Naim's latest system will save you £1000 compared to the NaimUniti2, has a winning sound – and it’s slimmer, too, says Andrew Everard

What we have here is the product I reckon could be every bit as significant for Naim as the original NaimUniti. Just as that model opened up the brand to a whole new group of potential buyers, not to mention creating a significant new revenue stream for a company until then best-know for high-end systems involving a stack of identical-looking black boxes, so I have a feeling the Naim UnitiLite is likely to attract further customers into the Naim fold.

Why? Well, for a start the UnitiLite is almost all the NaimUniti2 is – a streaming music/internet radio player, digital-to-analogue converter, amplifier and CD player all in one box – but for about 60% of the price. It sells for £1650, or £1895 with the addition of an optional DAB/FM radio module, against £2795 for the NaimUniti2: a handy saving in anyone’s book.

It’s also slimmer than the NaimUniti, its low-slung casework standing just 7cm tall, which is 1.7cm less than its ‘big brothers’, which may make it easier to slip into shallow shelves. And yet it still delivers 50W per channel, the same as the original NaimUniti, against the revised NaimUniti2’s 70W a side.

It also provides a direct digital connection for iPods, iPhones and iPads, provides three analogue inputs and five digital – including one of each on a single 3.5mm socket on the front-panel – and can be controlled by the fascia buttons, the remote handset provided or Naim’s excellent n-Stream app running on iOS devices.

Internet radio is provided using the vTuner platform, allowing the user to set up favourite stations (or discover new ones) via a web page, then have those preferences transferred to the UnitiLite for listening, and the system will stream a huge range of music in all current compressed, uncompressed and hi-resolution formats, with the capability to go up to 32-bit/192kHz content should you ever be able to find any.

So how’s all this been done for the money? A major part must be played by the CD mechanism, which is now a conventional – but high-quality – drawer-loader in place of the ‘player in a drawer’ swing-out system, complete with magnetic puck used in past Uniti products and Naim CD players.

That mechanism also allows the UnitiLite’ slimmer dimensions, and the positioning of the combined input socket, headphone output and USB below the drawer-front.

PERFORMANCE
Set the Naim up, connected to a network via Ethernet – wireless is also available –, let it run for a day or so and it’s clear that while this system may be substantially less expensive than the NaimUniti2, corners haven’t been cut.

This is a thrilling, involving and satisfying listen with everything from internet radio streams to CDs right the way through to 192kHz/24-bit downloads, and clearly more than capable of driving a wide range of speakers to great effect.

I used it with both the little Neat Iotas and a pair of PMC GB1i floorstanders, and in each case the UnitiLite was entirely convincing with everything from delicate solo recordings to large-scale orchestral works, having both high levels of detail-retrieval and more than enough power in reserve to deliver the dynamics of a dramatic symphonic work.

The bass is tight, yet well-extended, the usual Naim ability with the textures of voices and instruments is very much in evidence, and the treble has just the right combination of ‘bite’ and smoothness.

The result is fine rhythmic ability plus an excellent sense of flow and drive to music: there’s nothing hi-fi or artificial in evidence, even when the music has been downloaded to a computer, copied to a NAS drive and then streamed to the UnitiLite with the odd bit of compression and unpacking along the way.

What’s more the CD player shows no sign of being a stripped-down choice: it’s the same mechanism found in the company’s new CD5si player, and sounds just as good as the disc-playing section in the NaimUniti2 I had to hand for comparison.

In fact, if there’s anything wrong with the new Naim, it’s going to be more of a problem for the manufacturer than the buyer. Yes, the NaimUnit2 has a little more weight, and a smidge more clarity and presence with the highest of hi-res music files, but to all intents and purposes the UnitiLite is so close to the standards of performance it offers that buying the less expensive system could be one of life’s simpler decisions.

And the £1000 you save would buy some rather good speakers, or a NAS drive and quite a few downloads…

SPECIFICATION
Naim UnitiLite
Type Network music system
Price £1650
File formats played CD/CD-R, WAV, FLAC, Apple Lossless, AIFF, AAC, Windows-Media-formatted content, Ogg Vorbis and MP3 files, up to 32bit/192kHz
Inputs Three analogue, two electrical digital, three optical digital, USB
Outputs One pair of speakers, preamp output, headphones
Other connections Ethernet, Wi-Fi, radio antenna (when £245 optional DAB/FM module fitted), mini-USB for firmware updates
Accessories supplied Wi-Fi antenna, remote handset
Dimensions (WxHxD) 43.2x7x30.1cm
www.naimaudio.com