Ovator s-400 Issues

Dalmation: there's no need to apologise for not being able to afford expensive speakers.  Are you sure you wish to move along from the Allaes?  I don't know what the rest of your system is (it's not in your profile).

Maybe there is somebody near(ish) to you who has S-400s you could listen to.  Or perhaps something else in your budget?

Nick, you misunderstand what I was getting at. My speakers might also be considered old and (relatively) cheap, but I’ve heard very, very few that I consider genuinely better. I don’t believe that speakers have moved on a great deal in the last ten years, and most are simply different rather than better. My point was why not just stick with the Allaes? They are good speakers. I was simply asking if the fact they are ‘old and cheap’ is why you are considering moving them on. Which clearly, from what you say, it isn’t. 

Hi

I'm not sure if i'm going to be of much help here but I will give you a bit of my experiences anyway regarding my Naim speakers ownership. 

I ran Credo speakers both passive and active and quite enjoyed them for best part of twenty years, or at least I thought I did. One thing I did keep on doing though, when I ran my Credos in any guise, was forever tweaking and forever posting in 'HiFi Corner' searching for that music nirvana that i just wanted hear and to forget about the system full  stop, this turned out to be more difficult than I could of hoped for. This was until I came home with a pair of Neat Motive SX2 speakers (blind). I'm going to recommend these because it's what I use and ever since I've had them I have hardly posted in 'HiFi Corner' and now I am mostly posting in the Music Room. Also, my partner is now really enjoying the music too, like never before (not sure if this is a good thing) and likes to be enthusiastic and a part of the listening session which was never the case before.

I'm not here to slag off Naim speakers but I will say that they're certainly an acquired taste and they will need to be very carefully setup by someone who knows them inside out. I have no experience with the Ovator line but can only assume that they are no different in how they will reveal any errors else where whether in the owner's 'n-experience or with the setup itself, I suspect they're very demanding of both. 

If you cannot be bothered to put in the extra care and effort into the setup required to get them to really sing then you will most certainly do well to try something totally different that are tried/ tested and universally liked. That's my advice and opinion anyway as that's all we can really offer here.

So there you go, that's my biased take on things.

I did say that I may not be of much help here I am just merely passing on my little journey, oh and as far as i'm concerned my Neat's easily show my Credo's a good clean pair of heels!

Good luck.

Nick, Even though I'm an Allaes owner, please give the S-400s time. They offer Naim's latest speaker thinking, so in that respect, your hopes and aspirations for them over other Naim speakers you've owned look sound to me.

Chris

All mostly in the mind and room. I love my Focal Sopra 2s although to some this Forum they’re the equivalent of stepping in cow doo doo. I auditioned them number of occasions and had a home demo with fine tuning from my dealer as well as the wonderful Jason from a Naim. Delighted,  but as I say so many factors at play here which is why I’d never listen to Forum recommendations when it comes to speakers. My Father in Law still proclaims the a Goodmans Axiom in a  WW2 ammo box was the best thing he ever heard.......driven by a Rogers Cadette to boot with a Garrard 301 on the front end.

Forget it guys, let him go. He is even bumping on another place. The speakers deserve better.

Ardbeg10y posted:

Forget it guys, let him go. He is even bumping on another place. The speakers deserve better.

Thanks for that, really helpful! At the moment I’m running them as much as possible even optically linked the telly to the Nova to get more hours into the speakers, I’m giving them every chance but keeping my options open, they’ll stay if they come to life as I didn’t buy them to sell straight away.

“The speakers deserve better” statement is ridiculous. Please don’t comment on my post if it’s not constructive.

Nick

dalmatian posted:

“The speakers deserve better” statement is ridiculous. Please don’t comment on my post if it’s not constructive.

Not really. It's a waste of anyone's time posting here if the speakers are for sale elsewhere.

Not sold though are they.

And they won’t be if they fulfill their potential!

Nick