Unit Atom - Focal Speakers or old Naim

I think you will find relatively few people on the forum who would recommend Focal speakers, which are not at all Naim by another name, but your dealer will be able to demo multiple other offerings for you and I would expect that by the end of today you will have many suggestions (but, again, there are few forum members yet who have Atoms at home and so the advice of listen yourself and choose what works best for you is what I would give.

best

David

I had a look at the 906's, they sound good, but build quality was lacking a bit, especially the vinyl around the enclosure. The Piano black ones were much better. That said you can pick them up at a reasonable cost. There are 905's available as I type for £400. If you can go a little bit more, (I asked the question a week or two ago), people here were very helpful). Neat Motive SX2 & 3, ATC SCM11, ProAc Tablette 10, Revel too.

I couldn't listen to them all band opted for Neat Motive SX2 - they're amazing for the money and very well built and they are quite small. They go really well with the Creative Design 103 stands if that's your thing.

Thanks guys, yes the Focal thing to me was news but 20yrs time out things change. My purpose was not to head into the endless upgrade path again, but a greatbstreaming space limited system.

Will try see what the dealer has and demo, spotted the 905s but was not sure of the difference versus the 906.

Keen in stand speakers but then need to factor stands in also.

I tried the focal 926s yesterday with the atom, side by side with the muso. If you like the sound of the muso, the focals offer a very similar sound, but much improved. Almost like a stereo pair of musos, if you will.

I currently have focal 1007be speakers in my Naim 500 system, and will be moving them to the atom when it arrives in coming days.

great speakers

Obsydian posted:

Thanks guys, yes the Focal thing to me was news but 20yrs time out things change. My purpose was not to head into the endless upgrade path again, but a greatbstreaming space limited system.

Will try see what the dealer has and demo, spotted the 905s but was not sure of the difference versus the 906.

Keen in stand speakers but then need to factor stands in also.

I have a Uniti2 which I tried with both 906's and 926's. I ended up with the 926's as I wanted the bass they brought with them. Both occupy about the same footprint so, assuming budget isn't too much of an issue, it'll be based on listening and visual preferences.

Not having listened to the Atom with the 926's I can't comment on how they sound together, but as I also have a Qb I can state the 926's sound far better than a pair of stereo Qb's would do - good though the Qb is.

On the Focal issue, I think there are quite a few people on the Forum who have Focals and like them. The anti-focal thing seems to be a peculiar mix of genuine dislike of the Focal sound (this can happen with any speaker though - I didn't get on with the PMC and Spendor sound presentation from those I heard at the time),  jingoism (nasty French Focal bought our wonderful UK Naim company) and snobbery.

Like any other expensive thing you buy you should borrow the items for trial at home and see which work for your musical tastes and space.

I hope you enjoy your re-entry into the Naim sound - I'm really looking forward to hearing the Nova with my 926's at some stage. I will undoubtedly move up to this next generation Naim digital platform at some stage but will wait until the 272 gets the new platform before deciding to remain single box or to separate amp and source.

Interesting all and many thanks always nice to still see good old advice and opinion remains on the forum.

I actually don't like muso too bass boom and have tweaked position and cables, but to me it's not classic Naim PRaT. I like the streaming ease, size and one box solution and the Naim element was reminiscing the old days. Did not realise it was Focal/Naim design.

Got to call the dealer and pay for the Atom so will discuss some speaker demos.

[@mention:1566878604014936] I agree, the bass is a little boomy on the muso, but with the 926s, that bass level is the same but far better presented and controlled. When I say the 926 sound similar to the muso, I mean compared to something much thinner like the RX3s, they have a similar overall tone. 

Obsydian posted:

Interesting all and many thanks always nice to still see good old advice and opinion remains on the forum.

I actually don't like muso too bass boom and have tweaked position and cables, but to me it's not classic Naim PRaT. I like the streaming ease, size and one box solution and the Naim element was reminiscing the old days. Did not realise it was Focal/Naim design.

Got to call the dealer and pay for the Atom so will discuss some speaker demos.

It's an interesting Jekyll and Hyde thing is the Muso Qb. I bought it because I liked how it looked and I knew I wasn't going to use if for serious listening. It has some serious useability drawbacks - my family find it really difficult to use as a simple means of just getting the radio playing as the 5 presets just aren't enough.

I initially also found it a bit bass boomy for casual use normally (but that could be what it's stood on) and was generally 'Meh' about it. Then one evening we as a family decided to turn it up loud as a gentle cheese and wine evening evolved into something slightly more vigourous. It ended up at 90 on the volume control pumping out Sandstorm by Darude and it was the most amazing party animal, I don't think anyone there could believe you'd get such a sound or volume out of such a small space.

I now feel completely differently about the Muso Qb knowing it has that in its locker. It's like having a fast car - you'll rarely use the performance in anger but it's nice to know it's there if you want to.

I second this, a couple of weeks ago I had some friends over and we somehow gathered around the mu-so Qb which was in the kitchen ... 

I think it sounds best with loudness off and the room setting set to "close to wall". That way the bass is a bit more sensible. But I don't ever listen to it played loud as its in our bedroom.

best

David

I actually spiked my muso with an old set of Michell Tenderfeet and find Tidal at lossless resolved most the boom, I have mine loudness off and about 5cm from the wall.

It's the old TO GIGO principle as Spotify at 320kps sounds congested and yes compressed.

Using some ripped FLAC USB content and things get better.

And heck does it go loud.

Ended up with a pair of Focal Chorus 706 and pre ordered NACA5 with Naim plugs ends (darn impulse I'll thought out purchases).

Question for the Atom speaker looks like orientation wise the Naim speaker plugs are wrong and I need to use the ones supplied, can't fathom do I have to solder as very small plugs ?

Also on the Focals I bought banana plugs, is it best to use these or is it more direct to feed the bare wire and use the speaker terminal screws.

Can you ask your dealer to solder on the plugs that come with the Atom? I'm not clear if your A5 has the standard Naim black plugs - if so you can remove the black plastic case and bend the wire so it's no longer at 90 degrees. But it would be better to change the plugs. Use bananas at the speaker end. 

Your Focals are a good choice for the latest hardware imo. Plugs advice as per HH above.

(and you have an unusual username, sort of geologist meets Roger Dean).

Chris

Hungryhalibut posted:

Can you ask your dealer to solder on the plugs that come with the Atom? I'm not clear if your A5 has the standard Naim black plugs - if so you can remove the black plastic case and bend the wire so it's no longer at 90 degrees. But it would be better to change the plugs. Use bananas at the speaker end. 

Dealer was a salesman type and they had the Atom and I could not resist as 5mins from home.

My NACA5 has the standard Naim plugs both ends, I just assumed the Atom would and was planning on Naim speakers and thought maybe Focals were suited.

Just had a thought going to try removing standard plug cover and just have the pins then use the Atom plugs as covers- looked the same will check when home.

Will use the banana at the other end ; )

Hungryhalibut posted:

Can you ask your dealer to solder on the plugs that come with the Atom? I'm not clear if your A5 has the standard Naim black plugs - if so you can remove the black plastic case and bend the wire so it's no longer at 90 degrees. But it would be better to change the plugs. Use bananas at the speaker end. 

Thanks Chris I think so to.

Geologist no a friend at Uni was into that and used  name to setup a company and I used it as my email - he was not happy.

Naheed

That is what I was suggesting. Even if the Atom plastic bits don't fit, the bare Naim pins are fine, just be careful you keep them apart so you don't short anything. They are fine for the speakers too. Just remove the plastic bit if the distance between the terminals is different. Hope that makes sense. 

If your current speaker cable has well soldered plugs, there's no harm in using them with the black plastic covers removed, although I would put some heatshrink tubing around them for protection if the Atom supplied covers don't fit. If the soldering isn't spot on, now would be a good time to get it re-done. Plenty of dealers will do this for you.  

Hungryhalibut posted:

That is what I was suggesting. Even if the Atom plastic bits don't fit, the bare Naim pins are fine, just be careful you keep them apart so you don't short anything. They are fine for the speakers too. Just remove the plastic bit if the distance between the terminals is different. Hope that makes sense. 

Gave them to the dealer today he had to ring around for advice on how the solder them.

I did try the bare pin option but given the orientation Naim chose one will fit the other clashes and the A5 is so rigid it clashes with the LAN.

Well thought out design Naim (NOT).

Obsydian posted:

Hungryhalibut posted:

That is what I was suggesting. Even if the Atom plastic bits don't fit, the bare Naim pins are fine, just be careful you keep them apart so you don't short anything. They are fine for the speakers too. Just remove the plastic bit if the distance between the terminals is different. Hope that makes sense. 

Gave them to the dealer today he had to ring around for advice on how the solder them.

I did try the bare pin option but given the orientation Naim chose one will fit the other clashes and the A5 is so rigid it clashes with the LAN.

Well thought out design Naim (NOT).

It seems like a pretty well thought out design to me, but you seem to have been sold a set of plugs that are incompatible with the Atom when you could have used the ones that were provided free in the box, plus regular bananas at the speaker end. I think you should be questioning the service you've had from your dealer, as I can't see how Naim have caused your problem.

I would agree with the OP not the best design for use with the semi rigid A5. That is, one speaker terminal above the other and the two pairs close together. Although the UnitiQute used the same arrangement.

CJ

ChrisSU posted:

Obsydian posted:

Hungryhalibut posted:

That is what I was suggesting. Even if the Atom plastic bits don't fit, the bare Naim pins are fine, just be careful you keep them apart so you don't short anything. They are fine for the speakers too. Just remove the plastic bit if the distance between the terminals is different. Hope that makes sense. 

Gave them to the dealer today he had to ring around for advice on how the solder them.

I did try the bare pin option but given the orientation Naim chose one will fit the other clashes and the A5 is so rigid it clashes with the LAN.

Well thought out design Naim (NOT).

It seems like a pretty well thought out design to me, but you seem to have been sold a set of plugs that are incompatible with the Atom when you could have used the ones that were provided free in the box, plus regular bananas at the speaker end. I think you should be questioning the service you've had from your dealer, as I can't see how Naim have caused your problem.

As in the surprise and delight of owning Naim gear for over 20 years then opening the box setting up and WTF. I'd call it poor packaging design.

A week on and finally up and running all thanks for your advice - sadly dealer wired + and - incorrect.

Anyway I just want to say damn you Naim.

Damn the Atom within a short 60min listen, speakers not even optimal position, cables all over and on top of each other - but wow oh wow the Atom has totally and utterly bowled me over. Been lots of familiar tracks flac via USB and Tidal, simply awesome, from Latin vocals, trance, progressive house, dance and simple vocals - this baby is rock solid for PRaT, soundstage, imaging just beautiful on it's cold and not even run it so it will only get better.

The Atom and Focals really fit for me, only now I wish I bought the HDMI version and the Nova.

Naim well done, bravo, JV would be proud.