n-vi replacement

AV2 plus NAP-V175 still have charm if you lean toward Naim.  Otherwise there are many AVRs that allow you to send front channels to your 282.  Denon, Integra, and Onkyo  would be my other top contenders.

I think TonyM traded his AV2 for an Arcam, then moved to Denon within a couple of years.  It would be interesting to hear from him on this.

Nick

Thanks for the reply Nick. I was also thinking about the AV2, but I understand this also has had some issues, and not sure about replacing the n-vi with old technology. 

If I replace it with another AV receiver, is it a case of using the pre outs to send the stereo signal to the AV input on the 282, and use unity gain (same as the current setup with the n-vi)?

Tom H posted:

Thanks for the reply Nick. I was also thinking about the AV2, but I understand this also has had some issues, and not sure about replacing the n-vi with old technology. 

If I replace it with another AV receiver, is it a case of using the pre outs to send the stereo signal to the AV input on the 282, and use unity gain (same as the current setup with the n-vi)?

 

Tom - I'd just go with a new AV Amp and decent Blu Ray player. I ran an n-Vi for a good few years but things had moved on and a £50 Sony Blu-Ray gave as good results.... As for the AV2, again very good but IIRC, Naim can't fully fix them now (there was a recent post about this) so i'd be wary of going this route.

As you've said - use the front pre-outs from the AV amp into the AV input (with unity gain) on the 282. One thing to be wary of is ground loops which can occur. You can cure that with a ground loop isolator between the AV receiver and 282 if you do get hum. 

James

PS - one more idea. If you've got the room, then get something like the Oppo player and buy a couple of S/H Naim amps to drive the centre and rears rather than getting an AV amp 

https://forums.naimaudio.com/to...o-and-av-integration

Hate to blow my own trumpet (well ... maybe not), but that is the URL for the FAQ I wrote a few years ago about how to do it.  I gave up my AV2 some time ago and now have an Arcam AVR850 wired up to use the 552/300 for fronts, but its own poweramps for centre/rear.  Excellent, but probably much more than you want to spend.   Seriously, it's not difficult, but I DO recommend a sound level meter to set up properly (my dealer did that for the Arcam).  There are even nice cheap little sound level apps available for your smart phone.

Tom H posted:

If I replace it with another AV receiver, is it a case of using the pre outs to send the stereo signal to the AV input on the 282, and use unity gain (same as the current setup with the n-vi)?

 

That's right, Tom.  Most AVR's allow you to bypass the amp on-board using per-out to unity gain.  At one time, I bypassed all of my internal amps on my Denon AVR-4800 and ran pre-out into 150 (unity gain via 112) and 175 Naim amps.  You could also get an AV-Pre/controller instead, which I eventually did. 

Nick

As others have recommended, it's best to go for new technology. I'd favour a modern A/V receiver from the likes of Denon, or Arcam if you want to lash out. I'm currently using a Denon AVR?X7200WA & feeding the left & right channels to my 552 pre. It's got built-in Audyssey room correction which works exceptionally well. 

Thanks everyone for the replies. So it looks like a new AV receiver is the way ahead.

From a bit of research at my budget, possible shortlist:

Marantz NR1607

Denon AVR-X3300

Or similar models to the above. Anyone have any thoughts on these?

Cheers,

Tom

Tom, 

Both Marantz and Denon cut meaningful corners at the low end, if only to support the high prices they want at the top.

If you think your Naim gear sounds special, get top pieces from D&M, even if you have to buy older stuff second hand.

I tried to replace a c2000 Denon AVR4800 with a more up-to-date Marantz AV7005:  no contest > the Marantz was returned, and the Denon returned to service.

Just one experience.

Nick

Another annoyance with the Marantz:  the RC codes conflicted with Naim's.  I understand this could be remedied with some effort -  I never had a conflict with Denon and Naim.  I eventually replaced the AVR4800 with the AVP-A1HDCI -  which proved to me that D&M know how to make great products, if you will pay for them.

Another winner, BTW, is the top Marantz stereo integrated amp PM8005.  Heard it last week -- good value at $1200.  CD6006 was very good, too, into same, through some classic if modest AR AR-2s.  Fun!

Bottom line: you have to listen.

Nick

Somethink similiar happend to me a couple of days ago. My av-receiver died (Marantz SR 8002). Horror! Why? The AV-receiver market is the worst: Spec-bloated nonsense devices fully overblown with useless specs, redundancy prone monster of the highest degree. It is the worst device to fail, because now I have to invest, if I want the same functionality again, without gaining anything of use or pleasure. The Marantz was just fine in serving the front and rear speaker (Stereo offered by SuperUniti); well buld and solid. 

I looked for a replacement -- and got depressed: buy cheapish, plastic devices with a lot of specs, or spend a large amount of money for a device, which will be obsolete soon, because the industry will introduce HDMI 2.1 next year -- "a game-changer".

All I want is serving three speakers with lossless audio -- no video processing, streaming, 11.1.4 speaker setups, 3D sound nonsense. Just a simple device, that is able to do one thing well: sound.

Do you feel me?

I have an old 1602 serving for centre and rears with an SN2 drinving the fronts. It’s pretty good. Went with the Marantz as the size was critical along with the pre outs. Only game in town at the time but I’ve never been disappointed.

A smallish Marantz might be a solution: Amazon sells two year old versions of the 160X pretty cheap. Is yours getting hot in operation? That is one of the reocurring complaints.

However, today I delivered the Marantz to an old-school repair shop close by. I' am praying they can fix it...