advice needed for Naim power amp

[prolle]

Hello all
i recentlly auditioned amps to power my dynaudio focus 160's. It came down to two very different machines- a Krel kav 400 and a Naim unitilite. Of course the Krell won in terms of shear power and it had more than enough to drive my speakers adequately. But in the end i opted for the unitilite as it offered an all in one package, although i think that it is ever so slightly underpowered and doesn't bring the absolute best out of my speakers.

So here's my query- the unitilite has a pre amp out, so if i added a Naim power amp, could i match what i experienced with the krell?

Thanks

[tony]

The preamp out on the naim I doubt would be up to much. An example of this would be a cyrus 8xp that has preamp outs. I tried it using a jadis power amp into sonus speakers first using a dedicated jadis preamp and then tried out the cyrus. Failed, the cyrus is a decent integrated but not a powerful preamp.

But if you are continuing down this road make sure you hear the power amp to see what it brings/if anything. Very easy to drop more money and not really end up satisfied.

I can see the logic in going for the naim as it has everything in one package but even though that is regarded as its great strength it is also its biggest weakness.Dedicated kit will deliver better performance generally and cost more unless you go secondhand.

Hope it works out

[prolle]

Thanks, think i will return it for the Krell. I was in two minds between them but prefered the sound quality from the krel.

[tony]

Glad you took that option. I was in the same quandary with my cyrus set up last year. I needed more to get the best out of the speakers I had and digging a bigger hole in the cyrus pit was the option that could have happened for the same reasons of convenience/usability that push you in the naim direction. So glad I didnt even though I now have no remote control and the system is twice the size of the cyrus with less flexible.
(That said I still have a soft spot for cyrus kit)

I am assuming it is cloneys and would suggest you give the jadis orchestra and the lavardin it in the secondhand section a whirl as they might work well with your speakers. There is also a secondhand vincent pre and power for sale in the classified section here that could be very good.

It took me a long time to get comfortable with trying out/testing stuff in cloneys but I eventually realised that they understand this is what people need to do and they get more sales and repeat business working that way. In reality they are the only real decent hifi store in Ireland(south) and while they may not have all the kit to hand their range is certainly broad enough for most people.

[Sloop John B]

Naim are designed in such a way that their "pre-outs" will give everything the unitlite has and pass it on to a stronger more powerful amp.

Have you tried the uniti which is 70 watt. ( and Naim watts are more powerful than what it says on the box!)

The beauty with the unitilite is that it has
CD player
Multi-format tuner (DAB/FM/Internet radio)
High-resolution (up to 24bit/192kHz) digital stream player
iPod/iPhone/iPad dock
MP3/USB-stored audio player
Digital to analogue converter
50W integrated amplifier

You are comparing apples and oranges though, a beefy amp with an all in one player, however if you could add a s/h NAP 200 to the unitlite you may well be in audio nirvana.

Presuming you already have a source (or 2) you could also consider a superuniti which by all accounts is a wonderful beast. (More power, no cdp)



SJB

[prolle]

Krel is now no longer an option so i well may be looking for a nap 200. Maybe should start looking for a second hand nap 200 or 250, i doubt there's too many in this country

[Sloop John B]

Cloneys have a s/h supernait listed at the moment. It's an integrated, again presuming you have sources etc may be worth a listen if it's within budget.

[RichardM]

Krel is now no longer an option so i well may be looking for a nap 200. Maybe should start looking for a second hand nap 200 or 250, i doubt there's too many in this country

I second the idea of the Supernait, relatively cheap to add a Hicap which transforms it. Also you won't lose much (if anything) if you move it on.

[patrick]

hi for what its worth here is my opinion.
I have owned naim gear for over 25 years . i started with a nait and added power supplies etc and got swallowed into the game of adding power supplies and my system grew into a huge collection of boxes and resulting a huge system but always just short of what i wanted in sound terms. In excess of 35 years of hi fi collecting and auditioning different products i have found the following .
1. Naim is not neutral . It has a distinctive sound of its own, often described as fast and punchy.
2. It is bass light and listeners add extra power supplies to add that absent weight.
3 Naim products are very finiky about what connects and power supplies are used with it. History has shown that until recently Naim did not approve of any cables etc other than stock cables , supplied . Now they are marketing new cable products , marketing !!.
4. Let me add that i enjoyed listening through naim hi fi but when i heard Krell, Classe and Gamut and to a lesser degree valve amps , i found the weight balance I was seeking.
But I found it difficult to move on my naim gear because it does not always integrate well with other non naim products.
5 For years I was a loyal fan of Naim but I eventually got tired of them asking huge money to upgrade etc when superior products were available cheaper.
6. With regard to driving the speakers you have , i believe that the unit you have is plenty adequate to drive bookshelf models , but it may be that light fast sound that makes you believe that they are not .
I have a Krell KSA 150 driving a pair of difficult to drive B&W 802s no problem.
There is gamut 200 amp for sale in Cloneys ( some of my friends have one and they sound superb, and if the infamous Naim connections allow , it might what you seek.
The integrated unit you have is very good , i am sure but i understand the concern.
The most famous product Naim ever made was the nap 250. look for a 2nd hand 250 or a pair of 135s , for small money ,for what was once the best of Naim.
gook look in naiming it .

[DaveF]

The Gamut D200 Mk3 amp is a great sounding amp, probably one of the best SS amps out there. Rarely hear a bad word about it. I had one once and from what I can remember it only has XLR inputs.