Leema Xero speakers: hard to get them right ?

Hi all,

I've been the happy owner of 2 pairs of Leema's little Xero mini monitors (and I know some on this forum use them too or owned them).  The fact is that I've happily lived with them for 4 years, a pair being powered by 2 emotiva powerhouses (XPA1 to name them, 500 watts each, and real watts) along with matching Preamp and CDP. That pair was also used along with a Leema subwoofer just to add a little flesh on their sound. The second pair was used in the bedroom, driven by a little minx xi and performed quite well.

I was really happy with my set up and the only reason I parted with the Emotiva gears is that I wanted to own the Naim DAC V1 and NAP 100 combo which sounded and looked gorgeous. The Emotiva gear sounded really powerful and very convenient and flexible (the preamp for instance allowed to fine-tune the set up of the Leema Sub, to blend them perfectly well with the Xeros) and it really sound marvellous. The only thing is that I had the feeling I was missing something, without being able to name it (as compared versus the Myryad Z-Quad 11L kit I owned before changing system again). And ohhhh I could suddenly found what was missing : a soul...my feet was not tapping on the floor anymore and I knew well that the spekers were not to be blamed but rather the electronics.

So I kept the Xeros and bought the Naim kit, using the Qute 2 as a pure source. In the meantime, I moved from Grenoble to Paris in a lightly smaller appartment and had the opportunity to grab 2 pairs of B&W PM1 at very decent price. I also grabed a pair KEF LS50.

All these speakers paired really beautifully with the all-Naim system. And in the bedroom I replaced the Minx xi with a 2nd Qute 2 for the second PM1 and all went really fine

So both Xero went back into their packings and I was happy with the Naim-B&W pairing. So happy in fact that I did not feel the need to listen the little Xero again, until yesterday.

I decided to take them back to see how they'd pair with my full Naim kit, and guess what...I was kind of surprised and even dare I say, a little bit frustrated

I found the sound very restrained; very shouty, with no flesh on the bones; but oddly enough, with some other tracks I found myself dancing again in my living room, without being able to explain that; and again when listening the following tracks, the speakers sounded kind of very thin; a little too forward with not enough bass. They do produce some, but not enough to my taste.

I know some may argue that the set up has completely changed (full Emotiva and sub; versus full naim now, without the sub) as has the listening room (much more furnished, and a little smaller). And plus, the speakers hadn't been used for more than 3 years since I listened to them for the last time in Grenoble. However; even then, and powering the sub down, I found the little Xero performed really well and they were absolutely stunning, in a room larger than the one I have now. They sounded genuinely blindingly good to me, and that's precisely the reason I did keep them when I decided to move forward and enter the Naim world.

But now, I feel like the fact that I'm not using the sub anymore and the listening room changes might not be the sole explanations to what I heard yesterday.

Because after all, even if the little Xero are rated 85db with recommanded amplifier ranging from 50W up to 200W (that was initially the reason I bought them happily because I knew my monoblock pairs would have happily drive them); the NAP 100 is not in anyway underpowered and it did really drive both my PM1s and LS50 well so far. And plus the tiny Xeros have just a 4 inch mid/bass driver, something so tiny that I've always wondered where all the sound I was able to hear back in Grenoble was actually coming from (at the time, I filtered the sub to reproduce sound below 45hz only).

And since yesterday, I just keep questionning what's wrong now with the Naim-Xero system. I know these speakers have huge potential and can really sing and play loud and clear if well set up. I experimented with placement a bit but that did not change anything. And on the other hand, I'd be really surprised if the NAP100 should fail to drive them at their full potential and plus, if trusting Leema's specs they represent fairly easy load for any good amp (6 ohms rating I think)

Did some experience this kind of things ? I'm really wondering whether I went completely wrong (I precisely read something about Naim partenered with Leema speakers on this very forum).

So any testimonial of Xeros owners or naimists who had a chance to listen to them would be very much appreciate