Naim Center Speaker - how'd it sound ?

Posted by: JosephR on 23 February 2002

Showgoers, any comments on the center speaker performance ? Price ?

Thanks

Posted on: 23 February 2002 by Jonathan Gorse

I sat in and listened to the Naim AV system. I do think that the center integrated very well indeed with the other Naim speakers in the room - it had the same tonality on spoken voice (although we were watching Buzz Lightyear!)

Price is around £2000 which rules it out for me unfortunately! If I had the spare cash I'd rather put it towards music reproduction because I remain to be convinced that higher end AV is sufficiently better than my own more modest set-up.

This does leave those of us who'd like a Naim centre channel with something of a problem though! I wonder if they'll offer a cheaper alternative at say £800 in future?

One thing which did take me by surprise was my trousers flapping with the bass from their M&K sub!! Either that or I'm developing a bizarre twitch

Jonathan confused

Posted on: 24 February 2002 by Andrew Randle

Their AV system was particularly enjoyable. While it would be difficult for me to judge the new centre channel (Axent) on individual merit, I must say that the dialog was outstandingly clear.

Andrew

Andrew Randle
Currently in the "Linn Binn"

Posted on: 24 February 2002 by JosephR

GBP 2K is a lot for a center speaker ... One could probably configure an SBL pair as center speakers, which will even be better since they'll go lower ... they'll be very conspicuous, though ...

So, Naim prefers M&K for AV ...

Posted on: 24 February 2002 by garyi

Only in the short term Joseph I am sure, if they are doing a centre speaker other must be following.

I must say the centre speaker is expensive, but as I understand it, it intergral to the stand the TV was sat on, so you get quite a bit more than a box with a speaker in it.

Posted on: 24 February 2002 by JosephR

BTW, Garyi, how big is that TV ?

And if it's integrated to the stand, I think Naim is making a mistake here ... unless they have something as well for those with home projectors, plasma, etc ...

A Naim subwoofer would be very interesting ... then maybe I can have SBLs that would sound like DBLs in the bass department - unless they decide to price it at GBP 10K

Posted on: 24 February 2002 by garyi

Jospeh, I too would love a bass bin, but why I don't know but a nice cherry to fit the SBLs would be nice, although not nearly flat earth enough!.

As for the speaker, I am speaking hearsay here but here is how I understand it.

The speaker is intergrated to the stand so as to decouple the bass arrangment as in all their other speakers. In other words it ain't just a pretty box with speakers, the whole stand is the speaker, and I can see where they are coming from., It is said that 60% of all information from surround sound comes from the centre speaker, (where it is installed) so a majour quality check was always required here, I am gutted I didn't spend more time in the av room, but I was scared by the amount of bass coming from there, too much in my opinion.

Posted on: 24 February 2002 by pm

I have my AV set up through my 92/90 for the front stereo pair and found that the voices imaged wonderfully well without a centre speaker at all. Speech is always solidly anchored to the screen......

But........ I bought a matching centre speaker (All Castle Speakers) because everybody says you need one... right????.....

Well, IMHO, not necessarily. The tone of the centre matches the rest beautifully, but I find it hasn't added anything that I didn't have before.

Perhaps my kit is not top of the tree, but it still represents a considerable investment.

My advice would be to try a centre speaker before you buy. You might be surprised.

Posted on: 24 February 2002 by JosephR

Garyi, IMHO, it's more like 75%, which makes the center speaker a very important part of AV. So it should be flexible enough to be used in any appropriate AV configuration. This thread reminds me of the Mission rack (whatever happened to that one) ... as for bass, it makes movies sound grand the way they're supposed to be ... another essential part of good AV ...

PM, that's fine alright,with the old Dolby Prologic. But these days, with AC3 and DTS, a center speaker is really needed. More people (e.g. family) can enjoy the show as much as the person in the sweet spot, with the center sound evenly spread out ...

Posted on: 24 February 2002 by pm

JosephR,

..........er, it IS DTS / AC3.

I do accept what you say about a sweet spot though, for somebody listening off centre.....

......But there is only me to please!!

Posted on: 24 February 2002 by JosephR

quote:
Originally posted by pm:
JosephR,
..........er, it IS DTS / AC3.
I do accept what you say about a sweet spot though, for somebody listening off centre.....
......But there is only me to please!!

That's fine then ... but have you tried a good center yet ? Paradigm, Polk, B&W ... Naim ...

Posted on: 25 February 2002 by pm

Joeseph,

I think we have to keep this within the context of the system hierarchy. The general consensus is to make sure that the voicing of the centre matches the front pair. For me then, the choice was easy. I love my Castle Howards. Castle happen to make a very well reviewed centre speaker in the £200-300 range. Choice made. Before I had a Mission speaker in the £100-£200 range. The upgrade was marked in that the centre disappeared, so good a match was the voicing.

As I said before, with the Sony set to "no centre" and the voice channel sent to the front pair, there was rock solid fixing of voice in the centre of the screen.

Sticking with the hierarchy principle, I would much rather spend extra money on improving the the decoding/amplification side of things. I am convinced that my speaker set up (around £2000 worth) will stand many more upgrades before needing attention.

A centre that costs £2000 alone should only be attached to a system that cost lottery type money in the first place!!!

My point remains that, at my level, I would assess carefully whether one actually needs a centre speaker by auditioning; just don't accept the magazines or manufacturers word for it!!

I accept entirely that off centre listening or a difficult room layout would be good reasons to use one.

Posted on: 25 February 2002 by JosephR

Sorry, saw your profile (just learned how to do it), and saw that you do use a center speaker

Anyway, you're right about voicing, which is why I still have my Paradigms around ... a Naim center speaker is welcome, alright, but at that price ...

Anyway, music comes first .... my kid loves movies, however, but sometimes gets overwhelmed and just plays softly to avoid the "frightening" sound of dinosaurs, gunshots, etc ...

Posted on: 25 February 2002 by Frank Abela

According to the chap in the Naim room, the centre speaker is just that and does not come as part of the stand - and it's £2700.

The stand has been designed especially with a centre speaker in mind such that it is completely decoupled from the rest of the stand holding the electronics and screen. The benefit of this is that the vibration from the speaker (quite significant) is not transmitted into the main body of the system and screen. The simple test with system running is to place hand on speaker portion of stand and then on system portion of stand. The latter has little to no vibration whereas the former has a significant amount which is being dispelled into the ground.

The bad news is that the stand is almost as expensive as the centre speaker...

Regards,
Frank.
All opinions are my own and do not reflect the opinion of any organisations I work for, except where this is stated explicitly.

Posted on: 25 February 2002 by keV

quote:
Originally posted by SteveC:
Me too. I don't fall for the argument that x% comes through the centre, therefore you need a centre speaker. Anyway, where would I find one Isobarik to match my stereo pair :-)
SteveC

Steve, as you know I have the same problem. The best match I got to the Briks was Saras, though they can't get too close to the TV. Even then, my wife said it sounded like I'd added a transistor radio to the system. I wouldn't go that far, but you get the picture! Centre speakers are overrated in my opinion as well.

Kevin