Old thread here locked : Has anyone tried Graham LS5/9 with 282/250DR
A bit of background. I’ve owned the LS5/9 since 2022 but didn’t really give it a serious thought since it’s a spare and not my main speakers. My main speakers are Marten Duke 2s and I have been constantly seeking ways to optimise the system with costly upgrades throughout the years Some of the upgrades include a new amp (Gryphon Diablo 300), custom-made Acrolink Mexcel balanced interconnects shipped from Japan and a Shunyata Alpha-X mains power cable.
Well, I now find the LS5/9 driven by an ‘optimised’ 282/250DR/HicapDR to be in some ways more enjoyable than the Duke 2s driven by the Gryphon Diablo 300. I won’t get into the detail on the difference in sound quality between the two systems here and will just say that although both setups sound different, there isn’t a bad sounding system. I still enjoy listening to both Graham LS5/9 and Marten Duke 2 but did not really expect the former to actually get very close to the Marten’s level of performance. Based on past experience I have known that the Naim and Graham are a great match. This time, the optimised Naim (upgraded power block and mains power cables) has brought the LS5/9 to a higher level of performance.
I will now attempt to try the ‘optimised’ 282/250DR/HicapDR with the Marten very soon, perhaps by end of this week to see if there would be any surprises. Repeated attempts of matching the Naim to the Marten have always failed as the speaker sounds best with Luxman and Gryphon every time the amps are swapped. I hope the Marten will not sound good with the optimised Naim since I’ve spent a small fortune on the Gryphon Diablo 300 specifically to match the Marten.