Naim’s Uniti has its hooks in you already

Whoompf. That looks like it puts a capital ‘H’ and ‘F’ in ‘hi-fi’.

You’re right. Naim has led a merry game, these past couple of years. Audiophiles shrivelled at the sight of Naim’s sub-£1000 Mu-so and Mu-so Qb wireless speakers but (1) they are excellent and (2) they attracted a whole new audience. Now, with this, Naim has just set the hook…

Ouch! What happens next?

It reels you in, takes all of your money and leaves you, beautifically stunned, listening to really good hi-fi. See, what Naim has done is redesign its step-up Uniti range of high-end networked components, adding Mu-so style, finish and rotary volume control. You’ve got a Mu-so in your bedroom, a Mu-so Qb in your kitchen – why not now get this complementary product for the living room?

I… I don’t see any reason why not.

Because, fish brains, the Naim Uniti Star, pictured at the top there, costs £2999, or £3150 with DAB radio. And you’ll need some decent stereo speakers to get the most out of it. You’re being lured into an expensive trap!

Mind you, your ears will thank you. As will your geek: like the Mu-so range, the Uniti Star will work with Apple Music, Tidal, Google Cast, Spotify Connect, Bluetooth AptX HD and uPnP. All your high-res audio formats are supprted. It’ll rip from CD to a USB stick and multiroom with your exisiting Naims via the iOS or Android app. There’s a 5in colour screen on the front there for seeing what you’re hearing. You’re getting the idea: the Uniti is stacked.

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Three grand, though! There ain’t no lure tasty enough to hook that out of my wallet.

Then, perhaps one might like these other Naim-y worms. There’s the half-size Uniti Atom that loses the CD-drive and costs ‘just’ £1600. Or, fattest of all, the powerful, 80W Uniti Nova. £3800. Mmm. Perhaps, though, an outre choice: the £1650 display-less Uniti Core, with a CD ripper, a slot for an internal HDD or SSD… but no amplifier. (It’s more of a content server, that one.)

Admit it, they’ve got you.