Naimi UnitiQute or Naim Uniti question...

[franz159]

Hi all,
Even if I do have a turntable and a pre-phono, I end up listening mainly to "liquid" music.

To this end, I've put together the following "chain":

1) storage and server: Tonido Plug2 with 1Tb HD
This is a screenless Debian linux device which provides storage and hosts the Logitech Media Server
2) player: Logitech Squeezebox Touch
Upgraded with EDO (to provide 24/192) + M2Tech HiFace2
3) Dac: Beresford Bushmaster MKII
4) Amplifier: Unison Research Unico II, 100W on 8ohm / 200W on 4ohm

To put all of this together I spent something like 1400£, buying something new and something used....

Now I was wondering what would it mean to put together the same level of functionality with Naim gear.

If I look at the "entry level" of the Naim Line, the UnitiQute 2, I think it would be an upgrade from the practicality point of view, being one box instead my three 2+3+4 (player, dac, amplifier) but I very much doubt I could get any real sound improvement over my current setup.
To get a real improvement, I should probably look at a Naim Uniti.

Moreover, both in the case of the UnitiQute and the Uniti, I guess I should factor in a proper NAS, either a Qnap or Sinology, with the corresponding cost, instead of my relatively inexpensive Tonido.

Summarising, my question is: do you think a Naim UnitiQute 2 or Naim Uniti would provide a meaningful upgrade sonically over my current setup?

For completeness, the speakers I currently own are a pair of Proac Studio 115 and a pair of Epos Epic 2.

Thanks for any comment/opinion!

franz

 

[Weiss-Man]

Frank, don't ever underestimate what the little Qute can do, truly awesome!

 

[Sloop John B]

nowt as queer as folk and I'd say it's hard to beat the SBT (and I have a Qute) some of my reasoning would be on the start of this post but a few things to bear in mind.

1. UniQute does not read replay gain tags. so for me this makes most eclectic playlists unworkable.
2. QniQute will not give you Spotify or Qobuz
3. UniQute only lets you save playlists on the particular ios device you use to control it. iPeng lets you write playlists to your NAS whcih are available to all devices.


SJB

 

[franz159]

I had the opportunity to "play" with the nStream app with a friend. It is very good, but since I'm using iPeng, which is really good too, I don't feel I'm loosing anything from the "functionality" point of view.
My original question was more from the "sound" point of view. I know it is an hard call, sort of comparing apple and oranges, especially because a realistic comparison could be done only in my room, with my cables and speakers.
However I was just curious to see if any of the more experienced users on the forum was able to provide some hint about what differences I could/should expect between a UnitiQute 2 driving my Proac 115 and my SBT into my Unico II driving the same speakers.

Thanks