Ovators 3 weeks, Dac one week on

Posted by: sn02 on 09 February 2010

I am very grateful to the members on this message board for the views and advice which generally augments that available from dealers.

I have been keenly following the developments on the Ovators since I heard them last year and pre ordered there and then.

3 weeks later I can confidently say that they deliver a compelling mix from whatever genre of music you care to throw at them. I have been a user of Naim equipment for over 20 years and combining the Ovators with my (nearly full) HDX/XPS2 has kept me up at night rediscovering the detail in my existing music collection.

Last week I added the DAC and I have to say that this is probably the single biggest gain in depth of soundstage and focus I have ever heard and demonstrably worth the cash compared to similar priced upgrades that I have made.

I am running them with a 282 and 500 amp and looking forward to hearing what the 555PS can add.

Posted on: 09 February 2010 by DaveBk

Hello and welcome to the forum. I knew someone else out there must have the Ovators by now. I have also been running a pair for about the same time as you and agree with your views. Fantastic musical insight and it keeps getting better.

Posted on: 09 February 2010 by gone

Good to hear the Ovators are delivering. But I agree about the DAC - best two-grand upgrade I ever made.

You gotta try it with a 555PS!

Enjoy

Oh, and welcome....

Posted on: 10 February 2010 by AMA

sn02, can you share your thoughts on Ovators vs other speakers?

Posted on: 12 February 2010 by sn02

Hi AMA

I have always preferred large 3 driver speakers and had many good years with KEF Cantata floorstanders with their impressive base radiator.

These were replaced with Spendor S9's driven by 2 250 amps. After eventually getting the rear wall placement and toe in angle right firing down the 7m side in a 4.7m wide room I obtained a soundstage that I was happy with.

I swapped the 250's for a 500 and immediately the soundstage was tighter, with voices now taking on a three dimensional quality such that it improved the listening experience no end.

When I searched the market I had home demo's of most recommended floorstanders in the £2k-£3k range and in situ the Spendors gave the best results for me.

The Ovators costing three times the price ought to deliver a better result which of course they do and now give me a platform to improve on.

Munch I have the 282 because to me it is better to invest in speakers and amp first. My next step is to see if the 555PS can justify its price and I will be taking one on demo in March.

No doubt I will be tempted to try the 552 - I will let you know how I get on

Posted on: 12 February 2010 by AMA

quote:
My next step is to see if the 555PS can justify its price and I will be taking one on demo in March.

sn02, I have never auditioned 552 but I do believe that there is a space for improvement above 282 because tube preamps sound better than 282/HC at the same cost. Tubes show up more details, more openness, better soundstage (normally deeper soundstage), they definitely quieter than 282 and what is more important -- they are softer than 282. Of course, 282 is exemplar in sound tightness. But this is not often pronounced in setups with slow speakers

282/SC and 252/SC are much softer and improve on all the above parameters but a tad behind the top tubes. My system 282/2*HC/250 sounds a bit harsh to me while 252/300 setup is softer and accurate. I guess mainly because of preamp. I further guess mainly because of SC. I think preamp is VERY important and worth more than 555PS on the DAC.

Posted on: 13 February 2010 by kuma

So, I take it it's better than the Lavry.