Ovator S400 vs Kudos Super 20s

Not really I only ever heard the 400s once at a Naim demo and it would be wrong to say my unfavourable Impressions from that occasion  were conclusive.    But I can only say that after 3 months (nearly) the S20s are just outstanding - completely exceeding all expectations.  

I suppose that one key insight is the one of them is not manufactured any longer

I'm not sure that's quite fair, Chris. My speakers are no longer made but they are still pretty good. 

True of course - but you can't buy newly manufactured ones so are limited to the "pre-loved" market.

I guess the future for Naim branded speakers  was always in the balance once the partnership with Focal was established.  

Could not wait to sell my s400 sounded horrid to my ears.

If that was the case, can I ask why you bought them Singh? 

The Strat (Fender) posted:

I guess the future for Naim branded speakers  was always in the balance once the partnership with Focal was established.  

Had Ovators sold in high numbers and created profit, I think they were further developed down the line

Never been my cup really, nor Focal but the older Naim range, some of them were pretty amazing

singh posted:

Could not wait to sell my s400 sounded horrid to my ears.

Horrid? I doubt Naim have ever made anything that sounds "horrid".

I purchased them at a very favourable price and sold on for a profit.

Chalk and cheese. If you like the sound of either that you've heard, I doubt you'd like the other one.

singh posted:

I purchased them at a very favourable price and sold on for a profit.

So you got them for a song, Singh.

Kiwi cat posted:

singh posted:

I purchased them at a very favourable price and sold on for a profit.

So you got them for a song, Singh.

Song Singh Blue  ;-)

MangoMonkey posted:

..... Wondering...

Why though, Mango? Earlier you reported how much fun the Kudos X2s were, and you have S20s too.

C.

Yes you are right there is no combination of naim components that mm has not already bought then resold ( at no loss so he kids us ) why he keeps asking for views goodness knows . 

jonnaim posted:

Yes you are right there is no combination of naim components that mm has not already bought then resold ( at no loss so he kids us ) why he keeps asking for views goodness knows . 

Thanks for your very insightful contribution to this thread.

Christopher_M posted:

MangoMonkey posted:

..... Wondering...

Why though, Mango? Earlier you reported how much fun the Kudos X2s were, and you have S20s too.

C.

Kudos X2 are really not in the same ball park as the rest of the components. I've got them running at the end of the a uq2.

s20s are awesome - that just don't work very well in my living room  - too much glass - and they are bright.

And dimensions are 40ft by 18ft. Listening area is 18ft by 12ft - vaulted ceilings. They back into glass windows.

anyway - my friendly dealer will drop off a set of ovators for me to home demo. :-)

MangoMonkey posted:

Christopher_M posted:

MangoMonkey posted:

..... Wondering...

Why though, Mango? Earlier you reported how much fun the Kudos X2s were, and you have S20s too.

C.

Kudos X2 are really not in the same ball park as the rest of the components. I've got them running at the end of the a uq2.

s20s are awesome - that just don't work very well in my living room  - too much glass - and they are bright.

And dimensions are 40ft by 18ft. Listening area is 18ft by 12ft - vaulted ceilings. They back into glass windows.

anyway - my friendly dealer will drop off a set of ovators for me to home demo. :-)

Thanks Mango. Isn't this more or less where you came in with a question about room acoustics and your Rega R3s (?) all those years ago? Is it déjà vu all over again?

Good luck with Ovators.

C.

Do we have any clarity on whether the S400 did go through any revision post production?

G

@Chris - Probably. However, the biggest issue were networking related - and not so much the room. The tweaks that I've done over the years to bring the noisefloor down - with the latest one being the biggest bang for the buck:

a) Move from Synology NAS to QNAP TS-453A. This was the last step - and biggest win. For the first time, the streamers sound as good as the Naim CD players I demoed many many years ago. Biggest changes - lower noise floor, separation, a lot more detail. I was wondering why spotify always seemed like it had a lower noise floor than the Unitiserv. Now - spotify sounds broken. First time ever. In all cases, I was playing from the Unitiserv - just using the NAS as file storage.

b) Network cables, routers etc. All on TrippLite power conditioners. This is around the house wherever any network component is in play

If I had these two things in place several years ago, I probably would not have gone past the Logitech Streamer, Rega Dac, NaitXS. :-) Ok maybe ND5XS/NaitXS. Instead, I upgraded from the ND5XS to the NDX to the NDS... and landed on the 552/300. arghh!!!

Was fighting another monster over the weekend - has to move things around - and system super bright again. fixed a bunch of things but no luck. Final step was to reverse the Chord Ethernet cable. And viola. System is back again.

Over the last month was probably for the first time the system came together. 

And I had left everything alone over the past year or so - was busy with other stuff.. and system sounded fine - but not spectacular..
Lets see whether the ovators can tame the treble though - if they can, I could repurpose the Super 20s ...

Mango you should try to audition some Dynaudio speakers. The new focals are quite nice too.

analogmusic posted:

Mango you should try to audition some Dynaudio speakers. The new focals are quite nice too.

Or get help.

Why the sledging? Mango's just trying to get as much pleasure as possible from playing back music at home, same as the rest of us.

Chris

Christopher_M posted:

Why the sledging? 

Chris

Because upgrading is a slippery slope?

not always, HH. unless one buys a 252 twice