Change speakers

Those Tannoys are well regarded £1,700  speakers. I wonder if something for your budget would actually be significantly better? Of course, for £2,000 you could get a great pair of used speakers, but then the Nait may become outclassed. That said, the PMC 20.23 or a pair of Naim Allaes might be worth investigating. 

Hi thank you "HH" - someone else actually suggested to me that I might have to spend significantly more to get real value. Otherwise it may just be a sideways step. Given that I got the speakers for £800 they were a really good buy.

And as you point out I may end up out classing my amp.

Regards

Changing speakers without the chance to listen first is pretty risky, and there's a chance you could end up with worse sound, not better. As you're happy with what you have now, I would be inclined to keep the Tannoys, and drive them with a better amp, maybe a Supernait.

What phono stage are you using? 

Hi it's a little known phono by" Angle Audio".Dedicated low output.Was only £250 if I remember right and is great value for money.

Todays stupid question: Is a Naim Nait a major step up?

The 'Super' has actually a meaning! I have one and enjoy it every single day.

But it depends on what you are looking for and mainly the speakers you choose. Supernait will definitely give you more options regarding speakers.

... Waiting for a source first guy to kick in here ...

petzhou posted:

Todays stupid question: Is a Naim Nait a major step up?

I would say so, yes. Lots of grip to get the best from your speakers.

I'm not familiar with your phono stage, but if vinyl is your main/only source, I wouldn't rule out an upgrade here.

Ardbeg10y posted:

 

... Waiting for a source first guy to kick in here ...

...I think his source is plenty good enough to survive an amp upgrade...

Chris, I think you're right.

One more thing I'd like to mention on the Supernait. I have a living room - about 50 sq M - where the Supernait is perfect. It is slave-driving my tiny CM1's to enormous heights. In my work room - about 12 sq M, it is different. The Supernait is too much amp there. It's like the amp tries to be master in the room and kick me out. Just can't turn the volume higher than 8 o clock.

So, if you have efficient floorstanding speakers in a small room, your XS might be better for you than a Supernait.

This is of course my current opinion which might change when I do some repositioning of my speakers in the working room / change speaker cable etc ...

At your price point I would only consider secondhand. If you don't know what you seek, then an alternative approach could be to phone some dealers and find what they might have, s/h or ex-demo, do a bit of quick research - including on this forum - and if they seem like possible contenders go and listen. And do that every month or two, as stock changes. I don't know where you are located, but I think in the UK there are also a few specialist used hifi dealers, with demo facilities. Private sellers need not be ruled out, but  you probably more have to have an inkling of what might be of interest before searching.

if you audition in unfamiliar surroundings, take your present speakers, and amp if they don't have the same available, so that you can have a comparative reference point. (Final audition to confirm at home if humanly possible.) To find good s/h you may need to be prepared to travel - but why not if spending that sort of sum and something good crops up? I have previously detailed my 1000 mile 2-day expedition to audition speakers, lugging mine into several demo rooms (none of the staff batted an eyelid, even when they carried the 60kg beasts upstairs), with a very successful outcome.

I think I would go Kore and Lingo on the lp12. Not sure what spec you actually have but if vinyl is your main source something around Akurate level LP12 would be great with a Naim integrated amp.

Ok, call me old fashioned...

Stu

Hi all - thanks for your input. For now just going to try to enjoy what I have instead of looking to change something 10 minutes after I made the last change!