The second product in the UnitiSystem shines with a variety of sources, says Andrew Everard

In the September 2009 issue I reviewed the NaimUniti, and described the one-box system, combining CD playback, multi-input DAC/amplifier, FM/DAB/internet radio tuner, iPod connectivity and streaming music player, as ‘revolutionary’.  At the time there was nothing else on the market quite like it, and it heralded a real change for a company hitherto best-known for multibox amplification solutions, upgrade paths built around external power supplies and so on.

Of course, that image rather overlooked the NaimNet range of custom installation products, not to mention the all-in-one n-Vi home cinema player/receiver, but the NaimUniti looked like a real change of direction for Naim when first announced last Summer, and got a rather mixed reception from some of the faithful fans of the brand.

The public, it seems, ‘got’ what the NaimUniti was about, and the product has been a huge seller for Naim: it was back-ordered almost from the start, and since then the factory in Salisbury has been full steam ahead keeping on top of demand for the system.

Moreover, what was a unique product now finds itself being challenged: Linn has expanded its DS range, and Arcam has recently launched its Solo Neo, adding internet radio/music streaming capability to its established CD receiver. Naim, however, hasn’t been resting on its laurels, or indeed its full NaimUniti order-book: what was a single product has now become the UnitiSystem.

To the range has been added the £2095 UnitiServe, a slot-loading CD ripper/hard disk music player/server, and a Control ‘app’ for the iPod Touch and iPhone, enabling the Apple handsets to control a UnitiSystem over a home wireless network. And there’s also the product we have here: the UnitiQute.

Selling for £1425, and half the width of the NaimUniti, the UnitiQute lacks the CD player of the original, and is clearly designed to work with music stored and made available via a home network. It has built-in network capability, using either wired Ethernet or onboard Wi-Fi, and will stream music, including the latest high-resolution files, from UPnP-enabled computers, servers or network attached storage devices.  Or indeed from the Naim HDX or UnitiServe.

It can also access internet radio stations as well as both DAB and FM broadcasts, and offers direct digital connectivity with iPod and iPhones via the front-panel USB socket. That’s an advance on the original Uniti, which needed a dedicated cable for this task, although the original player is now updatable to offer the same facility.

The 30W per channel amplification built-in is derived from Naim’s Nait 5 stereo amplifier, and as well as two analogue inputs (one on a pair of conventional RCA phonos to the rear, the other on a 3.5mm combination analogue/digital socket on the front panel), there are also four digital inputs – two electrical, two optical.

The UnitiQute uses 24-bit/192kHz conversion from Wolfson for all its digital sources, and the facilities roster is completed by a 3.5mm headphone socket, RCA phono preouts to feed a stereo amplifier or subwoofer, and an RS232 control socket.

PERFORMANCE
Unbox the UnitiQute and the first thing you notice is the almost total absence of controls. In fact, the only one present is hidden – you can tap the Naim logo to mute or unmute the output –, everything else being controlled via the remote handset supplied, or that iPhone/iPod Touch ‘app’.

Set-up is as simple as with the original NaimUniti: you either connect to your home network using an Ethernet cable, or allow the UnitiQute to find your wi-fi network, hook up an antenna for the radio tuner, and you’re just about done. You can adjust the level of the various inputs, or set fixed level on the main analogue input – handy when combining the Naim with an AV receiver in a surround system.

Other adjustments include bass management when using a subwoofer, and a low-level loudness contour, while it’s possible to add extra radio stations to the internet radio, or save favourites, via the http://naim.vtuner.com website.

One handy facility is the ground lift switch to the rear, which on the original NaimUniti gave a subtle change in the sound depending on its floating/chassis setting. However, when I hooked up the UnitiQute with my Onkyo AV receiver, there was a nasty hum, fortunately instantly cured with the use of this switch.

As well as its ability to take music from iPods in digital form, the UnitiQute will also play MP3, AAC (up to 320kBit/s, CBR/VBR), Windows Media Audio (up to 320kBit/s), FLAC and WAV (up to 24bit/96kHz via UPnP and USB only), and OGG Vorbis files. That has just about everything covered, though if you have an extensive iTunes library on a Mac in Apple Lossless format, you will have to invest in Elgato’s EyeConnect software to stream it to the Qute in UPnP format.

So is the UnitiQute just a Uniti without the CD drive? Well, it’s a bit lighter on the analogue inputs front, but there’s a little more to it than that: comparing the two side by side, the Qute sounds a shade more polite than the Uniti, as though Naim has engineered in a little more restraint and a spot of bass warmth.

For many listeners that will be no bad thing, and it certainly means the Qute will flatter speakers with a rather bass-light or even bright balance, not to mention smoothing low-bitrate MP3 files a bit. The difference is fairly marginal, and the same virtues of speed, openness and ambience so apparent in the NaimUniti are almost carried over intact, but there’s a hint of cosiness here that sets the less expensive Uniti apart from the original, and distances it slightly more from what many suggest is the typical Naim sound.

As I’ve noted before, I think that Naim sound has changed subtly over the years, while still retaining the drive and musicality for which the brand has always been known – but then I never really agreed with the brash, bright stereotype often suggested.

The UnitiQute may not quite have the openness or drive of the NaimUniti, but the differences are fairly small, and don’t stop it having a highly appealing sound across a wide range of musical genres, and from sources including various iPods, music on USB sticks, my NAS full of music and various online radio streams from around the world.

Instruments are well-weighted and sound natural – well, unless we’re talking streams with very low bitrates – and while there’s no shortage of weight with large-scale orchestral and choral works, this isn’t achieved at the expense of clarity or a sense of space and air. It’s just that with a very good recording the original NaimUniti delivers just a little extra sparkle, and marginally more vitality.

For all that, this is a hugely enjoyable system, able to sit at the heart of a multiroom Uniti set-up, provide an extra ‘zone’ for an HDX or even just take a feed from a NAS drive playing files ripped from CDs on a home computer.

And with the Uniti ‘app’ controlling the system, you have an instant readout of what you’re choosing or listening to in the palm of your hand, answering my other criticism of the Uniti products: the difficulty of reading some displays from across the room.

Add in a very good radio tuner, that iPod compatibility, and the multiple digital inputs, and you have a flexible package likely to have as much appeal as the original NaimUniti. I think the UnitiQute could do very well indeed for Naim.

Naim UnitiQute
Type Internet-enabled music player
Price £1425
Reception FM RDS/DAB, internet radio, streaming music from computer/NAS
Audio formats played Internet radio (Windows Media-formatted content, MP3 Streams, MMS), Playlists (M3U, PLS), MP3, AAC (up to 320kBit/s, CBR/VBR), Windows Media-formatted content-9 (up to 320kBit/s), FLAC and WAV (up to 24bit/96kHz via UPnP and USB only), OGG Vorbis
Inputs Two line, three optical and two electrical digital, USB for memory devices and digital input from iPods/iPhones
Outputs Preouts, speakers, headphones
Other connectivity Ethernet, Wi-Fi, RS-232 control
Digital to analogue conversion 24-bit/192kHz
Amplifier 2x30W into 8ohms
Accessories supplied Remote handset, Wi-Fi antenna
Dimensions (WxHxD) 20.7 x 8.7 x 31.4cm
www.naimaudio.com