202/200 speaker pairing

A friend just got some Dynaudio Confidence 30 for his 300 based system.

What type of speaker would max out the capabilities of my 202/NAPSC/HICAP/200 ?
Currently have B&W 705.

It does come down to your personal preference, so there’s no right or wrong answer. It also depends a lot on your room, source and cables.

However I’ve heard your system with speakers from Focal, Canton, Neat, Harbeth and Totem. They are all great but, according to my personal taste, I would easily go for the Totem Forests, others might prefer different sound presentations.

I haven’t heard any Dynaudio speakers, but I’m sure they are worth considering (they should sound very transparent). I had B&W DM602 speakers in another system and I’m pretty convinced they would have hidden what your Naim system can do.

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You might want to try improving your Naim amps - rather than changing speakers.

How about a 282 to replace your 202 and/or a 250 to replace your 200…?

202/NAPSC/HICAP/200 is a very capable amplification system, which will drive and sound good with a lot of speakers. All down to quality of source and system balance. Have used the same with Audiovector 3 series and Dali Epicon 6 previously with good results. A friend is currently trying out the same with Audiovector 6 series and is reporting it sounds absolutely superb.

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When I started with Naim I already had a pair of PMC Twenty5 23 speakers which I had been using with my QUAD 24/306 system. When I moved to the Naim NAC202 and NAP200DR there was a noticeable improvement. I then added a NAPSC followed by HICAP, each giving an incremental boost to performance. I would thoroughly recommend giving the PMC Twenty5’s a listen.

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If you can, try the loudspeakers at home. Your room might have an even bigger impact than the amplification does!

I personally chose a good pair of monitor speakers over floor standing speakers. The 200 is very capable, but it felt much more at home with those and delivered much more musicality with them.

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I’m using Pmc fb1i signature with 202/NAPSC/HICAP DR/200DR, and happy with the results. I was considering to buy Harbeth SHL5 Plus but couldn’t find it as second hand. Still thinking how would be the sound compared to Pmc.

I once heard Wilson Benesch Arcs with your amplifier at my dealer’s. Pretty fantastic.

But you may want new.

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We run our lovely old Linn Keilidh’s on my 202/200 with NapSC. It’s my wife’s system and she loves the presentation she gets from the Linn’s.
I really like the sound of the older Linn speakers. I run a pair of Ninka’s on my 282/300 system supported by a Rel T5/x Sub. Sounds wonderful.

That is a strange term, as it can mean different things to different people. Assuming you mean you want the best sound you can get from your system without changing amps, then you need to try many speakers to see what sound best to you: Speakers all sound very different from one another, their characters determining the overall sound character of a system. I suggest making a shortlist of all around the top of your budget, and do some auditioning with your amps (in my experience dealers, and serious private sellers, are happy for you to bring your own amp if they don’t have the same available. Should you be able to hear only with a more capable amps then hving identified possible contender(s) you might need to look more into whether your amp would drive adequately. If it were me I’d look secondhand or ex demo to maximise buying power. Meanwhile if you want people to make suggestions it would be useful to indicate your budget.

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A committed Dynaudiophile here. I had Contour 1.3 mkii and Special 40’s on my 202/200 set up. The former are long in the tooth now and the Special 40’s were better. I no longer have the 202/200 but judging from how they sounded on my Nova the Heritage Specials would be exceptional if you can find a pair.

I’d be very curious to hear some Dynaudios, the Heritage Specials look very nice as well.

Looks were the issue with them for me and I’ve ended up with Confidence 20’s as a result :grinning:. They sound far better than they look IMO (finish is exemplary but I find the proportions incongruous).

I’ve your exact amplification (for the time being). Several observations.

1 - it’s a perfectly balanced set of boxes. I note the suggestion to move to a 282. Don’t. It will unbalance the whole presentation and after the initial amazement at the deeper bass etc. you’ll start to notice the slightly glassy, digital nature of the treble and upper mids and want to find a way to mitigate that via an upgrade.

2 - Dynaudio? Bias upfront. I’m not a fan anyway but lordy they sounded awful with my system in my room. Did sound good if you changed to 282/300. Focal? Ugh, no. Far too brash, forward and almost metallic.

3 - I had Epos ES11s with mine. Slightly rolled off at the top but it took a long long time to notice that. Maxed it out in the best possible way.

Neat is a good good call here. Lots of options so you can see what works in your room but they work wonderfully with your boxes. Always musical and great fun.

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The Heritage Specials do remind me of the Totem Signature Ones. Maybe that shouldn’t come as a surprise as Totem, if I’m not mistaken, designs and manufactures drivers for Dynaudio. I’ve never listen to the Signatures but many say they sound fantastic (to me they look better than the Heritage Specials).

I think it’s actually the other way around.

I disagree with your first point. I had a 282/200 (no HiCap) for a long time and it worked a charm. No issues whatsoever. It was front ended by a CDX2/XPS2dr however, which may have helped. It could be the source was the issue, not the 282/200 pairing.

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Ops, you are right! Thanks for the correction.

We all have different ears and rooms.

My CDX2/XPS2 used to front my 202/200 etc. Tried the next level PS and it exposed the limitations of the CDP. Tried the 282 and the superficially impressive soon faded into a certain amount of artifice. Sounded great when the dealer loaned me a 300 but I’ve not that amount of money. CDX2/XPS2 plus 202/200 etc. was advertised by Naim as a system in its own right and it’s hard to argue that anything else in the classic series was so perfectly balanced.

Never met anyone who owned a 282 who stuck with it. Eventually everyone moved on but not a one will ever accept it was the 282 wot did it :slight_smile:

Yes, I remember thinking that the CDS3 with a NAC282 and NAP200 was a real sweet spot, particularly if you wanted to keep the box count down, the 282/200 pairing being a fantastic two box (OK, two and a bit if you count the NAPSC) amp. The 282 just revealed appreciably more of the source quality compared to the 202.

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