Naim Uniti Atom
It takes some bravery to look at a three-time What Hi-fi? Awardwinner and think ‘that’s there for the taking’, but NAD is a company of rare resource, technological nous and audio accomplishment. If anyone can defeat the mighty Naim Uniti Atom (see opposite), it’s NAD – a company that has embraced digital music more than any other traditional hi-fi brand.
The Masters M10 is just-add-speakers hi-fi that’s as happy partnering your TV as it is a wireless speaker in your bathroom. A rival to the Uniti Atom that might just have the chops to emerge victorious…
Impressive visuals
That TFT screen takes up the majority of the front panel and has the resolution and colour balance to display album artwork and combine that with big, bold text that’s easy to read from across the room. The screen is responsive and the touchscreen volume dial’s audible click makes it quite tactile.
It’s a bigger and more useful screen than that of the Naim Uniti Atom, but in terms of its general build, the Atom is streets ahead. The NAD’S casework is rather insubstantial and doesn’t match the expectations set by a product at this sort of money.
There’s no smart remote here: the NAD relies entirely on app operation. For some, that could be off-putting, but the Masters M10 is part of the BLUOS ecosystem and so boasts a better, more reliable app than most. Airplay 2 integration brings still more flexibility.
BLUOS also brings with it the opportunity for the M10 to form part of a multi-room system comprising a mix of NAD, Bluesound and Dali devices, and ensures direct access to more music services than you’re likely to need, from Tidal, Qobuz and Spotify, to Deezer and Amazon Music (including Amazon Music HD). Roon is also supported, as are a number of smart home standards.
High-resolution audio streams up to 32-bit/192khz are supported, and formats including MQA, FLAC, WAV and AIFF are on board.
Once you get the M10 home, simply connect a pair of speakers to start listening, although you can also use the integrated Dirac room equalisation software and microphone to calibrate the sonic performance to your room.
Thanks to its abundant connections, the Masters M10 can also form the hub of a complete system. There are two pairs of stereo analogue inputs, coaxial and optical digital connections, and even an HDMI socket with full EARC support so that you can hook up your TV.
There’s ethernet for wired networking, plus a pair of pre-outs and two subwoofer outputs, but no headphone socket. NAD addresses that omission with two-way aptx HD Bluetooth, but those with a cherished pair of wired headphones will be disappointed.
NAD conservatively rates power at 100W, but claims that dynamic power can reach 160W into 8 ohms.
We kick off with Childish Gambino’s incendiary This Is America and are pleased with what we hear from the NAD. It works well in terms of tone, with no part of the frequency range sticking out or drowning out another. The threatening bass is lusciously deep and dramatic, the high hat-like synth is nicely controlled. Vocals emerge clearly even when the soundstage gets busy.
We notice some muddling during the busy sections, though, and while it may at first seem as if that’s the track’s intention, a switch to the Naim Uniti Atom proves otherwise. The NAD sounds pleasant, likeable and fluid, but the Naim simply tightens everything up.
Switching to The First Big Weekend Arab Strap, the NAD proves to be a detailed performer, nicely digging up the creak of the seat right at the start of the track; but when the high-hat is added and the tempo increases, the NAD struggles a touch to keep up. It sounds as though it’s chasing the track rather than driving it. The vocal remains fairly focused, but the NAD becomes a bit muddled again, losing track of the individual strands in play.
At home with folk
We change pace with the stripped-back folk version of Here’s The Tender Coming by The Unthanks. The NAD doesn’t have a large ensemble to worry about here and, as such, the performance delivered is detailed, smooth and clean. Listened to in isolation, it is hard to fault. Again, though, the Naim takes things further by really revelling in the low-level dynamics.
Features-wise, the NAD Masters M10 is pretty much on the money, and it sounds good too; tonally balanced, clear, clean, weighty and smooth. But it’s up against the Naim Uniti Atom, which offers a more dynamic and better-organised delivery that’s simply more engaging.