Treble glare and shouty-ness are often caused by poorly soldered speaker pins on NACA5. Or using non-factory pins. I suggest having them re-terminated or try a different pair of speaker cables.
3 Likes
Is it just the very top end that you dont like?
Or is it a range of highs?
I am asking as I have MA Gold Signature 20 floorstanders and i am struggling with them, but for me its worst when playing anything with electric guitars, the highs if the instrument are painful for me.
Never had this problem on other sound systems/speakers.
Hopefully going to have a listen to some other speakers this afternoon and see how they sound.
Will also try some fabric over the tweeters to see what happens.
It might well be similar to your description of what youāre not so keen on, yes.
For me, its many things, including electric instrumentation, that can start to sound very harsh at mid to loud volume. That said, Radioheadās In Rainbows, with all its glitchy high frequencies and electronics sounds great. Yet, other less demanding stuff can sound congested and or not right at the top end.
Good luck with your speaker demo.
Itās not nonsense if youāre trying to sell record players!
My system is a Nait 5si, nDAC with MA Studio speakers (not the newest one the ones from a couple years ago).
I use Chore Clearway interconnects between the nDAC and Nait and also Analysis Plus Black Oval 12 speaker cables.
All copper for the cables above. I also have some nice Nordost Blue Heaven Interconnects. Which are copper/silver. And another pair of pure silver ICs.
I find that the copper/silver or pure silver are too detailed in the treble to mate well with the Nait/MA speakers.
Good luck. Hope you can resolve the issue because personally I do like the Naim/MA combination.
1 Like
Continuing the discussion from How to tame Monitor Audio treble glare?:
I think a lot depends upon the room, the location in the room of the speakers and the furniture arrangement. I have MA Silver 500 6G floor standers. Quite frankly, I think theyāre very underrated! If anything I would perhaps like a touch more on the high end with these, but they certainly are not harsh. I partner these with an SN3 (+ HiCAP) and WH phantom speaker cable. Iām careful to have these out of the corners (bass is seismic) and slightly toed in but have never noticed these being harsh sounding. Furnishings, curtains at one end of the room and carpet tend to damp things down nicely.
I certainly would not say that MA speakers are not suited to Naim amps - I think they match very wellā¦or at least they do in my experience. I have invited friends round for a listen and they have all said they could listen all day to the set up I have.
I canāt comment on your room set up but would experiment - maybe a radical change to your room arrangement might pay dividends?
Yes, this very thought has crept into my head ever since the MA speakers arrived.
Iāve mentally been re-configuring the room and I think I could make it work.
A few months ago I sold an AV amp online and the buyer came to collect, and as soon as he saw my hi-fi set-up wasted little time making the suggestion I should have the then speakers (B&Ws) firing down the longer length of the room, not as they currently are, facing out from the longest wall. (If that makes sense).
1 Like
I would say 10-15 years back this could have been the case, but as time went on I believe that to be less so. I wouldnāt say thatās the case with their more current offerings. Now how well they pair with Naim, that I couldnāt say.
Is the SN2 enough to driver the 300 Gās properly? Have you tried swapping speaker location to verify it isnāt a room issue? Are they just revealing issues further up the chain?
1 Like
Quite possibly a āroom issueā, in my case, yes.
I am working out where and how things would go if I do swap things around in my room, as itās worth giving it a go. (And in this particular abode, I am the only adult, so nothing to lose. My other system elsewhere resides where other humans have a vote too!).
In that case, if possible Iād highly recommend some proper room acoustic treatments, likely the biggest improvement most audiophile can make.
1 Like
Iāve changed things around a bit today:so the sofa, chairs, plants et al, all rearranged, re-positioned.
The MA speakers have been moved and once again, as before, the tape measure and my ears did the rest. My actual listening position isnāt that different, but with all the above, Iād say thereās something positive going on.
Iām a few hours in, and itās difficult to remember the exact sound from before, but placebo effect notwithstanding, there is negligible glare (if thatās what it was) anymore.
Certainly no need for material to drape over the tweeters!
1 Like
Iām also using vintage MA with a Nova - r352 from 1984 in my case - quite warm Iād say.
@Charles64 Do you switch off your kit after listening??
I have been switching it on and off between listening sessions. Then last week i was advised to keep it switched on as Naim kit takes a while to warm up.
Its been on for 10 days now and it has warmed up the sound. Its not solved my issue but it has made a positive difference.
1 Like
No, itās always on, unless Iām away for over a week.
This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.