Uniti 2 upgrade please

Posted by: Mohamed Amin on 18 April 2015

I have Uniti2 hooked up to B&W 805D via tellurium black cables , This setup sounds fantastic on high volumes around 40-45 (on the volume Dial) ,but it dose not t sing much on lower volumes . I guess the B&W are power hungry!. I was twondering is it better to add a power amplifier to the Uniti2 like the Supernait 2 , or is it better to change the Uniti2 to Superuniti, I really don't use the CD at all these days and I depend on Qobuz mainly 

 

Posted on: 18 April 2015 by bicela

For staying with one box only SU would be a good solution considering also it's imminent upgrade for supporting DSD 

Posted on: 18 April 2015 by David02

Soon you will find a lot of s/h SU's on auction sites....

Posted on: 19 April 2015 by hungryhalibut

Why is that then? 

Posted on: 19 April 2015 by nickpeacock
An oblique reference to the N272? Pray tell us, David...
Posted on: 19 April 2015 by pgmvveld
Is there really a significant difference between the SuperUniti and Uniti2 in this regard? I had the impression the differences are the CD-player as part of the Uniti2 and 70W (Uniti2) compared to 80W (SuperUniti). Would that solve Mohamed's issue with the low volume sound?
 
Originally Posted by bicela:

For staying with one box only SU would be a good solution considering also it's imminent upgrade for supporting DSD 

 

Posted on: 19 April 2015 by bicela
Originally Posted by pgmvveld:
Is there really a significant difference between the SuperUniti and Uniti2 in this regard? I had the impression the differences are the CD-player as part of the Uniti2 and 70W (Uniti2) compared to 80W (SuperUniti). Would that solve Mohamed's issue with the low volume sound?
 
Originally Posted by bicela:

For staying with one box only SU would be a good solution considering also it's imminent upgrade for supporting DSD 

 

Just my personal comment, SU have a DSP that Uniti2 have not, it alone is a good point for users that are more oriented to streamed music.

As far as I know it also implement a DR, even if in a simplified way. Uniti2 not. This made some differences in SQ...

 

But for low volume sound... I guess this is not related to power, but to efficiency (dB/m/W) of loudspeakers that is also far to be linear with input power... And usually worst for low input power.

 

I have ESL and this are very good even at low volume, before I used PMC with pleasure anyway.

Posted on: 19 April 2015 by Mohamed Amin

It seems from all the  replies that SU is the way to go , it would be much cheeper than adding a new power Amp. I guess I wanted to see what you guys think before I ask my dealer for a home trial of SU or a Power Amp, if this is even possible!

Posted on: 19 April 2015 by Solid Air

In demos, I have found the SU to be much better than the U2. It is also quite different in character - more muscular and substantial - so it's worth making sure you like that sound. I wouldn't say the SU was 'more better' at lower volume though, only that it's better in general.

 

I suspect that your low-volume needs might not be all about the power amp section of the unit - might be worth trying different speakers as well.

 

Posted on: 20 April 2015 by Huge

I have auditioned the Uniti2 against the SU and the ND5 XS / Nait XS-2 pairing. 

For low to mid level listening my preference was for the ND5 XS / Nait XS-2 pair then SU then Uniti2.

 

I felt the available detail was increased by the SU, but increased even more so by the ND5.

For 'musical involvement' I found the SU and ND5 to be evenly matched, but the presentation was different.

 

As Solid Air says the SU is more 'muscular' and 'forceful', more 'in yer face', whereas the ND5 / Nait is more subtle.  The SU has a definite character you may or may not like.  One thing I would add is that if your listening room is large, the character of the SU is very beneficial to 'fill the room', on the other hand, for smaller rooms I find it a bit overbearing.

 

However I agree with Solid Air, at low levels I think the speakers may play a bigger part than the box driving them.

Posted on: 20 April 2015 by Mohamed Amin
Thanks your input, I guess I always wanted B&W 800 series and hence I'm very protective of them ,but I see the point raised by both of you regarding my speakers , Maybe I should try a combination of NAC-N 272 and an Amp and see how it sounds( probably very expensive to start with) or to try SU (much cheaper than this combo) as my room is 7m x 3m
 
Originally Posted by Huge:

I have auditioned the Uniti2 against the SU and the ND5 XS / Nait XS-2 pairing. 

For low to mid level listening my preference was for the ND5 XS / Nait XS-2 pair then SU then Uniti2.

 

I felt the available detail was increased by the SU, but increased even more so by the ND5.

For 'musical involvement' I found the SU and ND5 to be evenly matched, but the presentation was different.

 

As Solid Air says the SU is more 'muscular' and 'forceful', more 'in yer face', whereas the ND5 / Nait is more subtle.  The SU has a definite character you may or may not like.  One thing I would add is that if your listening room is large, the character of the SU is very beneficial to 'fill the room', on the other hand, for smaller rooms I find it a bit overbearing.

 

However I agree with Solid Air, at low levels I think the speakers may play a bigger part than the box driving them.

 

Originally Posted by Solid Air:

In demos, I have found the SU to be much better than the U2. It is also quite different in character - more muscular and substantial - so it's worth making sure you like that sound. I wouldn't say the SU was 'more better' at lower volume though, only that it's better in general.

 

I suspect that your low-volume needs might not be all about the power amp section of the unit - might be worth trying different speakers as well.