Help upgrading

My first suggestion would be to find a Naim dealer, who will be happy to let you audition the options you've listed above, and maybe make some other suggestions too. Keep an open mind, and just let your ears (and wallet!) decide. Take your time, and enjoy the process.

Have a serious think about your source too. You'll never appreciate the full potential sound quality of your Naim gear if you just feed it with Spotify.

I second Chris' suggestion...and while your system is at a higher level than my NAD-Kef second system, you will no doubt be extremely impressed and happy with a Naim upgrade. But if you are going to drop that kind of money, I again second Chris' opinion and have a listen and don't buy "blind" (deaf?) unless there is no conceivable way to get to a dealer.

I was in a temporary living arrangement a couple of years ago and had the Kefs on a SN, and they sounded SO much better than they do now on my NAD in the bedroom.

Thanks very much to both of you for the reply. I first heard the SU > Mag 1.7's at the dealer. My dealer doesn't have a dac V1 / Nap 100 in stock so i haven't been able to hear that combo.

Does anyone have experience using Naim components specifically for online streaming? I realize Spotify is a poor source, but with Tidal and other upcoming "Hi-Res" offerings, does that change the game a bit? Would that source then justify an upgrade to a  SU or Dac V-1? If yes, then perhaps , I can rely on Hi-Res online services as opposed to having to build a CD collection and rip to a NAS. If no, then perhaps I need to rethink my plan. 

Full fat streaming services such as Qobuz and Tidal certainly justify any upgrade you can afford - they are excellent sources, at least as good as CD. Qobuz into Superuniti is my most used set up and I love it more than the 8 box CDS2 based system I had previously. I have completely given up on CD now. Downloads and streaming for me.

Current streaming services' only real weakness is incomplete availability but the situation is continually improving - I have ripped my CD collection but if I was starting now I wouldn't bother as most of it is available to stream.

There are so many different ways to play music these days, and you'll probably get plenty of recommendations from forum members. This can help you build a shortlist of kit that has the right functionality, and that works well and sounds good to other people. But sooner or later, you need to find a dealer who can let you listen to it. Only then can you tell what kit sounds best to your ears, with your music sources, in your room. Not that I'm trying to talk you out of the Superuniti - it's a fantastic bit of kit, and in some ways it's an easy choice because it really does do just about everything. Then again, you might get what you want for less money with a V1/100....or a Unitiqute.....or a Hugo/Supernait.....etc. etc. Maybe you need to find another dealer?

As regards online streaming, the fact that Naim only offer it on the Muso probably tells you enough about the sound quality it offers. However, there is much speculation about when or if Naim will start to build in this functionality on other devices as higher res becomes more widely used. They probably won't announce it until it hits the marketplace, so you'll just have to wait and see, or use a Mac Mini, Intel NUC, or whatever. I'm not the best person to suggest how to set this up, but I'm sure you can get good results from a setup like this with Qobuz, for example.

When I bought the SU, I already had an LP12, and a collection of vinyl and CDs. I bought a Unitiserve at the same time, and they make a great combination, but I can see you wouldn't want to go that way without an existing CD or download collection to store on it. I also listen to internet radio, especially Radio Paradise. My internet connection is via an Airport Express, so I can use that for Spotify, iPlayer radio, and other Airplay stuff, not great sound quality but it has its place.

If Naim add online streaming functionality via firmware update, the Superuniti will be all you need, and there is widespread speculation that they might well do this, but it's not guaranteed. For now, I'd either get a Mac Mini, or just stick with your MacBook.

Finally, if you get a SU or similar, it wont perform at its best unless it's set up correctly (one of the benefits of buying Naim gear is that you get excellent support through dealers, the Naim technical support guys, and other forum members.) My one criticism of the SU is that it has a rubbish Wifi module, so you really need to give it a wired Ethernet connection.

Hi Matthews11

I have a dedicated PC at the bottom of my hifi rack - both it and my SU are hard wired to a network switch. I also have an optical cable direct from the PC to the SU.

I stream Qobuz via the optical cable and I stream my ripped music and downloads via upnp - sounds slightly better and I can use the Naim app.. The SU picks up iRadio via the network of course. Some upnp servers such as DBPoweramp have stream capture facilities which would enable you to stream Qobuz via upnp through your network.

Basically if you have an SU networked to a computer of any kind you can do anything. Some NAS disc systems can run upnp servers so you can go that way if you prefer.

Pev

This could be the news you've been waiting for! Forget the computer, just buy a Superuniti and you're sorted......

http://www.naimaudio.com/news/...-and-spotify-connect

Read the small print first, though; you can get Spotify, but what about Qobuz, Tidal, etc?