The bright lights on the Naim Uniti Atom HE have been bothering me, so I decided to make a 5-sided box from leftover veneered cabinet shelf.
When I put the Stax SRM-T8000 amp on it, I had a revelation because the size was too perfect to not make into a custom piece of audio furniture.
So naturally I then planned out a cantilever platform design then cut and TIG welded it from stainless steel square tube.
I’m planning to remake the box from perhaps hardwood and make a removable back panel to better hide the cabling and light. I will also add leveling feet and attach the box to the frame.
I’ve also one hearing place with a Naim Unity Atom HE and a Stax amp as Roon endpoint.
But I prefer to option to see the display from the Naim and use the volume control from it (Naim hasn’t a volume bypass like your SMR-8000), which can also controlled perfectly in Roon, but I like also the feeling from the volume knob.
So I would never put the Naim in a more or less closed box.
To each their own. I have made my listening environment completely dark, so the light is just an irritation to me. I have the Naim set to 80 volume and exclusively use the stepless volume control knob from the SRM-T8000 for volume adjustments. The box is slightly oversized on all sides, so the Naim can shed heat without any issues.
AI lied unfortunately, and with a confident gusto. I’ve done the firmware updates as released since getting the Naim about 4 years ago, and they haven’t changed the dimming ability. In the lowest setting (set by the remote), the ring around the huge top volume knob glows, the Naim logo glows, and the buttons glow. Plus, changing the volume or song turns the screen on to two screens, then back off after about 20 seconds. In an otherwise dark room, it’s like a lighthouse beacon in my eyes.
I wouldn’t dream of boxing it up. Each to his own