[Daniel Johnston]

Interesting that the woo was a bad match. I only tried the Expanse out of the WA33 for a few minutes and didn’t notice any issues but I also didn’t care for it. But I did find the new WA23 Lina to be the best I heard them. Best bass of all the systems with more slam and great gooey warmth.

Oh the woo you mention is the portable one. That drove the Meze Elite just fine but I’d imagine the hard to drive Expanse and Stealth would be a bit much.

Yes. The WA8 is amazing with the meze Liric, a little too laid back with empyrean, and spectacular with Stellia. I also use it with the KSE1200 with great results. I love it, but the Stealths don’t.

 

[Toonartist]

Thanks @Daniel Johnston @iamoneagain I'm starting to see numbers confirming the likes of Stealth & Expanse play very nicely with the Atom HE. An amp I really like and that's compared to the TT2 & H2 that I've had in the past.

Today I'm going to demo a Icon HP8 mkii to see if tubes is going to be something I might enjoy. I had my eye on the Icon 205d but unfortunately they don't have one in stock. While I'm there I'm going to take a listen to some closed backs as well... Focal Stellia & Audeze LCD XC. I really lie the Meze Elite with the HE so this is an addition rather than a replacement.

I'll also ask them to dig out an amp or two as a comparison to the Atom HE but, it will be using the Atom HE as a preamp as I really do value the interface / features of the HE and I wouldn't want to be without them. Being able to sit at my desk with my headphones on and swap from Zoom, Youtube, AppleTV and then back to Roon with a click of the mouse and not need to even touch the amp is a really great!

Once this is all done I'll know what I'll be adding to my setup over the next year or so in terms of headphones and amps. I've never tried a tube amp but really like the idea so this should either feed that desire or put the flames out.

 

[iamoneagain]

In some ways the Naim HE leans more tube-like than solid state. Solid state is known more for its clean transparent nature. Tubes tend to be warmer with a little bass bloom and rich mids. That’s essentially Naim HE’s sound signature. And now days some tube amps are designed to be so clean sounding it takes away their tube magic, so I preferred Naim HE over a few I heard.

 

[Toonartist]

It's funny you should say that. I've just come back from listening to the HP8 Mkii. It was a great little amp but my first thoughts were that it wasn't massively different from the Naim HE in terms of tonality. It was the standard version and I know the upgraded one (caps and tubes) is supposed to be a good step up but the two had more similarities than differences.

I'd say the HP8 mkii was a little smoother and had a slightly wider soundstage while I felt the Naim HE had better depth to the soundstage and had a lot better pace. It felt more dynamic and agile. The HP8 had a beautifully relaxed sound but I was missing some of the dynamic turn of pace the HE has.

I tried the Sennheiser 800s with both the tube amp and the HE. That actually sounded rather nice (with classical music) with both amps. A drier more neutral sound compared to the Elite. Sadly the only closed back over £1k they had was the Sennheiser 820. I think the less said about that the better. Weird bass and sounded very narrow. Didn't like that at all. Polar opposite to the 800s.

It leaves me thinking that maybe for alternative sound to compliment the Elite, it will be one of the DCA headphones and possible a more neutral amp in the feature. I could see me adding a tube amp at some point but it may need to be a 300b one to see a significant improvement over the HE.

 

[iamoneagain]

It's funny you should say that. I've just come back from listening to the HP8 Mkii. It was a great little amp but my first thoughts were that it wasn't massively different from the Naim HE in terms of tonality. It was the standard version and I know the upgraded one (caps and tubes) is supposed to be a good step up but the two had more similarities than differences.

I'd say the HP8 mkii was a little smoother and had a slightly wider soundstage while I felt the Naim HE had better depth to the soundstage and had a lot better pace. It felt more dynamic and agile. The HP8 had a beautifully relaxed sound but I was missing some of the dynamic turn of pace the HE has.

I tried the Sennheiser 800s with both the tube amp and the HE. That actually sounded rather nice (with classical music) with both amps. A drier more neutral sound compared to the Elite. Sadly the only closed back over £1k they had was the Sennheiser 820. I think the less said about that the better. Weird bass and sounded very narrow. Didn't like that at all. Polar opposite to the 800s.

It leaves me thinking that maybe for alternative sound to compliment the Elite, it will be one of the DCA headphones and possible a more neutral amp in the feature. I could see me adding a tube amp at some point but it may need to be a 300b one to see a significant improvement over the HE.

Not sure your price range but Chord is kind of the opposite of the Naim. Razor sharp detail and clarity. Only the Dave seemed to have something more to keep it less analytical than the TT2 and Hugo 2.

I prefer Naim’s slightly less precise sound with better groove. And as you can see, that’s tone if a lot of tube amps. I would say you can get a little more richer, liquid sound from some tube amps than the Naim HE. But for most part Naim HE is kind of cross between tubes and solid state leaning more towards tube sound.

The issues I find with the razor sharp sound is it’s more short lived. You like it at it first because you hear all this detail you may not of heard but can be fatiguing. It also doesn’t draw you into the whole of the music as well. The Dave was pretty good at doing both but still had a lot of ok recordings that sounded worse on the Dave than the Naim HE. Didn’t want to just listen to great recordings.

 

[Toonartist]

I've owned both the TT2 & H2 but preferred the Naim HE. I did like the HP8 and from what I understand, the signature versions with upgraded Caps & Tubes etc is a lot better than the version I listened to today.

What I did find is that the Sennheiser HD800S was much improved with both the HE & especially the HP8 Mkii when listening to classical and stringed instruments. It also sits very nicely alongside the HE, nice pairing!

 

[Tanalasta]

Similar.

I have the TT2 and moved it on. It got annoying having to plug in a streamer or source. And the lack of a 4.4mm output was also irritating.

It had lovely soundstage and clarity. But it just wasn't getting enough use.

The HD800S also sounded a lot better after a cable roll (I got a Lazuli Reference on clearance). It also wasn't getting enough time so I moved it on.

The Naim HE is well applauded for good reason. Our dealer says it pretty much monopolised all their DAC/AMP/Streamer sales in that price bracket.

 

[465176]

…

 

[Luke Skywalker]

I’m planning to buy a TOTL / endgame desktop listening system in the next few months. I’m not extremely knowledgeable about this stuff so this device really appeals to me because of its simplicity. I wonder how I’d do with this + the new Utopia? It would certainly be a huge step up from my Audeze LCD2+ iFi Gryphon.

I was planning on spending $10K to $12K

 

[iamoneagain]

I’m planning to buy a TOTL / endgame desktop listening system in the next few months. I’m not extremely knowledgeable about this stuff so this device really appeals to me because of its simplicity. I wonder how I’d do with this + the new Utopia? It would certainly be a huge step up from my Audeze LCD2+ iFi Gryphon.

I was planning on spending $10K to $12K

Well Naim is a sister brand of Focal and the tuning of the Naim HE was done with Focal headphones. The original Utopia was excellent on it and my brief listen to the 22 version also had the same punchy sound. I’m currently enjoying the DCA Expanse on it more than I did the Utopia but these are all TOTL headphones. Just slightly different characteristics. Not sure you can find a better sound in such a simple to use all in one package.

 

[thomasbhartwell]

I use the Atom HE with the Focal Stellia and the combination is utterly incredible. The headphones disappear and it’s all seamless and totally musical. A little more punch than the utopia being closed back

 

[Musicophilesblog]

I’m planning to buy a TOTL / endgame desktop listening system in the next few months. I’m not extremely knowledgeable about this stuff so this device really appeals to me because of its simplicity. I wonder how I’d do with this + the new Utopia? It would certainly be a huge step up from my Audeze LCD2+ iFi Gryphon.

I was planning on spending $10K to $12K

Get the NUTOPIA

Well Naim is a sister brand of Focal and the tuning of the Naim HE was done with Focal headphones. The original Utopia was excellent on it and my brief listen to the 22 version also had the same punchy sound. I’m currently enjoying the DCA Expanse on it more than I did the Utopia but these are all TOTL headphones. Just slightly different characteristics. Not sure you can find a better sound in such a simple to use all in one package.

+1 for the Naim/Newtopia combo for the fun musical experience and a one box does all approach. You may be able to optimize more for specific experiences like amazing detail retrieval with NiImbus or the ultimate “wow” factor of smoothness with a TOTL tube amp. But then you have to go through the hassle of Dac and capable matching and have a much more cluttered experience. Or just get the Naim/Newtopia for $9K and be done with it. That’s at least what I did earlier this year with the OG, and I haven’t looked back.

 

[thomasbhartwell]

Completely agree with this. It’s the most elegant solution with incredible results that will flatter any style of music

 

[Toonartist]

I've loved my Naim HE ever since I bought it at the beginning of the year. Great piece of kit.

I tried the Icon HP8 tube amp with the Naim HE acting as a preamp and it worked really well using the Naim remote and ability to use it as a hub for all wireless connections into the tube amp. It was impressive. So much so, I managed to pick up a deal on a wood Auris Nirvana tube amp and I'll be using the Naim HE as the front end for that. It's just so versatile and easy to move around when you need to.

 

[Godbluffer]

I’m planning to buy a TOTL / endgame desktop listening system in the next few months. I’m not extremely knowledgeable about this stuff so this device really appeals to me because of its simplicity. I wonder how I’d do with this + the new Utopia? It would certainly be a huge step up from my Audeze LCD2+ iFi Gryphon.

I was planning on spending $10K to $12K

As others say, the Naim Uniti Atom HE is a great all-in-one device that was tuned with Focal headphones in mind, but it was done so *before* the NUtopia came along, so its tuning was most likely done with the OG Utopia, whose synergy with the Atom is indeed near perfect, but I also heard both headphones on the neutrally tuned DCS Lina stack, and there the OG sounded too bright and lean to my ears (though never hardh), while the NUtopia appeared to be a great match. With this I’m not saying you should land yourself in the poorhouse with the Lina and the NUtopia , but you might find the NUtopia/Atom HE combo a bit too warm, lacking sparkle. I know I did, and decided to stick with the OG Utopia for my Atom HE… or you could match the NUtopia with a more affordable neutral DAC/amp combo.