When it comes to setting up digital components, I'm no Michael Lavorgna, but I've reviewed enough CD players, USB DACs, and the like to know my way around. Still, I was mildly apprehensive about the many options and functions possible with the Uniti Nova. After ditching the Quick Start Guide, I found Naim's online support section to be a logical, orderly, and essential guide to understanding every aspect of the Nova's setup. Click Playing Music for in-depth instructions for setting up Internet radio, streaming, USB and HDMI, analog, multiroom, Roon, preamplifier out, and more. Pairing the remote-control handset to the Uniti was child's play, as was downloading Naim's app to my iPhone.
The Uniti Nova acclimated to my Greenwich Village crib for two months, streaming tunes from my iPad mini. I then inserted it in my network with a CAT6 Ethernet cable between Nova and router.
Listening to the Radio
First I played MP3 files from iTunes on my PC. After I'd connected it to my router, the Nova's display showed the outlines of a pyramid against a rectangle: Nova to PC, I presume. That stark image looked rather ominous, like a biohazard warning. But tunes played; all was well. I moved on.
Much to my surprise, I quickly became addicted to what at first seemed the Uniti Nova's most meager asset: Internet radio. There are many options within the Nova's Internet radio menu; choosing by genre and country, I found hundreds of stations, each identified by station logo and streaming rate. The sense of discovery was thrilling, station after station, from a meager 64kbps to a quite righteous 320kbps. As I cruised, I added stations to Favorites; highlights included electronica from Brazil's Acidic Infektion Radio (128kbps), and classical from Germany's SWR2 (256kbps) and TwentySound (128kpbs), the latter playing Slovakian composer Vladim°r Bokes's rousing Symphony 3. Choosing soundtracks from Croatia's Digital Impulse (320kbps) surprised with "Train to Florida," from Ry Cooder's score for the film Geronimo: An American Legend; India's Radio City Love Guru (64kbps) greeted me with more film music, "Goom Hai Kisi Ke Pyar Mein," from the 1972 Indian film Raampur Ka Lakshman. Norway's NRK Jazz (192kbps) delivered guitarist Terje Rypdal. The sound quality varied with the download rate, but I was too busy virtually trotting the globe to notice unless the quality was excellent—as it was from Poland's RadioZet broadcasting Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong singing Gershwin (192kbps).
I briefly roamed Tidal and Spotify: the Nova delivered the goods, each time.
Moving on to AIFF files, when I attached my Western Digital hard drive to the Nova's rear-panel USB input, the entire contents of my hard drive's music library popped up on the Naim app on my iPhone. Again, I was surprised by the Nova's ease of setup and practically instantaneous response.
Listening to Files
Now the real fun began. My hard drive organizes music alphabetically, and I had so much fun with the Nova that I barely made it past "A." Throughout my listening time, the Nova was supremely transparent to the source, with little personality of its own beyond a delicious liquidity as it projected lifelike aural images on a large stage with a consistently rich demeanor. The Nova didn't sound as tonally saturated and realistic as my Shindo separates, but it was one of the most musical, fast, flowing, and tonally rich solid-state amplifiers I've ever heard in my apartment. It delivered serious jump factor, and was also what I believe Art Dudley would call a toetapper. Anyway, file after file drove my jaw floorward as my ears reveled in the Nova's beautiful sound: more meaty and rich than filled with light and repeatedly allowing music a welcome, natural quality that was reliable, source to source.
Jimi Hendrix's Are You Experienced (AIFF rip from CD, Columbia/Legacy 88765-45584-2) jumped out of my system with shocking clarity. The Nova didn't use its 80Wpc to wow with dazzling feats of dynamics—I've heard "blacker" backgrounds and more astounding dynamics through my Shindos. Rather, its power was used to create fully fleshed-out aural images and superior detail retrieval and resolution. "Purple Haze" sounded like a different song, as did the driving boogie explosion of "Fire," Hendrix's nasty guitar solo freed from the loudspeakers and floating in front of me like a ghost. Hendrix's snarling solo in "Red House" was glowing, alive, and truly revelatory.
Even as the Nova's DAC resolved AIFF files to deliver every scintilla of information, its steely resolution was always easy on the ears, contributing to a musical, entirely nonanalytical sound. Music swung like an untethered beast, offering good ambient detail and decent air around images, but never entering the dreaded realms of a "hi-fi" sound covered with a glassy, artificial sheen.
"Rock Steady," from The Best of Aretha Franklin (AIFF rip from CD, Atlantic 7567-81280-2), lavished on me the Uniti Nova's bountiful bass extension, and while the Naim wasn't uniformly impressive in that regard such quantity and quality of bass did appear with several recordings I played, and with power to spare. Conversely, the Nova graced Aretha's own "Day Dreaming," from Young, Gifted and Black (AIFF from CD, Rhino R2 71527) with light and lightness of delivery, the lush sound of Donny Hathaway's Fender Rhodes piano shimmering like a halo.
In These Shoes, by pianist Arturo O'Farrill and singer Claudia Acuña (AIFF rip from CD, Zoho Music 880956080826), knocked me down, then had me up and dancing, the Nova resolving the large brass ensemble and Acu§a's sly vocals in bravura performances that charged my listening room like a thunder-and-lightning storm. Every track offered stone soul jumpin' jive, file after file.
Sonny Rollins's music from the soundtrack for the film Alfie (AIFF rip from CD, Impulse!/GRP B000003N9Q) sounded more contained and less thrilling than I recall from vinyl, but the Nova's soundstage was well layered, with a particularly fine rendering of Walter Booker's walking bass. The general sound was drier, less immediate, and smaller of stature than I recalled, but again, the Nova was transparent to the source, this being perhaps a less-than-extraordinary digital transfer.
Finally, with the help of the Heed Quasar phono preamplifier, I took some vinyl for a ride: Hank Mobley's Dippin' (LP, Blue Note 4209) and Barney Kessel, Ray Brown, and Shelly Manne's Poll Winners Three! (LP, Contemporary S 7576). Both revealed better senses of air, dynamics, and openness than any of the AIFF files. Dippin' is tenor saxophonist Mobley at perhaps his playing and compositional zeniths, supported by a mighty Blue Note cast. The music pops and practically cajoles, the overall tenor of the disc a mite dry, yet with drummer Billy Higgins's beautiful, shimmering cymbal work, and Larry Ridley's tight but toneful double-bass perambulations. Both LPs presented a large soundstage, but Poll Winners Three! was off the chart, bestowing on me incredible bass extension from Brown, and fine tonality from Kessel's guitar. Here the Nova nearly matched my Shindo gear for purity, and bettered them in extension and sheer power. Poll Winners Three! sounded lush, liquid, and enormous, with depth and rock-solid images.
Conclusion
As noted, I approached the Naim Uniti Nova with not a little trepidation. I'm no fan of playing computer audio files via a computer, NAS, and outboard DAC. Connections can go awry, you're often required to sync remotes and apps—sometimes the mechanics of playback outweigh the joys of listening. But with a little homework and a few dips into its online manual, I got the Uniti Nova up and running without a hitch. Its ease of setup startled me at every turn, thanks in no small part to the manual's orderly presentation of instructions and connections. Most important, the Uniti Nova sounded fantastic with every recording format, whether I used its remote, app, or front-panel controls. Particularly transparent to sources, the Nova dependably re-created powerful, palpable, thoroughly engaging sound. Internet radio still sounded engaging, and vinyl retained its place as my favorite playback medium. The Nova only heightened my thrills, presenting practically 3D aural images with sumptuous tonality, good dynamics, and superb flow. The Nova communicated the essence of music, and the joy of listening to it, as well as any brushed-aluminum box I've toted up the seven torturous flights to my New York City apartment. If you're a fan of getting your music all possible modes of delivery, Naim's Uniti Nova must be on your short list. You can easily spend $6995 on an integrated amplifier—but will it sound as good as the Nova? When you add up its many features and functions—its DAC, amplifier power reserves, Internet radio, streaming capability, and exceptional build quality—and compare it with other offerings costing in the neighborhood of $7000, the Uniti Nova is practically a bargain. Definitely, effusively, highly recommended.
First I played MP3 files from iTunes on my PC. After I'd connected it to my router, the Nova's display showed the outlines of a pyramid against a rectangle: Nova to PC, I presume. That stark image looked rather ominous, like a biohazard warning. But tunes played; all was well. I moved on.
Listening to FilesNow the real fun began. My hard drive organizes music alphabetically, and I had so much fun with the Nova that I barely made it past "A." Throughout my listening time, the Nova was supremely transparent to the source, with little personality of its own beyond a delicious liquidity as it projected lifelike aural images on a large stage with a consistently rich demeanor. The Nova didn't sound as tonally saturated and realistic as my Shindo separates, but it was one of the most musical, fast, flowing, and tonally rich solid-state amplifiers I've ever heard in my apartment. It delivered serious jump factor, and was also what I believe Art Dudley would call a toetapper. Anyway, file after file drove my jaw floorward as my ears reveled in the Nova's beautiful sound: more meaty and rich than filled with light and repeatedly allowing music a welcome, natural quality that was reliable, source to source.
ConclusionAs noted, I approached the Naim Uniti Nova with not a little trepidation. I'm no fan of playing computer audio files via a computer, NAS, and outboard DAC. Connections can go awry, you're often required to sync remotes and apps—sometimes the mechanics of playback outweigh the joys of listening. But with a little homework and a few dips into its online manual, I got the Uniti Nova up and running without a hitch. Its ease of setup startled me at every turn, thanks in no small part to the manual's orderly presentation of instructions and connections. Most important, the Uniti Nova sounded fantastic with every recording format, whether I used its remote, app, or front-panel controls. Particularly transparent to sources, the Nova dependably re-created powerful, palpable, thoroughly engaging sound. Internet radio still sounded engaging, and vinyl retained its place as my favorite playback medium. The Nova only heightened my thrills, presenting practically 3D aural images with sumptuous tonality, good dynamics, and superb flow. The Nova communicated the essence of music, and the joy of listening to it, as well as any brushed-aluminum box I've toted up the seven torturous flights to my New York City apartment. If you're a fan of getting your music all possible modes of delivery, Naim's Uniti Nova must be on your short list. You can easily spend $6995 on an integrated amplifier—but will it sound as good as the Nova? When you add up its many features and functions—its DAC, amplifier power reserves, Internet radio, streaming capability, and exceptional build quality—and compare it with other offerings costing in the neighborhood of $7000, the Uniti Nova is practically a bargain. Definitely, effusively, highly recommended.
