Advice needed for speakers to try out...
Posted by: ModelCitizen on 10 February 2004
Hello all.
I am the proud possessor of:
Naim CDX
Naim NAP180
Naim NAC 102
and soon.. a Naim HICAP
I'm hoping that this may be the right place to get some good advice about choice of speakers for this gear.
Here goes...
The room is not large and is more like two rooms knocked into one (in fact it is two rooms knocked into one). The end I mostly live in (i.e. half of it, the other half serves as a dining room) is about 4m x 4m (12.6" by 12.6"). It's furnished with carpets, big comfy sofas and thick curtains.
Most of all I like Psy-Ambient music which is heavily processed and effected modern electronic music with high production values (Ultimae label as favourite) and occasional deep, deep bass (which i love). For this music I like clarity, detail, precision and of course, bass.
However I listen to all sorts of music (rock, blues, jazz, ethnic, classical, nursery rhymes) and want this to sound good too.... :-)
I obviously don't have the space to fit in huge speakers. And I am going to have problem backing them onto a wall.. and also finding free space for them to sit in.. the most likely scenario is that they will sit two or three inches infront of deep shelves built into chimney wells (bummer). However I am trying to move house at the moment and the new house will have bigger and more flexible space.
I really don't want to spend more than 1,200 UK Pounds on speakers and would really rather spend a lot less (under £900 - may get second hand or ex-demo). I'm looking at floorstanding or stand mounted. I have ruled out bookshelf speakers for sonic reasons but could be wrong to do this.
These are the ones I am going to try out (as soon as i can get the chance):
PMC FB1's (I have heard these with Naim kit playing my sort of music and they sounded great)
B&W Nautilus 805 (although have my doubts about these)
Naim SBL (possibly a bit big, ugly and inconvenient)
Naim Allaes (I'd have to get a really good deal to afford these tho!)
Neat Critique (st) or Mystique 2 (fl)
Dynaudio Contour 1.3 MKII
Dynaudio 72 (or Dynaudio Audience 52SE perhaps)
Quad 12L
Mission 782
I understand that some speakers go better with Naim than others but am a bit ignorant.
Any pointers as to speakers i should try out would be really appreciated. As always, I will use my ears but in the confusing world of speakers pointers to ones worth trying out would be really helpful.
Posted on: 10 February 2004 by bazz
quote:
clarity, detail, precision and of course, bass
add transparency and a completely beguiling, boxless sound and you have.......Focal JMLabs Electra 906 (stand) and 926 (floor). Not too sure about the UK prices, but well worth a listen anyway, just for the joy of it.
Posted on: 11 February 2004 by seagull
Welcome to the mad-house.
No suggestions for other speakers but I would suggest you wait until you move before buying any (unless you do not have any at the moment of course
). Speakers which may work in your current room may not work in your new dwelling.
Posted on: 11 February 2004 by greeny
quote:
No suggestions for other speakers but I would suggest you wait until you move before buying any (unless you do not have any at the moment of course ). Speakers which may work in your current room may not work in your new dwelling.
I would second this.
Speakers are the most personal thing and the same setup can be great in one room and hopeless in another. Your room being square may cause a potential bass hump/boom problem that just wouldn't be there in a different room.
This is one reason why home demo's for speakers is very important. You could buy secondhand, but be prepared to have to move whatever you get on if they don't work.
Posted on: 11 February 2004 by scottyhammer
welcome modelcitizen,
i have a similar system to yours and agree with you about the fb1s have seen 2nd hand pairs advertised for around the £700 mark. you could consider a pair of linn keildhs but make sure they have the kustone bases.theres a couple of pairs now @ hififorsale.com £400 approx. both these speakers have great bass + datail and will work well in your system. let your ears be the judge.
regards, scotty
Posted on: 11 February 2004 by Carl Leermakers
Welcome to the forum!
I have lived for ages in a "two rooms knocked into one" space (totalling 9mx4m, 3m high), full of carpets, furniture (and toys...) with 102/180 (with a Hi-Cap added later on). Tried SBL's (didn't like, probably because not feeded with good enough ancillary equipment), Dynaudio 1.3SE (not bad at all, but a bit 'cold' for my taste), Sonus Faber Minima's (a beautiful albeit 'small' sound) and am now using Sonus Faber Electa Amator II. The latter (imho) work extremely well (even though they're sited no more than 50cm from the rear wall, and in theory should have more space around them). Maybe you should also audition SF's in your price range.
Posted on: 11 February 2004 by TMFP
A pair of Royd Albion works very well with NAP 180. Give it a try!
/Per
Posted on: 11 February 2004 by o.j.
quote:
Originally posted by seagull:
Welcome to the mad-house.
No suggestions for other speakers but I would suggest you wait until you move before buying any (unless you do not have any at the moment of course ). Speakers which may work in your current room may not work in your new dwelling.
Posted on: 11 February 2004 by o.j.
quote:
Originally posted by o.j.:
quote:
Originally posted by seagull:
Welcome to the mad-house.
No suggestions for other speakers but I would suggest you wait until you move before buying any (unless you do not have any at the moment of course ). Speakers which may work in your current room may not work in your new dwelling.
Seagull is perfectly right .in this case the chain works: first room then speakers .
Posted on: 11 February 2004 by Sundance
I chose the Neat Mistiques and am I happy....? Too right! Very tight in all ways.
The kid
Posted on: 11 February 2004 by Mike in PA, USA
I second Seagul's advice. Wait until you move to the new space and can do an audition there. In the meantime, use what you have, or pick up something on the used market that you wouldn't mind using in a second room/system.
Posted on: 12 February 2004 by Mike Hanson
If you really like your bass, and clarity is a must as well, then definitely consider the new Royd RR2 (
www.roydaudio.com). It fits your needs perfectly!
-=> Mike Hanson <=-
Posted on: 12 February 2004 by Neill Ferguson
quote:
Originally posted by ModelCitizen:
Hello all.
I am the proud possessor of:
Naim CDX
Naim NAP180
Naim NAC 102
and soon.. a Naim HICAP
I'm hoping that this may be the right place to get some good advice about choice of speakers for this gear.
Here goes...
The room is not large and is more like two rooms knocked into one (in fact it is two rooms knocked into one). The end I mostly live in (i.e. half of it, the other half serves as a dining room) is about 4m x 4m (12.6" by 12.6"). It's furnished with carpets, big comfy sofas and thick curtains.
Most of all I like Psy-Ambient music which is heavily processed and effected modern electronic music with high production values (Ultimae label as favourite) and occasional deep, deep bass (which i love). For this music I like clarity, detail, precision and of course, bass.
However I listen to all sorts of music (rock, blues, jazz, ethnic, classical, nursery rhymes) and want this to sound good too.... :-)
I obviously don't have the space to fit in huge speakers. And I am going to have problem backing them onto a wall.. and also finding free space for them to sit in.. the most likely scenario is that they will sit two or three inches infront of deep shelves built into chimney wells (bummer). However I am trying to move house at the moment and the new house will have bigger and more flexible space.
I really don't want to spend more than 1,200 UK Pounds on speakers and would really rather spend a lot less (under £900 - may get second hand or ex-demo). I'm looking at floorstanding or stand mounted. I have ruled out bookshelf speakers for sonic reasons but could be wrong to do this.
These are the ones I am going to try out (as soon as i can get the chance):
PMC FB1's (I have heard these with Naim kit playing my sort of music and they sounded great)
B&W Nautilus 805 (although have my doubts about these)
Naim SBL (possibly a bit big, ugly and inconvenient)
Naim Allaes (I'd have to get a really good deal to afford these tho!)
Neat Critique (st) or Mystique 2 (fl)
Dynaudio Contour 1.3 MKII
Dynaudio 72 (or Dynaudio Audience 52SE perhaps)
Quad 12L
Mission 782
I understand that some speakers go better with Naim than others but am a bit ignorant.
Any pointers as to speakers i should try out would be really appreciated. As always, I will use my ears but in the confusing world of speakers pointers to ones worth trying out would be really helpful.
Posted on: 12 February 2004 by Neill Ferguson
Am suprised you liked the FB1's always thought PMC spekers sound a little harsh with NAIM kit. Have you thought about forgeting the Hi_cap and spend more on speakers instead??. You have a top draw system and should have good speakers to get the best from it.
Posted on: 12 February 2004 by ModelCitizen
Hello all,
I am really grateful for all your comments and suggestions.
Much as i would like to I cannot wait till I move house. I have been looking for a new house for 18 months, am still no nearer to finding a house I like and cannot put up with my current hi-fi any longer.
Bearing this Likely (?) move in mind and my present far-less-than-optimum listening space I have decided to look at some forgiving speakers that do not depend upon exact placement and an optimum space to sound good.
I have been recommended Shahanian Arcs. And, although not often for sale Tom Tom Audio has just posted some up on their web site. The price is quite good (£1,195 for 1996 model), but unfortunately I can't get to St Albans to try them out so have ordered them to be sent to me (dangerous huh?). I'm hoping that if they turn out to be a bad buy I can resell them quite easily.
They do come very highly recommended indeed (even the guy at Tom Tom says that they are his preferred speaker for Naim gear, and he listens to similar music to me) so hopefully i am not taking to much of a chance...
but we shall see...
I'll let you know
Again, thanks.
MC
Posted on: 12 March 2004 by ModelCitizen
Well, I've had a while to get used to these Arcs now and...
the bass is pretty bleedin' stunning... it's very powerful and goes down very deep but indeed but does not become too loud or imposing... it's complex and extremely rich.. I can hear lots of bass frequencies that I've never heard before. I am quite taken aback by it and not a little bowled over.
The sound stage is sort of wierd. You can site the speakers anywhere in the room and they sound great with lots of depth and separation. However, if you are an intense listener who likes finding the exact sweetspot, getting "in the right frame of mind" and hearing exactly the position of each instrument the experience can be a bit dissapointing. In addition I think I'd like a bit more definition, clarity and "thereness" in the high end frequencies. However, I do think these speakers work extremely well in the poor space I have them in. Other speakers I've had round seem to suffer from lots of distortions at various frequencies (i.e booming bass, over-emphasised high-mid frequencies, terrible sound stage etc) and sound pretty poor, small and weedy in comparison.
I can drag the Arcs around the room easily (plastic feet) and wherever I place them they sound really good... and really, really big!
I think, for my awkward listening space I've made a very good choice (thanks guys), however, if I do manage to get that dream house with a large and sonically perfect listening room I may look around for some more speakers. I'm not too sure I'll find any that have such a big sound as these and with such a lovely rich, deep and powerful bass though... but we shall see.
