So in the last 2 month I have gone Atom, to Nova and now a replacement Nova.
Setup has remained consistent.
My 1st Nova had a good month plus run in with many changes always for the better - but the underlying signature of the Nova remained. Sadly due to problems I recently swapped the Nova but to me the underlying signature is different if anything more detailed and wider soundtage from the start compared to the 1st Nova.
For those interested neither Nova sounds like the Atom which in comparison sounds strangled and shut in, but before the Nova the Atom was superb.
Anyway back to the original point, I drive cars allot making comparisons and even vehicle to vehicle I appreciate variations from one to another, sadly each car also goes through cost reductions and resourcing of certain components.
And that for me is the 2nd Nova, yes to me it sounds better and still has a few weeks run in. Sadly I think the volume knob is different and cheaper feeling, possibly even the plastic facia.
I guess Naim is owned and run by bankers and it's more profit than Naim heritage.
I recall my old olive Naim days and never recall such box variability, heck I went through a few 250s and even recapped my last two but all always had that underlying signature and familiar sound.
Enough said any thoughts ?
Posted on: 23 October 2017 by TOBYJUG
Perhaps the differences between Monday morning. Wednesday afternoon, and Friday just before knock of time. Human workers are prone to discrepancies. Perhaps my Unitiserve was lucky to be made on a wet Tuesday, while many others made on a Friday before a bank holiday it seems.
Naim are usually particularly meticulous on these things. From the precise torque of the plastic retaining semi secondary wire actuators, to the thermo primary sub grommets that naturally set to true north when a positive current is applied.
perhaps the canteen supplied the wrong biscuits come 11.
Posted on: 23 October 2017 by Obsydian
Lol do recall at a production line not far from London the management ran a shadow shift of management at certain periods like Xmas, as workers would Err generally be drunk or badly hung over.
I'd still say more focus on what the beanies want that the product.
Posted on: 23 October 2017 by Harry
A lot of what goes into a Naim product is built by hand. With the best will in the world there may be slight (but in some cases sonically detectable) differences. It doesn't stop there. The finish and fit of the front plates and cases can vary too. Which is not to imply poor standards, just differences.
Our 552 was rebuilt after we struggled to get on with it for the first year. It sounded a lot better when it came back. Our NDS is one of the first built for public consumption. It was given to my dealer as a demo unit - I saw it leave the factory and go in their van because we were in for a dealer arranged visit on the day in question. After a three day run at the dealer it was boxed up and brought to us for a home audition. We bought the demo unit. They assumed we would want a brand new, box fresh one. We thought the one on our rack sounded so good that we weren't prepared to chance another unit which might sound different. The operative word being "might".
More of a moot point with a streamer, since FW updates can (and mostly do) flash a new DAC DSP which has been tweaked to sound "better".
Posted on: 23 October 2017 by Leon Wadsworth
Was that a side by side comparison (sound / look / feel) with the Nova (is that Novi? 
) or are you going from memory?
What problem did you have with the first Nova?
Was there a problem with the atom too?
Posted on: 25 October 2017 by Obsydian
Was that a side by side comparison (sound / look / feel) with the Nova (is that Novi? ) or are you going from memory?
What problem did you have with the first Nova?
Was there a problem with the atom too?
Atom no problem aside from the app, was a case of rapid upgraditis.
1st Nova Hdmi meltdown, 2nd no issue but I said that about the first.
Few more days in and still sounding better and different to the 1st Nova.
Posted on: 25 October 2017 by Alley Cat
Assume from your last comment that there was an HDMI fault - potentially if that was faulty there could have been an effect or wider issue affecting the Nova?
My Atom had a display issue so was RMA's, I took the opportunity to demo the Nova vs Atom in-store with my speakers and felt the store Atom was better than the one I had purchased and returned - I wondered if the display fault was part of a wider issue with the device.
The Atom in-store was fantastic but the Nova had considerably more detail and ticked more boxes (cost apart!) fro what I wanted from an upmarket streamer that I went for the Nova rather than replacing the Atom.
