Superuniti vs ND5XS+NaitXS

Posted by: Jacquou on 25 January 2013

Hi,

I'm new to the Naim community but read a lot of very interesting posts here on streaming audio.

I'm interested in replacing my CD player and potentially my amp by a naim streamer.

I already had the chance to try the Superuniti at home over a weekend and was amazed by how convenient it is as well as it's sound quality. However, I'm hesitating between replacing now both my amp and CD player by the Superuniti or just replace the CD player by a ND5XS and few months later the amp by a NaitXS.

I'm not sure I'll have a chance to try a ND5XS so I would be interested in getting feedback from you on the differences (or not) between these 2 systems in terms of SQ.

 

Thanks in advance!

Posted on: 03 February 2013 by Squidfacedboy
Originally Posted by Roman Kozyrev:
 

Never had any regrets at all about my SU purchase - so musical, so elegant solution... easy to set up and powerful enough to fill my large room with music

 

Yeah - I was listening to my SuperUniti through much of today (damned broken collarbone in the middle of summer), and the CDs that I've been ripping sound a lot better on the SU than they did on CD with my old Naim 92/90 combination.

 

And definitely a lot more convenient (or it will be when I finally get through ripping the CD collection)

 

Jono

Posted on: 04 February 2013 by catalinmetal
Originally Posted by Poggy:

You could also try a unitiqute with a power amp 200/250


you could of course, but like the little girl said in Aliens movie: "it woun't make any difference!"

i would vote for the ND5XS / Nait XS combo, although i haven't heard them side by side, i have a good knowledge over nait XS and some knowledge over ND5XS and i think that each of them, the XS and the ND5 are very respectable amp and source...

putting a bigger power amp to the qute it wil not bring the enjoyment hoped for the money spent, especially of the speakers aren't very hard to drive.

Posted on: 04 February 2013 by jobseeker

I still rarely see anyone suggest  N172XS paired with a Naim power amplifier in such discussions. I'm not aware of anyone who has even auditioned it (perhaps understandable amongst long-standing members with established systems).

Posted on: 04 February 2013 by Squidfacedboy
Originally Posted by jobseeker:

I still rarely see anyone suggest  N172XS paired with a Naim power amplifier in such discussions. I'm not aware of anyone who has even auditioned it (perhaps understandable amongst long-standing members with established systems).

 

I was originally looking at a 172XS as a solution/upgrade to my '96 era 92/90 setup, but somehow ended up taking home the SuperUniti for a home demo. In the showroom, the SuperUniti had a fuller, more musical sound. And the "one box" aspect to it was appealing, even if I lost out on some of the upgradeability. To be honest, I was unlikely to end up in a situation where I would purchase a separate DAC in the future (although now, a separate power amp is a possibility).

Posted on: 04 February 2013 by jobseeker

I'm certainly happy with my SU

Posted on: 04 February 2013 by Yippedidou

And I'm also very happy with my SU and 250.2. But if Naim comes with a pre/dac/streamer between the 282 and 252 - something like a N272xs - I will definitely try it.

 

Yip

Posted on: 07 February 2013 by Stefan Vogt
Originally Posted by Yippedidou:

And I'm also very happy with my SU and 250.2. But if Naim comes with a pre/dac/streamer between the 282 and 252 - something like a N272xs - I will definitely try it.

Yip

-10 Naim, pleeease never bring out such a killer box! (I am now 'stuck' with ND5XS and 282).

 

To jobseeker: I would not expect that the DAC-V1 adds much to the ND5XS' internal DAC (similar BurrBrowns).

 

And to PCTM: The SU's amplifier has indeed been put on one level with the SN by the German Audio mag (check 'music line biz' in Google). I think there is little info on the SU's DAC (e.g., which BurrBrown?), but I would be surprised if it was a match for the nDAC. Rather, SU-DAC and DAC-V1 should be en par.

 Cheers,

Stefan

Posted on: 07 February 2013 by jobseeker

Certainly the implication from Steve H at Naim is that with the DAC-V1 they are proud to have got quite a few things based on the function of the Superuniti inside a half-width case at a good price point.

Posted on: 15 February 2013 by catalinmetal

unfortunatelly, only the DAC chip inside a signal source, doesn't tell much about the sound quality.

in theory, and also on technical grounds, the PCM 1704 from Burr-brown is one of the best, if not really the best, being a R2R ladder DAC, and having, from this topolgy, a computational capacity that really uses the 24 bits processing (inside there is a vast array of resistors, that, physically, do the electrical computations), instead of a more common Delta-Sigma DAC, which, usually achieves around 6 computational bits processing, cause of the pulse width modulation that eliminates the use of higher bit processing rates, and if used in pairs, doubles their computation capacity.

 

so 8 parallel 6 bits Delta-sigma DACs will provide 9 bit effective computation capacity... 

do not confuse internal computational capacity with accepted bit depth on digital inputs...

 

anyway, the 1704, good and highend as it may be, can be found in high end siblings (NDS for instance and the naim nDAC) also Simaudio Andromeda, BUT, it can be found also in cheap and poor sounding Pioneer receivers...

 

so, all i wanted to say was that, having a good or not that good DAC chip woun't really tell the SQ, cause the implementation and all analog and digital processing before and after the chip is what matters...

Posted on: 15 February 2013 by naimUnT
Who calleth? I'm firmly in the SU camp as well but am not disinclined to accept the separates route might be better, perhaps marginally? I shall never know because (speaking for myself), I like the convenience of the one box solution (actually two other boxes, the HC2 and Stageline for phono duties) and find the SU powerful but refined and, when properly set up, was equal or not far off from the full monty 200/202 (to my ears and my room setup). The SU has musicality and the ability to connect me to the music and my entire family can enjoy the SU without fumbling with extra boxes and multiple remotes. Because I value convenience and simplicity, the limited upgrade path of the SU meant that I had little if any temptation to upgrade. I've been down the Naim upgrade path and frankly that is a journey I don't want to take. I respect others who might venture that path. No doubt they will have greater options to upgrade should be rewarded with sonic excellence commensurate with the money they invest. For me, I chose the integrated route but willed to have the best that Naim offered at the level. The SU answered that need for me. It is all the audio that I will ever need and more! My concentration is now on the music as I hope one day to move to a NAS which will store all of my digital files.
Posted on: 17 February 2013 by MangoMonkey

To a newcomer, I'd recommend the SuperUniti.

 

Having said that, I prefer the ND5XS/NaitXS/FCXS by a margin. I've had the SU for a while and just found it boring in comparison to the NaitXS. I also prefer the ND5XS/NaitXS/FCXS over the NDX/Supernait/HiCapDR.