I currently have the aria 926s at home on demo.
Was wondering whether to possibly look into the 936s with a lower frequency response of 39hz db Vs the 926 with 45hz dB.
Has anyone experienced the 936s Vs 926?
So much depends on what works in your room, and particularly how it handles bass. The only answer is to borrow them as well. What works well for others may be a bass monster for you, or they might be great.
Would that not be too much speaker for your NAIT XS 2? Maybe if you require more bottom end then a SN3 may also be worth considering?
Just a thought…
I saw the word Nova in the profile but on looking again I think it is a different Nova…
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I think you may be underestimating the Nait XS 2 a little.
It is only 10wpc difference from a SN3 and is easily driving the current Aria 926s I have.
The 926s have a sensitivity of 91.5db, 8ohms impedance.
The 936s are 92db, 8ohms.
Both go down to a min impedance of around 2.9ohms.
Don’t think a SN3 would help.
I am more interested in the lower frequency response of the 936s and that effect compared to the 926s.
My listening room is fairly large at 25ft x 14ft.
Yes it would be best to try a pair at home.
I was really after an opinion from someone else in the forums who may has already done this.
The extra outlay for the 936s is considerable compared to the 926s, so the difference would have to be substantially better for me to switch from the 926s I currently have.
The “Nova” in my profile is a Nova fidelity x12.
It is used purely as digital SSD storage passed through to my Chord Qutest for conversion
After 2 weeks of listening to the Aria 926 I have unfortunately had to return them.
I was having issues with the Metal inverted dome tweeter, with terrible sibilance on certain recordings.
Also sounding a bit thin, light and splashy at times.
It may be my room acoustically at fault but coming from the smoother sound of the Vifa ring radiator in my previous AEs Reference, my ears where picking it up everytime.
The overall balance of the Arias is Forward and bright and I found myself turning the volume down regularly to prevent a headache.
I have came to the conclusion that I personally prefer a smoother sounding speaker definitely without a metal dome tweeter.
Maybe the Neat Ekstra will be worth a shot?
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You could always add a separate sub if it’s more bass you’re after.
I found the level of bottom end adequate on the Aria.
Its a simple matter of my ears dislike in the metallic sounding inverted dome.
When you crank the Focals up with a little rock or heavy metal they become a little confused and shouty.
Its hard to track individual instruments within the acoustic bombardment to your ears.
I think you’re doing the right thing and taking your time to find that right speaker. The leg work you’re doing now will stand you in good stead for years to come.
I too run a NAIT XS 2 amplifier albeit with Neat Motive SX2 speakers to great effect, so I am very interested in what speakers you end up with.
Happy hunting!
Speaker choice is such a personal thing and listening environment dependent.
You’re certainly going about it the right way by sampling potential candidates in your system in your listening environment.
Just a thought but have you looked at pushing more from the speakers you already have and looking at other areas to change in the system.
One thought could be adding a HiCap DR to your NAIT, I’d expect easy enough to loan one for a short time and see what that might do to the balance of the system overall.
Another obvious component to change and compare is the speaker cables, borrow a pair of Super Lumina or even NAC A5 and see what that does to the sound signature for reference.
I have done a lot of tweaking to my system recently to improve on the sound with my A/E reference 1s.
Changed my speaker stands to Atacama HMS stands
Upgraded my DAC from Chord Hugo to Qutest
I upgraded my analogue interconnects to Chord Epics and my digital cable to a Chord Signature Coaxial.
This had given me a warmer and richer sound with extra finer details.
I Then upgraded my speaker cables to QED Genesis Silver Spirals.
This gave a major boost to bottom end kick and soundstaging of my A/Es, my XS2 sounding as if it had gained a few extra WPC.
It did sound as if I was getting the best I could hope for from the A/Es.
After trying floorstanders It confirmed the simple truth that my listening room is possibly a little to big for the standmount A/Es.
I am definitely considering trying a HiCap DR in the not to distant future.
I currently have a pair of Wharfedale Evo 4.4s.
I was put off the Wharfedales at first as I have always regarded them as a great budget speaker manufacturer.
But after reading the glowing review from What Hi Fi and the fact the Evo 4.4 uses a AMT Tweeter and 2" Soft Dome Midrange, I was curious to try them.
I have been running them from new for a couple of days now.
So far the Wharfedales have a smooth easy going sound.
Individual instruments are really easy to follow
Instrumentel tibre is thick and warm.
Soundstage is spot on with vocals fixed clearly front and center, never lost in the musical picture.
Upping the volume just gives more definition to the music and the speakers never become shouty or unruly (unlike the focal aria 926 I previously demoed).
Bottom end with the wharfedales hits as hard as the Dali but with a tighter control.
I think this is partly due to the cleverly placed down facing port between the speaker cabinet and floor plinth.
When demoing the Dali Rubicon 6s and then the FocalAria 926s I was constantly swapping back and forth with my A/E Reference 1s, something just didn’t sound right to me and I was trying to convince myself they MUST be better than my A/Es and I would get used to the new sound.
The Focals initial excitement quickly became a headache and I couldn’t bear the sibilance from the metallic sounding tweeter.
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Wow, they certainly look the part. If all one wants to do is keep on listening to their favourite music instead of tweaking around then that is most certainly a very good sign. Hope you reach a favourable conclusion.
Adding a HiCap seems another sensible option although I haven’t tried this myself, definitely one of those things to try in the not too distant future.
Happy Listening!
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Just out of interest:
When I was at the Bristol Show last weekend I managed to have a listen to the Acoustic Energy AE509 compact floorstanders being driven from a Rega Aethos amplifier.
They most certainly sounded very detailed, fast and toe tapping musical with plenty of low end. I can imagine they will fill a large room easily. Tonally they sounded a little forward and exciting and in no way bright or fatiguing. I liked them very much.
Aesthetically eye catching and very well finished too.
Here they are in action:
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I like the suspended headboards in the photo! Darn hi-fi shows!
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