BIG system change. Your thoughts/observations appreciated

Maybe worth trying to see if you can audition Kans? That is taking your amp and source. Many secondhand sellers will accommodate, and there are several pairs available across the country

With a CD5si and Nait 5si I wouldn’t touch Kans with a bargepole. Do you have experience of Kans? If so you’ll be aware of their ruthless nature and how they sound with an underspecced source.

My two choices for the OP are ProAc Tablette 10s or Neat Petites, or possibly Motive 3s. Going any higher on the speaker ladder is a fool’s errand. I wouldn’t tough nSats either. I tried them with a 5i and they were thin and chesty.

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Have a look at the AlChris Audio TX-1. Phenomenal performance for the money and UK built in Yorkshire…

Maybe I’m missing something but if you’re going to sell on the Klipsh and Moon and Chord wouldn’t you certainly have enough money to fund the new speakers and Naim stuff?

Do you mind me asking where you are based, Pete?

I mentioned Kans because the OP has waxed lyrical about them himself, with Naim amplification and LP12, but hadn’t liked with a CD1. He now has a CD5si, which may sound different, and I believe he also still has hisChord Qutest (also Moon CD player though intent on losing that).

Kans definitely need a powerful amp to make them work. I had a pair of Kan IIs with a lower Musical Fidelity amp and never heard them at their best.

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I had 2 pair of Kans (SN 179xx & 278xx) in the room, they were fronted by LP12/CDi/32.5/HC/250 and now with CDS1/52/250.

Ime Kans sound best with LP12 undoubtedly – it does have a ‘sound’ tho, and spec is very much limited to pre-cirkus era.
Imho if one wants Kans to sound great like fronted by LP12 but without one, it takes Naim’s better sources (CDS level)+52/250 (135 better still) to achieve that big sound and density. Less power=less awesomeness – and the famous peaky response.

I heard the Russell K’s a few years ago at the Signals show (Audio East??).

Anyway, I’d not heard of them before and I wandered into the room as there were seats available.

I remember being really impressed and made a note to listen again if I found myself in the market for some stand-mounts - which I am, so they are on my long list.

I recommend you track some down and have a listen.

Best, Tony :slightly_smiling_face:

Yes I agree actually. Not really thinking straight. Yes I’ve owned Kans for seven years and yes they are ruthless. I had nSats for a while with CD5i-2/Nait5i-2 and thought they sounded rather nice actually, and in some ways better than the IBL’s on our big system that we had just disposed of, though not as capable obviously. But then the IBL’s were always rather thin and bass light even driven by an olive 250. Lightning fast though.

We’re in Solihull.

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OK in a nutshell I’ve abandoned the whole damn silly idea. It’s very apparent that we’ll end up with something unsatisfactory due to financial constraints. Thanks to everyone for your input which has been very helpful to me and has helped distill my thoughts into something coherent. Now just to re-install everything and connect up. At least it’s meant that all connections have got cleaned through unplugging!

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A wise decision, Pete. You have a very good system, so it’s worth taking a bit of time to audition some alternatives and see whether they float your boat.

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Did you actually buy the Nait 5si and CDP? It’s fine plugging the stuff back in though it’s worth trying to uncover what made you think about selling it in the first place, otherwise whatever it was will surely reappear.

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Post 4 days ago HH.

Apparently he has the new Naim gear!

Not sure what’s going on. All seems like a wild goose chase to me.

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Rather like the mystery of the missing water. Chasing those elusive geese seems to be a speciality.

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Now that I can understand!

Of course, there is nothing to stop you, at your leisure, taking opportunities to audition a range of speakers currently unfamiliar to you, to see if there is anything that maybe has strengths of your current combined with the strengths you recall of the likes of Kans, and should you find anything you could assess potential for change,

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Yes I bought them both but only actually unpacked them and not used. Distance selling laws mean I can return wthin 14 days without issue. In fact they were both ‘damaged’ anyway. The front panel of the CDP is misaligned and the top plate is bowed up at one end. The amp has a mark on one end of the front panel and again the top plate is quite badly bowed. In view of their now rarity I would not have returned them for this but would certainly have demanded a discount.

What made me think about selling my system is an interesting question. Two things I suppose. One was a desire to get back to the Naim sound and the other was a desire to simplify things as much as possible. I’ve thought about this on a number of occasions in the past but never got as far as doing anything. Once I had actually taken the plunge it quickly became apparent to me that what we would end up with would be very a significant downgrade and one that I couldn’t accept. In particular losing our lovely horn loaded speakers - and I know many detest horns but I love their particular qualities - would be a disaster. Also the CD5si/Nait5si and suitable speakers just isn’t going to get me the Naim sound that I know and love from the past, which involved far more expensive equipment.

I should have thought all this through calmly and rationally before taking action but I acted in the end on an impulse. Lesson learned.

What can I say? It’s an accurate assessment.

The water saga is ongoing and really not related to the equipment! But yes wanting to change my system was very much a wild goose chase I’m afraid.