Speaker Pairing Uniti Nova

I've pretty much concluded that commenting on speaker threads is, near enough, pointless.  However, you mention not upsetting SWMBO, and slightly imperfect conditions in respect of placement, and this reminded me of something I'd been thinking recently.  Apart from being quite compact vs the scale of their performance, one attribute of the Kudos X3s I bought recently that surprised me, is that they seem to be incredibly un-fussy.  Not necessarily in terms of distance from a rear wall, not done any experimenting with that, but mine are a little over 0.5m away, which seems within range for you, but whether sitting in the optimum listening position, wandering about, sat at the back of the room at my desk and quite of centre, makes much less difference than with previous speakers I've owned; they just don't care and sound great whatever.  I've never even moved them from where I placed them the day they were delivered, which is the same place (roughly) the demo pair were, and I've never felt the need to put much further thought into it, they just work.  They don't seem to be directional to the same extent as others I've owned.  That said, they are each precisely the same distance from the rear wall, and the equal amount of minor toe-in, but still, I set them up where I thought they should go, and have never felt the need to mess with them since.  

The detail they offer is amazing, and they're well balanced across the frequency range.  They don't boom like some, they don't screech like some, but they're extremely capable, and deliver music in an enthusiastic fashion, though perhaps a little too refined an polite if heavy rock / metal is your thing.  There you go, a suggestion. 

Thanks for your reply, will take a look. I had the same with the regas sounded pretty good no matter where I put them. Not into metal as such but do like my rock music. 

I bought the PMC 25.26, they sounded fine, my room is quite large 20 by 20 ish

I run a Nova into Twenty5.23s, smallish room, 4.5m*3.7m, speakers 30cm from wall, you can see pics in the System Pics thread. It sounds excellent, I’m extremely happy with the system and its looks. I was going to try and describe the hifi bits, but actually what works for me is that when I’m listening to it I enjoy the music and keep playing more.

I use the special 40s with Core/272/XPSDR/250DR,so probably a little more capable than the Nova,I have not heard one.As you said,very nice indeed...is an understatement,but mine are 40 inches from the front wall,so I can not really tell you what would happen at .5 M from the wall.

We recently heard the Nova at Venice Audio during Thanksgiving week.   (Thanks, Peter)    It was truly outstanding.  My only concern would be the product lifecycle of an all in one digital product where the next new format makes even your amplifier obsolete.  We debated that topic only briefly.

We listened to the Neat Iota Alpha and the Neat Motiv SX1.     I would have been happy with either but I liked them so much I wanted to hear the big brother Iota Explorer with the Isobarik woofer before taking the next step.  Out soon, I would hear this one before committing to any of them.   Isobarik bass is a distinctive sound and a nice small box solution in my experience.  I would have to hear it before I decided.    If you can not love the short or shorter fat one, go for the Motive SX1.  It works remarkably well with the Nova and disappears from your line of sight unlike the chubby pair below which I might prefer for the bass.

Thanks for your info, yes I have herd the small neat speakers and was surprised myself how good the sounded. If you had a curtain in front of them and didn’t know what speakers were playing you would have thought you was listening to a large floor standers. Great little speakers. I will see if I can get a demo on the other ones you mention. 

All I’d say is that, whatever you like best at the dealer, try it at home for a good few days. An example it the Neat Motive 1 which Skip mentioned as being very good: in my room they were a total disaster with vastly overblown bass.   Yet they work really well for other people in other rooms. 

I'm enjoying the Neat Iota Alpha's with the Nova in my drawing room and so is Mrs O.  Just waiting for the new TV stand to complete the balance in the force!  The Iota Explorers will offer more sonically I have no doubt but will upset the balance.

Olly

Hungryhalibut posted:

All I’d say is that, whatever you like best at the dealer, try it at home for a good few days. An example it the Neat Motive 1 which Skip mentioned as being very good: in my room they were a total disaster with vastly overblown bass.   Yet they work really well for other people in other rooms. 

I completely agree.   The bottom firing bass can't be too close to the wall.  I learned that with the Proac D40-R at my house.   We tamed the Proac bass with Herbie's Fat Gliders but they won't work with the Neats because the Proac has a plinth on the bottom and you elevate the whole thing with the Gliders.  No plinth with the Neats, so you have to do it all with positioning.   I understand they do have a Neat slate base of some kind to function as a plinth and that may work well with the Gliders underneath it.  

Thanks for the info Guys, will try and get some for a home demo for a few days. Will keep updated on what the outcome is. I don’t have much room to play with in the living room. It’s not a small room but limited on where I can place them. 

I run Dynaudio Focus 260s with the Unit Star and my speakers sit 24 inches off the back of the wall, which is just over .5 meter. Sounds great. Bass doesn’t overwhelm. Soundstage is quite nice, slightly better at 34” but that’s only when I’m home alone. 

Thanks for that calla, interesting point on moving them when home alone. Something never thought of. I have the special 40s, neat iota. Neat motive, and PMC 23 on home demo over Xmas period. Picking them up next Saturday so will see how they all sound. 

So speakers I will be picking up for home demo over the xmas period this Saturday are

dynaudio special 40s, PMC 23, Near iota Alpha and Neat Motive SX1

Well, after a good listen on all speakers it didn't take long to choose, I have gone for the Dyanaudio special 40s. They are good, really good. Also picked up the Dyanaudio stand 6 which they sit nice on.

i have a question with regards to speaker cable, I am thinking of moving one of the speakers but my cable is not long enough to where I want to place speaker. Does anyone have advise on one side of the cable being longer than the other? Also has anyone joined their current cable to make it Longer? Would either make a big difference on sound quality loss? Cable I have is Naim.

thanks in advance

Hi

Like you my system sits off to the side of my room. I have one length of 2.5 mtrs and one of 3.5 mtrs.(TQ Black) It is not an issue in my opinion - but there will be those with forensic ears who through their hands up in horror!!!

petzhou posted:

Hi

Like you my system sits off to the side of my room. I have one length of 2.5 mtrs and one of 3.5 mtrs.(TQ Black) It is not an issue in my opinion - but there will be those with forensic ears who through their hands up in horror!!!

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G

EBT posted:

Well, after a good listen on all speakers it didn't take long to choose, I have gone for the Dyanaudio special 40s. They are good, really good. Also picked up the Dyanaudio stand 6 which they sit nice on.

i have a question with regards to speaker cable, I am thinking of moving one of the speakers but my cable is not long enough to where I want to place speaker. Does anyone have advise on one side of the cable being longer than the other? Also has anyone joined their current cable to make it Longer? Would either make a big difference on sound quality loss? Cable I have is Naim.

thanks in advance

Congrats! I love the Dynaudio/Naim combo. 

Typically speaker length won’t affect sound within a few feet the signal moves too fast. Over longer runs you would

EBT

Hi and thanks for the results of an interesting comparison. I was thinking of trying similar speakers, plus ATC SMC 11s with my Nova. How close do you have the Special 40s to your back and side walls? I have been very impressed with Dynaudio at Bristol and Acoustica Shows but not sure if they would boom in my smallish room. You must have a great dealer to lend you several different speakers - may I ask whereabouts in the county are you?

Bob

HI Bob 

they are not far from the wall at all about 50cm but sound great. Always have the option as someone mentioned pulling the speakers out when home alone. I don’t tend to play very loud so these suit perfectly. 

i am based in Essex and the dealer is Signals near Ipswich. I cannot express how helpful they are and their setup is unreal. To hear the Naim statement with a 30k pair of focal speakers is something dreams are made of. 

Scott 

Hi Scott

many thanks for the info on speaker placement - my n-Sats are closer but I could probably manage 0.5m. I have heard many good things about Alistair at Signsls and can only wish he was closer to me as I am near the Welsh Borders

Bob

Hi Bob

Yes Alaistar is a top bloke I picked up the speakers today and he opened up the shop just for my purpose. I know he is getting a sale but he done me a very good deal on the stands/speakers with a trade in on the Rega RS3. 

Scott 

Shropshire hills, the guys at Signals have travelled further......

Thanks again Scott and also to Gazza. It’s always good to hear of great service. I used to have Motive 2s but couldn’t cure a bass boom in my room. I recently bought a pair of Neat Iotas on 14 days approval but they didn’t work for me - better bass than my n-Sats but I prefer the n-Sats in other areas so returned them. I heard some basic Dynaudio speakers with an Atom at Bristol and was impressed by the sound and later was hugely impressed by higher spec Dynaudio - Contour I think - with NDS and 252/300. 

EBT posted:

Well, after a good listen on all speakers it didn't take long to choose, I have gone for the Dyanaudio special 40s. They are good, really good. Also picked up the Dyanaudio stand 6 which they sit nice on.

i have a question with regards to speaker cable, I am thinking of moving one of the speakers but my cable is not long enough to where I want to place speaker. Does anyone have advise on one side of the cable being longer than the other? Also has anyone joined their current cable to make it Longer? Would either make a big difference on sound quality loss? Cable I have is Naim.

thanks in advance

Congrats on the special 40s,nice to see someone else on here with a pair.You will find that they improve a lot after a few hundred hours on them,I have had mine for about 3 months now.Was it no contest,against the other speakers you tried?...just curious,because a lot of people on this forum seem to like PMCs,and I have never heard any myself.Did you go with the grey or red finish?,mine are gray.