Speakers advice

Hi Joerand,

Noted ur portion if the porting. Thats the teason of me getting my current polk LSiM 705 which is down firing. This also leads me to consider Sopra 2, but again... size of my room...

You said you’re happy with the bass from your current speakers, but not the imaging. Assuming you already had them in your old home with larger room,:

Did you note any deterioration in bass (unwanted boominess) with your change of room? 

And did the imaging worsen with the change?  

Nope but imaging, details n separation as in previous room, not to my expectation yet.

Ok, so it sounds like the speakers or other gear in terms of imaging rather than the room, though just for clarification, and my apologies if you’ve already mentioned and missed by me, are you now ‘firing’ across the room or down its length, and how close to the side walls are the speakers now and were in previous room?

Have you yet heard speakers giving better imaging with your system, regardless of whether they may not have been right for other reasons?  Part of me is wondering about the rest of the system, because it seems to be stated quite frequently on the forum that imaging is not one of  Naim’s strong points, and I wonder if the cause might be elsewhere, You could do worse than take your system to a dealer and try different substituted in it, and try a range of speakers - it will sound different from at home, but you’re looking for change compared to your present system, which youu should hear - after that you may know what you want to audition at home.

Hi,

im firing across the room. Many thanks for your feedback. Really appreciate it. ????

My room is 3.6m wide and I use speakers that go against the wall. Something like the Sopra 1 is very large and when placed away from the wall would be virtually on top of you. Something like the PMC twenty5.23 could work well, as they are happy only a few inches from the wall. They have good bass and can image well if placed appropriately. I’ve also heard Kudos S20s work well with about 20cm behind them. I certainly wouldn’t get anything larger than these two. The ProAc Tablette 10, A’s mentioned above, is also worth investigating. While it will have less deep bass it will be easier to integrate with the room, which is far more important for ultimate enjoyability. 

In a small room reflections are always going to be problematic.

They affect bass response, imaging, echoes (e,g, flutter echo) and sometimes colouration; however the degree to which any specific person notices these differences is very much dependant on the individual and their previous listening experiences.

I've heard the Sopra 1's in probably ideal conditions in Naim's demo room.   Great care had been taken over placement which was said to have taken several hours.  The speakers we well out into the room, maybe as much as 2 metres, certainly more then 1.

I quite liked them, they were very open and possibly a bit bright but I was staggered when I learned their price, and concur with Perol that they are overpriced.  I was expecting them to cost around £2k as I feel that my Kudos S20's out perform them even when used with lessor electronics (we went up to 500 series components that day).  To be fair the finish and build quality is superb, if you like the look of them.

2 Mtr out into room is quite insane

Who wants such monsters in middle of their living room is beyond me, I feel really sorry for Naim staff are forced to use them.

Last time I heard Focals they were horrible bright and booming, next time I will run away.

Agree on Kudos speakers, they are very good.

Anyone tried B&W 804D3 with my similar naim gear?

A few people on this forum really seem to have it in for Focal speakers,it appears that either you love them or hate them.I would still demo the ones you originally wanted to,hear for yourself and see what YOU think.The same can also be said for B&W,a love hate thing,so time to do some home demos it appears.

Take a look at the sopendor small floor standing speakers like the A4 or A6 they sound nicely balanced are reasonably priced and most important of all sound terrific very natural and open or pmc

Sorry Spendor...

Winson posted:

I thk abt 4.5 x4.5m

I'd be more than happy with a room 4.5 metres (14' 7") square. Depending of course, how many doors and windows it has. My room is slightly smaller than yours.

I would also recommend the PMC range in a smallish room.

Er... it's just a small thing, and I don't wish to offend - but I would personally prefer if posters didn't use text language (txt-speak, txtspk...). I don't think there is a limit on the number of characters on the forum, and I find it makes threads difficult to follow as I'm not conversant with the language - mind you, they say learning a new language is excellent for the brain when you reach a certain age...

I can’t help thinking that so many speaker questions around here could be solved by a high quality boundary design. Perhaps someone should manufacture SBLs/SL2s/ Kans etc. Many of us have smallish rooms and a need for domestic harmony. I believe a big potential market is being overlooked here...

Stu

stuart.ashen posted:

I can’t help thinking that so many speaker questions around here could be solved by a high quality boundary design. Perhaps someone should manufacture SBLs/SL2s/ Kans etc. Many of us have smallish rooms and a need for domestic harmony. I believe a big potential market is being overlooked here...

Stu

Totally agree. I can easily accommodate speakers that need to be several feet away from the rear wall but I'd then have to sit outside ????

Surprisingly one dosn’t hear much of what is termed “soffit mounting” in studios - which in effect is in-wall. The front baffle flush with the wall is the best way of countering comb-filtering in room, and if speakers are designed for that placement the bass response can be made level, avoiding the wall proximity effect on speakers designd for free field placement.

On the one hand it might seem obvious why it is not popular - but when one considers rooms with floor to ceiling record and bookshelves, it would not be difficult to see how speakers could be installed with fronts flush with the fronts of shelving, having books and records aligned with the fronts of the shelves, and no gaps around.

Larsen speakers were built to go against the wall.I have not heard them,but know someone who has,and he was quite impressed with them...he even said he thought they were the best sounding at whatever show he was at.

Any way of getting an in home demo for a couple of days? That would answer a lot of questions. For your size room the Focal Kanta 2 should be about the right size IMO. Hope to hear the Kudos soon which may be another good option since they are bottom ported. You mention 20cm from the back wall. Are you measuring from the back of the speaker or the tweeter?

Hi Octa_dyn, Kanta is dual ported (front n back). 20cm is from back of spkr.

Any way of getting an in home demo?

It's been asked on many forums where you measure distances from. The consensus is from the tweeter whether from distance between or to the back or rear walls.

Meant rear or side walls

No quarter posted:

Larsen speakers were built to go against the wall.I have not heard them,but know someone who has,and he was quite impressed with them...he even said he thought they were the best sounding at whatever show he was at.

I had the Larsen 8 ($7K USD) home with my SN2. Their unconventionally angled tweeter and mid-driver arrangement  worked well in my room. Imaging was crisp and clear, and deleterious reflections noticeably reduced. My problem with them was the deep bass; sluggish at best. The Larsen 8 are favorably reviewed so I figured the muddy bass response in my room was due to house construction. These are very near-wall speakers, probably designed to be used against solid walls. Not a match for my wood-framed drywall construction. 

Octa_dyn posted:

Any way of getting an in home demo?

It's been asked on many forums where you measure distances from. The consensus is from the tweeter whether from distance between or to the back or rear walls.

Distance of speaker front baffle from back wall is what counts - and hence is irrespective of speaker depth. However, many people cleary quote the distance between back of speaker and  back wall, e.g. 20cm - few speakers are thin enough for the front baffle ever to be that close unless recessed into the wall! 

for side reflections it is indeed primarily the distance of tweeter that counts.