Unitiqute - initiate me, convince me, teach me

Welcome to the forum but good god man go and listen to one.

I use a Qute in my main/only system.  First, what version is it?  On the back there is a software upgrade port. On the Qute 2 it is a mini USB, one Qute V1 it is a larger 9 pin serial connector. If it's a Qute 1 it could be the older 24/96k board ( no Tidal or Spotify) or the 24/196 board (with Tidal/Spotify) support. Not sure how to tell the difference other than poking around the setup to see if Tidal is an option. 

More later

I’d suggest a little research, which will help you decide if it’s the right thing for you. The forum has a search facility, and then if course there’s Mr Google. 

Thanks for the swift replies.

I have listened to the one I hope to purchase and like the sound. 

I have done a fair few hours research before posting here. My concerns about the age of the Unitiqute V1 is not really addressed anywhere that I could see. I thought a direct question put in the direction of Naim users would provide the best answer. 

The early mk1 UQ have now been around about 7 years. Problem that may occur is the display, pixel break up and the display will have to be replaced this happened to me.

Thankfully the part was covered 5 year parts warranty but the labour was around £90. 

Not sure how much these displays are but I guess not cheap.

Sound wise if you are okay with 24/96 and personally I think 24/192 is a con then try one out you could easily move it on for what you paid for it.

I had a Unitiqute 2 and it was a great little system. As you mention, the key factor here is if the offered unit will allow Tidal and Spotify play and whether this matters to you. I wouldn't worry too much about 24/96 vs 192 at this level of gear, most people couldn't tell the difference in blind listening.

For your existing collection you can rip the CD's to a NAS, external hard drive or USB stick and play easily through any Qute version. I used Tidal and Spotify extensively with mine (Spotify's weekly recommendations and Artist Radio are great tools for discovering new music), so for me the V1 without these would be a no-go.

Best thing to do is get the serial number from your friend and then email Naim support, they will tell you what version the unit is so you can make an informed decision.

I enjoyed the UQ v1 very much; bought new very early after release. I had no vinyl, so can’t comment on that part. But as a gateway to ripping CDs and starting off with streaming, it was great. There’s tons of info on the mechanics of this but it boils down to getting EAC if PC, XLD if Mac; buying a small NAS and wiring to your home network. Internet radio also a great resource and that’s built in. The sound quality and fun factor is really good; I moved mine upstairs for second system when I got a SuperUniti.

As mentioned, Spotify Direct and Tidal only come with the 24/196 board (standard on v2 model); you can poke in Settings and System Info and if the firmware shows items starting with 3D you have it, but if it shows 2D then you don’t. For me, online streaming quickly won in appeal... but this arrived a good few years after in-house streaming of my own ripped CDs from NAS and getting exposure to music from places like Radio Paradise. You can add a working solution even to a v1 box with an Airport Express (which also does a better job as the wifi bridge than the nit-so-awesome internal module) if you wish, since that would give streaming with your iPhone and using AirPlay for convenience. Other options also exist, but those are simple.

It’s going to come down to what you want, as always: these seem to go used for less than a third of original retail (they’re getting on in age, and the v1 feature set won’t expand or perhaps be updated in any additional ways as the platform is at max capacity; likely “mostly” true for v2 hardware also) so price should perhaps be your main driver ... as a starting point, I really enjoyed the platform and the sound quality was excellent. But in the modern era, you have many other “gateway” choices (including adding a ChromCast or Airport Express to your Cyrus as a digital input) to explore most streaming functionality. So if it’s a low price to you as an experience builder, then fine (with caveats about repair costs, if needed, being a big chunk of your purchase price)... but if it’s not just play money for a fun second system, you may wish to keep your funds and buy a modern box that takes you further down the road. But it’s likely four or five times the cost to jump for the Atom, the new Naim box that claims the small-format, huge-fun, surprising-performance, maximum-functionality space... so the call is yours.

Good luck and enjoy whatever you choose!

Regards alan

The big question is how much are you coughing up for it?

Great piece. Audio's Swiss knife! Great FM tuner, great dac, wonderful app, kids of all ages can plug their Ipods on it, one analogue input for your phono stage, surprisingly powerful amp ( considering its 30w output). 24/192 version will enable Tidal.  I love mine.

Yup, I love my UQ2.  I use it probably more than any other system in the house as it's in my office, which also doubles as a study for TV.  It drives a pair of Linn Kans on Kan II stands and does so much while taking up minimal space.

I also love my UQ2. I use it probably more than any other system in the house as it's in our bedroom . It drives a pair of ATC SCM7's, which are wall mounted, to pretty decent levels.

UQ1 owner here, currently used for my office set up into a pair of KEF Ls50’s. It’s always been a solid performer for me and a real toe tapper. I’m on a really old firmware as I haven’t been able to successfully upgrade, and just couldn’t be bothered to haul it into the local dealer (whom I didn’t purchase it from but they are friends). So that might be something to consider. No idea what the latest software would bring with the old 24/96 board anyway. 

You can tweak them slightly - I have an Ice Age copper/copper power cable, and a Melcord Opal ethernet cable and a pair of FMC’s (fiber media converters) pre that and it makes a nice little uptick in sq. Currently running a free pair of old Carnival Classic speaker cable my dealer friend gave me years ago when I bought a 5i from them. Considering something better but no need to splurge for something like the UQ imo. Best if you have a pair of efficient speakers, though in the office it runs the Ls50’s fine (87db I believe), not so much when the pair was in the living room. Best of luck! 

To all, a big -Thank You.

Not a bad word to be said about the little fellow, so that's encouraged me to go to the next stage of purchase (at a price well below what I see on the well known auction site) and my colleague is bringing his UQ into work on Monday for me to have a play. There is no rear USB, so I have established it is a UQ1. 

Tap posted:

... There is no rear USB, so I have established it is a UQ1. 

There are no UQ1s with the mini USB, but there are a few UQ2 out there with the RS232. I'll try and remember when I got mine!

PS: I have two and they are excellent. I keep the display and logos turned off.

hafler3o posted:

Tap posted:

... There is no rear USB, so I have established it is a UQ1. 

There are no UQ1s with the mini USB, but there are a few UQ2 out there with the RS232. I'll try and remember when I got mine!

 Well, that's a little gem of information, that I would have struggled to find elsewhere!

Thank you.

The one I'm interested in certainly has the RS232.

I think in isolation, unless you upgrade it with Nap 100 is a little underwhelming, i purchased an ex demo one last summer, and used  in a secondary system with nSat, i found it pretty flat and underpowered. Another annoying feature is that the power sockets are too close together preventing so the use of Naim plugs.

I replaced it with UnitiLite, and in my opinion it stands all in another league, plus it's got  the facility of a decent cd player inside 

This was probably the real Naim's Swiss knife ( a friend quote)

Regards

Roberto

If I decided to take that direction, I would buy an Atom instead. Naim hasn't spent its last years in combing the dolls, as we say here. The Atom is a better looking, better sounding, more updated technically UnitiQute. It is only my opinion, of course, but facts are not exactly everyday's menu here, so take it as you'd do with that of someone confirming what you already expect to be told. This forum is based on two main things: opinions sold as facts, and opinion changing by the semester, depending on the new toy on the block. But buying a UQ now could only have a financial reason, or else it would mean admitting that Naim's R&D department is made of idiots.

(P.S. I have listened carefully, more than once and with my own ears, to the UQ2 and the Atom. I even bought a UQ2, brand new and with my own money. But in the end I didn't need it, and didn't specially liked it (the latter event being probably a by-product of the former one).

Choose wisely. Try to have a listen to both.

M.

rsch posted:

 Another annoying feature is that the power sockets are too close together preventing so the use of Naim plugs.

Did you mean the speaker sockets? Naim supply a smaller pair of plugs the Unitiqute, to fit the closer spacing. 

I wouldn’t let the existence of the Atom, Unitilite, etc deter you, esp as it sounds the price is right. If this was your main go to, I’m making a lifetime decision/investment for the main system, then by all means would consider the Atom or Nova first. But for smaller rooms and second systems the UQ is still pretty hard to beat esp for what they go for now - less than some used Naim cables! I was considering selling my version 1 to fund some other things but for what I would get for it ($700?) figured I may as well keep it and use it in the office with my Ls50’s which had also lost their resale due to a tumble off the stand by my daughter. Best decision ever. Before that using a cheap teac amp with Cambridge speakers. Ok but couldn’t hold a a candle to the UQ. Now my hours in the office a lot less fatiguing. 

And oh yeah - turn off the inputs not being used and feed it wav if you can (I don’t currently but it’s a very subtle uptick if you do). 

Once again, thank you all . 

Went ahead and purchased the UQ from my colleague and although I'm on a learning curve  - so far very happy!

One quick question.

Why the loudspeaker plug warning?

Hi Tap -

Glad for you to get a new and fun thing, I hope you get a lot of fun from it!

I’m not really 100% sure any more which warning you mean, but iirc the spacing between +ve and -ve output terminals is closer on the Qute than other Naim gear... so the hard-shell, fixed spacing plugs some may have had on their existing speaker cables would not work, nor would using the new smaller plugs supplied with the Qute on other Naim amps. I never switched from the individual bananas already on my wiring, and experienced no issue. If this is your situation, I agree that even the existence of the warning (which relates to the spacing issue, not the connection itself) is somewhat confusing. 

Enjoy your new gear!

Regards alan

Tap posted:

One quick question.

Why the loudspeaker plug warning?

Firstly, it sounds much the best when you use the plugs that were designed to mate with the sockets - i.e. the ones that are supplied by Naim.  Secondly, the housing prevents too much stress being put on the sockets - they are soldered to the board on the entry level kit so it's worth heeding this advice to avoid any possible dry joint failure in the future from using inappropriate connectors.

Richard Dane posted:

Tap posted:

One quick question.

Why the loudspeaker plug warning?

Firstly, it sounds much the best when you use the plugs that were designed to mate with the sockets - i.e. the ones that are supplied by Naim.  Secondly, the housing prevents too much stress being put on the sockets - they are soldered to the board on the entry level kit so it's worth heeding this advice to avoid any possible dry joint failure in the future from using inappropriate connectors.

Hi Richard -

Bowing to your knowledge, I respectfully ask (point two) how this is working, since the case fittings on the banana sockets are tight (hence a probable point of strain relief) not wobbly? The external connector weight / strain seemed to be taken up that way, not directly at the socket - board solder joint. Similarly, I know that the Naim connector has a wobbly fit for the pins in the plastic housing - again a claim for stress-free connection - but I could never see how this would function since any cable weight, which could freely tilt the pin in the housing, would then transfer that force into the socket; in turn, without a physical strain relief point as your and other explanations allude to, this would transfer directly to the join at the board... I’m baffled and (having never looked inside) find this counterintuitive to the point of mystifying! Any info (or a drawing!) would be appreciated!

 Thanks, alan