Best speaker for Superuniti

As per my previous post- I am in the process of gradually upgrading my system. 

SU

Cyrus CDI and psx-r

KEF Q800

Well, I guess it depends -- on your taste, on your room, on your budget... 

Have a listen to ATC SCM 19 on some very solid stands. Dealers with both Naim and ATC aren't common, but well worth seeking out.

For what it is worth, my second system is Superuniti into SBLs and it sounds absolutely marvellous. Seems to be loads of good examples about and a very substantial saving on £2.5k which seems to me to be a lot of money on the back of a Superuniti.

Sorry. What exactly do you mean by sbl ?

Naim SBL second hand. Look at dealers websites and ebay (but be careful there in terms of quality).

Thanks. I am not a Naim expert or "into" this stuff...

There are a pair on ebay at the moment just south of £500 that look ok to me and the dealer seems to have good feedback but you will see quite a lot come up and if you could go and visit and have a look and listen that would be good..

Don't know where you are in the UK Richard, if indeed you are in the UK, but you might think about telling your local Naim dealer what you are considering. Alternatively the drums (think T-T) might be a good place to start.

When I had a SuperUniti I used PMC twenty.23s and it sounded really good. The 24 sounds like a bit too much speaker, unless the SU is a stop gap while you wait for something better. 

Thanks. Ideally (if I can sell my su at a good price,) I will replace it with a supernait. Just to confuse me there appears to be a PMC twenty and a twenty5 23.

"better" is my whole problem. Am I chasing rainbows ?

The 25 is the latest version and is supposedly better than the previous 20 series.

I just looked up those Kefs and they are certainly large! You really need to spend some time at a dealer trying a few speakers out, and then trying them at home. 

Richard walker posted:

Hi all. As the market now appears to be flooded with used superunitis I have decided to hang on to mine...

. I have been offered a set of Monitor audio gold 200 s (at a really good exdemo price) by my local dealer who won't let me take them home to compare. 

Get yourself another dealer firstly

Sbl is Naim loudspeakers from the 80'ies/90'ies

Successor is SL2

Both great speakers to place close to rear wall

Sbl are extremely value for money but can be tricky setting up

No longer made

You need to come around listen to the speakers, which do you like?, There are Plenty.. asking whats the best speaker for your amp is like asking whats the best meal in the evening

I am a brit living in the black forest but visit London on a regular basis- unfortunately no time to visit Hifi dealers. The Dealer in Freiburg has the Monitor audio gold 200 on offer at 2K (euros) I can order the Twenty 24 for a similar price- but in the UK. Here they are much more expensive. The SBLs   l will have to believe everyone here that the are great---- but to my eyes they are ... fugly to say the least. The wife is an architect ... so no chance...

"my" room is about 4 x 5 m maybe slightly bigger, and I would like to plan this change for the future.. to use with initially my superuniti, swap the su for a supernait and eventually swop the Cyrus cdi for a Naim.

I understand it may be difficult under the circumstances, but unless there is absolutely no way, none at all, that you can listen before you buy, please do that.  There is such a performance difference between different speakers in the £2-3k bracket, ranging from pretty awful to sublime.  And that's just between the four examples I demoed.  They were nothing like each other.  As there are people leaving their dealers, and singing praises around here of each example, clearly people want different things from the music they play.  Off the back of that statement it would be absurd for me to make a recommendation.  An SN2 with the right speakers and source, which seems to be where you're ultimately headed, punches above its weight in my view, but the speakers will make or break it in the end. 

To be clear. I have heard the Monitor audio gold 200 with a Uniti Nova and also the pmc twenty(5) 24s. Which are out of my price class. Both sounded really good, but I couldnt compare to my system because it wasnt there.  Lots of people in the internet speak highly of the twenty 23 and the 24s. The choices seems to be.

Buy supernait 2. And use instead of SU.

or new speakers

Monitor studio gold 200

or Twenty 23 or 24s.

If you don't use the streaming facilities of SU no need to keep this

A SN2 will be very much revealing and any crap source is busted rushlessly

Tbh in your room something like an XS or 5Si amp will be enough if you choose easier speakers and put money towards a better source than Cyrus, a s/h CDX perhaps ? A CD5X+FC2 is no slouch either, great maschines, source first - spread your budget.

Personally I prefer XS or 5Si amp over any SN version but I haven't much experience with PMC

I ran mine with n sats, sounded very nice....

Maybe have a look for a powerline (used??) it had a very positive impact on the SU.

Gary

If I were you, and if I didn't dislike the actual sound of my speakers, I'd get a Naim CDX2 first, then change the SU for an SN2, then choose speakers once the electronics are in place. The SN2 will expose inadequacies in the Cyrus, and building the system in the way I suggest will preserve system hierarchy and enable you to make an appropriate speaker choice when the time comes. Even if a home demonstration proves impossible, it's easy to chuck a CDX2 and SN2 in the car and take them to a dealer for a speaker demo. 

I would say  the g200 will not give you the scale of the q900the same goes for the 23(scale wise not quality with the23)if your room could accommodate the q900 i would try the 24.

I have my Superuniti driving Naim Allaes and couldn't be happier.

Nick

In my book, Monitor Audio and Naim doesn't really work together well. Can't really describe it in "audiophile" terms, but it felt somewhat pedestrian when I heard this combo. There was notihing special grabbing my attention...

When we moved on to PMC, there was a lot of sparkle. At this point, we looked at 20.21. Later, we compared the 20.21 and 25.21 -- the latter were much more refined. We eventually bought the 25.23 to have more gravitas for orchestral music. Lovely speakers that bring us joy every single day, but these PMC are very contoversial here, and some in the Forum cannot cope with the 25's treble. So audition is really important.

listen to the quad range  excellent range, the ribbon tweeter is top notch.    and they are extremely well finished

Agree - was rather impressed when I heard (briefly) the Quad Z1 at a recent show. Less than ideal circumstances of course, but that brief exposure to the ribbon tweeter has made me curious to explore them further. The difficulty being no dealers locally.

Also, well worth checking out he Russell K range of speakers. Every time I've heard them (whole range) I've been impressed.

Richard walker posted:

Buy supernait 2. And use instead of SU. 

Good idea.

Best anyway

M.