A friend who owns a SN2 (I own one as well) went speaker shopping. I went with him. He was looking to upgrade from his Proac 1SC.
Here are the speakers we auditioned in order with a SN3 (the dealer did not have a SN2 in stock). Source was a Bluesound Node playing Qobuz tracks.
Sonus Faber Sonetto 5.
Not offensive or tiring in any way. Not incredible either. We were both left underwhelmed.
Audiovector QR5
A very nice presentation! Lively but not fatiguing top end, and an overall balanced sound.
Magico S1
Although these are low sensitivity speakers, the SN3 was able to more than adequately drive them. All hail the Supernait
Very dry and detailed sound. Impressive, but not that engaging.
Unison research Max 1
Wanting to hear a more lively speaker with presence, we listened to this bad boy next. Horn tweeter and midrange, with a 12 inch woofer, these were extremely lively and energetic! They were a ton of fun. But, the horn treble was right on the edge. Great fun for short sessions, but maybe not great for fatigue free long listening sessions.
Fyne 502SP
A beautiful speaker in a gloss wood finish! It was also the best of the bunch sound wise. It struck the perfect balance of sounding lively, without being fatiguing. It dug deep down into the bass.
Fyne 502
Realising the Fyne 502SP was more than his preferred budget, we listened to the very similar, but less expensive Fyne 502 (non SP). Same size cabinet and drivers, but lower specced drivers and crossover parts. It was not as good as the 502SP, but was surprisingly close, considering the significant price difference.
He finally went home with the Fyne 502. Do not sleep on Fyne with Naim amplification! Both Fyne speakers sounded great.
Here is my ranking from all speakers heard in the audition:
Good review. Couple questions being an Audiovector QR7 user and fan with my SN3. Why were the QR7s not on your list? Not available or outside of your friendās need? Were the QR5s the new SE model?
Any way, I am sure he made the right decision for himself.
Yeah but using a Bluesound node as a source is not going to give you any idea what these speakers are truly capable of. NDX2 is the natural partner for the SN3, is it not?
Iād reach a slightly different conclusion: that the Bluesound Node is a decent match with the Fynes. The SN3 is capable of being fed a significantly better source and that would, as mentioned above, most likely make the likes of Magico and Audiovector shine.
Why do the forum hooligans always have to piss on everything?! Geez, I was sharing some information others might find interesting.
I do not feel the need to explain myself. I will nonetheless adress a few points.
I know the NDX2 is the natural partner for a Supernait. But, my friend does not have one, because he likes his Bluesound Node and does not want to pay 11 000$ dollars for an NDX2. His choice! It only made sense to demo with a system that resembled his; hence the Bluesound Node was used.
As for why audition the Magicos? Well, why the hell not? They were a used pair and in his price range. Listening to them, gave us a good idea of what to expect from them. Again, why not listen to them?
Your post was one of the most interesting and best posts I have seen on this forum. Good A/B comparisons with your SQ impressions on all the comparisons so please donāt take offense by the āsnobbiesā
Loved the description of all the speakers I enjoyed the Fyne speakers I heard, they were just a bit too exciting at least in my room/set up. I still recommend people try them the dealer brought them out as a mystery option because so many people had found they liked them to their own surprise.
Iād happily listen to them for several hours again I just thought they might be too much for every day. The shop unfortunately didnāt do leaving speakers with people for few days so I didnāt know if Iād have adapted to them or ended up regretting them.
Hi @DanielH , no snobbishness or hooliganism here, was just pointing out why the Magicos, which are clearly an excellent speaker, may not have impressed. Really glad your friend found the right match, Iām sure he will enjoy that combo.
I had a bluesound node 2i before i heard the ndx2. Bluesound is pretty good no doubt but the ndx2 is in fact capable of more, particularly when used with some very nice speakers. There is nothing at all wrong with either, its just that the ndx2 delivers a more cohesive natural real situation to high end downstream electronics. Iran my node into a median director dac linn classik pre nd meridian stereo amp. It was a great bargain setup. But it cant do what my ndx2 hcdr sn3 tunetot setup can do. I waited a very long time to be able to get it and consider it to be ao cpable and well matched that ive not yet swapped up. I believe it is the sweet spot of naim. Others may disagree,
find this really interesting that in an A/B comparison across 6 speakers, the SF came in last. Interesting, but not surprising. My take on SF is that thereās a āwow factorā when you see them - given the Italian design and then a pleasant listening experience due to that warm and forward sound. But in direct comparison to something like the Fyne, the shortcomings are very noticeable and they come off as ānice - but not for meā¦ā to serious listeners.
Never heard the Harbeth XD editions.
But the older Harbeth 3-way were rather slow in basnotes if anything near wall/furniture etc. in a smaller room, they sometime boomed like crazy.
Shouldnāt do that in the price range.
A pity as their mids are really nice.
Hope they solved issue in the XD ?
