Great.
Which speakers made it into your list ?
Good luck
R
Currently Proac D20, Atc Scm 40, PMC 25-32i, Neat Ekstra, possibly Spendor A7… I’m open minded about anything else. These seem to be the ones coming up at my price point. Haven’t looked at Harbarth yet so can’t comment.
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That’s already a great list!
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I think the A7’s are worth a demo, I have owned both the A7’s and PMC 25.23’s, good speakers, as are the Proac’s and Neat’s. The new Neat Elite Classic is also worth a look/listen. Currently I use Atc Scm 40A, I like the ATC sound.
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If you add the new Neat Elite Classics as suggested by @glasnaim that would be exactly my list of suspects to try on the end of my SN3 and HiCap DR, I also have a quite close to the rear wall requirement so it will be very interesting to hear how you get on and any comparisons between each model would be well received.
Good luck on your journey
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Good luck with your project
FWIW, here is our similar shortlist, for an ongoing project to find a new pair of speakers, (£4-5k), which is taking forever and no end in sight.
In no particular order…
- Pro-ac D2R / D20R / DT8
- Spendor A4 / A7 / D7.2
- PMC Twenty5 23i / 24i
- ATC SCM 19A / SCM40 (passive)
- Kudos C20 / Super 20A
- Neat Ekstra / Elite Classic
Note : The reason some of these options extend beyond target £4-5k, is thinking one might become available ex-demo’, at a saving, and shoe horn into our budget? (Wishful thinking).
Currently, the PMC Twenty5 23i stands as our likely choice.
Hope this post is helpful as a resource…
Our intention is for a good floor standing option. However, our most recent audition, just a few weeks ago, was with the new Epos ES14N. It is a great sounding speaker. Like the original, its strength is with an outstanding midrange. But with much more control of bass (than original version). So, we are now considering this stand mount. Albeit, we wonder if rear port might restrict how we wish to use them. (Like original Epos ES14’s, fussy on placement, away from rear boundary.)
Good luck…
KR
R
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£4k is well within the purchase price of fabulous condition pre-owned SL2s
Perfect for 282/250
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Sonus Faber are doing a very good trade in deal at the moment so maybe worth having a look at them too 
I rate Neat Xplorers as a good deal more engaging that Ekstras or several others on that list. This probably underlines that hearing for yourself at least a couple of different options really matters here.
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The Russel K 120 is well worth a listen.
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A few peeps here have mentioned the Spendor D7.2’s. I have actually spent 4 days with these and to be perfectly honest, they are no better than my Spendor A9’s that i have had for years and years.
What they do share in common though is rear porting. That made both my own A9’s and the D7.2’s very easy to compare because my A9’s are 300mm from the wall, so setting position was very easy. They are both glorious speakers, playing rock, heavy metal, prog rock, jazz or anything else for that matter…they just draw you in and make you want to listen to more…
That said, if you HAVE to buy new, go with the D7.2’s at £5650 or you could buy a second hand pair of A9’s on ebay right now for £1800…i know which i would go for.
I know but Naim do not make speakers anymore
and I do not know of any valuable sub 4k which
would match and play fine in your situation.
Hi,
I agree with kitfit1 that the Spendor A9 make for a great listen. I have a pair just down the road from Neil in Winchester. I am not selling them on eBay. They work in an average size living room. I had a nap200 when I first bought them 10 years ago and they sounded great then, but the amp could find it hard to control the bass. They responded well to an upgrade of amp to the nap300. The integration of the drive units is fantastic, I don’t think about tweeters and woofers, just about the musical instruments.
Speakers really need an audition, preferably a long one. I would find it hard to buy speakers from eBay for that reason.
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My A9’s arn’t on ebay either lol 
In fact, in all the years i’ve had them i long ago decided these were keepers and havn’t changed my mind even after having the D7.2’s for 4 days. A9’s are a very dark horse in Naim world, but they are a perfect match with my SN2 in my particular room.
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Hi Neil001, you don’t say what speakers you currently use. If you do have speakers, then you might consider changing the HC to a pre used SCDR. I found one for £2.3k so gave it a try. The difference was astounding with my 6 year old Dynaudio Audiance 50, floorstanders. I think better than getting a new pair of speakers, as the sound was fundamentally improved. Decent speakers can only produce what is fed into them.
Anyway, to put it in context, at the time 3 years ago, I might not have been so impressed if I’d paid the full cost of a SCDR, but at 2.3k it was amazing.
But if you don’t have speakers, please ignore this post!
Best wishes
Amer
Not sure of the price where you are at but Spendor D7.2’s are fantastic. The best ported design I’ve heard.
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I am a big Spenfor fan (D9.2) but the D series do need to be away from the wsll.
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I would also recommend Spendor A7 speakers. I have them close to the back wall and they work well with my 282/250 DR kit.
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Hi there, with a system similar to your I very much appreciate pmc. You can put them very close to rear wall as they have atl, more than other speakers they recreate the music scenario, you can easy recognise where are the instruments, much more than other speakers that tend to fire music to the front.
Have just recently seen a Reference 3A Episode for 2K and a Wilson Duette 1 with stands, crossover and it’s bits and pieces for just under 4K.