What speakers for Unity Atom?

Posted by: Bezb on 20 November 2018

Friends, the topic is not new but I have three options and intrested in your opinions:

Now I have got nice Mu-So box but want to grow. Unity Atom seems to be a good choice. And what speakers for them? Now in my list I have Harbeth P3ESR, ProAc Response 1SC (now new) and Opera Prima. 

First two I heard with Atom. Liked ProAc more. More clear sound, more details, more bass. But the dealer says I will soon understand that Harbeth would be better :-)

Opera Prima I heard not with Naim but like them. It was Uniti Reasearch Simply Italy behind them and the sound was full and very alive.

Unfortunately, I have some limits. The speakers will be standing on the shelf 52cm from the floor. 20-23cm from a rear wall. And there is a limit in speakers height. Maximum ~33-34 cm.

What you would reccomend? Or maybe something different with good sound for Atom and my positioning?

Posted on: 22 November 2018 by varyat

nazdarovlya!

Posted on: 22 November 2018 by Bezb

MULBERRY, thank you for sharing with your experience!

Interesting to learn how you value the quality of sound, which QM10 gives. I am sure it was no issue with bass as everybody mentions but how about the details, clearness, stage? For me quality sound is important (otherwise I do not focus so much on speakers topic) and interesting what such speakers can offer for the price they are asked.

I sent couple of message to Guru Audio during these days. Both from their web site and also directly to the sales. No answer. It seems business goes so actively that they have no time to reply to a new potential customer... )) 

Posted on: 22 November 2018 by Mulberry

Hi Bezb,

 I’ll try to write something about the Gurus sound, but I might have to postpone this until Saturday.

One of the main benefits of the QM for me was the ability to get a demo. The German distributor was really helpful, unlike some of his competitors. I never got a chance to hear the ProAc Tablette 10, for example. Unfortunately I haven’t listened to any of the three speakers you mentioned.

 The original Harbeth P3 wasn’t as lively and smoother overall, but I heard them many years ago. Which means my impressions are sort of fuzzy.

There are at least two QM owners among the forum members. Perhaps one of them notices this thread. They should be able to give you more and better founded feedback, as they have spent much more time with the speakers.

Posted on: 22 November 2018 by Donkeyhaute

I've owned the original Guru QM10s and the newer MkII versions and 40 watts is absolutely fine. The original QM10s were powered by the original Uniti and sounded marvellous. Now they are on the end of an SU and CB NAP250 and will stay for the next couple of upgrades at least. I hope you get a chance to hear them.

 

Posted on: 22 November 2018 by Christopher_M
Donkeyhaute posted:

I've owned the original Guru QM10s and the newer MkII versions and 40 watts is absolutely fine. The original QM10s were powered by the original Uniti and sounded marvellous. Now they are on the end of an SU and CB NAP250 and will stay for the next couple of upgrades at least. I hope you get a chance to hear them.

 

Don, You are the forum's  flair player, what has happened to your inner George Best in the the writing department? Instead you have served up a solid and reliable mid-table second division performance here. Some of us are looking to be entertained, to be dazzled. Please have a good hard look at yourself before you pull on the shirt again.

Best, Chris

Posted on: 22 November 2018 by DC71

Atom is absolutely capable of driving the bigger gurus. But the performance delta for that combo over the Juniors would likely be very small in this case. I know it was for the Qute and nap100, which made paying half the price for the Juniors a no brainer.

I do really like both Gurus, but in my view the additional performance of the Q10 would only be realised with a stronger front end. On the end of an Atom they would likely still outperform many other speakers in their price range, but the Juniors are very very close in performance.

Posted on: 22 November 2018 by Bezb

DC71, it is also a question for me what is a performance difference between Juniors and Q10. Technical specifications are same. Maybe bigger box of Q10 adds sound value. But price difference is pretty not low just for different box size. 

Anyway the closest dealer I found has only Q10 and gives an attractive price for them. But I cannot hear them... Only blind purchase, which is challenging, of course...