Seeking a cheap preamp function for second system. Advice please.

The whole experience does make me think a bit though. A dated, but incredibly high quality Chrome 32.5/HC/250, fully serviced and revived by ClassA can be had for around £2k. The next time someone starts a thread asking if they should buy Nait XS, especially if they intend to run  a turntable into it, there really is a much better alternative available. And it will hold its value better if they ever change their minds. 

Oh, here we go. It's knock the Nait XS time!

Richard Dane posted:

Thinking about this a bit more, I do like Chris' idea.  The Supernait make as a lot of sense here.  It's powerful, so should drive the Shahinians OK.  It has a good quality DAC onboard, appreciably superior to the one onboard the Sonos I'd wager.  And... it has remote control, which I would imagine is rather handy. 

However, if you really want to keep the 250 (and why not - it's a classic bit of kit) and want something cheap to do the job then there's also merit in Ardbeg's recommendation of an AV2.  They can be  real bargain these days.  Many years back I had great fun with an AV2 and a NAP250.2 when I was waiting for my NAC552 and NAP500 to be built. The AV2 turned out to be rather a good pre-amp in its own right, oh, and it also has a pretty decent DAC onboard as well, so it'll make the most of the Sonos.  Oh, and r/c too...

Crikey, lots of choices...

Sorry, personal biases shouldn't have too much space when suggesting useful options to a member asking for advice, but a) I have a real aversion for the SuperUniti (owned one for one week, one week too much), b) I have had both SN1 and AV2 twice, and c) I usually find Richard's suggestions balanced, tailored on the 'customer's' needs and feasible with little hassle even in the case of discontinued gear. So, my 2 cents would be to FIRST eliminate the SU from the picture, then move on with freer mind (and ears) with one of Richard's ideas (completing the CB system, a SN1, an AV2).

Best

Massimo

P.S. I also strongly advocate the SN1's onboard DAC, personally. I think that it is an overlooked fine piece of useful gear. If Naim had put a couple of little green luminous dots signaling its presence and activity on the SN's front panel, history would have been different.

Max,

would these do the trick?

Probably. Why didn't Naim think of it 10 years ago..?

No need.  These can be bought for pennies and applied to any Supernait right now.  You could even have a collection of them with different bit and sample rates written on them, and you could swap around as appropriate.

Then again...

Since when do we allow customizations and tweakery on this very forum?

I think I'll only stick one with 48/1536 felt-penned on it. People has to know what HiRes means in this home.