Naim allae

Naimark posted:

Any advice from your side?

Hi Mark, Is a dem possible, preferably at home?

Chris

I don't know your Tannoys, but the Allae was/is a terrific speaker.  And perhaps needless to say, your system will let them sound their best. 

Hi Mark,

I have no experience with Tannoys but have used Allaes with a 282/250 and latterly with 552/500 - sources CDS, NDS and Sondek and find them very musical and pleasing. I'm sure they could be improved upon in the context of my system but I dont feel the need currently. They are a bit fussy to set up but once done are very rewarding.

Paul

Christopher_M posted:

Naimark posted:

Any advice from your side?

Hi Mark, Is a dem possible, preferably at home?

Chris

With 252 I think shouldn't be any problem and should be good right? I grabbed mine without any demo, and yes very fussy on the set up. Currently under testing in active environment

Mark,

I have no experience of those specific Tannoys, but believe me, Allaes and Harbeths are as different as can be.

Allaes are lucid and fast, have a very audible bump in the upper midrange, so unless your room is very absorbing at those frequencies you'll experience some fatigue; I have demoed Allaes at least four times, in two different stores, in my own living room and in the living room of a guy who was selling them: it was the same every time, with different amps or sources. This is of course my opinion only – many will tell you how splendid they are – but I am just alerting you, they are not plug-me-and-forget-me speakers: they get noticed.

Harbeths are the opposite: their midrange is rich, warm, mannered and articulated; their bass tends usually to big and not very tight (unless you drive them with, say, top class Spectral amps..), the sound doesn't leave the boxes and you listen to a very charming, human-like window of sound clearly defined by the position of the speakers, and extending in depth. It's two completely different concepts of listening: Allaes project sound outside themselves (although not so easily and beautifully as N-Sats do), Harbeths drag you inside their own acoustic space.

Try to have some demo, you'll hear by yourself.

Best

M

Max has described my observations well. Two entirely different sounds and both very room dependant.  I couldn't get Allaes to work im my own home on a loan until they were active, then i thought they were interesting. In a friends home they sounded too full in the bass on many recordings and after many position changes gave up. Interestingly we both later owned SL2 with great success.

Still using Allaes after 10 years, from 282/250 through to current 552DR/300DR. No sign of them being replaced in the near future

The Allaes will work wonderfully with your equipment, the big question is 'Will they work with your room'?  But, all things considered, this will be the same with any speaker.  They are so reasonably priced now and the way mine sound, I just don't believe it's possible to get an all round sound as good as them for the money.  So you could buy and try, then re-sell if they don't suit.  That's what I did 3 years ago based on recommendations here, but mine didn't go, and still aren't going anywhere!  Very pleased with them indeed.

I can only recommend, but then I'm biased!

achique99 posted:

Christopher_M posted:

Naimark posted:

Any advice from your side?

Hi Mark, Is a dem possible, preferably at home?

Chris

With 252 I think shouldn't be any problem and should be good right? I grabbed mine without any demo, and yes very fussy on the set up. Currently under testing in active environment

When I saw the OP's kit list I didn't doubt that Allaes would be super. But only he can tell us if they are a 'significant upgrade' over his existing Tannoys. Hence, home dem.

C.

Bitch of a speaker to set up but once done they go like a stabbed rat. Massively entertaining when set up well on the end of a well set up system.

Thrill factor from your music = 10 out of 10

With the plethora of capable modern speakers available one that's fussy or a bitch to set up wouldn't rank very high on my list of candidates. But this is the Naim forum.

This is the second thread the OP has initiated recently asking for advice about  Naim/Harbeth speakers and he appears to have abandoned both after starting them!

joerand posted:

With the plethora of capable modern speakers available one that's fussy or a bitch to set up wouldn't rank very high on my list of candidates. But this is the Naim forum.

Randy, When I saw your Isobarik thread, my first thought was how would Allaes sound for you with your SN2? Seems a shame to write them off because of alleged set up issues. Maybe others here have found them easy install. How would we know? Happy owners don't tell anyone.

Chris

Now I have the following possibilities:

1) naim allae: 600€ + my tannoys (as trade in)

2) harbeth shl5 plus + stand: 2900€ cash

3) naim sl2: 4.000€ cash ( probably a bit negotiable..)

My room is 6x3 metres, the speakers will be placed on short side near to the wall.

Thanks in advance for your advices.

BR,

mark

Take the SL2; they are wonderful speakers. 

You could pick up an N272 too and make an afternoon of it  ;-)

C.

What does it mean??

It means nothing, just ignore it. 

If you have the chance to get SL2s, and have a solid wall to put them against, you will find that they are way better than Allaes, and will match your electronics well. You may prefer the Harbeths of course, but as I have never heard them I cannot comment on what they are like.

Bear in mind that SL2s only work against the wall, and the Harbeths need open space. Allaes are a bit more flexible, but they are the only Naim speakers I have owned that wouldn't work in my room, no matter how they were positioned. 

Mark,

a lucky pair of Ovator S-400s (they seem to vary from sample to sample a little, according to how and how long they have been run-in, and even to production year) has the same wonderful midrange of most Harbeths, plus a number of real-world aspects that Harbeths have not (openness, dynamics, lucidity). And is unmeasurably lovelier to look at. 

I had fun and games getting my Allaes to sound "right", when I finally did I was blown away by them. Using them on the end of a Superuniti.

Nick

For what it's worth, I had Allaes (which I really liked) for a few years and the only problem I had was an untameable bass hump. I had resigned myself to room treatments (which were not acceptable to the rest of the family) when I tried a pair of S400s. Bingo, bass hump gone and fluid articulate bass that I hadn't heard before. There are other benefits to the S400s and, not surprisingly, they stayed.

I can't explain why the Allaes reacted with the room like that (I tried seemingly endless re-positioning) and the s400s don't, but it was an interesting experience.

As always: my room and my ears.

Cheers,

Tim

Ovator 400 model doesn't like me...

Refering to speaker's manual it states that "the loudspeakers can be located between 1.2m and 4m apart (4ft and 13ft), clear of room corners, and where each loudspeaker is between 10cm and 45cm (4” and 18”) away from a solid rear wall"

With passive previous sepaker placement was set at 7" from rear wall & with active is now placed at 16". It was really hard to get the right placement. No issue on HF at any placement. Depending on the music and recording quality, some produced nice LF while some are not. I understand that my preamp is weak for now but am glad it sound better with active.