Bookshelf speaker recommendations for DAC V1 and NAP-100

This probably won't help, but the best bookshelf speaker I have ever heard is the Revel M16, they are priced about £950,  if you were able to increase the budget a little and with maybe a part ex....?

They IMHO should be in the £2k price band ..they really exceptional speakers

Blumenstein Audio Triton.   $1350 a pair factory direct.  My son has a pair of the predecessor Thrashers with an upgraded finish and they look just like the Triton, which has been upgraded with a higher price.   They rock with a Unitiqute.   This speaker has an 8" paper full range driver with a super tweeter.   Peter Selesnick of Venice Audio turned us onto them and he was so right.

How about Krix Equinox III? This speaker has the reputation of sounding bigger than it is. With my SN it was great ��. 

Dynaudio M20 bookshelf. cost 500 GBP.

Apparently at the acoustica show, one of the best sounds with uniti atom.

Posted by someone who attended the show

"Which leads me to my personal favourite of the day.

The Dynaudio M20 speakers. I heard these last year and promised myself a set, I must do it now for sure. I offered to buy the demo ones today but was knocked back

For £599 + 350 for the stands if you wanted them, I think they are incredible and the steal of the century, humbling vastly more expensive speakers there.

How they do it for the price should be a lesson for others to learn and mimic.
These were being powered by the humble lead in Uniti Atom and for me it was the sound of the day, and stupidly enough by far the cheapest kit on demo there.
Sublime performance."

Agree with Analogmusic above, the M20 sounded very good last weekend and worth an audition. Perhaps WHF can get it right sometimes!

A question for the OP: did you mean a bookshelf speaker or a standmount? I suspect the above recommendations are for standmounts (certainly I've only heard the M20 on stands) but to use a speaker actually on a shelf may lead to different recommendations. You certainly wouldn't want anything with a rear firing port on a shelf, for example.

Agree with Analogmusic & Sunbeamgls. I heard the Emit M20's partnered with a Uniti Atom at the Acoustica show over the weekend and they are ridiculously good for their modest price. Well worth auditioning, but need space around them or the soundstage collapses. They would shine with the Nap100 driving them.

At a higher price I'd also check out the Russell K Red50, which are better but a lot more expensive (esp for the preferable piano black or white finish).

Skip, those Blumenstein Triton's look interesting

Skip posted:

Blumenstein Audio Triton.   $1350 a pair factory direct.  My son has a pair of the predecessor Thrashers with an upgraded finish and they look just like the Triton, which has been upgraded with a higher price.   They rock with a Unitiqute.   This speaker has an 8" paper full range driver with a super tweeter.   Peter Selesnick of Venice Audio turned us onto them and he was so right.

 

I know it's a wee bit off topic...

but Skip, I love how the top shelf of your rack is for Birthday cards, so civilised. 

Skip posted:

Blumenstein Audio Triton.   $1350 a pair factory direct. 

 

They look like they'd be a lot of fun. 

sunbeamgls posted:

Agree with Analogmusic above, the M20 sounded very good last weekend and worth an audition. Perhaps WHF can get it right sometimes!

A question for the OP: did you mean a bookshelf speaker or a standmount? I suspect the above recommendations are for standmounts (certainly I've only heard the M20 on stands) but to use a speaker actually on a shelf may lead to different recommendations. You certainly wouldn't want anything with a rear firing port on a shelf, for example.

Not completely accurate. Neat Iotas are rear ported and work perfectly on a shelf or brackets tight against a wall. At £700 a little above the OP's budget, but nearer than some of the other suggestions.

Not something I've heard myself, though I've heard good things said about them: PMC's Wafer speakers are designed for on-wall mounting (and there's an in-wall version, too). However, whether  they are available cheap enough secondhand is another matter - they don't seem to appear very often.

I went to Wilmslow Audio and bought their HB1 speakers...I am so in love with them.  Beautiful bass, so balanced.  I just can't fault them (and I have listened to a lot of speakers!!).  Nice to build your own too   Depending on your budget you can get them ready made for around £895 or do your own for much less.

Wow, thanks for all the suggestions.

Noticing that I was a little unclear about what type of speaker. I thought of the speakers that should be used with dedicated speaker stands. I have already own a decent pair of stands. 

@ WENGER2015 Thank you, I completely missed those speakers. The HiFi press seem to be very impressed too. Ther are only a little outside my intended budget.

@ SKIP They look very pretty. But I'm looking for something smaller.

@ Kjetil E Glad you mention Krix. I actually had the MK II model in my possession many years ago, regret that I sold them... I just noticed that they gone up a lot in price. I think I gave a good bit under £ 300 for a new pair then, they seem to cost more than double that now. Are they worth the extra money?

@ ANALOG MUSIC, SUNBEAMGLS, YETIZONE Dynaudio M20 sounds very interesting. I just got the impression that Dynaudio need alot of power to come alive. Do you think my NAP-100 is capable of driving them?

Bob, Judging by how well the Atom was driving the Dyn Emit M20's on its own at this weekends Acoustica Show, then the NAP100 should be just fine. Can a home dem be arranged?

Also might be worth considering the Rega R1's or the last generation RS1's (on a well known auction site and well under budget for a minty set) too, they are well worth investigating . A little lean in balance perhaps, but great fun. If space is tight they are very flexible about placement compared to most speakers with rear firing ports and can be wall mounted (Rega make discrete dedicated wall brackets).

I usually don't recommend stuff I haven't acually heard but recommending an auditon can't hurt, so what about the smaller Guru's? (and I have heard the Ino audio siblings)

Joppe posted:

I usually don't recommend stuff I haven't acually heard but recommending an auditon can't hurt, so what about the smaller Guru's? (and I have heard the Ino audio siblings)

+1 on Guru Juniors which work brilliantly on a Qute 2, Nap100 and SN2, but you will do well to find a set for sale.  Well worth trying if you can and if you don't like them you will easily get your money back because they remain in demand

I'm a big fan of Dynaudio bookshelf speakers.  I own the X12's and based on that can certainly recommend the X14's.  I've not heard the M20's but should borrow a pair from my dealer.

Hi Bob123,

We use PMC DB1 speakers, bolted to the rear wall using PMC's own wall mounting brackets.  
Speakers don't get much smaller or more musical than this at the price you are considering.

The DB1 speakers are about £1,000 new in the UK and I have seen excellent condition used pairs available for £500 a pair.  The wall brackets are available from the well known auction site for as little as £20.  There are a number of pictures available on-line if you search for "PMC DB1 wall bracket" on a well known internet search engine.

The DB1 speakers are driven by a mac mini, a DAC-V1 and an old NAP140 power amp.  The system always delights us with the quality of music that it reproduces.

Hope this helps, FT

Hi Bob, how about a pair of AE301 speakers I use a pair on the end of my 272/100 setup and for the money are superb. Acoustic Energy when designing the 301 used a UQ and Supernait, they don't receive much mention on the forum (probably because they are too cheap) but a quick Google search has some great reviews.

Also they can be placed near the wall if space is tight.

Proac Tablette 10's- easy to drive and can be placed against a wall 

ATB,

Mark

@ YETIZONE, BART
I' will go and have a listen. It sounds promising.

I've actually had a pair of Rega RS1. They were okay, but friends of mine prefered the Bostan A25 which I previously had (more power and bass). But I had no Naim electronics then, but Rega straight through.

@JOPPE, DAYJAY
I've read many lyrical reviews but never heard them myself. Interesting indeed.

@FOOT GALLANT
Must give it a listen. I do not think that I listened to speakers from the PMC before. But I've read some reviews now, they seem to be really good.

@HIFIMAN
Glad you mentioned them. Recently read about them too. Do you know if they have a similar sound signature like AE1 reference mk2 for example? I liked them a lot when I had them, but they did need alot of power to blossom. How is the AE301?

Never listened to the AE1 so hard to compare sonic signature of the two models but the AE301 do share some of the DNA from its more expensive brother in the make up of its drivers. Sound wise the AE301 are fast, dynamic, great bass response and disappear when playing music. The NAP 100 drives the AE301 with ease and at the moment not looking to replace/upgrade even though my amps now total £4000

Hard to believe these speakers sell for around £400 !!

if you live in East Yorkshire you are welcome to pop by for a listen.

No sure why KEF speakers don't get a mention around these forums, but you might want to try the LS50s as well. I home demoed the 50s and a pair of PMC 21s which are double the price and I kept the KEFs. They pair quite well with a UnitiQute/NAP100. And in my opinion they also look very smart in black with that single rose gold uniQ driver.

Dali has a good synergy with Naim, as does Dynaudio, ProAc, Totem, NEAT and others. 

My recommendation would be to listen to any option available in your price range.  I use Dali Zensor 3 with a Qute and find it to be a good combo.

If totem rainmakers are in your price range they would be excellent.

[@mention:10999432196972312]: I don't know if the difference between Equinox II and III is substantial and worth the money. I did use version III on my SN and still think is was great value for money. They didn't have that much sound-pressure, but gave very good dynamics on low and mid volume. 

In Norway, Focal 906 is also promoted as a good speaker for Naim gear. I've never heard them my self.  They might be in your price range second hand. 

One of my favorite music stores had PSB bookshelves hanging from the ceilings on their Jazz & Blues level. It was always a pleasure to listen to music on that level especially due to the sound. Sadly I never bothered to find out which model they were and that is a few years back. But I always had it in my mind to look at some PSB bookshelves in a proper setup! I am not sure about their availability outside North America either.