Naim and Dynaudio Thread

Well I thought it was a thread about both without limitations. Sorry!

Phil

I agree itā€™s not really a meaningful comparison. The Confidence 20 are also going to want a lot of current driving them, likely requiring 250DR+.

I think a more interesting comparison would be Confidence C1 Platinum vs Confidence 20. I have C2 Platinum and am curious how the Confidence 30 compares.

No one is censoring you. They just arenā€™t agreeing your statement has merit. Thatā€™s fair game.

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So an update on my running in of the S40. After a few weeks, they have opened up a lot. The bass has become tighter, and the vocals have continued to impress. In some ways it feels like the tonal balance is moving towards the dark side, but it is a marginal shift and actually rather pleasant. I will avoid all the cliches about ā€˜lifting veils ā€˜ etc, but I will say that they have justified the upgrade from the Focus 160s. There are no areas where I would go back.
As an aside, I went for the grey ones. It is not really grey, to be fair, it looks more like a mid brown. It got the WAF instantly although she remarked that the shiny finish looked like a fingerprint magnet; fair enough, donā€™t touch them!

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PeteW : I bought a pair of B&W DM601 S3 speakers for her. Tried them out at her house (when she wasnā€™t there, but on her dadā€™s 52/250 set up. They gave a very creditable performance, but his SBLs (used to be mine!) are still a quite a bit better. Iā€™m sure sheā€™ll be very happy when we install them for her on Christmas Day.

Well i suppose something is better then nothing. However if the sub/s are capable of working cleanly up to 80Hz then i would say that itā€™s best to not to waste their potential. If the sub/s donā€™t have the means to high pass to the mains and low pass the subs then an active crossover should be bought into play. This can effectively help unburden the mains of the bottom two octaves and passing this low frequency burden on to the subs/s.

A subwoofer is the most important component. Sub bass fqā€™s are best left to a sub to deal with.

Thatā€™s not how REL subs work, but weā€™ve already had this argument before. I still donā€™t agree with your stance on it (nor does REL or my very experienced dealer of 25+ years).

Iā€™m not going active nor do I need to. My system is setup as per RELā€™s advice and documentation. If youā€™re so smart and know better, go tell REL to change the documentation and setup advice for their own products. Then Iā€™ll reconsider what you have to say. Meanwhile I think you just donā€™t understand how REL subs work with their high level inputs.

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All things being equal i personally wouldnā€™t be content with the subs/s sitting below the mains. Btw, itā€™s good to be active as itā€™s good for your mind, body and audio system :slightly_smiling_face:

Thatā€™s your choice to make for yourself about the former, and thatā€™s just your opinion about the latter. I have no desire and see no compelling reason to go to the extra expense and complexity of an active setup, and itā€™s not recommended for my speakers anyway. Doing so would defeat some of the design of the speakers that make them special. :slight_smile:

Likewise :slightly_smiling_face:

Btw, just to be clear i was referring to the use of an active crossover so as to effectively high pass to the mains and low pass to the sub/s :slightly_smiling_face:

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So you would need to put an active crossover in between your pre and power amp, with a (low level, presumably) connection from there to the sub. Is it possible to buy such a thing, and configure it to work any speaker/sub combination?
It seems logical to me that a sub would be of greater benefit if it were to relieve the main speakers of some of their workload.

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That depends on the system. As stated earlier, REL subs are not designed to work that way. When used with the high level inputs they donā€™t replace the bass of the main speakers, they extend it. If your speakers struggle to produce their rated response, then drive them with an appropriate amplifier.

I realise that Rel subs, and many others, donā€™t do this. Iā€™m just interested to know if there is a third party device that can. Either way, I presume it would need to use a low level connection.

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RELs do have a low level (line level) input, but for music audio (vs home theater applications) they sound much better with the high-level input and full range speakers. I once tried the low level input from a HiCap into a REL and it sounded terrible.

I suppose a xover would be low (variable line) level and sit between the preamp and amp. The low-pass output would go to the sub and the high pass to the amp. But thatā€™s another component and additional two sets of cables to deal with. Assuming you have a capable amp for driving your speakers Iā€™m just not seeing the benefit, and think it might even have a negative impact on sound quality, if you canā€™t equal or better the quality of your Naim kit, not to mention dealing with a likely mix of RCA and DIN connectors.

Yes, an active sub woofer crossover (such as the one i use) to sit in between pre amp and the power amp. If the mains are relieved of the lower two octaves they will distort less and with all things being a sub/s will handle/reproduce these lower frequencies far more effectively.

Why send a boy to do a mans work.

Thanks, Iā€™ll keep that idea on the back burner

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[quote=ā€œJosquinDesPrez, post:273, topic:904ā€]If your speakers struggle to produce their rated response, then drive them with an appropriate amplifier.
[/quote]

With all things being equal a subwoofer will do a better job at reproducing sub bass frequencies.

Yes, you said that, several time already.

Maybe Iā€™m just really dense and donā€™t get it. Why donā€™t you repeat it like another ten times or so and see if anything changes. Hmmm?

Any chance this thread could get back to the topic of Naim and Dynaudio speakers?

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Itā€™s not really so off topic. Heā€™s taking a stance and claiming my Confidence C2 Platinum struggle reproducing bass (although he has never visited and heard my system) and further claims I need to use a crossover to offload lower frequencies to my REL subs. Thatā€™s not something easily supported for the 282/SCDR/250DR I have anyway, since it would need to integrate between the pre and the amp.