If he is willing to accept an outboard phono preamp, why the big necessity for built-in streaming on the integrated amp itself? You can get a Raspberry Pi board with a DAC or digital out board for $100, give or take a bit, that has a footprint the size of a deck of cards and has great sound. That would certainly open up the range of options for the amp, certainly if he'd like tubes.
Need help picking a streaming integrated amp
Need some help. I’m helping a nephew purchase his first real system. He already has good ProAc speakers so I need an all in one integrated amp that costs no more than 3k. It has to stream Tidal etc and be able to accept a phono amp. The Naim Unity Atom appears to fully fit the bill with its 40watts that are supposed to able to handle most speakers. He has a small living room. Of course he’d like tubes but I personally don’t know what streaming options are available for a non built streamer.. He’s very tech savvy. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
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All I can think off the top is a NAD C388 or C368. https://www.crutchfield.com/p_745C388B2I/NAD-C-388-BluOS-2i.html?tp=34948 |
Several options depending on budget. Since you're open to Naim, that'll give you plenty of choices. These are ones I know of: At low end of budget, Yamaha R-N803 - $700ish. Bluesound Powernode 2i - $900 (I have the previous model Powernode 2). Marantz pm7000n - $1,000. I'm about to take delivery on this to replace my Powernode 2. The NAD's mentioned above, I think under $2k. Hegel H90 at $2k, or Rost at $3k. NAD M10 at $2.7k. NAD coming out also with an improved version of this soon. Upcoming PS Audio Strata - $3k. Probably available mid summer. And the Naim family you mention. That's what I know of in the budget envelope appropriate for the speakers you have (there are many other cheaper options but I wouldn't recommend them, especially if you are open to Naim level quality and don't need to skimp). Note: all of these are all-in-ones, so-call super integrateds. If you are open to two-box solutions, there are many more possibilities, and I'm sure there are super-integrateds that I missed as well. |
ProAcs are great speakers. Which model does he have? I wouldn’t get an all-in-one solution — it’s a jack of all trades master of nothing, and your options are relatively limited. I’d get used separates to get him the best sound and value for the money. For $3k I’d get a Unison Unico 50 integrated (2 listed here now around $2k), an Avid Pellar phono preamp on US AudioMart ($500), and a Bluesound Node 2i streamer (around $400 used). The Unison amp is excellent and is a hybrid design that uses tubes in the input stage with solid state amplification, the Pellar is far better than any onboard phono pre you’ll get in a multifunction integrated, and the Node is serviceable for now but can be upgraded significantly down the road with a better DAC. If I really loved my nephew that’s what I’d get him, but if you don’t just go the integrated route. Best of luck. |
As someone mentioned, the NAD 368 or 388 with BluOS works nicely and should fall between $1-2K depending on which you select (unless you can get a refurb, which you may be able to snag the 368 for under $1K). I've got a NAD 368 + BluOS with PSB T1 and it works great. I've used with Spotify, Tidal, Qobuz, as well as streaming from my PC. |