Can Naim drive Dynaudio 1.3SE?

Posted by: JohnMak on 25 June 2003

I was in Singapore over the past 4 days and bought a pair of Dynaudio 1.3 SE. (There were two others I liked - but not necessarily better - E.g. Living Voice and PMC) but they were all too big for me to hand carry back into Vietnam.

After I had "done the deal" I mentioned to the dealer I was off to the Naim shop to buy either the Nait5 or 202/200 combo. He advised me against it as according to him, the Naim's wouldn't drive the Dynaudios ..... I find this hard to believe but it made me nervous as I had no way or time to audition the combo. (The Dynaudio shop were using a weird Dalek looking CHORD Pre and Power with some new top-of-the-line Marantz CD player. I must say the sound was incredibly good which is what attracted me into the shop in the first place.

As an aside I have been into the Naim shop two days earlier and heard the CDX2/Flatcap/202/200 running through a pair of Magneplanar 1.6 ..... breathtaking sound and presentation - but not cheap.

Anyway, I'm still keen to buy the Naim 202/200 combo (with either CD5 or CDX2 depending on audition) but I would like confirmation from any Naim users out there who are running Dynaudio 1.3 SE's.

I'm now back in Vietnam and even more doubtful about the story that Naim's won't run the Dynaudios as I've now got them going on my Sony 9000ES Home Theater system and they are soooo much better for music than my giant sized 52" tall Definitive Technology BP2000's.

Opinions welcome.
Posted on: 25 June 2003 by Frank Abela
If the room's not too big (no larger than 14 feet square, the 200 should drive them fine, but beware of overdoing it since they are hard to drive. You will know when they start shouting at you.

Regards,
Frank.
All opinions are my own and do not reflect the opinion of any organisations I work for, except where this is stated explicitly.
Posted on: 25 June 2003 by bjorne
Yes, the 200 ain't no weakling and will drive them. Dynaudios better standmounters like yours are not to hard to drive but they can take (and like) a lot of current. Their bassunits are very good and if driven with topquality amps they play more bass than most other standmounters.
Posted on: 25 June 2003 by JohnMak
Hi JPO,
Yes point taken about "buying backwards". Unfortunately his comment about the amplifiers wasn't made until the speakers were packed and I was walking out the door. Also, I was restricted to having to buy smallish speakers that I could hand carry as this was the only way I could avoid the high (60%) import duty bringing them into Vietnam.

If I'd had any other choice I would probably have gone for the Living Voice or the PMC ... not the FB1 but the newer one with three drivers, but they were just too big for me to carry. That's one of the good things about shopping in Singapore .... you can walk from shop to shop in The Adelphi Center and hear heaps of very expensive imported gear. I've got no regrets so far with these little Dynaudios.

It never entered my head that there could be any such thing as a speaker that Naim couldn't drive .... especially such a small speaker.

Since I sent the email I have sat here all day working and listening to these little suckers playing on the Sony Home Theater amp and I'm loving them more and more by the hour. I love them to bits. Punchy, detailed, fast sounding on appropriate music and sooo sweet and neutral with small jazz groups and female voices.

The other thing that took me by surprise in Singapore was the amount of turntables being sold now. The place is full of them and vinyl everwhere. In the shop that stocked the Living Voice speakers he blew me away with a turntable called Sheu Premier Mk2 with Scheu unipivot arm. (This guy was also using a Naim CD5 for all CD demos)

It was a great 4 days shopping but the minute I heard the Dynaudios I knew "that's the sound I'm looking for"
Posted on: 25 June 2003 by JohnMak
Hi Bjorne,
My room is 4 meters by 6 meters. Also Vietnamese construction is plastered brick walls so the buildings here tend to be pretty lively and need a lot of sound absorbing furniture to tone them down.