Naim Supernait vs XS vs Exposure 2010s

Since nobody is actually answering the question you asked i would like to chime in.The Exposure amp does imaging and soundstaging quite well.What you described about the Naim is quite common with the brand.The Naim products have never been known for their sounstaging abilities.The Exposure is very dynamic,and i find soundstage width to be quite good.I own it and the matching cd player and am very happy with the sound.It is warm and smooth (without being soft and mushy) and has excellent rhythm and timing(much like Naim).It is pretty much good all around which is somewhat of a rarity at the price point it sells at.
I am very satisfied with mine and i can't imagine you not liking it.It's kind of a cliche but the best word to describe it is musical.I went through a fair bit of gear(some higher priced) before i settled on the Exposure gear.None of it sounded so right to me.Btw,from what i understand John Devore has personally recommended it to a couple people when asked for a good inexpensive integrated to go with his speakers.
Cheers

I have a Nait XS, and compared it extensively with a SuperNait, a Nait 5i, and a Creek Destiny. I owned a 2010 for about a month.
The 5i and the 2010 perform at about the same level, with the 5i being "better" to me, in that it was more revealing of musical nuance. The 2010 sounded pretty harsh to me. Now, I will say that my point of reference is my ARC Ref series gear which is pretty smooth. I enjoy playing with the integrateds because I love the concept, and just love to play with audio gear... That said, I think the Supernait and the XS are about the same level product as each other, if you don't need the dac in the Supernait, get the XS. They both have MUCH more drive than their ratings suggest. As mentioned, I also owned a Creek Destiny amp. It was more transparent and "open" than my XS, but did not do musical nuance, and make the music "of a piece" nearly as well as the XS. Despite the 40 wpc difference in power rating between the Destiny and the XS, the XS had much more grunt and drive. The XS has plenty of transparency itself, just not as much as the Destiny. I kept the Naim XS, and sold the Destiny. It is the classic audiophile resolution vs musicality debate. But you asked about the 2010... I guess I would say that all of these are priced appropriately in my opinion. The 2010 performs like you would expect at the price point, which I believe is around1200-1500 if memory serves, the XS and Supernait are quite a bit more expensive, and well worth the extra cash imo.
Be aware that the Naims really DO take a long break-in period, a month (of play) at least. They run cool, so they can be left on. Once they are broken in, they can be turned off with a normal turn-on warmup (30 min.) only required to sound great. I am using a Nordost Valhalla cord on my XS, and it fully exploits the quality of the cord. It really lifts it to a high level. Also, the XS is the first piece that MUST be plugged into the wall. My other gear, including my ARC gear, benefit (or at least don't suffer from) being plugged into Audio Magic Stealth conditioners. But the XS sounded a bit dead into that. It is a really cool, fun to play with piece.
It sounds like you like to have a variety of gear around, to include tubes and solid state. I am the same way, and I find the Naim route is yet another avenue to satisfaction. There are tubes, there is solid state, and there is Naim. It is a different mode of musical delivery than most solid state or tubes. I see now why they have such a rabid following.

Naim Nait XS is a simply wonderful amp - and will go very well with the Gibbons. I do not believe it gives much if anything up to the Supernait, and in fact, getting the DAC out of the box may actually provide a slightly "cleaner" sound in the XS. The Exposure will not sound better than either Naim, but will sound different as described above.

I put listening to an XS fed by an older very high end Naim CD player and played through Naim floor standing speakers in my top ten listening sessions of all time. It just really sounded closer to live music to me than I am used to hearing - including sessions with some much more expensive and carefully set up gear.

In the end, I say soundstage schmoundstage. If the sound of the Naim grabs you, then relax and enjoy what pleasures the it has to offer. I agree with Dbarger, Naim really does offer a "third approach" to music reproduction, one I happen to like a lot.

First a disclaimer; I am a Naim dealer so I am a bit biased towards Naim in general.
I agree (mostly) with Mr. Bargers comments above vis a vis
the XS and Super Nait. Not having heard the new Exposures I can't comment on them (I did like the older ones quite a bit). The comparison between the Super and the XS is NOT in my opinion simply related to whether you want digital inputs or not. The Super Nait can be a stunning amp and to my ears is the more capable piece in that it not only is more revealing than the XS but the power it can display is clearly above what the XS is capable of.
It is cleaner, more powerful and if the source is superb it will respond more like a high end piece of equipment than the XS. That last comment is the key. The better the source, the better the Super will sound. I have it from good authority that feeding a Super with something like a Linn or equivilant analog source is flat out fantastic!

That said, the XS is a beautiful sounding piece and it can be the backbone of a terrific sounding system! It is a bit more lush, a tad less incisive, does not have the jackhammer bass that the Super can and is more tolerent of less than excellent sources.

To sum up...

The Super Nait is an amazing amplifier and a powerhouse with a clear and solid upgrade path to boot. It responds with better sources and can be flat out huge when fed properly. The digital inputs just are icing on the cake.

The XS is an superbly musical amplifier and in comparison to much out there in it's price range it is a huge bargain.
Plenty of power, plenty of inputs, upgrade path, a big step up from their entry level piece the 5i2.

Honestly, you can't go wrong with either of them, it just depends where you ultimtely want to end up.

PS. I have heard the Super Nait throw a stage that is completely enveloping. All depends on the recording.

First of all, I would like to say thanks
for everyone's input.

It is true that John DeVore recommends both
Exposure and Sugden for int ss amps. He also
really likes my Cary 300b sei for tubes. On
the other hand, he has not had a chance to hear
his speakers with the Naim gear. I can attest
that they are a great musical combo. From what
I am hearing, the XS would be too soft for the
DeVores. As engaging the supernait is with the
DeVores, I did find myself wanting a little more
detail not to mention more sound stage width. The
pluck of a jazz or blues guitar string is just a little
too smoothed over. I would like more sheen on the attack.
However, sax, horns and piano are so dead on.

Even with these minor criticisms the DeVores being fed
by Naim seduced me into listening for hours before
buying the Super 8's. I have been in this hobby for
a long time and have listened to a lot of systems costing
in the 100,000 $ range and this type of seduction has
never happened to me before. Sure these systems sounded
intriguing but I would lose interest after about 20 minutes.

So, I absolutely agree that the right musical tone is way
more important than a huge soundstage. Wish I could have
both.

I do like to play around with gear including power cables
and wire. So, I most likely will have to try both.
I do not have an Exposure dealer so I would want to
buy used. Unfortunately, they always sell immediately
on agon.

Thanks Dbarger for the power cord advice. I am really
curious about Naim and power cords. I know they oppose
anything but naim which is a turn off to me, but I am
sure there are pc's to make them sound better. I also
wanted to ask you if you tried the 2010s or was it
the 2010? I hear the s version is a big improvement.