Naim Ovator S400

Well as you've done the deed best I don't comment but in fairness there are people on here who love them.  

That’s an odd bunch of questions given that you have bought them and will be able to judge for yourself shortly. They are big things though, and with a 2.5m wide room they’ll be virtually on top of you. If they cost less than £1,600 they are ridiculously cheap. Are you sure they are not stolen?

I have a pair of the Ovator S-400's powered with a NAIT XS 2  in my living room, 13.5 ft (4.1148 m) x 22 ft (6.7056 m) and enjoy them quite a bit. They replaced a pair of ProAc D2 Response speakers.

I have not heard of 'Staff' speakers without serial numbers and would not think a manufacturer would release a set without a serial number included. Just sounds a bit odd and an email to Naim to inquire if they did release speakers to staff is where I would go prior to laying out the cash.

Hungryhalibut posted:

If they cost less than £1,600 they are ridiculously cheap. Are you sure they are not stolen?

Fair point actually -- "considerably less" than £1,600... Hmmm -- especially since they come without serial number. Is "staff kit" marked in any special way? How to distiguish staff kit from stolen goods where the serial number was simply peeled off?

Already spoken to Steve in Tech support....no issues. Said yep some staff members did get them which is why no serial number. Also no issues re factory support. Chap is also very legit....not meeting on the hard shoulder on the side of the M4! 

So only advice is about position. I do have alternatives....like a 6metre X 7metre lounge (with carpet) but will have to experiment a bit. 

As always with second hand gear....ultimately if it doesn't work, it's back on the web! 

Hopefully that won't happen. 

Kimbleman posted:

Already spoken to Steve in Tech support....no issues. Said yep some staff members did get them which is why no serial number. Also no issues re factory support. Chap is also very legit....not meeting on the hard shoulder on the side of the M4! 

 

Congratulations on finding a great pair of speakers at a fantastic price!  If they do not work in your room you should have no problem moving them on without losing any cash!

No suggestions on positioning, but ensure you have good loudspeakercable - I use NacA5 which is perfect for SN - Ovators. Ensure you use the Ovator Plugs on the Ovatorside of the cable.

Looks like a cool system.

Since they were built for staff members, can you configure them active? :-)

Just don't lose the Credos.  I had S400s for about a year and had a bit of a honeymoon period with them to begin with, but just couldn't bring myself to part with my previous SBLs.

Eventually I came to realise there was something about the S400s I just didn't get on with, and when I put the SBLs back in, I realised they were a better fit for me.

Not saying you won't love the S400s and never look back, but since Credos won't fetch all that much money if you sell them, you may as well have the insurance policy.

I think there may be an Ovator S400 manual online if you don't get one. IIRC it gives good guidelines on positioning.

As HH said they will potentially be on top of one another, from memory they need to be 500mm from the side walls and 2.5M - 4M apart.

I have a pair and love them however my listening room is 6m x 10m with loads of soft furnishings, I will be very interested to see how you get on.

Boom is right. In my experience, the distance to the wall is more important though.

I have S600's and also in near field listening in a smallish room, the BMR's work nice. They have a quite silky signature. What matters is that the sources must be right. I did find many flaws on recordings using my Ovators.

Hi Kimbleman,

I use S400 in my second system, they actually go very loud either with Nait XS and 62/HC/140 (i' m using the latter at the moment,  along with DVD5 and CD5X. I' m sure that D.Mode will shine with these.

Assuming  that they'll be 4,5m apart, probably you'll have a very nice soundstage.

Mine are into an attic room, along 4,5 wall firing through 5m+ distance. Left side of the room is open on another space

Floor is an ugly  fake cotto ceramic tiles. 

If you have the opportunity to refurbish your room, i 'd go for a solid wood floor 15mm tick at least.

Regards

Roberto

Hi thanks for that Roberto....that attic room looks lovely mate!

Yeah.... positioning will be interesting. As I said they cannot be less than 4.5 metres apart as I have a run of glass bi-folding doors along that wall. 

To be honest....it's a punt, if the work well then great, if not there's always a second system on the go in our house either side of the TV to handle music, TV and movies....so they will find a home somewhere????

If you are about 2m from them and they are 4.4m apart, you are not going to get a good solid soundstage, but rather sound from two separate points. But I suppose that’s what you are used to with the Credos. 

Kimbleman posted:

(it's an Orangery)

I don't think they will be lemons.

When do you collect, Gaz?

C.

Picked the Ovators up from Jonathan yesterday afternoon. Lovely bloke....even loaded them into my car! Anyway, got them home and literally screwed the spikes in, plonked them down in the corners of my Orangery at a crazy tied in angle (so practically near field listening position). Me and the missus spent about four hours listening to various material from Paul Weller, Jameraqui, porcupine tree, depeche mode, finishing off with the live cd2 from Listen without prejudice 2017 (God rest your soul George....loved that guy). Not yet linked with naca5 just the bog standard 79strand cable I buried in the walls when building the house. 

Well all I can say is they sound brilliant....really amazing in fact....so £1100 very well spent ????!! 

The old Celestion Dittons (44's) that these replaced probably ultimately go a little deeper, but everything else has just gone up a notch. 

I'm a bit rubbish with writing a forensic report.....I just know when my ears like something, which is the case here.

So.....Ovators, what's the problem???? 

Will get some Naca5 cables made up and report on any further improvement.

Cheers guys. Gaz

Toe-ed in not tied in obviously....dam predictive nonsense lol

Result!!

Well Time for an Ovator s400 update.

First couple of weeks into using them I would say they are revealing, fast and tuneful. I am certainly enjoying my music.....and playing a lot more of it!

Just an observation. The chap (Jonathon) I brought these from demonstrated them using his NAC272 with a NAP250. he was streaming (CD resolution I think) a few demo tunes, one of which I have now purchased on CD (London Grammar) as I was mighty impressed by the band. There are some low frequencies in the track in question and The Ovators handled the notes with aplomb....at Jonathon's place

I have noticed my (non weedy) Supernait 2 does not dig down quite so deep, not by much, but a little. I know room reinforcement may have played a part, but frankly the set-up (distance apart and from surrounding walls) I would say is fairly similar....so I'm wondering is it the differing Amplifiers!? It might be the generic 79 strand speaker wire (that's what's buried in my walls) that I am using as he was hooked up with NACA5.

All other things being even, does a 272/250 combo dig deeper down the scale to a Supernait 2?

Any opinions....or am I just being plain stupid?

You said in a previous post that you’d be getting some A5 made up, and you’ll probably need to do that before drawing conclusions. The 250DR is a better power amplifier than that in the Supernait, so you’d expect the systems to sound different, irrespective of room effects. 

Naca 5 definitely a good idea. I think a CDX2 in place of your CD5x and FC2x would allow a more favourable impression of the SN2.

If I may say as a tribute to Frank Abela who worked in the industry, he used to say CDX2, SN (as it was then) and Naim SL2s was, 'one of those systems that shouldn't have done but just worked'. Okay the speakers are different but you get the point.

Be sure that Naca 5 is terminated with specific Naim Ovator plugs. Regular Naim plugs can fit  a little loose  into Ovators.

Unless you' ll be using a 250DR, i' d stick with S.Nait or 200DR.

P.S. you should have a try of London Grammar into S600. The bass will shake your sofa.

Regards

Roberto

rsch posted:

P.S. you should have a try of London Grammar into S600. The bass will shake your sofa.

It is really bizar indeed. The bass pops up in the weirdest places in my house, not just the room where they are.

Naca should be the cable of choice for a Naim speaker.