Speaker recommendations for NAP300

At my dealer's I recently a heard a 300DR driving a pair of Sopra 2s.  The Sopra 2s sounded excellent with a 250DR but with the 300DR they were absolutely stunning.  

Mike 

Sopra 2 or Neat XL 6 or 10 depending on room/budget?

I'm budgeting up to £10k.  Hope to move early next year, so will room size is unknown. 

With a 252/300, the choice of speakers is quite large!

Have a look at the Sonus Faber range

Regards,

Edouard

PMC twenty.26 or fact.8.

The Strat (Fender) posted:

Sopra 2 or Neat XL 6 or 10 depending on room/budget?

I happily ran Neat MF7's, then my present speakers, Neat MF9's with the 252 / 300 combo, and they sounded great.

As the Strat suggests, the current models of the above speakers, the XL6 and the XL 10 certainly need to be on your audition list.

There's something about the Neat / Naim combination which just works.

Dave.

Ben Williams posted:

I currently have a Supernait 2 with a Hicap DR and am looking to go down the pre-amp power amp combo with a NAC252, Supercap and NAP300.

Would love to hear from anyone who owns or has audiotioned this amp and can recommend speakers that they felt partnered particularly well.

Current source and speakers are Media PC, Chord Hugo TT, Tannoy DC8's and a JL Audio Fathom 110 subwoofer. 

What should I audition?

 

 

I went from 252/300 to SN2 (& later) HCDR...I'd say keep the Tannoy's whilst you audition the 252/300 to see if the pre/power gives you the lift you are hoping for.

If it does then the world is your oyster as far as possible speakers go...audition, audition, audition.

G

I just upgraded to a 252/300 DR and am using Proac D30R's. They are very nice mid size floor standers with a downward firing bass port which makes placement a little easier in smaller or medium size listening spaces. Very musical speaker with great midrange and bass extension. The 300 really controls them authority.

That said... I may look at Sopra 2's at some point in the future as I have heard that they are mind blowing when partnered with a 252/300. 

I'm still with my Ovator 600s which seem to go very well with the 300DR although the word Marmite is frequently mentioned in this forum! If I didn't have these I'd most likely have PMC Fact 12s. Heard them demonstrated with the previous incarnation of the 300 at Audio-T in Brighton several times  and they sounded very nice indeed. Cabinets are deep but the baffle width is slim. I've also seen a couple of ex-dem pairs at attractive prices over recent weeks too.

Shahinian Obelisks work well for me with 552/300. 

harbeth 40.2?  bit out of price range, but excellent.

£9,449 plus £250 for stands sounds spot on budget. 

+1 for PMC 20.26's.

You could use the change from your budget to get some SL cables (if you haven't got them already).

Hungryhalibut posted:

£9,449 plus £250 for stands sounds spot on budget. 

oh, i had the price in euro in mind.. 14.950 euro (= ≈ 11.000 £ + stands!

I firmly believe that speaker choice should start with a list of what you are going to be able to demo in your own room.  I demo'd a series of speakers at home (since I live in South East UK this was practicable for me) and found that some that sounded great at the dealers were a disaster in my own room.

If you can get them demo'd at your house I would recommend Kudos (I have the S20's) and you might like the Focal range in your price bracket.

I have Paradigm S6's with my 252 / 300. I'm not sure what the forums opinion is of these speakers but they work great for me close up to the wall as the bass reflex is forward firing. They are around £6k a pair but are also stunning in appearance, especially in piano black (£600 extra). Appearance was an important factor during purchase as my system is in the lounge and had to satisfy the SWMBO appeal criteria. 

Ken

i think a little different: a good speaker sounds good in every room, but no speaker sounds good in a modern room without any damping. i have never heard a harbeth sound bad if the room was ok.

Ben Williams posted:

I'm budgeting up to £10k.  Hope to move early next year, so will room size is unknown. 

IMO it's very unwise to invest such a huge sum of money on speakers just before an intended house move to a property yet unseen.

Better to wait until after the move, then consider all audio upgrade options

Debs

wise words

Maybe Kudos Super 30 could be something. Super 20 will fit the description but if you want to spend some more to get some more...

//Jonas

I think Kudos have stopped making the 30. It looked so hideous it doesn't seem much of a surprise. 

If you want a radical alternative, take a listen to the NVA cube range of speakers. They have an upward firing bass driver and a forward firing tweeter. 

Once you get used to what these speakers can do then you realise that the standard "drivers in a box" concept is a bit dated.  They do not have a crossover a la Epos. They sound sublime and give a wonderful indication of what the musicians are doing.  Ask the manufacturer nicely and you might get a pair on loan. I would imagine that they would be a formidible pairing with a Naim amp.

The NVAs are an interesting design, but are in themselves somewhat dated, having been introduced over 25 years ago, and borrowing heavily from the much older Allison Six.  For all that, the Allison was a real favourite back in the day, particularly in the '80s CD6 incarnation.

Richard, I can see where you are coming from. Perhaps there are no new ground-breaking speaker designs.

I found the NVAs to be quite stunning. As they are also relatively inexpensive, the op could probably move to a 555 pre with the money saved.

naim_nymph posted:

Ben Williams posted:

I'm budgeting up to £10k.  Hope to move early next year, so will room size is unknown. 

IMO it's very unwise to invest such a huge sum of money on speakers just before an intended house move to a property yet unseen.

Better to wait until after the move, then consider all audio upgrade options

Debs

I won't be upgrading until I move, don't worry.  I do want to take my time between now and then to explore my options so when the time comes I'll have my short list for a home auditions.