How Good Is The Nova.

I recently demo'd vs 272/250 (unsure if DR) into Focal Kantas, versus Nova (which i have), note it was a short listen a prempt for an NDX2 demo.

Anyway for me I found the Nova just as good if not better.

Always best to demo and trust your own ears.

Out of the naim family but  my nova replaced an ATC amp and chord Qutest..while it hasn’t   got the forensic ability of the chord atc combo it boogies well and to be honest I’m happy to just leave it on for casual listening as well as a session so it’s getting used more often, also the kids hook into easy and love it..

You’ll find a lot of different opinions regarding the Uniti Nova. A lot of people will tell you probably that the separates will be better, in my experience in my own room, I dare to say that Nova equals the 272/200. No experience with the 272/250.

My conclusion is that the Nova is all I’ll need ????

Extremely good, thats how good.

Nearly as good as CDX2/202/200 so I would reckon the equal of 272/200.

I heard the Nova and 272/250 back to back in the Naim dem room driving huge Focals. The Nova was extremely good, the 272/250 was better, but to my ears relatively subtly so and not worth the extra £3,400 cost. Others may value things differently but to my ears, when listening at home, one set would not make me enjoy music significantly more that the other over the long term.

Maybe it's aging ears but I seem to "consume" incremental improvements relatively quickly once I am at a level that lets the music shine through. I did get up 8 boxes at one stage, and each incremental upgrade seemed worth it at the time but I am now very happy with my Nova.

I have the Star. Was thinking of going the 272/250 route. However I am also thinking if Nova will solve my dissatisfaction with Star in a way tolerable than going separates. 

I spent a few hours over the weekend ripping some of my old cds to a slim usb drive, its a doddle on dbpoweramp, you can then plug it in to your Nova (or Atom) and you have the benefits of a Star with the SQ of the Nova, a bit more expensive mind, but if you think you need the cd functionality and arent pushed about been able to play them instantly then it is a viable alternative

Are all of the software issues ironed out now?

Nick

I’m very pleased with my Nova Dynaudio 40 combination.

If you wish to improve on this system it will cost you at least twice as much for a decernable improvement.

When it comes to sound quality per £ spent the Nova is difficult to beat.

I too have the Dynaudio Special 40. Maybe I should swap my Star to Nova first and play it for some months before deciding the 272/250DR route.

Btw, [@mention:75060766884572152] what speaker cable and length you using?

I use NAC A5  5m length.

I tried the Star but thought the Nova well worth the price difference.

Great.. nice to hear that experience. Will try the NAC A5 also. Currently is using Chord EPIC at 2.5m which people said is not advisable.

The NAC A5 is good.

I was advised to use a minimum length of 3.5m. There are other posts on here explaining the science.

I’m sure you will notice a worthwhile improvement.

I went from 4.5 m  (old style NACA5) to 6.5 m (new style NACA5), same same cable. newer, was purely to give me a bit more to help citing the Nova further away - but the difference the longer cable made was a nice an welcome surprise.

Think i recall Richard saying 7m was the sweet spot, but the official line is 3.5m is good.

I am rather surprised reading some comments on how good the Nova & Star are.  Seems many agree that they sound as good as a 202/200 combo, but as these all in ones are based on Nait 5si technology, that would also mean that the nait 5si integrated also sounds better than a 202/200 combo? I am interested in the Star myself, I would be going from a 202/200DR/HCDR/Napsc. But, as I will never get a chance to compare myself, I am taking my time and reading others experience. 

Got Hi-Fi? posted:

I am rather surprised reading some comments on how good the Nova & Star are.  Seems many agree that they sound as good as a 202/200 combo, but as these all in ones are based on Nait 5si technology, that would also mean that the nait 5si integrated also sounds better than a 202/200 combo? I am interested in the Star myself, I would be going from a 202/200DR/HCDR/Napsc. But, as I will never get a chance to compare myself, I am taking my time and reading others experience. 

I listened to a few threads and then just demo'd at a dealer and made my own mind up.

Was free and enjoyable

Got Hi-Fi? posted:

I am rather surprised reading some comments on how good the Nova & Star are.  Seems many agree that they sound as good as a 202/200 combo, but as these all in ones are based on Nait 5si technology, that would also mean that the nait 5si integrated also sounds better than a 202/200 combo? I am interested in the Star myself, I would be going from a 202/200DR/HCDR/Napsc. But, as I will never get a chance to compare myself, I am taking my time and reading others experience. 

I was not aware the Nova was based on the Nait 5si - if that is the case it is a fairly distant cousin as the Nait5si is 60wpc versus the Nova 80wpc for a start. I think you may be pleasantly surprised (I used to have a 7 box olive system).

I thought the nova was based in super Nait 2?

Pev posted:

Got Hi-Fi? posted:

I am rather surprised reading some comments on how good the Nova & Star are.  Seems many agree that they sound as good as a 202/200 combo, but as these all in ones are based on Nait 5si technology, that would also mean that the nait 5si integrated also sounds better than a 202/200 combo? I am interested in the Star myself, I would be going from a 202/200DR/HCDR/Napsc. But, as I will never get a chance to compare myself, I am taking my time and reading others experience. 

I was not aware the Nova was based on the Nait 5si - if that is the case it is a fairly distant cousin as the Nait5si is 60wpc versus the Nova 80wpc for a start. I think you may be pleasantly surprised (I used to have a 7 box olive system).

I am not really sure what parts are based on the 5si (pre or power, or how much of either), I only saw that info in reviews, but yes, more power for sure here in the Nova. I just came across another comment from a dealer on another site also confirming this Nova to sound at least as good as a 272/250. It must be one amazing piece of tech. 

hifi-dog posted:

I thought the nova was based in super Nait 2?

this would certainly make more sense to me!

Maybe the Star is based on the 5si and the Nova on the Supernait 2?

I think Naim have only ever said "based on the Nait", others have said it's the 5si (I'm prepared to be proved wrong on this).

Have a read of the HiFi+ review, available via the Naim web site (link below). It sums up quite well what many say about the Nova.

To quote a small piece "an amplifier that seems to think itself a miniaturised version of the Statement",  "inserting tens or even hundreds of thousands more on a system will improve it, but the joy of the Nova is it will not 'better' it" (you need to read the review for the full context of these remarks). See  HiFi+ Review

I thought Naim claimed they started with a clean sheet of paper for the Uniti series and they go as far as to say even the Atom, Star and Nova are seperate products, with little in common.

TallGuy posted:

I think Naim have only ever said "based on the Nait", others have said it's the 5si (I'm prepared to be proved wrong on this).

Have a read of the HiFi+ review, available via the Naim web site (link below). It sums up quite well what many say about the Nova.

To quote a small piece "an amplifier that seems to think itself a miniaturised version of the Statement",  "inserting tens or even hundreds of thousands more on a system will improve it, but the joy of the Nova is it will not 'better' it" (you need to read the review for the full context of these remarks). See  HiFi+ Review

Thanks for sharing, a good read! At least they compare it more to the 200 level than the 250, which to me seems at least more reasonable, although still very impressive for this all-in-one to take on separates.

"itself a miniaturised version of the Statement, or at least a NAC-N272/NAP-200 DR combination"

Gazza posted:

I thought Naim claimed they started with a clean sheet of paper for the Uniti series and they go as far as to say even the Atom, Star and Nova are seperate products, with little in common.

In Connections Simon Matthews said "We used technology taken from our iconic NAIT integrated amplifiers and re-worked it to create the best solution possible for an all-in-one player. "

https://www.naimaudio.com/conn...w-uniti-was-designed

The Nait link in the story went to the XS2 page, but I don't think we should read anything in to that, they had to pick one.

Gazza posted:

I thought Naim claimed they started with a clean sheet of paper for the Uniti series and they go as far as to say even the Atom, Star and Nova are seperate products, with little in common.

They did, all built around the new streaming platform but still pulling in developments from elsewhere in the range. As someone else mentioned above. best audition yourself and compare to the separates. The Nova as an integrated solution punches well above its weight and should provide a lot of enjoyment without the need to constantly be worried about the next upgrade fix. 

All IMHO