Rats, I was hoping you wouldn’t notice… good catch 
The speakers are born of necessity. Avantgarde bass modules suck. The only way to keep up is to have bass horns and the laws of physics dictate that they be large.
here is a simplified version, The first one looks especially busy because it hows every supply voltage, which is not a typical way to do it
After that list it seems like maybe the brand isn’t the underlying issue.
It is unfortunate you didn’t try the Hicap DR with the 282/250DR.
Indeed. And I’m not sure anyone makes commercially. I always fancied concrete horns with 8ft mouths … but few people would ever have the home to build them. One interesting design was presented in Wirelass World back in about 1974, a folded horn with a 4ft square mouth reproducing down to 40Hz in-room, the cabinets something like 6ft tall, 4ft wide and 3ft deep, so more manageable in a real (large) room. I’ve kept the article all these years, just in case the urge takes me…
Bob,
I’m just going to do exactly the same. A list and a reply to your topic.
Max
I have owned a Nait1, 3x 42.5, at least 3 x SNAPS, 1 x NAP 90, 2x NAP 140, 2 x NAP 150, 1 x 150x, 1 x NAC 122 and 1 x NAC 122x, 2 x NAIT5, 1 x NAIT 5i, 2 x Nait3.5, 1 x NAP 175, 2 x AV2, 1 x DVD5, 2 x CD5, 1 x CD5x, 1 x CD5i, 4/5 x CDX2, 4/5 x XPS [can’t remember, one was DRed), 3 x NAC 202, 2 x NAP 200, 1 x NAP 200DR, 1 x 282, 1 x SC, 1 x NAP 250, 3 x SBL, 1 x Ariva, 5 x N-Sats, 4/5 x HiCaps [can’t remember, one was DR], 2 x Ovator S-400, 1 x ND5 XS2, 1 x NaitXS2. Let me take my breath. Have I forgotten something?
Countless runs of NAC A5 but also a long time with NAC A4, 3 x HiLine, NAPSCs, ah yes, 3 x Supernait 1, 1 x SuperUniti [lasted one week].
I may - swear - have forgotten something. I didn’t use to keep a list.
Does this qualifies me to tell about life after Naim?
M.
Just remembered. A UnitiQute2 too.
IIRC the diameter of the mouth has to be some fraction of the wavelength of the lowest note you wish to be able to hear, and (again, IIRC) comes out to about 29.5 inches for 20 Hz, or something of that sort. Anyway, I remember someone back in the day built a pair of folded horns, most of which were under the floor of the room, and only the mouth was visible, coming out of a wall.
I have, in the past, thought that for an infinite baffle (or what a closed box aims to be) you could mount your drivers in the wall of the room, with the back open to the outside of the building. Might annoy the neighbours, of course, but in the pursuit of hifi some sacrifices must be made.
Now, three questions I pose to myself to open my (short) contribution about life after Naim.
What’s the piece of equipment I admired most?
What’s the piece of equipment I detested most?
What’s the piece of equipment I regret and could have again?
How’s life after Naim? The reason why I changed is because Naim changed; they started taming their classic sound, making it step by step, almost unnoticeably, more smooth and universal. But Naim had conquered its status with a very precise, recognizable and characterized voice. Taking Maria Callas, leaving body and face intact but making her sing in tune, with recognizable pronunciation of words and more than one expression for anything she sings would be useless. But it’s what Naim did. The Uniti series is a strange hybrid which has nothing in common with anything we were accustomed to. The only still recognizably, admirably ‘Naim’ are boxes from NAP 300 up. So I changed radically, buying an amp from a guy who is considered among the two or three best American amp designers, a super DAC/Streamer and the most unlikely speakers I figured out - the Klipsch Heresy IIIs. Only the stupid never changes his mind.
My strong bond with Naim and my admiration for the brand are intact. We’re just living separate lives.
In fact, I’m here now writing.
Best,
M.
I have to agree with your answer to Q1 Max. Roy and Julian were such a fantastic team and the various Ibbles all wonderful designs.
Hi, #MrUnderhil
Sorry for going back to an old response but what was the reason for turning from the e.a.r gear ?
Hi, I wonder what made you buy not 1, not 2, but 3 SN1s? And not even 1 SN2 or the most recent SN3? Simply out of curiosity, as apparently financial side is not an issue, given that long list of yours. You might have missed one of the best in class integrated amps there. Just a thought…
EAR are superb, BUT on changing to SBLs the 534 was only as good as my old 250s, and the Naim 300DR was a step up from them. The 868PL is a great pre-amp, but the Townshend Allegri is a touch more transparent, although the 868PL is not only a great phono amp but perhaps makes up up for the slightly less transparent line stage with some added timbre.
In short I think that EAR are excellent, but in my current system the replacements work better.
Are you thinking of getting some EAR amps?
Perimeter = wavelength of lowest note, so area =pi x (wavelength/2pi)^2 in free space. Half this sitting on a floor, 1/4 opening into a wall/floor junction, and 1/8 opening in a 2-wall+floor corner - hence the popularity of corner horns. 40 Hz is easy, 20 only in a corner, and that presumes two suitably spaced corners:
|Lowest frequency |40|30|25|20|
|Area opening in wall against floor m2 |1.47|2.62|3.77|5.89|
|Area opening in corner against floor m2 |0.74|1.31|1.88|2.94|
With apologies for loss of table formatting
#MrUnderhill
Erm… eventually.
The new and second hand tim de paravicini stuff is a pipe dream at the moment and I find naim stuff the closest to “good” valve hifi. I believe my retirement system will be valve. With a naim source probably.
Funnily enough I have gone the other way, but dictated by the speakers.
I really think the hardest thing to find is a pair of speakers that work in your room, and having found them you need to find what drives them the best.
TdeP’s pov is that he can create an amp using SS or valve and that they will sound the same, which he has shown. Many valve enthusiasts don’t like his amps as a result, I think they are first rate.
Let’s see two or three best US amp designers. Tubes: Bill Johnson Audio Research, Bill Conrad/ Lou Johnson Conrad Johnson, Saul Marantz, Marantz. Solid State: Spectral, Rick Fryer and Keith Johnson . Boulder Audio, Jeff Nelson. Dan D’ Agostino, Krell . There’s more of course
#MrUnderhill
Ahh, yes apparently he can make output transformers sound as fast as transistors etc even in the bass. I went to the bristol hifi show in 2018 but the place was just too big to see everyone and I dont think he was there anyway. I might get one of his power amps and use my nd5xs and nac112x to see if its possible to achieve the best of both worlds. Did you try to mix and match at any time (naim/e.a.r) ?
I moved for a while to Audio Research amp and Sonus Faber speakers. Wanted to see how it was like across the aisle. I was also getting tired of the many boxes I had. so I sold my fully active system and moved. 2 years later, i came back. I won’t make that mistake again.
It may be life Bob…But not as we know it 
