Nova speaker recommendation

Well perhaps not helpful, I listened to Kudos super 20, Russell k 120 and 150 and settled with PMC 25.26.  I had the Sopra No1,s ready at the demo, but the PMC speakers had already won me over. I think you have narrowed down your demo speakers far too much.

Just to bump this along I'll add that I demo'd the ATC SCM 19 with the SN2's same 80-watts. Precise, tight, refined, and clinically accurate from a hi-fi standpoint. Somewhat dry and cool from an engagement perspective, and maybe a sub would add some heft/body for my own tastes. That said, if you're living in a situation where you don't want to offend neighbors with deep bass and savor studio monitor type reproduction they'd be a great choice. I've never heard the Special 40.

Maybe not fully helpful, but I have Totem Hawks in a UnitiCute 2/NAP100 and were considering changing to an Atom (moving the cute to my office media room), but have decided on the Nova. I’m interested in why you are changing up so soon?

I think the deep bass from the 19s is very room and stand dependent. (But despite this the energy below 40 to 35 Hz is going to be minimal) I was listening to a pair in quite a large room last night and the bass was a little too prominent for me. In my setup at home I have my ATCs more balanced to my taste and less forceful in the deeper bass which to me gives a more musical and natural presentation... oh yes I should say the amps were different as well... the prominent bass setup was using some sort of Yamaha power amp, and I use a Naim 250.2

Well, I auditioned the ATC’s and Dynaudio’s yesterday and am strongly leaning towards the ATC’s. Clinical and resolute sound, precise timing, no colouring. This is what I am looking for when I am spending 3k euros on my first pair of hifi speakers. I have my QB’s for easy listening. The Special 40 were nice but presented more of a wall of sound with less effective separation and instrument placement. Just not sure whether there’d be a huge difference between the 11 and 19, as the little brother is over 1000 euro’s cheaper and might work just as well for the type of close range (3,5 meters) and low volume listening i intend to use them for.

[@mention:76046838160956631]: there was absolutely no need for the upgrade from the Atom (is there ever?) apart from scratching that itch. And I found a pretty good deal on a used Nova. Which then leads to questioning whether the KEF LS50’s bring out the best the Nova has to offer etc. So here we are. 

ChetBaker posted:

Well, I auditioned the ATC’s and Dynaudio’s yesterday and am strongly leaning towards the ATC’s. Clinical and resolute sound, precise timing, no colouring. This is what I am looking for when I am spending 3k euros on my first pair of hifi speakers

I agree with your assessment of the SCM 19 and sounds like they fit your wants. Are you able to get them home for a demo and what about speaker stands?

I am planning to use (initially at least) a pair of Linn Keilidhs with a Nova. The Nova outputs 80w max at 8 ohms (Naim literature) and the Keilidhs require a minimum of 60w at 4 ohms (Linn literature).

Can anybody tell me whether the Nova will be able to drive the Keilidhs satisfactorily? I can’t locate any info regarding the Nova’s output at 4 ohms.

Thanks in advance ...

Hi Joerand, home demo will not be possible. ATC is fairly under the radar here in the Netherlands and I’ve been lucky to find a dealer close to work. They don’t do home demo’s as I understand. As for stands: i have a pair that i used with my Kef’s and that I’m happy with for the moment. Not sure what make they are. Now to decide whether to buy new mow or wait for the very rare pair to show up on hifishark....

ynwa250505 posted:

I am planning to use (initially at least) a pair of Linn Keilidhs with a Nova. The Nova outputs 80w max at 8 ohms (Naim literature) and the Keilidhs require a minimum of 60w at 4 ohms (Linn literature).

Can anybody tell me whether the Nova will be able to drive the Keilidhs satisfactorily? I can’t locate any info regarding the Nova’s output at 4 ohms.

Thanks in advance ...

I wouldn't take much notice of the Keilidh specs, they are an easy driven speaker, any Naim amp will run them just fine unless you want disco levels in a very large room

B&W 804D3 here. Overkill perhaps but the slam at the opening of "full steam space machine" by royal republic and how they handled limp bizkit's "my way" was enough to win the 17yo son listening panel. I'm very happy with how they deal with the more eclectic mix of jazz and classical I mostly feed them.

I have B&W 804 D3 as well and think this is a superb combination. Just works wunderful in my room and sounds quite perfect to me. The resolution is amazing, midrange sounds suprisingly powerful & real and bass performance is deep & more than enough from a speaker this size if speaker position is right. I am enjoying this combination very much.

It's just the usual thing with speakers...

Listen to a LOT (as many as you can) in the dealers showroom,  This will help you eliminate most of them as they won't sound quite 'right' to you (some you'll eliminate in the first 10 minutes of listening!).  From this you can get a short list of two or three.

Then try as hard as you can to get a home demo of those.

I am happy with the combination B&W 804 D3 and Nova from a Sound Quality perspective. I was concerned that the low impedance of the 804 (only 1.3 ohms) would be  a problem, but that is no issue. See this post: https://forums.naimaudio.com/t...pedance-bandw-804-d3

I'm less happy with the reliability and functionality of the Nova remote controller, ARC and the app, but those flaws do not impact the SQ, which is fantastic.

I’ve just bought a Nova and paired it with Dynaudio Special 40. Very pleased with the sound and preferred the 40 to the ATC or SCM. It was however, on the second listen that I preferred the 40.

I run my Nova with a pair of the latest Audio Physic Avantis, plugged via Goldkabel Executive. Sounds fantastic

Huge , gives great advice........any doubt take a home demo. 

I upgraded from  Naim Allae (and Naim cable) to a second hand  Verity Audio Parsifal Encore and Chord cabling . Smashing.  Of course these are big  old speakers but the point is,  Nova drives them very well. I wouldn’t  be intimidated by specs and have a go with 3 way speakers