Need help. Is Naim Atom too week to match with Dynaudio Emit 30 or Emit 50?
Is it nonsense to connect to these speakers, and if it can, is there any synergy between them?
Dynaudio used to use an Atom to demo the Emit 20, a standmount speaker in the same range as the 30 and 50. It was probably the best performance I’ve heard from an Atom. Larger cabinets do not necessarily make a speaker more demanding of the amplifier, and the nominal sensitivity of the 30 is slightly higher than the 20, so I reckon you would be fine with an Atom. I haven’t heard that combination though, so get a demo if you can.
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Have you listened to the Emit 10s? On dedicated stands or wall brackets? If not you might be pleasantly surprised.
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I’d listen to the Emit10 and 20 first, that is unless you have a huge void to fill with sound. Truly surprising scale from such modestly sized stand mounts. They are a lot of fun and pair beautifully with the Naim Uniti range.
Check out the Hi-Fi Plus review by Jason Kennedy (IIRC) as he’s quite a harsh critic, not one for hyperbole and loved the 20s.
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I already have B&W bookshelf speakers. They just can’t handle classical music, so I need physically bigger speakers. I guess the Emit 20 can’t provide that for me. The listening room is a bit oddly sized, elongated, 3.5x7m, so it’s not small either. I’m more concerned here if the Atom’s modest 40W will match the big Emit 50. The Emit 30 already has significantly higher sensitivity (88 vs 86dB) so I guess it’s the better choice. Of course I will demo to them, but I’m interested in experiences, if this combination is a complete failure? However, the acoustics of the HiFi sales hall are completely different from my room, so I’m afraid that my hearing is not the most representative in this selection.
you would be quite surprised how the bookshelf dynaudios can handle anything you want to throw at them. I once compared the bookshelf dynaudios to the big floor standers, the Dynaudio bookshelves speakers were more impressive relative to size
I use Excite 16 Dynaudio in my living room and it is more than enough for movies with huge bass (I don’t need a subwoofer as the speaker can go down to 40HZ), and music.
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I’ve not heard the 30s, but I have listened to the 20s with an Atom at a show and that modest little setup was one of the best things I heard that day. And I’d be wary of choosing speakers based on numbers such as quoted sensitivity. For one thing, sensitivity varies with frequency, so you may not be comparing like with like.
If by “classical” you’re referring to something like a Mahler symphony or an organ recital in a large cathedral, no hifi can really reproduce the full concert experience and an Atom will certainly be struggling with any speaker short of something like an ultra sensitive Klipsch. Like you, I listen to a lot of classical, but with the Atom/Neat Iota system in my office it’s mostly chamber music, baroque and the like. The Atom is a great product but it has its limits.
Roger
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I have an Atom driving Dynaudio Excite X44s with excellent results. Excellent dynamics even at low levels, and they can get very very loud in my 12x23 room.
While I may one day add an external amplifier and upgrade to the New Classic line, I don’t feel in any way as though something is amiss.
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