B&W 802D & UnitiQute2

cat345 posted:

Try to find ANY other loudspeakers used or new for 4K that sound better with your UQ2. If you dont find any, jump on the 802D's!

I found a nice pair of Ovator S-400 for a lot less than 4K might be worth a listen.

For a very good simple system for £4k it could be worth swapping the Qute for a used SuperUniti and then getting some speakers for the £2k balance - PMC 23s, S400s, ProAcs or whatever. Any of these combinations would be far more balanced than the completely bonkers Qute/B&W setup, and would not require additional thousands to be spent to get it working properly. 

SuperUniti with Ovator S400 and some NACA5 - a very potent combination. Naim sound in spades.

I had Epos 14's driven by a UQ and even they were seriously underpowered the UQ just could not move those speakers, then I got some Guru QM1O Mk 1's smaller speaker, smaller drivers and they sounded great with the UQ. If you go ahead and buy those B&W's you will never be happy with the sound they produce until you have spent 10 x what a UQ costs and so you could miss they great pleasure of owning a UQ, a Nap 100 or Nap 150 or a Nap 200 because they just won't sound right with those speakers but with other speakers more suited to them they will sound fantastic. 

it all depends on two things, most particularly if the OP likes what he hears with them now, (and aware they can only improve), and on his endgame (and how many steps he wants to take to get there). If he likes how they sound now in his system there's no reason not to go for them even if others might consider the sound less than ideal.

I have always fancied to marry my trusty Nait 2 with Westminster Royals...  A UQ2 with 802's could be a modern equivalent! 

Not really; the B&W 802 is a very different speaker to the Tannoy.  The Tannoy can be driven effectively with comparatively little power whereas the B&W needs lots of power and current to work properly.

If the 802Ds are snapped up, remember to put a 4K Nordost Valhalla 2 mains cable on the UnitiQute 2.

I am sure the wee Qute will do fine. For now that is. I see the 802D’s are 90dB, 8 Ohm average. My wee Qute is driving PMC OB1 i’s, which are only 87dB at 6 Ohm, to great satisfaction. For now that is. Of course I know that the Qute is underpowered and of course I know that the PMC’s, or the big 802D’s in this case will sound better with more balls. But, in my opinion it is the first Watt that is the most important Watt and the mighty wee UnitiQute provides a very fine first Watt in my opinion.

I was in the same position as Ropehawn. I was in the position to snap up a mint pair of great speakers at a too good to be true price.

The Obee wan kenobie’s are here to stay. The Qute can and will get upgraded.

Just my 2 cents

My Qute is driving a pair of NSats, very nicely. It used to drive SL2s even more nicely....

The specs don't show you the full story here - trust me.  Don't do it.  There are any number of £5k systems (or much less) that will satisfy way more than the UQ with the B&W 802s.

As Richard Dane says the specs are not telling you the full story - it is about the impedance curve of the speaker over the full range from 20 HZ to 20 KHZ, and it is always not linear. There are frequency points where hi-end speakers will pull a lot of current and can drop to 3 Ohms.

I've owned a Qute 2 and a Nap 100 and both are excellent with the right speakers, however, I wouldn't even contemplate putting a set of speakers that cost 4K on the end of either of them.  Given the choice spending the 4K and the value of the Qute on a balanced system costing 5k or 6k will give a much better and more satisfying sound.  The Qute and Nap 100 could drive my Focals too but they couldn't provide the control and the sound that my SN2 can with them.

I'm currently in the process of trying (and failing) to convince a friend to avoid doing something similar. He has an entry level Pioneer streamer and integrated that together are far below even a UQ2 which he has with B&W CM1 S2. Currently everything is more or less matched level-wise (everying is nearly the same cost) but he bought on spec alone without listening and the result is dire (I can't tell him this). The speakers are clearly wrong for the small room and his taste. He has the room layed out with the speakers 3m apart but the listening position only 1m away from the front axis and nothing is on a rack.

Rather than deal with the room layout (which is free since he is a bachelor) or a rack (which he doesn't beleive in), he is planning on blowing $6000 on a pair of B&W 805 D3 to fix the problem. Thing is, he's heard a UQ2 driving dirt cheap QAcoustics 2010is on my office system and knows it sounds better but cannot get away from "the speaker is the hifi" mindset.

I've reasoned with him - talked to him of the benefit of the monkfish over a mullet etc. but it has been futile. The cheapest upgrade would be to change the room and sell the CM1s and get a lesser speaker that works with the room/system better costing nothing overall, or if desperate to loose $6K, just buy a whole new system but pay more attention to matching.

But alas, 805 D3s on a Pioneer system: "it's happening man" and I can't stop it. On the other hand, what someone else wants to do with their money is their business. If they want to buy $6K of yellow yarn, who are we to say otherwise - we don't have to do it ourselves.

I have heard the Superuniti with a few speakers, but they sounded the best with Naim speakers. In this case it was 15+ year old Naim intros, very very nice. Naim electronics do sound very indeed with Naim speakers (and why not?)

I have to thank everyone that chimed in on this. Reaching out as my introduction to the community with such a question I never thought I'd get the response that I did. Hats off to the Naim community! Surely to the cringe of some and the golf clap of others I'm happy to say that I'm now the proud owner of the 802 Diamonds. Quite a speaker they are and I have a long way to grow.

Knowing that the UQ is a starting point and will grow over the time I now put it out to everyone asking for REASONABLE speaker cable recommendations and if I should or should  be bi-wiring

Congratulations on the new speakers. If 4k is in US dollars, that is quite a good deal. I might have jumped on it too if the opportunity arises (I used to be a B&W fan as some of my earliest B&W speakers are the CDM 1SEs which have stayed on for a decade. Owned the N805 for a short period).

Ropehawn posted:

Knowing that the UQ is a starting point and will grow over the time I now put it out to everyone asking for REASONABLE speaker cable recommendations and if I should or should  be bi-wiring

Naim NAC A5, it will also work with your other component upgrades until you get to 'top of the tree' equipment, then you can buy the super lumina...

Ropehawn posted:

I have to thank everyone that chimed in on this. Reaching out as my introduction to the community with such a question I never thought I'd get the response that I did. Hats off to the Naim community! Surely to the cringe of some and the golf clap of others I'm happy to say that I'm now the proud owner of the 802 Diamonds. Quite a speaker they are and I have a long way to grow.

Knowing that the UQ is a starting point and will grow over the time I now put it out to everyone asking for REASONABLE speaker cable recommendations and if I should or should  be bi-wiring

Congrats!

NACA5 is the only way to go in your system . . . and not bi-wired.  Use an "F" connection if you simply must put banana plugs in two sets of binding posts. 

Again, don't stray form A5 here. The UQ2 is one of the Naim amps that is tolerant of almost any cable but on the other hand the 802 is huge amount of speaker for the tiny power amp stage in the UQ2. A5 should help a bit in overall stability.

Needless to say, don't go crazy on the volume until you get a more suitable amp otherwise you can easily damage both the UQ2 and the 802s.

For years B&W speakers used to be shown at shows with Classe' Electronics and Abbey Road cables.  These cables are silver plated fine copper, whereas Naca5 is just pure copper.  That mix of silver in your cable choice is up to your ears. Some like its influence,some don't . With a lower range Naim I'd think you'd need more silver to quicken it up a bit.

Congrats!  These are real high end speakers you can enjoy for years to come. IMO, once you get some large reference speakers in your house (if you have room for them) you may never want to settle for less no matter the electronics driving them. As for the cabling, NACA5 is still a very good choice especially with Naim amplifiers. Make sure you get at least a 3.5m lenght or more.

NACA5 - either white or black to suit your decor. length = 3.5 minimum, longer canbe better.

Bob Edwards posted:

Ropehawn posted:

I have to thank everyone that chimed in on this. Reaching out as my introduction to the community with such a question I never thought I'd get the response that I did. Hats off to the Naim community! Surely to the cringe of some and the golf clap of others I'm happy to say that I'm now the proud owner of the 802 Diamonds. Quite a speaker they are and I have a long way to grow.

Knowing that the UQ is a starting point and will grow over the time I now put it out to everyone asking for REASONABLE speaker cable recommendations and if I should or should  be bi-wiring

Congrats!

NACA5 is the only way to go in your system . . . and not bi-wired.  Use an "F" connection if you simply must put banana plugs in two sets of binding posts. 

Second this. You can search for F Connections on the forum. I would go at least 5-6 meters of Naca5 to keep the UQ stable.