Which speakers for Naim amplifiers?

I would love to buy the Naim Ovator S-400.

But they are better or worse than the ones I mentioned?

Not to state the obvious, but you really need to listen to them. Speakers are like ice cream; everybody has a different favourite flavour. If you can arrange a demo at your chosen shop with a view to perhaps trying the top contender at home you'll soon have your answer...

I know but I can not organize a listening to everything.

For this I have published this message on the public forum Naim.

Because someone who has already heard some of these speakers could give its opinion here and help other people to choose.

Also any holder of SUPERNAIT 2 or similar could give me some advice as possible.

I have a ProAc D40R and it sucks down all the power a 500 can put out.  It sounds great at my house, but I don't think I would buy another ProAc, particularly a bigger one with a smaller amp.  I have had B&W 804's years ago and would not go back to that family.   Don't know Spendor.  Visit more dealers within your budget.    I would not confine myself to your choices.  Try to avoid thick and slow even if you have the power.  The Naim idea is a good one.  We love our nSats.

If I were looking today, I would look at Dynaudio, small Magico and Kudos if you can find them.

What do you dislike about the Sonus Faber?

FWIW I don't think I've heard anyone who liked B&W speakers on these forums, I could be wrong here.

William,

What kind of music do you listen to? If you like acoustic instruments (jazz, classical), you should listen to Harbeth loudspeakers.

ClaudeP asks a critical question.  I listen to mostly jazz and love the Spendor and Harbeth sound signature, very accurate timbre, fast and luscious midrange for vocals. Recently I auditioned ProAc Response D Two and was very impressed. All the qualities of my Spendors but a little faster with a deeper more powerful bass. 

If if you don't like your Sonus Fabers, I would stay away from B&W. To me they both share an exaggerated high end and upper midrange.  

William

You have a very impressive amplifier and with the NDS the system should sound sublime. I personally run Ovator 400s on the end of a superuniti/250Dr combination with Naim A5 cables. In my 4x4m room they sound wonderful. They have a neutral tone and present very accurately and quickly the music fed into them. They need to be away from a wall and should you ever upgrade to a more powerful amp there will no need to upgrade the speakers as they just keep getting better with better kit. I have not heard the other speakers you suggest, but the Ovators are designed with naim kit in mind and match well, so get a demo if you can.

I like some of their standmount speakers.

They are perfect to my ears.  I have sn2+ndx in a fairly large space.  I have added a REL G2 sub.

The 400s could be either better or worse, but you'd have to tell us the answer to that.

????

Has this list been drawn up at random? The Act One Evolution is a £20,000 speaker. I would humbly suggest that it might be too much for a Supernait. 

I am also using NDS/SN2+HICAP with Harbeth C7 ES3 speakers on Skylan

stands. Sounds wonderful.

Don't forget Bose Companion 3

I'm loving my Naim + Vivid Audio sound.    At that price range, I would look at the Giya G4 or B1.

Wheher or not your Naim Supernait 2 has enough muscle depends on your listening distance\volume etc

I am using B&W805Signature with 202/HCDR/200 and I am happy with these.

 I would be keen to have a listen to the B&W D3 speakers , as they are hot off the press as such.

The 803 D3 could have a change of voice from the last version that might be in more align with broader appeal.

also the mighty Focal 1028 be' floorstanders are popular with Naim owners, and I'm sure the SN2 and Hicap would easily drive them.

cheers

William

Naim is about musical communication and not about "hi fi". If you stick with a Naim speaker with your wonderful streamer and amplifier will you not go wrong. It is just about getting the right Naim speaker fo  match your system.  Don't stuff around with other brands, just get the right Naim speaker for your room. Verily, I have spoken. Nice Tuscan cab/ Merlot to go with my listening session tonight, Italian wine gives very well with Naim as well. Just my 0.02 cents.

One of the most enjoyable sounds I experienced with the original Supernait was with a system I set up consisting of a CDX2, a Supernait and Hicap all on Fraim along with a pair of Audiovector floor standers (I think they were Mi3s).  Cabling was NACA5 with a flying E type termination at the speaker end.

Up until then I hadn't been wholly convinced by the Audiovector speakers (particularly the ones with the  bass switch on the back) but I have to admit that system was so enjoyable it made me see them in a completely new light.

I don't know what their current offerings are like but they must be worth a listen at the very least.

Don't know which sonus fabers you've heard, but they don't have much in common with the B&W sound signature i have in mind.

All SF speakers I have heard (quite a few new and old) were all about seamless driver integration, specificaly in de midband which results in a perfect rendition of the midrage, especially the human voice.

If anything the serblin designed models could be described somewhat romantic with a pleasant but not over the top warm and intimate sound.

May i suggest you listen to a pair of Floorstanding Cremona's or Cremona M's (which are a litte more forward and responsive than the originals)

Another great speaker (though i haven't heard them yet) aught to be the Spendor D7 which will be on my shortlist when i ever get to it.

I have listen to several Audiovector speakers at my dealers. I have also listen to Ovator several times. These two are quite different in their presentation. It’s very likely that you don’t like one if you like the other, so to speak.

I don’t really like neither of them. To me the Ovator is a bit to “dull” and the Audiovector (especially the lower models) are a bit to much “in your face”. The tweeter is a bit intrusive and at least I get listening fatigue when listening for a longer period of time. I would like something in between and preferable with a sweeter top end. To my ears the SR3 Avantgard Arreté is the most likable in the SR3-range. The tweeter is better and not that pronounced and “hard/grainy” as with the lower models.

I have tested the SR6 Avantgard Arreté at home for a week but was not 100% satisfied. Sure they were better than my current Audio Physic Virgo 25 but the difference was smaller than I expected. On very well produced music they were clearly better. On “normal” productions they were slightly better and on bad recordings I definitely preferred my Audio Physic.

I agree that the new B&W 800-series will be very interesting to hear. I would also listen to Focal Sopra, Kef Reference to just mention a few if you are looking in that price range. I will listen to Marten speakers next week and have asked in another thread for opinions and experiences about KEF and Marten speakers. The Marten Django L or XL could maybe be a good match to a Supernait. I’ve never heard Marten speakers but have been told that they are very good in their price range…

I also think that Audio Physic makes good speakers. When I bought my Virgo 25 I listen to 8-10 different brands and to my taste the Virgo 25 was clearly the best. I could off course have missed several good brands and models but it’s impossible to listen to everything…

Good luck with your speaker hunting!

/Marcus

I've not heard you mention Magnepan speakers before Wat. Would you care to elaborate?