What's in people's mind?

Glad to read that you are happy with your Ovators. I'm going to collect a pair to in a month time.

Sometimes people just want a change without being unhappy with what one has. In the end, hifi is an hobby for many people.

Great that you like your Ovators. I really like my ATC SCM 11s. Why, very engaging and musical and works well with my system in my room and I have very good hearing. As they say, each to their own ��

Maybe as they aren't as good as allaes ��

I second Max's thoughts - I adore my S-400s. They are neatly designed and well made. Although I must admit I have seen better looking speakers - here kudos to Monitor Audio - their Gold and Platinum range is exquisitly made.

I think people follow fashions - if Naim does not make the Ovators anymore, than there must be something wrong with them. Better sell them now... At least that's what I could imagine people thinking...

Ultimately? I don't really care - the speakers are for us to listen to in our home And for our friends when they come over and want to appreciate some good (and well played back) music.

I will quote from a fellow Forum member, who came visiting a month or so ago: he just said 'They are rather good, aren't they'  

New boy in town - Proac Tablette 10

alanbass1 posted:

Great that you like your Ovators. I really like my ATC SCM 11s. Why, very engaging and musical and works well with my system in my room and I have very good hearing. As they say, each to their own ��

Ops, sorry. I could have thought that there was some happy ATC owner. Mine was more a boutade: the only pair I've heard were really, really treble-y and not my kind at all. Nothing personal.

Max_B posted:

I took a quick look around known 2nd hand sites, or using HiFi Shark, and counted at least 25 pairs of 2nd hand Ovators, S-400s or S-600s, for sale.

I have just bought mine – undoubtedly an afterthought, having bought and resold my first pair 5 years ago in one week –and am very glad I did. They are beautiful (every female who has entered in our home has praised them on visual grounds), sound fine, haven't great amp requirements, are lively and domestic and don't need stands. I like them a lot, and know that to look for something better to match CDX2 and SN would be a silly and infinite quest – I have done just that for years.

Yet, people want to get rid of them. Why? To buy Focals or Titans? I've listened to every Harbeth model inside out, I can't believe that anyone could really prefer those to Ovators. Audio people follow fashion and trends infinitely more than they themselves think; so what's the new speaker to go with Naim? I don't understand. At a recent audio show I finally heard a pair of ATCs and couldn't believe that someone could listen to music on those knife blades. That is not definition, it's plain cruelty, or else they are designed for people over 85 and below 6kHz per ear. 

Why do people sell their Ovators? I sold mine, but then bought them again. As I did with a few Naim things I really like: the Sats, the CDX2, the SN. But why get rid of such beautiful, cleverly thought and executed things forever?

Just evening musings after an afternoon of rain.

M 

I intend to purchase a titan 707 do you think it`s a waste of money ,by replacing my SL2 speaker as you  said above by saying  that people wants to get rid  from naim speakers, let me understand your comments

 

 

 

Max_B posted:

I took a quick look around known 2nd hand sites, or using HiFi Shark, and counted at least 25 pairs of 2nd hand Ovators, S-400s or S-600s, for sale.

I have just bought mine – undoubtedly an afterthought, having bought and resold my first pair 5 years ago in one week –and am very glad I did. They are beautiful (every female who has entered in our home has praised them on visual grounds), sound fine, haven't great amp requirements, are lively and domestic and don't need stands. I like them a lot, and know that to look for something better to match CDX2 and SN would be a silly and infinite quest – I have done just that for years.

Yet, people want to get rid of them. Why? To buy Focals or Titans? I've listened to every Harbeth model inside out, I can't believe that anyone could really prefer those to Ovators. Audio people follow fashion and trends infinitely more than they themselves think; so what's the new speaker to go with Naim? I don't understand. At a recent audio show I finally heard a pair of ATCs and couldn't believe that someone could listen to music on those knife blades. That is not definition, it's plain cruelty, or else they are designed for people over 85 and below 6kHz per ear. 

Why do people sell their Ovators? I sold mine, but then bought them again. As I did with a few Naim things I really like: the Sats, the CDX2, the SN. But why get rid of such beautiful, cleverly thought and executed things forever?

Just evening musings after an afternoon of rain.

M 

 

So, why indeed did you sell yours?

(Glad the female cats and dogs like them. Don't the males?)

Max,

This post plays to me very similar to your post from a few months ago that has run its course, though I don't doubt you'll rationalize this one's tangential variation. You can read my generally positive thoughts on the Ovator 400s there and my opinion hasn't changed. I've heard the 600s as well. Folks live with speakers they like and sell the ones they don't. Pretty simple, non-phenomenal reasoning. I'd find the fact that people are selling a number of boutique market Ovator speakers more telling than mystifying.

Was going to write what I though of the ovators  - but I'll let it be. Not much point to it. Enjoy what you have! :-)

I was thinking of Super Lumina interconnects, speaker cables. Just got the Harbeth C7s instead. Cost less than full loom - but when listening to music on the Harbeths stuff seems just so well put together that making any further changes feels pointless. That's their biggest strength - you stop looking for changes and improvements.

Max_B posted:

 

Why do people sell their Ovators? I sold mine, but then bought them again. As I did with a few Naim things I really like: the Sats, the CDX2, the SN. But why get rid of such beautiful, cleverly thought and executed things forever?

Just evening musings after an afternoon of rain.

M 

 

Probably best not to ponder such things lest you want to act on your ponderances. Instead, just enjoy the music.

True they look superb but whilst I never tried them in my room I can recall demos in 3 seperate dealers and I thought them muddled, lumpy bass and horrendous treble.  I must have been right because Mrs S agreed with me.  

Everyone is born different. Hence different minds.

Enjoy the music, and the Ovator S400.

The Strat (Fender) posted:

True they look superb but whilst I never tried them in my room I can recall demos in 3 seperate dealers and I thought them muddled, lumpy bass and horrendous treble.  I must have been right because Mrs S agreed with me.  

I think the demos you've had Lindsay used broken speakers  

My Ovators are an exact opposite of your description. They remind me of Kudos S20 and my Quad ESL-63s. Perhaps I have a twisted mind 

The Strat (Fender) posted:

True they look superb but whilst I never tried them in my room I can recall demos in 3 seperate dealers and I thought them muddled, lumpy bass and horrendous treble. 

Personally I didn't consider that they sounded as good as that, but they do look impressive 

ryder. posted:

Everyone is born different. Hence different minds.

Enjoy the music, and the Ovator S400.

And different systems/rooms. Speakers are very room dependant, so if you like a speaker at a dealers it doesn't necessarily mean you will like it at home, and vice versa. I bet if you went to each manufacturers dem room you would like the majority of what you heard as the room would have been set up/refurbished to perfectly match the speakers.

Things get discontinued, people want the latest thing and they move on. I've never heard the S400 so can't comment on its sound. I was never tempted to try them at home because they are too big. You could ask the same question about SBLs, which are still better than most modern speakers. 

meni48 posted:

Max_B posted:

I took a quick look around known 2nd hand sites, or using HiFi Shark, and counted at least 25 pairs of 2nd hand Ovators, S-400s or S-600s, for sale.

I have just bought mine – undoubtedly an afterthought, having bought and resold my first pair 5 years ago in one week –and am very glad I did. They are beautiful (every female who has entered in our home has praised them on visual grounds), sound fine, haven't great amp requirements, are lively and domestic and don't need stands. I like them a lot, and know that to look for something better to match CDX2 and SN would be a silly and infinite quest – I have done just that for years.

Yet, people want to get rid of them. Why? To buy Focals or Titans? I've listened to every Harbeth model inside out, I can't believe that anyone could really prefer those to Ovators. Audio people follow fashion and trends infinitely more than they themselves think; so what's the new speaker to go with Naim? I don't understand. At a recent audio show I finally heard a pair of ATCs and couldn't believe that someone could listen to music on those knife blades. That is not definition, it's plain cruelty, or else they are designed for people over 85 and below 6kHz per ear. 

Why do people sell their Ovators? I sold mine, but then bought them again. As I did with a few Naim things I really like: the Sats, the CDX2, the SN. But why get rid of such beautiful, cleverly thought and executed things forever?

Just evening musings after an afternoon of rain.

M 

I intend to purchase a titan 707 do you think it`s a waste of money ,by replacing my SL2 speaker as you  said above by saying  that people wants to get rid  from naim speakers, let me understand your comments

 

 

 

 

I feel sorry for this poor guy!!!!!

I should say because they were designed to be used close to the wall I wanted to like them. 

People buy and sell because they read and believe too much of what they read on Internet forums. 

I've heard many speakers till now, but Ovators just didn't have the get up and go drive, that I expected from a Naim speaker. It did need to be run as it a fresh out the box. It was not love at first audition.

But when I heard a Dynaudio speaker, I just knew I had to buy it, as it sounded fast and lively and had the Naim sound. Strangely enough, this was the Dynaudio Focus XD (with own internal amplifier) but source was Naim HDX.

Adam Zielinski wrote:

I think people follow fashions - if Naim does not make the Ovators anymore, than there must be something wrong with them. Better sell them now... At least that's what I could imagine people thinking...

I wonder if for some people, long-term serviceability is a concern. If Naim does not make Ovators (or CDS CD players) any more maybe spares to repair them won't be available in the future.

Maybe. On the other hand, I have a pair of AR14s from 1977, and they still sound pretty decent. I suppose my S-400s will last more than me, if nothing unusual happens (to them, not to me).

Hi Max,

 I never had the chance to listen to any of the Ovators and therefore don't have the slightest idea how much or how little their discontinuation has to do with their sound.

What I do know is that pretty much all of the speakers for sale in Germany are ex-demo sets. And seen from a dealers perspective, selling the ex-demo speakers before they get much older is the right move. These will be the last pairs the dealer can sell and they tie up money and space he can use for in-production speakers from another manufacturer, perhaps even neither Focal, Kudos, ATC nor Harbeth .

Paul Davies posted:

I wonder if for some people, long-term serviceability is a concern. If Naim does not make Ovators (or CDS CD players) any more maybe spares to repair them won't be available in the future.

Let's scotch this one. Naim's CDS3 is servicable. I realise I may be over-reacting, Paul, if you meant the CDS cd player).