Floorstanders for small room?

Spendor A7 or D7, depending on budget.

joerand posted:

MangoMonkey posted:

sold my harbeths (boring) today.

Hurrah! Congrats on finally giving up the Harbeth ghost.

Already miss them. Maybe I won’t ship them out. :-)

How about some wall mounted n-Sats (used market) with their Naca5 hidden behind some conduit.

C.

MangoMonkey posted:

joerand posted:

MangoMonkey posted:

sold my harbeths (boring) today.

Hurrah! Congrats on finally giving up the Harbeth ghost.

Already miss them. Maybe I won’t ship them out. :-)

After wandering around in the wilderness for awhile I’m back to Harbeths.  New 40th Anniversary 30.2’s.  As someone once said, listening to Harbeths is like getting a massage.

No more bass problems with rear ports. No more constantly riding the volume control. Just sitting back immersing myself in the music.  

Bud

Christopher_M posted:

How about some wall mounted n-Sats (used market) with their Naca5 hidden behind some conduit.

C.

Very very hard to find in the States. (Virtually) impossible.

MM what's your budget BTW?

Bart posted:

MM what's your budget BTW?

Were I so wise...

I guess it’s more about system balance - something at the Ndac/Nac72/HicapDr/Nap250DR level that will not be too much for the room 10ft x 12.5ft with 9’foot ceilings.

No other upgrades planned - maybe 282 instead of 72 - if naim ever brings out a 282 successor. Or go down to a nait xs or supernait level integrated with ndx level source... that price range...

Don’t want a mullet.

Naturally ones recommends what one both knows and likes. For small floorstanders that can produce fantastic sound that would be (for me) the Audio Physic Sitara (not in production anymore I think). Elegant but brilliant

For the room in consideration, I suspect neat sx2s, the neat iota explorers, pmc 25.23s and now the Totem Sky towers should be considered.

The speakers need to be clearly better than the kudos X2s...

I find it strange that no one has mentioned  IBL. 

These tiny speakers are enjoyable. 

Chalshus posted:

I find it strange that no one has mentioned  IBL. 

These tiny speakers are enjoyable. 

Perhaps because they were naff. I'd rather have anything but IBLs. For classic vintage wall huggers good for a small room I'd stick with SBLs or Heybrook Sextets.

I had to look up the word naff. Does it mean ordinary? 

I had IBL for a short time (usually played on the SBL) with CDS2/52/250 and they played great. A friend of mine used the IBL mk2 with CDS3/552/500 and they were over the top. 

Didn’t Julian Vereker use IBLs??

[@mention:1566878603869789] "Naff" means "not good".

And it's just my opinion. Plenty of people love IBLs. I have a particular axe to grind with them just because I disliked them so much. But then again, I've never heard a Naim speaker I liked. I have some grudging respect for the SBLs from the hundreds of hours spent with them, but still wouldn't part money for them.

Oddly enough, I've never heard the very controversial Ovator range that apparently deviates so much from the previous Naim sound. Maybe if I had, I'd like them. Who knows. The s400 do still work up against a back wall so maybe they can be made to work in a small room. No one has name dropped them yet though.

Chalshus posted:

I find it strange that no one has mentioned  IBL. 

These tiny speakers are enjoyable. 

 

I was going to recommend them. Then I read Bart’s reply to me about n-Sats so didn’t bother. 

IBLs are superb. I suspect they would be perfect for an original, authentic Naim sound, when driven by a NAP250 in a small room. 

They would be hard to knock over too. 

Was at my local dealer yesterday. Had a chance to listen to the PMC 25.23, Totem Sky Monitors and Totem Signature One.

Listening to the Track "Escape Artist" by Zoe Keating:

It's amazing how different all three sound on the same track. You would expect some difference - but the track sounded totally different - like it was a completely different recording with different instruments etc.

The Totem Sky monitors were probably the most fun to listen to. Concerned that they might get fatiguing to listen to. 

Totem Signature One - more depth, more balance, quieter, more bass. More grown up. Weren't as much fun and effervescent as the Skys.

PMC 25.23: Clearly better than the 20.23. Nice sounding. Smooth treble etc. Not as fun and engaging as the Totem Skys. 

If I was in the market for more mature sounding speakers, the PMC 25.23 would be better than the Totem Signature Ones. (the PMCs being more HIFI)

If it was all about fun, the Totem Skys would be the winner.

Unfortunately not had a chance to listen to the Totem Sky towers - dealer did not have them in the store. I'll see if he can bring them in.

Price in the US: PMC 25.23 (~$5200)are more than twice the cost of the Totem Signature ones (~$2600).

I guess, living in the US or Canada, Totem is the natural choice, unless one is totally blown away by the PMCs.

MangoMonkey posted:

Bart posted:

MM what's your budget BTW?

Were I so wise...

I guess it’s more about system balance - something at the Ndac/Nac72/HicapDr/Nap250DR level that will not be too much for the room 10ft x 12.5ft with 9’foot ceilings.

No other upgrades planned - maybe 282 instead of 72 - if naim ever brings out a 282 successor. Or go down to a nait xs or supernait level integrated with ndx level source... that price range...

Don’t want a mullet.

MM a well known and now former Naim dealer here in the States just listed a new-in-box 2014 manufactured SN2 that his ad says he "found in his warehouse."  It's a pretty good deal . . . on the site where people list hi fi stuff when they want it to be "gone."  You could probably do a little better used, but this is NIB

Yup, saw that - I'd rather wait a year or two - I'm sure the  next generation of integrateds are around the corner. It's been almost 5 years since the current generation was released...  

MangoMonkey posted:

 

The Totem Sky monitors were probably the most fun to listen to. Concerned that they might get fatiguing to listen to. 

Totem Signature One - more depth, more balance, quieter, more bass. More grown up. Weren't as much fun and effervescent as the Skys.

PMC 25.23: Clearly better than the 20.23. Nice sounding. Smooth treble etc. Not as fun and engaging as the Totem Skys. 

If I was in the market for more mature sounding speakers, the PMC 25.23 would be better than the Totem Signature Ones. (the PMCs being more HIFI)

If it was all about fun, the Totem Skys would be the winner.

Unfortunately not had a chance to listen to the Totem Sky towers - dealer did not have them in the store. I'll see if he can bring them in.

Price in the US: PMC 25.23 (~$5200)are more than twice the cost of the Totem Signature ones (~$2600).

I guess, living in the US or Canada, Totem is the natural choice, unless one is totally blown away by the PMCs.

 

The Totems do have a very long play-in period, and can be fatiguing until fully played-in - 6 months or more. Always difficult to compare at dealers if not fully run in.

I choose Totem Forest Signatures for my Nova and love them - I also have Hawks on my second system. I preferred the Forest Signatures over the higher priced Focal Kanta's.

These are Totem Hawks in my media room (5m x 4m), just fit in (the Forest are too ig, and really need more air to move) - the ceiling is quite low in this room (about 400mm above the pictures).

^ That TV is too big for the cabinet it sits on

I have heard the Focals with the Novas. Boring!

Trying to remember why I sold the 20.23s off several years ago. From memory (and from my posts from back then), they did everything right, but were ultimately boring. Made another trip to TuneHiFi and am now home auditioning the PMC25.23s.

From my last audition, the Totems Skys were more engaging, but there was something about the PMCs. Figure I should audition a few speakers this time before buying blind at a good price, and selling at an even better price a few months later. Decided to drive down to the downtown Seattle again. I have a tendency to get a ticket whenever I go into the city, so avoid it.  And really don't have the time during normal hours to do so, but still, holiday season..

Started with PMC 25.23s. With the Novas. Nordost cable.

Tracks - Escape Artist - Zoe Keating. Sound good enough. Nothing to complain. Lots of Cello.- The speakers have enough bite to be engaging, but no so much as to put you off and not too little so you fall asleep.

Put on Keep me warm by Okee Dokee brothers. Kids music. Playing this at home, it's always euphoric and fun sounding on the 552/500. I can see that the PMCs aren't as engaging as the Kudos. 

Heard a few more pieces that I don't recall. Great speakers. Added more bite to the 20.23s. More engaging. Still polite. Good for the long term. 

Connon wanted to put on Triangles. Sure. 

With a few seconds, I felt sick. I guess I am sensitive to music. Almost felt like throwing up. They made me feel extremely uncomfortable. Turned it off. (Maybe it was because Connon also turned a space heater off at the same time and I got cold and shivery). I'll just blame it on the speakers.

Got the Totem Sky monitors.

- Escape Artist by Zoe Keating. More engaging. Less insight.
- Keep me warm by Okee Dokee. Way more engaging and fun.  A little concern that they might grate on me after a little while.
- Heard a few more pieces. Totem has hit a home run with these speakers - specially at that price.

Put the PMCs back on.

- Just flipped between songs.
- Desperado under the Eaves by Madeleine Peyroux. There is some music in there that hits me emotionally. Hard to feel that if you're actively looking for it - but still, there's promise in these speakers.
- Back to Okee Dokee - just listening to it for a few minutes. Had a strange feeling. The jumpiness and immediate engagement wasn't there, but after a minute or so, was enjoying something else about the music. The darkness and the layered bass lines. Given - this is kids music but still. Emotional engagement  but relaxing music at the same time - not fatiguing at all.
- Hilary Hahn - Mozart Violin Concerto #5 (Turkish) - #3. More insight and depth. 

Put the Totem Sky Monitors -
- They just couldn't compete on the Hilary Hahn piece. Maybe it's simply because I was not listening to the Towers. Dunno. The engagement was there on the kids music - but the PMCs had something else..

That cliched it. Took the PMCs home for the weekend. 

Here' a link to a Tidal playlist that I'm using to audition speakers. Please do let me know what other music I should add:

https://tidal.com/playlist/7be...64-881c-18ea505c88c0

First time in many months - or years  - that I'm actively listening to music. I should do more of that. Maybe once the kids grow up.

Preliminary analysis - 25.23s have added enough bite to be a more interesting and compelling speaker than the 20.23s. The question is whether they will beat the Kudos X2s - whether the outlay will be justified. 

Other wildcard - If I do decide to get the Titans for the big system, I could use the Super20s in the study. Need to see if they will fit well here.

MangoMonkey posted:

Other wildcard - If I do decide to get the Titans for the big system, I could use the Super20s in the study. Need to see if they will fit well here.

That would be a good option.

As you like the S20’s you could consider C20’s for the second system. I suspect they would match very well and they are not too far behind the S20’s. 

I have owned both and they are very similar, if the S20’s work in the room then you could be confident that the C20’s would too. I placed my S20’s in exactly the same position as the old C20’s. The better model is an improveentbut the DNA between them is obvious.

[@mention:17757776930523932] have you tried Dynaudio? If so what’s your thoughts?