Digital Sources: Theta Miles CD player via S/PDIF output, Benchmark DAC1 D/A converter/preamplifier, Sony Vaio laptop running Sony Soundforge 9, M Audio Fast Track Ultra USB interface.
Power Amplifiers: Rogue Audio M180 monoblocks, Pass Labs Aleph 3 & XA 30.5.
Loudspeakers: Revel Performa F30 & Ultima Gem, Totem Acoustic Forest, Klipsch Palladium P-17B.
Cables: Digital: Stereovox HDXV coaxial. Interconnect: Sain Line Systems pure balanced. Speaker: Kimber BiFocal XL. AC: Sain Line Systems Reference.—Erick Lichte
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I examined the measured behavior of Manley Labs' Stingray iTube using mainly Stereophile's loan sample of the top-of-the-line Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It" and www.ap.com); for some tests, I also used my vintage Audio Precision System One Dual Domain.
I was at first confused by the fact that the iTube was on when all its lights were off, and in Standby when its front-panel blue light was on. Carefully reading the excellent manual sorted that out for me, and I began the testing by checking the bias of the eight EL84…
Sam Tellig wrote about the Stingray II in September 2010 (Vol.33 No.9):
Manley Labs' Stingray II integrated retails for $3000, vs $3400 for the Stingray iTube. The difference is the iPod dock. Ditch dock, save $400. In the Stingray II, a plate covers the hole where the dock would otherwise be . . . docked.
Erich Lichte first latched on to this, and beat me to the punch with his review of the Stingray iTube in the March 2010 Stereophile. Technically, however, I'm the first at Stereophile to review the Stingray II. Some of the "genius bar" gurus at my local Apple Store know all…
I asked about the output impedance. "Actual output impedance at 20Hz is 2.36 ohms. At 1kHz, it's 2 ohms. At 20kHz, 1.83 ohms. The output impedance is a little higher than it could be because we don't use a whole lot of global feedback."
And that fixed 5-ohm transformer tap? "We have always designed the transformers with a single secondary fixed setting. As the feedback includes the entire output transformer, everything is optimized around that one wind. Five ohms has been our standard forever. We can recalculate and provide 4 or 8 [ohms] or any other optimized impedance tranny on request…
In an industry whose newest products are often as discouragingly unaffordable as they are short of the sonic mark, the Naim Audio Uniti ($3795) stands out. In a single reasonably sized box, the Uniti combines the guts of Naim's Nait 5i integrated amplifier and CD5i CD player with various additional sources: an FM/DAB tuner, and interfaces for an iPod, a USB memory stick, an iRadio, and a UPnP-compatible connected computer or server—all for the price of a very good television set.
One could argue that, with the Uniti, this veteran audio manufacturer has set its sights on someone…
As it turned out, the Naim Uniti wasn't supplied with a user's manual per se, but rather with a curiously big booklet that provides, in a great many different languages, the most basic and presumably legally mandated information: Don't dispose of this product with the rest of the trash. Don't bring this product into the bathtub with you. Don't put to any foolish or evil use this product's laser light. A great amount of paper has been devoted to the unlikely, the unfathomable, and the impossible, though that's hardly Naim's fault.
The booklet does, however, contain one indispensable…
For its part, the Uniti's FM tuner was also a pleasure to use. I drove it with the six-element RadioShack FM antenna (ca $25) I purchased years ago for my Tivoli radio, and which resides in the attic space above my listening room. Sensitivity and selectivity seemed about average, and sound quality was fine, given a good enough signal—itself a rare beast in upstate New York. I would expect the Uniti's FM tuner to make urban users very happy indeed.
As for the main event: After being run in for about a week (before which it sounded flat and thin), the Uniti was astonishingly good: tight,…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid-state integrated amplifier with built-in CD player, FM/DAB tuner, iPod interface, USB memory-stick interface, iRadio/UPnP interface. Line-level analog inputs: 5. S/PDIF digital inputs: 5. Digital formats supported: MP3, AAC, Apple Lossless, WAV, FLAC, Ogg Vorbis, WMA, MP3. CD formats supported: "Red Book," CD-R. Output power: 50Wpc into 8 ohms (17dBW), 90Wpc into 4 ohms (16.5dBW). Frequency range: 20Hz–50kHz. Signal/noise: 80dB. Analog input overload: 27dBV. Preamp output impedance: 600 ohms (10k ohm minimum load recommended).
Dimensions:…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Thorens TD-124 Mk.II turntable; EMT 997, Schick tonearms; Bauer/Ayre DPS turntable & tonearm; Shindo SPU, Ortofon SPU 90th Anniversary, EMT OFD 25, Edison Spirit 78, Miyabi 47, Grace F9E cartridges.
Digital Sources: HRT Music Streamer, HRT Music Streamer+, Ayre QB-9 USB DACs (with Apple iMac).
Preamplification: Auditorium 23 Hommage T1 step-up transformer, Ayre P-5x phono preamplifier, Shindo Masseto preamplifier.
Power Amplifiers: Shindo Haut-Brion & Corton-Charlemagne, Quad II.
Loudspeakers: Audio Note AN-E/SPe HE,…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I examined the Naim Uniti's measured behavior using mainly Stereophile's loan sample of the top-of-the-line Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It" and www.ap.com); for some tests, I also used my vintage Audio Precision System One Dual Domain. To test the digital playback performance, I played WAV files on an iPod Touch, the same files loaded onto a USB flash drive or burned to CD-R, or fed to one of the Uniti's optical S/PDIF inputs from the RME soundcard in one of my test-lab PCs. All tests of the Uniti's digital section were taken…