However you look at it, this revolutionary unit is amazing, says Andrew Everard

The concept of ‘convergence’ has long been discussed in hi-fi circles: in the good old days it was all about video and audio coming together; in more recent times the talk has been of ways of integrating computer-stored music and top-quality audio.

To that end we’ve had no end of devices able to stream music into a hi-fi system, while just about every manufacturer either has, or plans to have a music server able to take an entire CD collection and deliver it at the push of a button or click of a mouse.

Naim Audio is no exception: it already has its HDX digital music player, able to ‘rip’ discs to internal hard drive storage, as well as its installation-focused NaimNet system of storage and streaming devices. Not bad going for a company once known as one of the last ‘purist’ audio outfits, coming late to CD and sticking to its minimalist guns.

But with its Uniti system, Naim may just have delivered its most revolutionary product yet, and here I’m talking of a role in the wider audio world, not just the Salisbury company’s own range. For while Naim may have hinted at its capabilities with the n-Vi, its DVD receiver system giving ‘just add TV and speakers’ home cinema, with the arrival of the NaimUniti – and yes, it is one word! – it threw down a challenge to its rivals.

What we have here is a complete audio entertainment system, to which only a pair of speakers need be added. And when I say complete, I mean complete: the NaimUniti combines – deep breath – a CD player, a stereo amplifier, a five-input digital to analogue converter, an FM/DAB tuner, an iPod dock (with the addition of an optional lead), and a wireless music streamer able to deliver both stored music and internet radio from a home network.

There are three extra line inputs in the rear panel, two optical and two electrical digital inputs, and a powered DIN connection for one of Naim’s external phono stages. On the front panel you’ll find a USB input, plus a combined 3.5mm stereo analogue input and miniToslink digital in, while outputs extend to headphones – on another 3.5mm socket –, a preamp output on a locking DIN socket to feed one of the company’s power amplifiers, a stereo line-out, connections for a pair of speakers and feeds for two subwoofers.

Finally, as well as the stubby wireless internet aerial supplied, the NaimUniti has a wired Ethernet port, RS232 and infrared control inputs, and a dedicated socket for Naim’s n-Link iPod connection lead.

The price? £2495, and when you consider what you’re getting for your money, that’s pretty ridiculous value for money. The CD section uses Naim’s familiar swing-out disc-loader with a magnetic clamping puck – in fact that’s a complete CD player in itself, with onboard digital-to-analogue conversion – as used in the CDX2 player and the CD5 series models. However, here it’s more rigidly mounted than in any past Naim player, with a new beam, strengthened attachment to the thick aluminium front panel and the chassis.

So that’s effectively a CD5i player, which would cost you £975.

The 2x50W amplifier is closely based on the Nait 5i, retailing for £850, and comes with such niceties as level trim on each analogue input, allowing levels to be normalised across various sources, and unity gain option for use with an offboard AV processor.

So far we have £1825-worth of Naim player and amplifier built into the NaimUniti, complete with a hefty power supply with separate sections for each part of the device, right back to individual secondary windings on the large toroidal transformer. Then there’s the digital to analogue conversion, so far only found in the SuperNait amplifier and the company’s forthcoming standalone DAC, either of which will cost you more than the NaimUniti.

On the radio side, the three-band system – DAB, FM and internet radio – allows the user to allocate any one of the 40 presets to any kind of radio, so preset one could be a DAB station, two FM, three internet and so on. Stations can be added to the internet favourites via a vTuner web page, or you can choose internet radio stations using a number of parameters including location and genre.

Streaming of music can be handled either from a computer attached to a network, or using a Network Attached Server (NAS) device. You’ll need Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) software installed on the ‘host’ device to make it simpler for the NaimUniti to find and organise the music – for the purposes of this test I was using a Western Digital NAS device with the hilariously-named TwonkyMedia ready-installed, and once connected to my home network the Naim found my shared music library instantly, and was ready to play.

The only remaining aspect to explore was the iPod connectivity, and here I have a confession to make to regular readers: yes, I have finally bought an iPod! The ever-growing number of products offering iPod interfaces meant the purchase was sort of inevitable, so I am now the somewhat reluctant owner of a 16GB iPod nano, loaded with a range of test-tracks for future reviewing.

With this plugged into the NaimUniti, it’s possible to control the little player using the Naim’s controls or handset, and with a view to optimal audio quality the system even offers a range of charging options, as the engineers have found that iPods sound better when not charging and playing at the same time: I went for the option allowing an attached iPod to charge, but only when another input was being used.

On the subject of iOS devices, there’s also a free n-Stream app available to control the NaimUniti over a home network, and it’s both very neat and adds greatly to the system’s appeal.

That’s one of many clever touches on the NaimUniti, which offers an extensive range of user-customisation and options, meaning that while the system is simple to set up and use, over the first few days of use one finds oneself making small alterations to the way it works, just to get it functioning exactly as preferred.

PERFORMANCE
There’s a very simple way to describe the way the NaimUniti performs: it exceeds expectations in every area, and is quite likely to have anyone lucky enough to try it rethinking the whole way they listen to music.

I used a wide range of source material, from CDs to FLAC downloads from Passionato, from low-bitrate MP3s through to Apple Lossless files on the iPod, and from low-resolution internet streams up to the high-quality classical music stations online, and in every case I found the Naim persuasive, logical to use and entirely addictive.

I started off small, using the unit with a pair of PMC’s little DB1 standmount speakers, but it was clear that it had even more to give, and eventually it ended up driving the big OB1 floorstanders from the same stable, and with my home cinema system’s front channel outputs fed through the AV input in unity gain mode, just so that I could use the system continuously. In other words, it slotted into the home system, and that’s just where it stayed, so completely did I get immersed in its possibilities.

And after living with it for a while, I can safely say the NaimUniti is not only perhaps the most significant product Naim has made in a very long time indeed, but also one of those audio developments likely to prove extremely influential in the years to come

After all, you get an exceptional CD player and stereo amplifier, together worth the price of admission alone in this convenient one-box form: the combination has a sound very familiar from the CD5i and Nait 5i, both of which I rate highly for their attention-grabbing ability and the expressive, unfettered manner in which they play music.

There’s a drive, openness and vibrancy to the sound of the NaimUniti playing CDs that really draws you into the music, which is presented with a remarkable sense of ambience and atmosphere. Listening to music from CD on this system is always entirely rewarding, and despite ‘only’ having 50W per channel, the Naim is more than capable of driving even big, demanding speakers like the PMCs with total control and conviction, creating realistic soundstage pictures and a thrilling sense of scale.

What’s more, the Naim sounds excellent when playing radio, though it’s quite evident that FM broadcasts of the BBC national stations in particular can show a clean pair of heels to the DAB equivalents. On DAB there’s a thickness and loss of space, whether playing spoken word or music, while FM sounds cleaner and simply more natural. Clearly the tuner in this ‘box’ is no makeweight, and listening to as much radio as I do, that’s a real bonus.

Also striking is what the Naim can do with streamed music, whether it’s from a high-bitrate internet radio station or music stored locally. For the purposes of this test, I copied several recordings at a range of bitrates, from direct .WAV files all the way down to double-digit MP3s, and while the quality problems with extensive data-reduction were all too obvious, with music stored at sensible bitrates – 320kbps MP3 or AAC, or using FLAC or other lossless encoders – the Naim is capable of quite entrancing results.

I have to say that even with relatively low bitrate internet radio stations from across the world, the NaimUniti is exceptionally listenable – as I type this I am listening to music and speech from NPR in the States, in mono no less, and it still sounds very smile-inducing!

So what has the NaimUniti got going for it? Oh, only everything, as far as I can see: it works beautifully with only a short period of familiarisation, is simple to set up despite its quite amazing range of abilities, is expandable and will just as easily sit at the heart of a more complex system as it will function as a standalone unit for those downsizing or wanting a very hi-tech second set-up in a compact package.

And above all, it’s superb value for money, the whole being so much more than the sum of its parts. I have no doubt that the NaimUniti will do very well indeed, and prove a landmark product not just for Naim Audio, but the entire audio world.

NaimUniti
Type CD/streaming system
Price £2495
Power 2x50W
Formats played CD, Internet radio (WMA, MP3 streams, MMS), Playlists (M3U, PLS), MP3, AAC (up to 320 kbps, CBR/VBR) Apple Lossless (from iPod), Windows Media-formatted content (up to 320 kbps), WAV, FLAC (up to 96kHz/24-bit), Ogg Vorbis
Tuner DAB, FM, internet radio
Inputs Five line (three on RCA phonos, one on DIN, one on front-panel 3.5mm), two optical/two electrical digital, USB (with direct digital connection for iOS devices), Wi-Fi/radio antennae, Ethernet
Outputs Line stereo, fixed and variable out, two subwoofer out, speakers, headphones, preout on DIN socket
Accessories supplied Remote handset, Wi-Fi antenna
Dimensions (WxHxD) 43.2x8.7x21.4cm
www.naimaudio.com