I’d love to get views from members with experience on the relative merits of these two wonderful speakers.
I auditioned both yesterday and my impression is that the 707 is magnificent in its own right, but the 808 just disappears and leaves a near perfect rendition of the music in the room.
Problem is, at a stretch, I might be able to go for 707 at some point, but 808’s would need years of saving up for and are a very difficult thing to justify in terms of where our family cash needs to be spent.
If I go 707 will I always hanker after 808 or are 707 owners all living blissfully? Answers on a postcard to this address please!
I prefer the 606 to the 707. The 606 sound better balanced across the frequency range. Have you done this comparison as well?
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I like my “new T88s”
I’m sure the replacement 808s are incredible- never heard them however. Sorry for poor pic quality, david
Fills my large room with pure music
Having heard the new Titan range from 505 to 808, I think there are 3 sweet spots = 505, 606 and 808
I was not that engauged by the 707, much prefered the 606 in sound - the 808’s are the finest speaker I have heard period - and when matched with NAIM electronics they just come alive - and Kudos are easy to drive
my choice is the T505 as I have limited lisening space
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I have only heard the Titan range in demo rooms, albeit very well set up demos and all using Naim electronics. Good though the others were, for me, the 808s, even passive, were in a different league altogether from all the others.
Jonn wrote: “I prefer the 606 to the 707. The 606 sound better balanced across the frequency range. Have you done this comparison as well?”
I didn’t listen to 606 this time Jonn(and Antz) but heard them previously in a group demo vs 707 and I greatly appreciated the extra scale and impact the 707’s bought. Having said that, it wasn’t an extensive demo and I possibly didn’t have time to appreciate the finer points of the balance of each speakers’ drive units and the importance of that to the whole. However, one of my reasons for considering changing from my Obelisks is to gain greater weight, scale and easy separation of instruments in the image - particularly on Orchestral music now(or soon) that I have a larger, dedicated room to listen in. I’m not sure whether 606 would be a comprehensive upgrade on my current speakers.
Kevin
True. Sadly.
I heard the 707 at audio show east in 2017 with nds/552 and passive with nap 500 or active with a pair of nap300,s. It was when Naim were thinking of doing Kudos an active crossover, it as a prototype, maybe even done by Derek? Anyhow i preferred the 500 passive, but i felt overall the speakers were probably not big enough for that room. Heard the 808 at Signals with Statement amps, it was a big step up…due to the amps, but also because the speakers are very transparent, but with a great sense of scale. Can you not try and say to your dealer i want them ex demo in 9 months or so to get to your ideal price.
Auditioning at home will be key, both are heavy speakers so you need a good dealer to let you hear for yourself. I went with 707’s they had the scale and presence the 606’s didn’t have and are perfect in my room which is 6.5 x 5m
I didn’t audition the 808’s but feel they would be too big and not sure if my room could handle them. I can also play with placement more the. With the 808’s. The 707’s are well isolated as I have a suspended wooden floor but still the sofa vibrates when I turn the volume up.
If you have to compromise on family funds then I go for the 707’s, Very much doubt you regret it, I’ve stopped hankering over 500 and quite happy with a single 300DR driving the Titans.
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Thanks Gazza,
I was at that Signals demo too. Agree the passive 500 was preferred on balance. 707 too small for that room perhaps, but it was a ginormous space to be fair! My room will be roughly 5x4x3m, so probably about a quarter of the volume of that room at the Signals show. I’ve no doubts that 707, 606 or even 505 would easily fill the room. It’s the manner of delivery that has me hankering for 808’s.
To your point about exdemo, that would certainly ease the pain, but would likely still be a large chunk of change. Good point though…
Its what i did with my Nd555 purchase, i needed a 555ps plus 252 and Supercap. We kind of agreed that i could gave the 555ps,252 and Supercap ex demo…It made it affordable and of course you just have to wait until the units have enough mileage on them to be moved on.
I had both the 707’s and the 808’s at my place this time last year. I ran a thread on the old forum about my findings. We had the 707’s installed for a few weeks and then replaced them with the 808’s, it took all of about ten seconds to decide which was the better speakers. The 808’s are now in situ.
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That sounds like a 606-sized room to me, KJC.
I went to dem 707s and 606s, confidently expecting to buy 707s, but there was just something so musically alluring about the 606s…
Heck, just like there are no sh*t Porsche’s, all of the Titans are brilliant, I’d happily have any of them as long as they matched my room.
@Dave, may I ask the size of your listening room where the 606s are installed.
My listening room will be 5.9m x 3.8m, so possibly somewhere between 606 and 707 territory.
Which way would you have them firing…down the long length of the room, or across? Would make a difference i would have thought?
I heard both the 707 and 808s in Nigel’s lounge. No comparison.
True enough Dave, they all share the same DNA and all sound great. Having spoken a couple of times with Derek and the other boys from Kudos, they don’t think there are any hard or fast rules about room sizes and said they’d gotten some amazing results with both 707 and 808 in some very compact rooms. Home trials essential of course.
Ideally I would have them firing down the long length of the room and there are no restrictions that would not make this possible.
That would open it up to all of the range depending on your tastes and of course the dreaded bank manager. Mind you if you know what you want a ring around a few dealers could find an ex demo model