Max

Hi Max

It’s basically down to the material compatibility between the pins (loose of course ) inside the Ovator plugs and the Ovator’s terminals. Also the pins fit really well in the terminals. 

Ciao,

Adam

PS An intriguing avatar Max

Lego Batman. I learned of its (his?) existence from my little nephew Giacomo. In turn, I made him become a fan of Juventus F.C. It wasn't difficult.

Ciao

Massimo Bertola posted:

I see you play live (if it's you in your avatar) 

it's not me! ........the one in my avatar is Ryan Adams on stage...