NDX and Supernait 2 - setup advice

Odds on the guitar on the wall is also trying to play along to the music; all on it's own, no guitarist needed.

Just to add a halfway decent hifi rack does not have to cost the earth for between 100 - 200 pounds you can get something that will sound infinitely better than the nest of tables you have at present.  It does not have to be a 1000 pound Fraim despite what you may have read a halfway decent rack made from metal and glass will even sound better. 

Thanks for the replies guys, I'm loving the look of the room. Just wish the sound matched it.

I've only had the stereo a couple of weeks, a rack will be on the agenda. The components were initially on the shelves under the tv (but... it has to be plugged into one of the 2 8-gang adaptors that power the TV, router, house phone, Mac mini, NAS etc. housed in the little cupboards in the unit AND little feet have a tendancy to kick it when lying and playing on the floor).

The black sofa can move to the listening position but will need to move back at times of visitors (its ekornes too).

The guitar certainly does play its own music lol, the tissues slotted under the strings stop the vibrations and leave it sitting reasonably quietly.

Electronics on separate shelves and room rearranged  I'm still not convinced...

So after lots more reading, I think it's the speakers I'm not getting on with. From what I gather although the harbeths are smooth and have good mids I think it's the "presence" that I'm not getting on with.

From what I've read I believe I'll like the sound of spendors, and I've narrowed it down to the a6r. However. I've always like standmounts and am therefore looking at the sp2/3r2. Are these stand mounts a level too high for the supernait? Would I be better off spending less to avoid feeling the need to upgrade further in the future? Hi cap I might consider but don't want to go pre and power.

Its a 300 miles round trip and the shop currently  only have the a6r's on demo. 

I'm going to audition proac too (this is what I heard initially when buying the electronics). 

Any pointers of advice before I make the journey would be appreciated. 

James

Hi Plyfold,

I've been using Spendor SP2s for the last 30 years, so I have a wee bit of experience with them. 

What is it about the Harbeth 'presence' that you don't like?
What stands are you using?
Have you experimented with moving them around the room (and moving furniture and/or your listening position) - it could easily be your room that's giving the problem not the speakers: Room / Speaker interaction is one of the more complicated aspects to get right.

The A6r and SP2/3r2 are quite different animals, auditioning one won't tell you all you need to know about the other.  The SP2s are very subtle; not in your face at all but give great insight into the music.  Also don't expect the bass extension or firmness that the size of the box suggests - they're a midrange optimised speaker as are all BBC monitor style speakers.

One of the great things about the SP2 is that they're an extremely easy load for an amp; even a Nait 5i will drive them with no problem (I used to drive them with a Nait XS 2).  Sure they won't mask the limitations of the amp but they won't make it struggle either, they 'll just show the rest of the system for what it is (with a CD 5i it's a good lower mid-range system) and they'll present it honestly.  The SP2s will work very well with a SN, and they'll clearly show the benefit of the HiCap when you add it later.

I would also unplug your NAIM equipment from the same power strip that your other household appliences are plugged in.

Trust us (as in Forum members) - it does make a huge difference.

Your system is still in a suboptimal setting, so any discussion on speakers is very premature.  It's like discussing which tyres work better on a F1 car and their impact on shaving 0.5 second off a laptime, but somehow the aerodynamics of a car is all over the place / someone forgot to fit front and rear wings etc etc  Tyres (like speakers) are vital, but need the rest of the package to work to its full potential first.

Huge,

I'm aware of your system... I've read many of your posts and was secretly hoping that you would be the one to reply. I definitely don't want in your face sound. I don't want to be "impressed" by the obvious level of detail delivered. In fact, it's your system that's making me wonder if I should have gone 272/250 and not ndx/sn2!!

I enjoyed my old arcam set up many years ago when I had it but the rhythm of the naim systems just won me over. That said, I want it as least in your face as possible. Warm and smooth but with foot tapping.

I've moved furniture and each component is plugged directly into the wall. I am not on here to ask for advice and then ignore it. ;-)

Current stands are heavy target stands. I'm not sure which model but they weigh a ton, not ideal for these harbeths I imagine. 

I like rock (and pop) music but my taste in music stretches further. To use Huge's terms, I want it as "out my face" as possible.

Hi Plyfold,

Did the Arcam system also have the Harbeths?

If you listen mainly  to rock and pop I don't think the SP2s will be the best speakers for you, to make them work particularly well for these genres needs the softer low bass of the speaker curtailing, you then replace this frequency band using a sub to get sufficient attack to get the foot tapping effect.  To a fair extent the same is true of Harbeth speakers (and all BBC monitor style speakers).

I also suspect that trying lighter stands may improve matters (mine weigh 7kg including mass fill).  What are your stands standing on, it needs to be rigid, but for lighter stands it can have high mass.

In the intermediate time how about trying to change the interface between the stand and speaker - you can try any of these you haven't already used...

Blu-tack (or another way of close coupling)
Sorbathane pads (or any other similar visco-elastic material to decouple them)
Upward Spikes
Downward Spikes

These different interfaces can have significant effects on the sound.

Huge, I certainly will try a different compound beteeen the stands and speakers. Good advice! Never occurred to me. What's the most significant difference between the a6rs and the sp2's? I really don't want a sub. Perhaps proacs then. I'll be going for a listen a week today so I should have formed my own opinion this time next Saturday.

I went on a crazy upgrade journey over the past several years. 

Recenrly i moved to a qnap nas from the synology. I suspect if I had done the many years ago, I would have stopped swapping equipment out.

worth a try?

Mangomonkey, I'm curious why you think that, what difference could you hear between the two? What did the qnap do that your upgrades failed to deliver?

Although Skylan stands are said to work well with Harbeths, I've found that open frame stands are better.