Had a pair of those as well- nice neutral presentation and they loved to rock! My 250.2, at the time, would go into thermal shut-down regularly with a digital source- I bet a pair of 135’s would really do the trick. Really enjoyed the speakers though…
Interesting, have the same speakers but my NAP200 runs them without issues. Never had the feeling it was lacking power to drive the speakers.
I ran a pair of Contour S3.4 for years with a 250-2, later upgraded to 250DR. I also swapped out the tweeters for a pair of Esotar2. Even with large scale orchestra music – like Mahler’s 2nd – they ran fine, at least in my smallish room they did (11’ x 17’ x 8’).
Different set ups, different rooms all these things can make a difference as we all know and please don’t misunderstand me every Naim amp I used including
180, 200, Bolt Down 250, CB250, Olive 250, 250-2, 250DR and 300 all sounded great with these Contours as did the Uniti and even the litlle UQ2.
My problem with all of them was that when I turned them up very, very loud things started to break down a bit and I’m not sure wether it’s connected or wether it’s more to do with the pre amp side of things but all my Naim systems had too much gain. Every Naim system I owned would be very loud at 9 o’clock on the volume dial and way too loud and begining to break down by 12 o’clock.
This was with Naim and non Naim sources with phono amps that had very low output settings. I also owned a source component with too much gain a Chord 2Qute which again sounded fantastic at moderate levels but the end result was the same it just got their quicker perhaps at 10 o’clock on the dial.
I blamed the speakers, the room, I tried different speaker posistions and even tried moving the whole system into the dining room but with the same result.
The amp I have now is at normal listening levels by 12 o’clock and goes all the way around the volume dial from silent to very, very loud without breaking up.
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My experience too although only with the 250-2 and the Uniti which would completely shut down the Uniti would show a message that that it had overheated.
Again I’d like to add that this is just my experience with Naim amps powering just one set particular set of speakers. I could have changed speakers but it took me years to find a pair whose sound I really loved.
So what sort of amp are you using now?
And indeed a new special 40 , a Mk2 version , about £200 dearer
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Is there any technical difference to the Mk1?
No, no technical differences, only 2 new colours …
Here’s a snap of the ebony wave version off the web, looks quite nice compared to the version on the Dyna site, I guess you’d need to see them in the flesh, finish looks excellent though as you’d expect
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A Quad Elite QSP that delivers 250 watts into 4ohm and a Tisbury passive which is temporary until another Passive arrives that’s being built by BTE Designs.
And £200 …
Here in The Netherlands I see no change regarding price …
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Er the pound has haemorrhaged in value , so the distributors would probably use the opportunity to increase the costs
Any thoughts on Uniti Nova with Focus 110’s. Only got the Nova a couple of days ago so its early days in terms of burn in but it seems a big upgrade compared to a Nait 5i.
The Nova is perfectly capable of driving the Dynaudio Focus 110. In my opinion you can get a whole step further in the line with e.g. the Special 40 …
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My Nova (18 months old now and fully run in) drives my DA Contour 20’s wonderfully. A deeper richer sound to my ears than the Special 40’s. All personal taste though. I think the Nova drives most Dynaudio’s very well Indeed!
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I have been very happy with my Nova coupled with Evoke 50 since aquiring the latter around March. I am now looking at a second system along the lines of CD5si and Nait 5SI. The room will be 7m x 4.5m with speakers across the width. Any thoughts on whether the Evoke 20 would suit this? Of course I will check speakers in situ in due course.
Thanks in advance.
Nait 5si owner here. Always loved Dynaudio speakers although towers are my preference.
In searching the thread I don’t see much talk of the Nait 5si being used. I saw one user with Special 40. Would the Nait 5si be suitable for the Evoke 30 or 50?
Thanks - when funds allow 
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