Naim Nait 5si with Kef Ls50 - any experience?

Its a great combo and would like better source

You will be able to hear the combination shortly and perhaps you can share your impressions later on.

FWIW I have owned several B&W speakers in the past and listened to the KEF LS50 at the dealers. I have owned the B&W CDM 1 SEs for more than a decade and had the Nautilus 805 for a brief period. In comparison to the KEF LS50, the B&Ws sound fuzzier and not as defined. The LS50s are more agile and neutral/accurate with a more extended treble. The B&Ws sound fuller, rounder and warmer, the KEF LS50s slightly leaner.

Thanks! Will share my impressions for sure.

I am living in imaginary speculation land, worried about things that have not happened yet!

The Kefs are a week away - being shipped from the UK!

I have both and find it a great setup.

My source is the CD5 SI (and as recommended on another thread) the NACA5 cable.  I have not had any issues with sound, if the 'start' on the volume is 7pm, I listen around the 9pm range going to 10pm with older cds.  Anything above 12pm and well, you better not have close neighbours or thin walls...

Mine sit on heavy bookshelves, near to the wall, but play around with placement, heavy stands etc, the guide mentioned I should have the bungs in the back port for the distance to the wall, I preferred the sound without them in.  They are your ears, so only you can decide what is best.  Enjoy !

I have most of my music ripped from CDs as Apple lossless. 

I have a heavy cabinet, and am looking to place the Kef on isoacoustic short stands or on separate stands to be purchased. I have an old pair of Mission stands that are probably too light for the job.

I have ls50's being powered bye NAP110, DAC V1 and microRendu. Mine are on heavy cast iron sand filled stands pretty close to the wall. No bungs sound better for me, but your results may vary - they can get quite boomy close to a wall. They do need about 200 hours burn in and sounded quite harsh at first so hang in there before making any conclusive judgements. I think they're pretty great speakers, esp for jazz, vocals, etc. 

I used to own a pair of LS50s.  Incredible speakers.  

They were driven by a UnitiLite, then a NAP150x, then a NAP152XS and sounded great, so I can't imagine the 5si struggling to drive them properly.

I'll echo what Charlesphoto said - placing the LS50s can be tricky and they need time to settle.  I found them harsh at first but they mellowed out after a few weeks.

RaghuV posted:

I have most of my music ripped from CDs as Apple lossless. 

I have a heavy cabinet, and am looking to place the Kef on isoacoustic short stands or on separate stands to be purchased. I have an old pair of Mission stands that are probably too light for the job.

 

I don't really stream through it, but I don't see any issues - i have hooked up an ipod but that was compressed files and that was 'good enough' - I'm sure uncompressed will be better.

Enjoy playing around when you get everything set up.

Well the KEF LS50s arrived today.

30 minutes setting up the QED Screwloc banana plug on the speakers, calibration with the Yamaha Lpao, and I didn't wait for the formalities of speakers stands arriving.

First record - "A Kind of Blue" - 24/192, and immediately the soundstage was wider than anything I heard on the B&Ws before, the sound was frigging awesome, in pure amateur terms.

Then a lossless CD recording of Coldplay Live - "Talk Holland" - Fix you to hear the crowd assisting around the stadium.

Then Nina Simone with "I put a spell on you", and then Steely Dan - "Aja".

Man, this is going to be so much fun!

Congrats! Now give them about 200 hours to really sing. Be sure to keep them well away from the wall - I couldn't with mine and so after "the accident" (see other post) have moved on to Rega RX3's. But the Ls50's do some crazy magical things when set up properly (esp with jazz), the Rega's are better all rounders when pushed up against the wall and blu tacked straight onto the oak floors. 

I am awaiting stands, and the removal of the entire home theater setup to do a proper setup. That's a couple of weekends away!

The cables, interconnects, bananas, speakers wires arrived in drubs and drabs from the U.K. and the US, including a Stanley wire stripper!

For now, the delta from what I was hearing before has me in awestruck mode already!

Am reading up on acoustic calibration, positioning .... All new stuff.