New Speakers for NAC-N272/NAP200DR

joerand posted:

ChrisSU posted:

Besides, this is the Naim forum.

They make amps, not speakers!

Presumptive logic like this simply leads to thread digression and futility. 

'Naim make amps not speakers' - a juvenile rationalization, yet apparently self-vindicating in the poster's mind.

That was just a light hearted observation on my part. The main point of my post was the bit that you deleted from the quote, and I stand by that opinion. It’s a suggestion on a public discussion forum, not an order. 

Oh dear, It would be helpful for the OP (which has been read by all) to get differing suggestions and ideas even though we all know he was looking at speakers.   a horse to water ....

Sounsfaber posted:

Oh dear, It would be helpful for the OP (which has been read by all) to get differing suggestions and ideas even though we all know he was looking at speakers.   a horse to water ....

I've been on this forum for some time now and always hope that I could avoid showing my ignorance of the abbreviations but alas I have to expose myself!! "OP and SQ" - somebody please put me out of my misery! Thank you.

I think they mean original posting/ poster and sound quality......or I am totally lost as well.

Well that escalated quickly. 

I appreciate the recommendation about upgrading the 200 but I will begin with the speaker upgrade as this already proved succesfull in the auditions I did. 

I think I want to audition the Contour again but at home as I am still surprised about the dull sound during the audition at the store. If these speakers still cannot get me I will do home auditions of the other ones. 

I would advise you consider your 'end game' (for the medium/long term in any event).  Of course the NAP200 will power all speakers but, as many have experienced, some speakers require amplification with greater current to sound their best and, when they do, may out perform speakers that sound better with lower current amplification.

Personally, I would recommend ATC speakers although these do benefit from being powered by a NAP250DR or greater.  I actually auditioned them at the dealers with a NAP200DR and they sounded a little flat/dull (the dealer's NAP250DR was out on demo at the time). I also auditioned the Kudos X2 at the same time which sounded good and lively with the NAP200, much better than the ATC 11s and 19s. However, we tried them with a NAP300DR and the ATCs came alive and sounded better than the Kudos (all subjective and to my ears).  So I chose to audition the ATCs at home and they sound great with my NAP250DR.

So, if the intention is to keep the NAP200 for the next four to five years audition whatever and choose the speakers that sound best with this combination.  However, if you intend to upgrade your amplification in the next year or two I would advise you to audition with your 'target' system (good dealers would loan an amplifier at the same time as the speakers).  What you might find is another set of speakers sound better with your current amp but not as good as another set of speakers with your target amp.  I would rather have a year or so with a slightly sub optimal combination knowing in the medium term I have optimised my system to my tastes and room.

Gazza posted:

I think they mean original posting/ poster and sound quality......or I am totally lost as well.

Cheers - I knew it would be something I should have worked out!!

alanbass1 posted:

I would advise you consider your 'end game' (for the medium/long term in any event).  Of course the NAP200 will power all speakers but, as many have experienced, some speakers require amplification with greater current to sound their best and, when they do, may out perform speakers that sound better with lower current amplification.

Personally, I would recommend ATC speakers although these do benefit from being powered by a NAP250DR or greater.  I actually auditioned them at the dealers with a NAP200DR and they sounded a little flat/dull (the dealer's NAP250DR was out on demo at the time). I also auditioned the Kudos X2 at the same time which sounded good and lively with the NAP200, much better than the ATC 11s and 19s. However, we tried them with a NAP300DR and the ATCs came alive and sounded better than the Kudos (all subjective and to my ears).  So I chose to audition the ATCs at home and they sound great with my NAP250DR.

So, if the intention is to keep the NAP200 for the next four to five years audition whatever and choose the speakers that sound best with this combination.  However, if you intend to upgrade your amplification in the next year or two I would advise you to audition with your 'target' system (good dealers would loan an amplifier at the same time as the speakers).  What you might find is another set of speakers sound better with your current amp but not as good as another set of speakers with your target amp.  I would rather have a year or so with a slightly sub optimal combination knowing in the medium term I have optimised my system to my tastes and room.

 

 

I think this is really good advice.  I started my Naim journey with no idea what the endgame would be, or even that there would be an endgame: my dealer simply told me a Naim Uniti receiver would sound much better than what I had, and he was right.  Over the years it's meant, however, many expensive upgrades, trades, and frankly some swapped out Naim pieces in storage that I haven't yet parted with - including a 200 amp.  If you can audition the speakers you're interested in with your "endgame" amp that would make a lot of sense to me.

So I have made up my mind.

I will go for the Contour 20’s as these sounded sweet at a second audition with a different dealer. The boring, dull sound I’ve experienced at the first audition was most possible the result of a poor listening room. 

Other speakers I’ve auditioned in the mean time were: Special Forty’s, SCM 19’s and Platinum 100 II’s. Not expecting I liked the sound of the SCM 19’s, very clear and spacious sound. But not all genres sounded well with these speakers. The Contour 20’s were more all-round overall. 

Depending on how well I can sell my NAP 200 DR, I will replace it with a 250 DR. But this isn’t a must as I already liked the Contours with my 200 DR.

Revoliño posted:

So I have made up my mind.

I will go for the Contour 20’s as these sounded sweet at a second audition with a different dealer. The boring, dull sound I’ve experienced at the first audition was most possible the result of a poor listening room. 

Other speakers I’ve auditioned in the mean time were: Special Forty’s, SCM 19’s and Platinum 100 II’s. Not expecting I liked the sound of the SCM 19’s, very clear and spacious sound. But not all genres sounded well with these speakers. The Contour 20’s were more all-round overall. 

Depending on how well I can sell my NAP 200 DR, I will replace it with a 250 DR. But this isn’t a must as I already liked the Contours with my 200 DR.

SCM19 is a pair that sounds interesting to me. Can you elaborate your experience with it a bit more please?

Great choice everytime I have matched Dynaudio and Naim they have sounded so good together if I was looking for a stand mounted speaker at that price point the Contour 20 would be first on my demo list.

joerand posted:

Revoliño posted:

 Do you think the Contour 20’s are too demanding for the 200DR?

I do, absolutely. No way I'd consider a 4-ohm, 86 dB speaker a prospective match for a 70-W amp. I guess your findings today confirmed that. No one has mentioned them here, but I'd listen to Proac if you have access. Proac's are generally well-balanced tonally, fast and  musical, pair well with Naim, not terribly difficult to drive, and have a variety of models within your budget. Plus they offer some high frequency "customization" per the listener's room between their dome and ribbon tweeters. Hope that's an option for you.

This is not always the case I had to go from a Nap 300 to a Nap 180 to get my speakers to sound their best in my room the added power of the 300 made them a bit boomy.  So my advice where possible is get them on home demo.

I have a pair of Burmester B10 standmount speakers.  Very nice sound, great imaging.  At night, I find myself looking into corners or just around me to hear where the sound is coming from.  Spooky.  I'm using a 272/250DR combo. along with a DAVE DAC.

lhau posted:

Revoliño posted:

So I have made up my mind.

I will go for the Contour 20’s as these sounded sweet at a second audition with a different dealer. The boring, dull sound I’ve experienced at the first audition was most possible the result of a poor listening room. 

Other speakers I’ve auditioned in the mean time were: Special Forty’s, SCM 19’s and Platinum 100 II’s. Not expecting I liked the sound of the SCM 19’s, very clear and spacious sound. But not all genres sounded well with these speakers. The Contour 20’s were more all-round overall. 

Depending on how well I can sell my NAP 200 DR, I will replace it with a 250 DR. But this isn’t a must as I already liked the Contours with my 200 DR.

SCM19 is a pair that sounds interesting to me. Can you elaborate your experience with it a bit more please?

I compiled a playlist with songs I am familiar with, ranging in genre from Hip-Hop and R&B to Drum and Bass to acoustic. 

I started out with the Special Forty’s, then the SCM 19’s and ended up listening to the Contours. 

The Special Forty’s were already special but when I switched to the SCM19, the sound was upgraded to a very high level! I was astonished about the clarity and detail of the high notes but without sounding harsh or tiring. Even compared to the Contour, the high end of the SCM19 is very sweet. Downside (for me) is the lack of bass weight. A couple of songs lost their shine because they rely on the low notes. These songs sounded sweet on the Special Forty and Contour, not so much on the SCM19. 

Take for example the song Weightless from Etherwood, this starts with a sweet, ‘’soft’’ intro with a piano line and without any bass but continues with a detailed bass line. The intro sounds incredible on the SCM19 but continuing the song where the bass lines starts and the joy disappears. 

As I am listening a lot to bass heavy music, the SCM 19 aren’t for me. Sure, you can fix this with a subwoofer but I have experience with getting sound perfect with a subwoofer and that isn’t a simple job. 

If you don’t listen to music with a lot of bass or you can fix this with a subwoofer, I do recommend the SCM19. 

If you like what scm19 does but want more bass and even better mids then try scm40. Amazing speaker.