unitiqute 2 speakers match

Well I own a UQ2 and PMC Twenty5.23 and previously Twenty.23s which, despite being floorstanding, are easier to drive than 22s.

It is not that the PMC are hard to drive at all. It is simply that they are too demanding of a speaker in terms of how revealing they can be that a UQ2 is simply not up to it, I better quality power amp (which might happen to be more powerful) will get you some of the way their but ultimately, the 23s need more of everything right back to the source. It drove the 23s loud and hard but they never sounded convincing. I would say not to bother. I haven't compared the KEF LS50 but if they are anywhere in the ballpark of quality of the PMCs then regardless of driving ability I would advise to find something less in the mullet territory.

I use my PMCs on a very different level of system in a different room and partner my UQ2 with Qacoustics 3010. Let me put this in perspective: I get better results with the UQ2 from a pair of speakers that costs 1/20th the price of a pair of 23s. It can drive them, they don't demand more control or detail than the UQ2 can deliver. It just works.

I've not heard the 22s, but when upgrading my speakers 2 years ago, I home demoed the PMC 21s VS the LS50. And decided to go with the LS50 speaker. My system at the time was UnitiQute and NAP100. Perhaps it was because the PMC where brand new and the LS50s had many hours of use. But the LS50's had a fuller sound with deeper lower end, and just as detailed in the highs as the 21s. Also to me the LS50s had a bigger sounds stage, which I am a sucker for.

On only one occassion, I heard the UQ2; and that was with Neat's SX1and ProAc's Tablette. Both worked very well, I thought -- certainly options to explore if you are in the market for small bookshelf speakers.

When I heard KEF's LS50, it was without Naim amplification. Marantz I think but I am not sure. Both my wife and I didn't like the LS50 at all. On that occassion, we compared them with Dynaudio's X14, which I could also recommend to your short list. We didn't like the LS50 because we felt they didn't cope with complex music. We listen to classical music, and especially orchestral pieces don't work with these speakers in our view. But it might be quite different if you are into electronic music, for instance. My guess, the LS50 could work rather well with this sort of music.

How about keeping the speakers and getting a used Superuniti?

@Feeling_Zen, you might recall that I looked into PMC's 25.23 some little time ago. I went for them -- lovely speakers with geat transparency, I really enjoy them! The more I listen to them I see your point that they are incredibly revealing. It is my impression that top-quality recordings are amazing with the speakers, whilst they seems somewhat intolerant towards older recordings -- then a slight veil appears.

Is this also your experience? Or shall I rather blame my modest XS2/ND5XS system? I wondered about this since you mentioned a few times that the 25,23 benefit from high-quality amplification, but also said that you expected the XS2 too be fine. Or could i expext greater benefits from improving the source? Cheers!!

Apologies to the OP!

Hungryhalibut posted:

How about keeping the speakers and getting a used Superuniti?

Indeed, a good time for a Superuniti bargain; and certainly a very big step up.  

Hungryhalibut posted:

How about keeping the speakers and getting a used Superuniti?

with the great pleasure but  it is a problem in our country )

I have an original UQ, my Neat Motive 2's make it sing. The Kudos x2 make it sing even better! 

Timo posted:

@Feeling_Zen, you might recall that I looked into PMC's 25.23 some little time ago. I went for them -- lovely speakers with geat transparency, I really enjoy them! The more I listen to them I see your point that they are incredibly revealing. It is my impression that top-quality recordings are amazing with the speakers, whilst they seems somewhat intolerant towards older recordings -- then a slight veil appears.

Is this also your experience? Or shall I rather blame my modest XS2/ND5XS system? I wondered about this since you mentioned a few times that the 25,23 benefit from high-quality amplification, but also said that you expected the XS2 too be fine. Or could i expext greater benefits from improving the source? Cheers!!

Apologies to the OP!

Indeed, I don't really want to hijak the thread so I'll be brief. In a word, no. I find the better the system in general, the more problems will show up in poor recordings (specifically ones with heavy dynamic range compression or analogue tape masters that got oversaturated), I don't equate that with old recordings though. I listen to a lot of funk from the 60s and 70s and some of those Parliament Funkadelic albums and early Meters stuff just sounds amazing. Without knowing what you are calling "old recordings" though, I really couldn't offer a comparison. 

Dimitriy

An obvious question I know, but can you get to a dealer - or secure a home demonstration? If so, that would help enormously with the decision making process. The weakness and strengths of the two speakers you mention will then soon become startling apparent.

I have a UnitiQute2 and have auditioned quite a few speakers (Dynaudio X14, Rega R1, B&W 686-S2, B&W CM1-S2, PMC Twenty22, Focal Aria 906), but overall I felt the best match were the Russell K Red R50, the partnership of Qute and R50 just had such convincing synergy that every time other speakers replaced them it sounded as if the spirit of the music had somehow been removed. A very engaging combination. The only issue being that the RK speakers are rear ported and need space around them to work at their best.

Well worth trying to seek them out before you commit to anything else.

feeling_zen posted:

Timo posted:

@Feeling_Zen, you might recall that I looked into PMC's 25.23 some little time ago. I went for them -- lovely speakers with geat transparency, I really enjoy them! The more I listen to them I see your point that they are incredibly revealing. It is my impression that top-quality recordings are amazing with the speakers, whilst they seems somewhat intolerant towards older recordings -- then a slight veil appears.

Is this also your experience? Or shall I rather blame my modest XS2/ND5XS system? I wondered about this since you mentioned a few times that the 25,23 benefit from high-quality amplification, but also said that you expected the XS2 too be fine. Or could i expext greater benefits from improving the source? Cheers!!

Apologies to the OP!

Indeed, I don't really want to hijak the thread so I'll be brief. In a word, no. I find the better the system in general, the more problems will show up in poor recordings (specifically ones with heavy dynamic range compression or analogue tape masters that got oversaturated), I don't equate that with old recordings though. I listen to a lot of funk from the 60s and 70s and some of those Parliament Funkadelic albums and early Meters stuff just sounds amazing. Without knowing what you are calling "old recordings" though, I really couldn't offer a comparison. 

Thanks Feeling_Zen -- that's very helpful. Re "old recordings", my thoughts occured when listening to old opera recordings where I somehow felt that it wasn't mic'd properly -- and possibly no use of "modern technology" to fix it. Lack of clarity which seemed to come from how it was receorded. If this makes sense...