Primare NP5 Prisma MK2

If you own a recent Primare amp incorporating its modular Prisma streaming system, you’re good to go and can stop reading now. If you own a Primare amp without on board streaming – or an old standalone Primare network player – you can buy the Prisma platform in the form of the NP5 MK2 you see here for half price.

If you don’t own any Primare kit but fancy a well-featured streaming transport that won’t break the bank even at full price (£550), read on.

Our story begins with an untimely fi re at the AKM chip factory in China. Primare’s original NP5 used AKM’s critical sample rate converter chip at the heart of its design. Still, every cloud... Primare re-sourced the component from Texas Instruments and took the opportunity to redesign it to incorporate some additional features. Perhaps most useful is native MQA pass-through for full unpacking of the format if hooked up to an MQA capable DAC. It’s the only way you’ll get to listen to anything like a full-fat Tidal Master. Primare’s Terry Medalen explains: “Tidal Master fi le playback is limited to AirPlay (16-bit/44.1kHz) or when using Roon to the fi rst unfold (24-bit/88.2kHz or 24-bit/96kHz). Master fi le playback is not currently available with Chromecast, which the NP5 Prisma MK2 accommodates. Using the Primare M Connect app, Master fi les default to 24-bit/48kHz.”