rjstaines posted:

Sounsfaber posted:

Probably been said but 

Kudos Titan 808!

Ooh no. Tried 'em, didn't like 'em.  Sent them back after a month's home dem.  Active ATC 100's on the other hand... tried 'em, liked 'em, kept 'em (and sent the NAP500 back).

Each to his own of course.

Ok, how about neat Ultimate XL-10 

let’s get this party started ????

Sounsfaber posted:

Ok, how about neat Ultimate XL-10 

let’s get this party started ????

Hey, you better start without me...  although, perhaps worth mentioning, you can get about three times the number of pint glasses on top of the ATC100s as you can on the XL10s.  That would influence some buyers' choice, but, because I gave up partying some forty years ago, it didn't influence mine (honest). 

Never ever would one use a speaker as a pot plant stand let alone a bar counter.

Morris Minor is another story .....I do have some kind of moral compass ????

now I can’t help but think b&w 801, 802 into nap 500 would be a bit  boring even a missionary style sound. I have 2 buddy’s with big class A amps  running into them respectively. Ticks the boxes ok and loud omg PA loud we are talking 400 rms and 600rms into 8 ohms. But loud just so loud. No fun factor. I put b&w into the rose tinted Sonus Faber box. Pls don’t think I’m having a dig. Just what I found. So I boxed it.

Sounsfaber posted:

Never ever would one use a speaker as a pot plant stand let alone a bar counter.

Morris Minor is another story .....I do have some kind of moral compass ????

now I can’t help but think b&w 801, 802 into nap 500 would be a bit  boring even a missionary style sound. I have 2 buddy’s with big class A amps  running into them respectively. Ticks the boxes ok and loud omg PA loud we are talking 400 rms and 600rms into 8 ohms. But loud just so loud. No fun factor. I put b&w into the rose tinted Sonus Faber box. Pls don’t think I’m having a dig. Just what I found. So I boxed it.

Funny enough, it was B&W 802's that I threw out in favour of the ATC100's.

Now I'm not saying that the bar counter or plant pot stand had anything to do with it, as you know, these are just not possible with the B&Ws so it's not a facility that I was used to.  But I do have to tell you the ATC salesman did mention the plant stand possibility.  I ignored him (as you would have), but I noticed SWMBO's eyes lit up. 

"I have 9 theatre chairs, 2 rows, and that’s what matters."

Is this system majoring on music with a setup like that? Looks more like a home cinema, that would change things a bit.

Yes I did consider atc 40 active at one stage. But my room would not allow it. So I ended up with sl2 and a craving for a nap 500 and a 552 and a cds555 and a high end lp12 and a superline...... She who must be obeyed has yet to confirm any cravings other than enough is enough. 20 years to retire I must be able to hatch a plan. Like my new audio room in the back yard  that has yet to have a financial sponsor. 

OP sorry for hijacking this thread.

yeti42 posted:

"I have 9 theatre chairs, 2 rows, and that’s what matters."

Is this system majoring on music with a setup like that? Looks more like a home cinema, that would change things a bit.

 As long as he doesn’t have Macintosh it should be fine ????

The room does contain my home cinema but my 2 channel system is completely independent of the home cinema.  In a perfect world I would bring in a 500dr and try it with (1) kudos 808,s (2) pmc (3) Magico.  Then I would take the 500 dr off and try the ATC  scm150 asl active.  Then I could make my choice.  Oh, and I would bring in 6 rel no. 25 subs and try them with my current speakers.  None of this will happen.  I am really curious about the ATC’s, but they are special order only and none in the USA.  Pretty big risk to pony up that kind of money.  Who knows what I will do.  I may go to the audio show at Denver in October, but I don’t think it will help at all.  I may just keep the Focals, add the 500, and maybe change subs.  It’s not like that would be a bad system. The best part of this is I really like the “hunt”.  

Zackwater posted:

The room does contain my home cinema but my 2 channel system is completely independent of the home cinema.  In a perfect world I would bring in a 500dr and try it with (1) kudos 808,s (2) pmc (3) Magico.  Then I would take the 500 dr off and try the ATC  scm150 asl active.  Then I could make my choice.  Oh, and I would bring in 6 rel no. 25 subs and try them with my current speakers.  None of this will happen.  I am really curious about the ATC’s, but they are special order only and none in the USA.  Pretty big risk to pony up that kind of money.  Who knows what I will do.  I may go to the audio show at Denver in October, but I don’t think it will help at all.  I may just keep the Focals, add the 500, and maybe change subs.  It’s not like that would be a bad system. The best part of this is I really like the “hunt”.  

You should maybe take a vacation in the UK.  Seems to me you guys accross the pond in Trumpland have pretty limited access to the kind of equipment most often talked about on this forum... that's a shame really.   But when it comes to televisions... last time I was over there I was blown away by what's on offer.

On reflection, I'll be stopping over here.. in the rain.

The Naimdealer in SF has still Ovators 800's as ex-demo according to the site.

I can just imagine how my long suffering wife would take the news that instead of a week In Aruba we were going to the UK for a week to look at stero stuff.  

Sounds good to me!!! I suggest Salisbury.......

Okay, here’s a radical thought: you want a lot of accurate bass in a large room with seating for many, correct?  If your corners are free have you considered Klipschorns?  I haven’t heard a pair since the mid-70s but few speakers I know of theoretically match your requirements quite as well.  And they used to be made right in Arkansas!

Personally I am not of fan of horn loaded systems but I used to sell Klipsch and can say they will fill almost any size room.  If your corners are not free you could try a pair of LaScalas; with your amplification you’ll be heard in the next county.

The Horns were definitely an accurate and premium product back in the day and could be had in many lovely real wood finishes.  They were fabulous on symphonic, rock, jazz and not quite so much on acoustic, country, bluegrass etc.: Horns reproduce brass, bass & drums better than most, convey scale wonderfully, and are efficient as all get out.  No idea what they cost today but I bet it’s well within your budget.

Just a thought.

Another thought... I get the point about not needing to ‘fill the room’, but have you looked at speaker placement to get a bit more room bass reinforcement? How far out are they for the rear wall?

I got curious myself about the K-Horns; they are still handmade in Hope, Arkansas, go for $6K each with an 8-week build time.  Online reviews are still stellar as well.

Zackwater posted:

  It’s not like that would be a bad system. The best part of this is I really like the “hunt”.  

Oh man, the best part is you can!

I just love the way you folk in the US do it. Go straight for the  throat every time. ????

 Solution Send Wife with here best friend to Hawaii, you get on a fixed wing and end up in the UK for a flat earth holiday. Just take your wellington’s , mackintosh,  umbrella, and some tea bags. It’s a win win!

IMO your room is a severe problem for bass because that's a lot of space to pressurize.  I honestly can't think of any speaker that would work without a sub(s). I have a friend with room size like yours. He has Raidho D5.1's which I go to 22hz. He loves bass. He has blown his mids and tweeters by turning it up to get a better feel (literally) for the lows. In the end he added a pair of Rel S25's. BTW I haven't heard his system since he added the subs but have talked with him and he said he is very happy now. More importantly he doesn't listen as loud now.

That said I recently heard the Titan 808's and the lows are phenomenal even though they were under driven with a 272-250.  After the 808's we listened to the D5.1's driven by Aavik monos. Too bad we didn't set up the 808's with the Aavik but those 5.1's at 380lbs ea are not that much fun to move around. I personally think the 808's would give the 5.1's a honest run for the money considering you could buy 7 pairs of 808's for the price of the 5.1's.  Yeah the 808's are that good IMO.

The Kudos can be heard in Wayne Illinois (about 30mi west if Chicago). I don't believe Tyler has either a 300 or a 500.

Love Aruba. First time I was there was I think was 1967. They were building the 3rd hotel. My how the island has changed. 

I upgraded my ProAc CP6 to Carbon Pro 8 (few years ago), and I enjoyed listening for few years and never thought want to change speaker and etc. My Naim were old 500 series (before DR), I upgraded my 555PS to DR and it all sound good so far. I just came back from HK Show, and I had listen to Naim & Kudos speaker (2018), and Naim Statement & Magico Q7 speaker (back to 2014). If you like the Naim strength/signature sound then I think ProAc Carbon Pro Series can give you all but not Magico or Kudos. For me the Magico more to clinical sound (typical US sounding), Kudos less punch/solid on the low frequency.

I listen to Naim 500 x 3 unit active driving Ovator 800 at HK show before, it was really good and I can say, only ProAc CP8 can have the similar presentation on smaller room. Especially when playing the Hunter Album Track 8.

Just for your info, the ProAc CP8 already obsolete, current ProAc K8 don't think can match the performance as good as CP8. So my recommendation sound like nothing, but just providing you an option. Try Chord Cables when you use Naim front end to match with ProAc speaker. ProAc only good sound on Carbon Pro Series but not the Response series (I mean to match with Naim 500 series).

Good Luck.

I think I’m going to go with my Focal Maestro Uptopia 3’s for a while longer.  Going to see how they act with the 555/552/500 instead of my current nds/552/300.  I may change my subs, they may be the weak link especially at louder volume.  The subs are really nice with all kinds of music at “conversational’” volume, when you crank it up they don’t stay together on a lot of modern music.  

I don’t know them, but I’m surprised the Utopias need a sub. But if they do, the Wilson Benesch Torus might worth trying - it’s one I’d want to hear if I was seeking a sub.

BNN posted:

I upgraded my ProAc CP6 to Carbon Pro 8 (few years ago), and I enjoyed listening for few years and never thought want to change speaker and etc. My Naim were old 500 series (before DR), I upgraded my 555PS to DR and it all sound good so far. I just came back from HK Show, and I had listen to Naim & Kudos speaker (2018), and Naim Statement & Magico Q7 speaker (back to 2014). If you like the Naim strength/signature sound then I think ProAc Carbon Pro Series can give you all but not Magico or Kudos. For me the Magico more to clinical sound (typical US sounding), Kudos less punch/solid on the low frequency.

I listen to Naim 500 x 3 unit active driving Ovator 800 at HK show before, it was really good and I can say, only ProAc CP8 can have the similar presentation on smaller room. Especially when playing the Hunter Album Track 8.

Just for your info, the ProAc CP8 already obsolete, current ProAc K8 don't think can match the performance as good as CP8. So my recommendation sound like nothing, but just providing you an option. Try Chord Cables when you use Naim front end to match with ProAc speaker. ProAc only good sound on Carbon Pro Series but not the Response series (I mean to match with Naim 500 series).

Good Luck.

Out of interest, have you actually heard the K6 or K8? I’m trying to work out why Stewart Tyler would have replaced his flagship models with an inferior range. 

Spendor Classic 200.  Great range and will fill the room. I use them myself.

Shahinian Diapason would fill that room nicely.

JMB posted:

Spendor Classic 200.  Great range and will fill the room. I use them myself.

It will be on my list.   I really want to eliminate the subs.  Want a nice big speaker that works well with my Naim gear that has a lot of bottom end.  

I don’t know if you’re familiar with Steve Huff, who mostly reviews camera gear on his website, but also writes an audio review column on the side.  He recently wrote up (and bought) the Klipsch Cornwalls, and I still believe they and the Klipschorns would be well worth your audition.  Huff, as he points out, has owned many very high end speaker sets, costing up to $40K, so at least he’s familiar with what’s out there.