Recommended Floor Standing Speakers for Nait XS2 - Budget GBP £3,000 to £4,000

What's wrong with your speakers?

You want more? 

Then , you should improve your amp first otherwise you would get an unmatched result.

Hicap DR first and very ,very warmly recommended to partner with 202/200 at least , at a later stage.

ProAc d20 or else  would then a very welcome addition IMHO maybe d30 too. 

Adam GR,

I would look to improve your amp before looking at new speakers as Antonio suggested, 202/200 if you want to change speakers why not buy a quality second hand pair, you could pick up a pair of Allae's for about £700 if you don't like them, sell them on, you would not lose any money.

Karl

I recently listened to the Neat Iota Xplorers with Naim amp, sounded v good. 

There are a couple of UK dealers with  second hand B & W 804D2 at around half the price of the new 804D3 which are fabulous. And a big step from the 700 series. 

I agree on the addition of a Hi Cap. 

As always your ears are the best judge

Bob F 

If CDs form a major part of your listening, you’d do well to improve that, before looking at better speakers. If you are interested in PMCs, you can get some used twenty.23s for half the price of the twenty5 version. Save money on speakers and spend on source and amplification. Trading your Nait XS and CD5si could get you a used CDX2, a Supernait 2 and some really good used speakers. The Allaes mentioned above would be a great choice. 

Not so sure about the Allaes if you have Monitor Audio as I used to. I auditioned them and found them lacking in bass and balls. I could hear what they do well and if I liked classical and jazz I might have gone for them but I don't so I didn't. They are a good speaker but in my experience, not for everybody.

I certainly endorse buying used - only down side being whether you can get a decent dem, although buying used from a dealer such as Tom Tom would sort that. Best upgrade for the CD player would be to trade it in for a streamer.

You say you have MA silver speakers, but which model - there are several! And it may help if you were to identify any particular aspect of the sound you feel needs improving (deeper bass, clearer mid, brighter treble, smoother response etc), or whether just general all round uplift in quality.

And if you consider secondhand or ex-demo your budget opens quite a range of possibilities, though unless you can find people with direct experience it may be guesswork whether some things will work well with your amp.

Assuming the listening you plan at the end of tge week is at dealers’ premises, do ensure they use the same amp ad source - or take yours along. And if you decide on something that seems right, do insist on a home demo or at least the option to return if disatisfied, as they can sound quite different at home (but of course allow time for playing with positioning options if that happens).

Whilst I am a strong believer in finding speakers that suit the listener, without consideration of relative spend, your buying power especially if secondhand/ex demo may allow consideration of a source upgrade as well, e.g maybe consider introducing a streamer to replace CD in due course... no harm in inquiring or even listening when at the dealer.

With a 29.5Hz primary resonance in your room you need to be very careful with speakers that go below about 40Hz (-3dB) otherwise you'll get a bass boom effect.

This suggests that the KEF Q900, PMC Twenty5 23, PMC Twenty 24, PMC Twenty5 24, ProcAc Response D20R and Spendor A7 are not a good match for your room and are quite likely to boom like crazy.

With the Nait XS 2 you need to be cautious with speakers that are a difficult load to drive.

The B&W 702 have a nominal impedance of 8Ω, a minimum of 3.1Ω and a lot of drivers, this suggests that they may be a difficult load and not well suited to the XS 2.
The Spendor D7 is natural and revealing and will show up the limitations of the XS 2 and even more so the CD5si.

The Q Acoustic Concept 500 is theoretically a better match, but is still a more capable speaker than is warranted by the rest of your system.

However ALL this is just theoretical - the only way to find out is to put the speakers in your room, on the end of your system and listen to the with your ears; only then will you truly know what's best for you.

In other words, the only way to know is a home demo.

If you are seeking speakers that go lower in the bass than your present ones then it may be appropriate to consider room treatment to control any excited nodes should that occur - depending on how they behave in your room (and of course your preferences)

Not sure that i agree with PEV that Allae"s lack bass and balls, I choose them for the way they sounded with rock and metal so it just goes to prove that we all hear things differently, the room and placement is key.

Karl

Karl posted:

Not sure that i agree with PEV that Allae"s lack bass and balls, I choose them for the way they sounded with rock and metal so it just goes to prove that we all hear things differently, the room and placement is key.

Karl

I quite agree with you though .  It was actually dub reggae at realistic volume that put me off them.  As I tried to convey, they do have merits but are by no means a "no brainer".

Pev posted:

Karl posted:

Not sure that i agree with PEV that Allae"s lack bass and balls, I choose them for the way they sounded with rock and metal so it just goes to prove that we all hear things differently, the room and placement is key.

Karl

I quite agree with you though .  It was actually dub reggae at realistic volume that put me off them.  As I tried to convey, they do have merits but are by no means a "no brainer".

Better to buy speakers that sound good whatever is played?

Hi,

I would imagine that a pair of Neat Motive SX2 speakers would match beautifully with your Nait XS2 amplifier as it is, though I too agree with others here in that upping the ante with your front end is a much better way to go, first.

I am perhaps a little bit out of your price range with the suggestions. But sometimes one can get a good deal with speakers on a certain finish or demo model. If I where you I would consider the following three which work well with Naim...

Focal Kanta 2 - also good looking, a lot of musical enjoyment

Kudos C2 or a bit up - solid sound

Verity Audio Finn - very musical speakers...

A forum friend kindly recommended Naim Allaes to me to go with my NAIT XS. I can easily recommend them to you.

You are going to have a lot of change.....

I had an XS with PMC 20.23s. The amp was perfectly capable of driving them - no need for a HiCap, which some don't recommend with an XS.

Adam,

I’ve also got an XS2 and cd5si and last year i changed my speakers from monitor audio bronze 5 floorstanders to PMC twenty5 22 stand mounts. My room is about the same size as yours too. 

I was intending to buy another set of floorstanders such as the pmc twenty5 23s but much preferred the sound of the 22s - the bigger mid bass drivers make a real difference. 

The closest of all the other speakers I listened to were the Neats but they weren’t as happy close to a rear wall. 

Not sure I would agree with the idea of changing your amp before the speakers as the improvement from monitor audio to pmc wasn’t subtle! 

As ever I guess you shoudl audition as many different options as possible. 

You owe it to youself to try the Dynaudio X34 or special 40. Dynaudio bookshelf speakers don't lack bass.

The focal Aria speakers are also high sensitvity and make each driver themselves like Dynaudio, these should work  well with the Nait XS

Was never a PMC fan until I heard the Twenty5 23 speakers at this years Axpona show. Huge improvement over the older Twenty series I heard. Very impressive, I must say!

They were being driven by their own PMC integrated amp, also very impressive.

In another system, I have a pair of Proac Response D80 speakers.  They're great speakers.  I run them with a Burmester 082 integrated amp.  Haven't tried them with Naim gear, but from what I've read on the forums, I think they may be a good match with Naim gear.

Huge posted:

With a 29.5Hz primary resonance in your room you need to be very careful with speakers that go below about 40Hz (-3dB) otherwise you'll get a bass boom effect.

This suggests that the KEF Q900, PMC Twenty5 23, PMC Twenty 24, PMC Twenty5 24, ProcAc Response D20R and Spendor A7 are not a good match for your room and are quite likely to boom like crazy.

With the Nait XS 2 you need to be cautious with speakers that are a difficult load to drive.

The B&W 702 have a nominal impedance of 8Ω, a minimum of 3.1Ω and a lot of drivers, this suggests that they may be a difficult load and not well suited to the XS 2.
The Spendor D7 is natural and revealing and will show up the limitations of the XS 2 and even more so the CD5si.

 

The Q Acoustic Concept 500 is theoretically a better match, but is still a more capable speaker than is warranted by the rest of your system.

 

However ALL this is just theoretical - the only way to find out is to put the speakers in your room, on the end of your system and listen to the with your ears; only then will you truly know what's best for you.

In other words, the only way to know is a home demo.

Hi Hugh

Thank you for your very interesting post which has prompted me to research over the last couple of days and gain a greater understand of room modes etc, for which I am grateful.

When I said my room was 5m x 6m, I now understand the significance of what is a misleading statement as in actual fact it is far from a rectangle room.  It is actually an irregular shape with a bay window, nooks and crannies, lobby area, two doorways plus a sliding folding door into another room etc, all of which will help with acoustics.  This obviously emphasises the need for a home trial before parting with my cash. 

Going back to your original comment about going for speakers that go below 40Hz, I note you mentioned the Kef Q900 may not be suitable and I understand the reason for that, given it has a Frequency response from 32Hz.  I was actually considering the Kef R900 which I note has a Frequency response of 40-28,000, therefore, given what you said, might be still worth considering, assuming my room was a rectangle of 5m x 6m?

Many Thanks Adam

SamClaus posted:

I had an XS with PMC 20.23s. The amp was perfectly capable of driving them - no need for a HiCap, which some don't recommend with an XS.

Very interesting thank you.

Adam Gr posted:

Huge posted:

With a 29.5Hz primary resonance in your room you need to be very careful with speakers that go below about 40Hz (-3dB) otherwise you'll get a bass boom effect.

This suggests that the KEF Q900, PMC Twenty5 23, PMC Twenty 24, PMC Twenty5 24, ProcAc Response D20R and Spendor A7 are not a good match for your room and are quite likely to boom like crazy.

With the Nait XS 2 you need to be cautious with speakers that are a difficult load to drive.

The B&W 702 have a nominal impedance of 8Ω, a minimum of 3.1Ω and a lot of drivers, this suggests that they may be a difficult load and not well suited to the XS 2.
The Spendor D7 is natural and revealing and will show up the limitations of the XS 2 and even more so the CD5si.

 

The Q Acoustic Concept 500 is theoretically a better match, but is still a more capable speaker than is warranted by the rest of your system.

 

However ALL this is just theoretical - the only way to find out is to put the speakers in your room, on the end of your system and listen to the with your ears; only then will you truly know what's best for you.

In other words, the only way to know is a home demo.

Hi Hugh

Thank you for your very interesting post which has prompted me to research over the last couple of days and gain a greater understand of room modes etc, for which I am grateful.

When I said my room was 5m x 6m, I now understand the significance of what is a misleading statement as in actual fact it is far from a rectangle room.  It is actually an irregular shape with a bay window, nooks and crannies, lobby area, two doorways plus a sliding folding door into another room etc, all of which will help with acoustics.  This obviously emphasises the need for a home trial before parting with my cash. 

Going back to your original comment about going for speakers that go below 40Hz, I note you mentioned the Kef Q900 may not be suitable and I understand the reason for that, given it has a Frequency response from 32Hz.  I was actually considering the Kef R900 which I note has a Frequency response of 40-28,000, therefore, given what you said, might be still worth considering, assuming my room was a rectangle of 5m x 6m?

Many Thanks Adam

Sorry Huge not “Hugh” 

Dear All

i just wanted to thank everyone for taking the time to post their thoughts and comments, which I have found very interesting and mainly informative.  I’m certainly a little wiser than I was a few days ago. 

Many Thanks Adam

Well worth seeking out Reference 3A Veena in mk2s. I run the originals and paired nicely with my XS amp.

No crossover as such ( just a full range mid/bass with a filter for the treble ) means that your really hearing what your system has to offer.  Your XS2 has more spades up the wizards sleeve, but the CD5si is limited in its bandwidth compared to other Naim sources.

I started using my C2s with my first Nait XS - it was a pretty fun combo, though a bit loose in the bass.

They improved a lot with the 282/200 set that replaced it. It was a mullet, honestly.