UnitiQute 2 or SuperUniti?

I guess this could be one of the reasons the SU sounded better, but it does leave me wondering why the UQ 2's amp shouldn't out perform the Nait 2, which I think is rated at about 13 watts per channel?

More watt does not neccesary sound better

often its the opposite depending on speakers in use

IME a Nait sound better than UQ by compare and within limits, funny enough the UQ is so easy on ears its a joy to use and one is getting used to it if you get my drift

I wouldn't be surpriced if Naim is working on SU amplication-upgrade, lifespan for various Uniti's is not that long, may explain why your dealer discount it

I'm not very familiar with the technicalities of headphones and amplifiers, but I do use a pair of Focal Spirit Classics with my Superuniti. They are very neutral and has a sound fairly similar to my speakers. There are certainly more costly options to be found but they work very well with the SU and at around GBP 300,- it's not breaking the bank. So here is what you may be interested in; my dealer said the internal headphone amplifier isn't that bad and that it's on the same level as Musical Fidelity M1 HPA.

There are likely better headphone and amplifiers out there but I'm not interested as headphone listening is purely a purely a substitute to listening through the speakers and it's practical for late night listening.

Thanks, and sorry not to reply to your previous response.  My Audio Technica headphones are fairly low impedance so, as far as I can tell, they should be fine with both the UQ2 or the SuperUniti.

Thanks to to everybody else as well, it's helped to make everything clear, and at the moment I'm tending towards the SU.  Another demo should decide matters.

Well, I'm now the proud owner of a SuperUniti.  I took some of my own music back to the dealer for an extended audition and my initial impressions were confirmed.  Certainly, with my speakers, the SU sounded clearly better than the UQ or UQ + Nait 2 - warmer, more detailed and without the slight edginess in the treble.

I've had several days of home listening now and am delighted with the SU.  So far, everything has been streamed wirelessly.  The only glitches have been with my two 192 kHz albums, 96 kHz playing without problems.  Headphones sound fine as well.  Plan is to have wired connections, but with the router in the loft this will take a while to organise.

Thanks again for the advice.

Get ready for another step up in SQ when you do. I was wireless to the SU in my listening room for a couple of months before buying a bog standard 25m cat5e cable and running it to the SU like a trailing wire. The jump in quality convinced me to get to work properly on it!

This is typical wireless not able to handle the high density 24/192 data stream.

 Re the router in the loft (wonder why ??)  An easy solution is to add a LAN switch somewhere close to your new SU (congratulations) or NAS & ethernet wired between SU & NAS - a switch is better able than the router to manage the send/receive (simultaneously) & correctly manage the adressing of data packets.  It will bring SQ gains & perfect 24/192.  From the switch all you then need is a single ethernet (or an AE wireless extender) from switch to router.  This link handles the low density iRadio & Tidal/Spotify streaming & app/PC wireless stuff. 

Congratulations with your choice! The Superuniti really is a super onebox solution. I happen to love mine and will never part with it.

Mike-B's suggestion is a sound one and one I use myself. There are lots of threads available on how to set it up and helpful members if anything is confusing...

That's great, the SuperUniti is an excellent system. Make sure you turn off its digital output and any unused inputs and it should sound even better. 

That's a marvellous buy. Congratulations. Aside from all the good stuff about the SU, a welcome thought is that all of it (dac, streamer, pre and power) can be upgraded in one gruesome swoop by acquiring a second hand PowerLine. 

Not being antagonistic but can you explain why this would be the case?

No idea. Nor do I understand quantum mechanics, but I know it's important. 

What, Quantum Mechanics or turning off the in/out-puts ;-)

Thanks everybody, it's nice to join the SU community   

It looks like getting wired up should be my first priority - especially as I did get a few dropouts on 96 kHz files last night.  Mike-B, your suggestion look like something even I can set up quickly - am I right in thinking that I'll be able to plug both my MacBook Pro and the SU into this?  Would something like this NetGear GS105 on Amazon be suitable as a switch?

Despite his lack of understanding of quantum mechanics, I shall trust Hungryhalibut's judgement on switching off unused digital inputs and outputs.

The Powerline looks very tempting but sadly will have to wait until after I've sorted out the network and a music-only computer or NAS.

Exciting times.

Yes, that switch is exactly what you want (although you might get a telling off from the moderators for the link to a commercial website!) You can connect your MacBook to it, or any other device that you want on your network - NAS, wireless access point, etc.

You're right, a Powerline is a nice upgrade, but getting the network sorted is more important. 

Yeah that switch is perfect. I have one two. Simply plug your SU and NAS into it then IF you need internet run a cat 5/6  cable to your router from the switch. OR if needs be, install Asset on you laptop and the UPnP/SN naim app will find your music wirelessly on it.

I've recently installed my network again, this time It's all hardwired to a 6TB QNAP 412 TurboNAS; 10m cable to a TP-Link gigabit router/modem, short cable to the NAS which sits in a cupboard under the stairs.

No wireless to laptop/computer/ has made improvements in both SQ and functionality.

I installed Asset UPnP on the NAS, works perfectly.

Thanks both, and whoops - apologies to the mods, a new user mistake.  I've actually got a TP-Link range extender with an ethernet port so will see if I can use this with the switch.

Chris

I have the GS105 and it works perfectly. No need to spend more. I know someone who is a real live rocket scientist, I don't understand that either!

If you have an extender you can:

Use the switch locally to you system, plug the SU and extender into it.

Plug a NAS drive into the router wherever it is (did you say loft?)

install Asset.

Job done!

OR as above but have the extender NAS and switch locally to your SU, then connect to the internet via the extender, no need to run a cable back to the router.

I'd beg to differ on that - sorry Spacey. The key thing to do is to connect the nas and the streamer directly to the switch. That will ensure perfect hires streaming. Then use the extender to connect to the router, for album art and Internet radio. 

Fair point but the wireless connection between an extender and router is a much stronger one (via WDS) than to a portable device/computer.

The only foreseeable issue would the noise from a NAS locally?

You have the thumbs up on the GS105 questions. One last tip (its in the install instructions but is frequently overlooked)  Unmanaged switches like GS105 need to "learn" the network they are attached too, although it will eventually work it out for itself,  its best to have the switch connected network powered on & running before the switch is powered up.

I've never found this to be necessary - I just connect and disconnect stuff from the powered-up switch as and when I want, and it makes the connection more or less instantly.