UQ2 into a NAP90?

Posted by: Andy Barratt on 19 January 2016

This might be a dumb question. 

Before I splash out on cabling - i thought I'd throw this out. 

I'm intrigued by what a NAP100 would do for my UQ2 system. But then I remembered, I have an old NAP90 kicking around. 

Obviously I have to get a RCA to DIN to hook the two up (i think?) - but would there be any obvious benefit (and I mean blatantly perceivable, not just on paper) of running the UQ2 into a NAP90?

And possibly for debates sake, how much better is the NAP100 than the 90?   

Posted on: 19 January 2016 by Richard Dane

I haven't done a comparison between the NAP100 and NAP90 - I assume you're talking about the original NAP90 here rather than the NAP90/2 or NAP90/3 - but have compared my NAP90 against my NAP110.  No contest.  The NAP90 is good, but the 110 is whole step or two up in performance terms.

Bear in mind though that by now any NAP90 that hasn't been recently serviced is going to be off its best, so you need to weigh that up as well.  You may well find that even the amp in the UQ2 outperforms an old NAP90.

Anyway, enough from me, give it a go and see what you think.  And then let us know...

Posted on: 19 January 2016 by jon h

I'd have thought the power amp in the UQ2 was somewhat better than an old NAP90?

Posted on: 19 January 2016 by Andy Barratt
jon honeyball posted:

I'd have thought the power amp in the UQ2 was somewhat better than an old NAP90?

Fair enough - you're probably right! 

Posted on: 19 January 2016 by Andy Barratt
Richard Dane posted:

I haven't done a comparison between the NAP100 and NAP90 - I assume you're talking about the original NAP90 here rather than the NAP90/2 or NAP90/3 - but have compared my NAP90 against my NAP110.  No contest.  The NAP90 is good, but the 110 is whole step or two up in performance terms.

Bear in mind though that by now any NAP90 that hasn't been recently serviced is going to be off its best, so you need to weigh that up as well.  You may well find that even the amp in the UQ2 outperforms an old NAP90.

Anyway, enough from me, give it a go and see what you think.  And then let us know...

I don't think I'll try if general opinion is that the PA in the UQ2 is likely better than the 90 as it is, considering it would cost me the price of a cable. But thanks! 

Posted on: 19 January 2016 by Dave***t

It's worth bearing in mind that the gain from adding a power amp to a Qute isn't only about bettering the internal amp, it's also about what goes on inside the Qute. When I had one and connected a 150x to it, there was a noticeable improvement when setting speakers to 'off' on the UQ.

So you never know, there might be more mileage in adding the 90 than it initially seems. Worth a go if it's just lying around anyway. Flashback do decent RCA-DIN cables for a punt-worthy price.

Posted on: 19 January 2016 by gary yeowell

Having tried several power amps on the Qute, 110, 150, 160, 200 and 250. I have concluded that it likes its own power amp just fine. Some combinations were an improvement in some areas, but not all.