Nova vs Atom - technical differences

dave-mac posted:

Is there anywhere to access details showing what the technical differences are between the two? I'm interested to see whether they share the same DAC etc.

I have same query. This info wud help making a purchase decision.

Regards,

Sourav

80W and special is all I got + £2500

Obsydian posted:

80W and special is all I got + £2500

What is that 'special' thingy ? There r few extra inputs too.

Regards,

sourav

I saw both open side by side when I was at the factory on Saturday. I could see that they appear to share the same streamer module on top, however there's a lot more inside the Nova. Triple decker boards and a much bigger transformer for starters. It's remarkable how they have packed both units and worked everything out so carefully to ensure that any interference is minimised.

Surely at the end of the day, does the Nova sound good, does it sound better than other products in that price point in the market.  Or if there is something similar, does it deliver the musical experience that a Naim amp delivers. Or is there nothing quite like Nova in the market at the moment? What's inside the box, what firmware and clever algorithms, are a nice to know, not a deal clincher, go and listen. If you are unable to demo, whatever is in the box and feedback from the forum, will still be a leap of faith.

For what it's worth, Nova is worth the extra money, and I am buying one.

It would be good to hear from a SU owner who has heard the Nova....

I have to decide if it's worth upgrading?

Cheers

Forgot to say here but said elsewhere, Richard descriptiom as also special is what I found living with the Atom.

But if I wasn't Naim sheep (for nearly 25 yrs), the description would not have convinced made me try the Nova, as it's kinds ghetto blaster days sales, you get more watts mate ; )

Bhahhhh

I'm absolutely torn now between the Nova and getting a 250DR with the Atom. Both of the dealers I use do not have either together yet.

CSI_Basel posted:

It would be good to hear from a SU owner who has heard the Nova....

I have to decide if it's worth upgrading?

Cheers

I am a Superuniti owner who has heard the Nova but I couldn't say from having heard the Nova once how it compares. It's likely that the room and the loudspeakers are going to contribute a lot more differences than the electronics.

What we need is someone who has a Superuniti and can borrow a Nova for a home demo. Anyway I'm staying with my Superuniti for now. It sounds great!

best

David

Lord_HIllier posted:

I'm absolutely torn now between the Nova and getting a 250DR with the Atom. Both of the dealers I use do not have either together yet.

The Nova was described as using reference grade componentry and design compared to the Atom when I visited Naim. I was also told that the modular design approach of earlier Naim Uniti products was being dispensed with such that the new Unitis  would each be purpose designed from the ground up... although I don't have/remember  the specifics, this tells me the audio circuitry and layout of the Nova is going to be quite different. Last December the Nova SQ and design was still being developed, I heard a prototype. Where as the Atom, I was advised, was largely completed at that time... Only you can decide whether the extra reference design quality is of material benefit to you... and for that you will need to personally evaluate.

Are the Nova and Star differing technically (besides the obvious differences concerning CD and amplifier)? In other words: are streaming boards and preamp sections identical? Or are the better components in the Nova also concerning these parts? Might be interesting for those thinking about using Nova or Star with an additional amplifier... 

By the way - there seems to be a 'bug' on the Naim homepage. In the specifications for the new Unitis the information is given, that the digital Toslink inputs can handle 24bit/192khz, but under 'All specifications' it says only 24/96, so what is right? 

The Toslink S/Pdif input on the 272 can handle 24/192, but whether it actually works at 192 depends on quality of the Toslink output of the source component.

Would anyone from Naim care to comment?

Dave, you could always ask them.  Best to e-mail Steve Hopkins on info@naimaudio.com

[@mention:1566878603942595] Good idea. I'll report back here with their reply.

Fired an email over and heard back within the hour. No specifics, but this was what I received back. At least the parts are confirmed to be different. Looks like I'm going to have to try and find a way of a/b testing them with the same speaker setup.

"The two are actually completely different designs, different amplifiers, different preamps and different DACs ... the simplest answer I can give is to go audition the two back-to-back and decide whether the difference in performance justifies the difference in price to you."