More Speaker Advice Please

Hi Dave

Ooh, lots of choice there, so long as it is room tolerant.

As you get on with the 803, the obvious choice will be either the new 803D3, which will almost certainly be considerably, profoundly better, or an 802D (the version just being replaced)  Harry & Steve J both have 500 series systems with 802D speakers & love them.

Kudos Titan T88 are another superb and flexible speaker.  Fairly undemanding of room position too due to the porting configuration.  J.N. (Varyat, I think) and several others have these and rate them highly.  A certain Naim dealer in Ipswich has a demo pair going for an absolute song.  Then there is a new Kudos 606 due for imminent release.  They are like the new top range Kudos 808 but with smaller (6 inch?) drivers and a much lower price.

Neat's MF9 (now discontinued) and the current XL10 are most impressive (ask Polarbear), tall though.

The new Wilson Sabrina is reportedly excellent at circa £11k (I think) and matches the Wilson Sophia (another forgiving, full range speaker that I have enjoyed)

Finally, I'd just give Derek Dunlop a call at ART Loudspeakers and ask him for one of his 3 way designs to try.  They are bottom ported and one of very few speakers that could plonk & play brilliantly in our acoustically tricky living room.  Polarbear and a couple of other forum members have also gone the ART route with 500 series systems.

My profile tells you which way I went in the end.

One note of caution though: any and all of these high resolution speakers, driven by 500 series electronics, will ruthlessly highlight the strengths & limitations of your source(s), especially the RP8.

Hope this helps to get you started! FT

Have people never heard of airplanes? This is not directed just at you, several posters over the years have said something similar. How is it that people have tens of thousands of dollars to spend on un-demoed equipment but not hundreds of dollars to get on a plane and schedule a few demos? It's not as good as an in home demo but it is far better than nothing. Plus you can make a pleasant weekend or longer vacation of it.

Anyway, I am a very happy Sophia 3 owner and I highly recommend them. They handle bass better than anything else I have heard in their price range which is all important for my dance/techno records. I'd definitely take Foot Tapper's suggestion and check out the Sabrina. I haven't heard it yet but I've never heard a Wilson speaker that wasn't excellent.

Another speaker brand that has impressed me is Spendor. I recently heard the D7 and found it delivers a very sophisticated full range sound for well within the 10 - 15k budget (I think they were around 5k). Additionally, they are relatively small and easy to set up and maneuver.

Naijeru,

yes, aeroplanes do have their uses. However, when you are posted in places like Yemen like I was, it is not that simple. Add in the costs for the family to make it a weekend and several thousand pounds later ones budget for electronics has shrunk by the same amount not including limited time off work taken for a shopping trip. Asking advice here is a great way to al least get together a short list to focus on and research further. Also, in my eperience, listening in demo rooms bears little or no relation to the sound produced in a normal domestic environment.

It was not really necessary to demo the NAP500 before changing out the 300. On the same basis, taking a massive step forward in speakers in terms of technology and price bracket is relatively straightforward without having the clutter and confusion of listening to half a dozen alternatives in various demo rooms.

And no, I won't be buying Maggies!

Dave

Dave,

My understanding is that Naim make some speakers suitable for your amps.

Chris

FT,

thanks for for the short list and caveats. I have actually found dealers here who stock Neat and B&W so will Pay them a visit. I'm not sure if home demo is a concept here. Anyway, here's hoping.

Dave