On the borderline of being a mullet – but it sounds really good!
Posted by: MarcusM on 12 July 2016
Hi fellow forum members!
I have changed my speakers and thought I would write a few lines about it. I have never posted pictures here before but will try my best. It’s more fun with pictures 
I always like informative posts from people upgrading their gear and thought I should pay back a little by describing my journey. Just keep in mind that English is not my native language… 
Okay, so I started to think about new speakers approximately 1,5 years ago. My system at the time was:
Source: NDS + 555PS DR
Pre: NAC252 + SC DR
Power: NAP300
Speakers: Audio Physic Virgo 25
Full loam of Super Lumina cables and PowerLines.
As a power distribution unit I used Shunyata Triton with a Shunyata Anaconda power chord. I’m now using a MusicLine distribution block instead, but that’s a different story...
Since I started to evaluate different speakers I have also upgraded my Ethernet cables to Chord C-stream (from NAS to wall outlet and from wall outlet to switch) and Chord Sarum Super Aray from switch to my NDS. A surprisingly big improvement in my system…
Here is my system before the speaker change:
The reason for me to start thinking about new speakers was that I had a feeling that my old speakers was a little strained when played at high volume. Don’t get me wrong, I really liked my old speakers but I had a feeling the sound could be more solid and also have higher resolution and presence in the music.
I visited a few “demo-days” at different dealers and also arranged a number of demos when I came across an interesting speaker. Here in Sweden not all speakers of interest is possible to demo but I listened to quite a few different brands and models. Some were excluded if they were sensitive for placement or a very difficult load. A NAP300 is a really good amp but I believe it could not handle the more difficult speakers. Wrong or not, this was my approach…
The goal was off course to end up with a system that I could live with for a very long time without feeling that I needed to upgrade something else to get the system right. That’s why I for example wanted to stay clear of speakers that are difficult to drive…
Before somebody point out an obvious alternative I can say that I also was thinking of the mighty NAC552. There is only one dealer here in Sweden that has a NAC552 and its over 500 km away from where I live. A home audition would have been very hard to arrange and to compare the benefits from a speaker upgrade to the benefits from a preamp upgrade would have been close to impossible.
I talked to the distributor here in Sweden. Lovely guys by the way! They offered me a home loan of a NAC552 but they would order it from Naim just for me to try and I had to promise to be quite convinced that I would buy it if it delivered a good upgrade over my current NAC252. A fair deal but I would have felt obliged to buy it even if new speakers would have been a greater upgrade.
After thinking about it for some time I concluded that a NAC552 would maybe be the best move based on performance but I would still feel the need to upgrade my speakers. My goal was to not end up there, wanting to upgrade something else directly after a big upgrade. Therefor I decided that the NAC552 have to wait and to go for great speakers instead for better system balance.
I hope you follow my thoughts and find them reasonably sane… 
So, which speakers were the most interesting candidates? Apart from the ones I bought (I will not tell you that just yet 
) I tried 4 different speakers at home in my system. Here are two of them:
Besides B&W 803D3 and Marten Bird 2 I also tested Audiovector SR6 Avantgarde Arreté and Neat XL6 in my system at home. All really good speakers but they all had some shortcomings that I could not live with. At least not for that kind of money… 
Focal Sopra No2, Sonus Faber and Raidho are very popular but did not sound any good to my ears. To be fair, they were not being demoed with Naim gear but with other quite expensive electronics.
Some were excluded on looks (by my wife) like Vivid Audio and Dynaudio Confidence C4, just to mention a few.
Wilson, Magico, Kef Blade for example was excluded since they were considered as a heavy load by the dealer and in reviews.
So what did I end up with?
They should be a fairly easy load, easy to position in a room, reasonably nice looking, go well together with Naim electronics and sound really really good.
It took 1,5 years but I found them! Any good guesses?
N-Sats? 
Some god guesses guys but no one have guessed correct yet. I will give you some clues…
Here are some pictures of the unpacking
Without speakers and all cables tucked away:
Before the unboxing begins:
Some accessories:
Seriously built feet:
Is it obvious yet?
ChrisSU posted:N-Sats?
Good guess Chris but unfortunatly N-sats are out of my leuge. I just have to continue to dream about them 
/Marcus
Slim68 posted:S-600s ?? Or S-800s, Would they be more mullet like? :-)
I never heard the S-800 but both S-600 and S-400 was excluded quite early in the process. Maybe good speakers but not for me. I’ve heard them on many occasions but never liked them unfortunately 
And we have a winner! Good work! 
Some pictures of the installation:
First “base” in place, but on pieces of wood wood:
Now on their “feet”:
One complete speaker:
Both speakers in place:
Both speakers but now with the “clothes” on:
Chord Sarum links and Super Lumina speaker cables:
Without the protection film on the black paint:
From another angle:
From minute one the Titans sounded really good and on another level compared to the contenders that I tried at home. I decided that no special “break in” was required and have only played my system during “normal listening”.
It’s been 5 weeks now and I’m up to 96 hours of listening even though it’s been the European Championship in soccer…
Quite soon it will be time to work with their positioning. Now I have them 45 cm from back wall and with zero toe-in. They really sound fantastic and I’m quite confident that I made the right choice
I hope you enjoyed my post and all the pictures even though you don’t agree with my choice 
I’m really happy and have a great sounding and fairly well balanced system now, if I can say it myself. Perhaps just on the borderline of being a mullet...
/Marcus
MarcusM posted:Some god guesses guys but no one have guessed correct yet. I will give you some clues…
Here are some pictures of the unpacking
Have you been painting pictures on your Magnepans?
b_lund posted:Many (much cheaper) speakers than those described above, are better IMO maybe with the exception of the Neats
So Mullet is relative, I'd pick other speakers for sure, s/h or not, so happy for you you choosed others
Those B&W's are becoming more ugly beeing chinese now
Its just as easy guessing which speakers it is not - Kan's ? mr. Parry's Isobarik ?
Hi b_lund!
I’m also happy that I didn’t choose any of the other 4 I tested at home, not to mention the ones that I felt was no idea to even test at home at all
To my ears the Titans are clearly better but that is a question of taste, I guess, and what different people find important in the presentation from the speaker.
What other speakers do you rate high, except the Neats?
I could have had a chance to hear the Neat XL10:s but would have had to wait a few months more. One can’t wait forever with a decision…
I also wanted to hear Kef Reference 5 but they were not possible to demo in Sweden…
/Marcus
benjy posted:Doesn't look like it's possible,but any way to get the racks out from between the speakers? Seems to me that alone would probably make a huge improvement in sq.
Benjy, you are correct! I have been thinking about that quite a bit but can’t find a solution that results in the system not being between the speakers.
Next time we move I will aim for Fraim and the system not between the speakers
/Marcus
Allante93 posted:Nice System, if I'm not mistaken those Titans, are 30K plus USD.
Borderline Mullet!
Allante93!
Hi Allante93!
System matching is always hard. How to balance your budget and stuff like that… I started my post by explaining a bit about how I was thinking during this process…
I started out looking at “cheaper” speakers like B&W 803D3 and Focal Sopra No2 (just to mention a few highly rated ones) but felt that something was missing and that the improvement over my Audio Physic Virgo 25 was not big enough.
When I heard the Titan 808:s it was different. Everything felt just right for me and I could not find any weaknesses in the sound and presentation. Is it worth the extra cash? I like to think so…
After for example upgrading preamp from 202 -> 282 ->252 losing money on every step, my new plan is to upgrade very rarely but to go big
My Titan 808 will stay for many years in my system, perhaps for the rest of my life. If I ever feel like upgrading my preamp my speakers are up for it...
/Marcus
Allante93 posted:Couldn't help but notice the Aktiv inputs, could you elaborate on that, please!
Allante!
Sorry Allante!, but not really.
I will drive mine passively and have not investigated very much how to drive them actively.
I think that you can drive them actively with Linn, Naim and Devialet if I’m not mistaken…
Maybe more brands in the future… 
/Marcus