Naim and wattage

How big is your room?

My room is 36 m2. The room I visited was L-shaped and the total must have been 80 m2.
I focus on absorption in my room and the other guy had only diffusion (which worked well).
I sit close to the speakers and the speakers are close to the wall. I have a sofa and ottoman that works very well as absorption.
He had lots of space and the speakers were 3 meters from the wall and we sat I guess three meters from the speakers on a small sofa.

Two very different scenarios that both work very well.

Edited a typo.

If the review you referenced is right, that would correspond in theory to peaks in the region of 112.5 dB at the listening position. I guess the average level was in the very high 90s (I didn’t measure which may be seem consistent with peaks going to that sort of level.

I was reporting the indication of the warning lights, not audible clipping (with audible clipping I would instantly cut the volume).

112dB is rock concert level… Is this the ‘normal’ listening level you play your music at?..
I SAID IS THIS THE NORMAL LISTENING LEVEL YOU PLAY YOUR MUSIC AT? :smiley:

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You will note original post on this said “If I play music very spiritedly”. Yes, indeed, rock music can sound really great that way. Indeed, dramatic classical music may also hit the limits if played at concert hall levels, though with average sound level lower than rock music - while the Telarc recording of Tchaikowsky’s 1812 played at quite modest levels can have the cannons reaching the limits. However, out of respect for my ears I don’t play at these sorts of levels very often, nor normally for extended periods.But it is part of the enjoyment to be able to do so when I wish!

@kmolds so 36m2 but what are the dimensions? And if the room is on the small size you may not get what you want out of the 40.x those things need room to breathe, like 5m x 7m and if Shl5+ aren’t getting it done for you maybe listen to other speaker brands. Harbeths all have a familiar sound to one another. Kef, ProAc, Dynaudio, kudos, spendor? Maybe that’s the way to go

The dimensions are complicated. There are no parallell walls and the layout is not traditional. But it works very well both from an acoustical and practical perspective. I prefer this sort of layout vs the traditional square/rectangle.

I picked up the 40.2s preloved at what I think was a very good price. I was very happy with the SHL5+ but was curious to see if the 40.2 would work in my room, as I have read that they need a large room to work well. If they did not work I could sell them off with no financial loss.

I have moved 9 times the last 9 years (in Oslo and Berlin) so I have gained some experience with different rooms. 6 months ago my system with the SHL5+ was in a 50+ m2 room. I prefer my current room a whole lot more than the larger room I used to have. I have learned there is a lot to achieve if it is possible to do something with the first reflection points. The positioning of the sofa (and listening position), and also the size and even fabric (I chose wool) might have a positive impact. Therefore I got an ottoman instead of a sofa table. My new sofa/ottoman “sounds” a whole lot better than my previous sofa and sofa table:-)

I am extremely thrilled with the sound quality and above all musical enjoyment I am getting from my current system. The 40.2s are amazing. I am sure my system would be even better in a larger room which was properly treated/furnished, but I have bought my apartment and I will stay here for a long time. So I have to make the best out of it. Which of course in the true Naim spirit means getting the 500. I am picking up a preloved non-DR 500 in December.

At some point down the line I will be looking into treating the ceiling with some acoustic remedies, but for now I am focusing on the walls and furniture/positioning. This was a little digression from the watt question but perhaps a well treated room enables one to listen on lower volumes?

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That is a significant benefit for sound quality!

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Yes I have read about that and I considered it as a bonus when I decided to buy the apartment:-)
I had a theory that the room would work well, but as always we don’t know until we have listened.

I don’t want to turn this into an acoustics thread, but when I have done a few more things I can post about my findings.

From the original post: “At low listening levels the SN played well but it was clear that wattage was needed so if I want that control of Harbeth 40.1 I have to say goodbye to Naim, or?”

I am Norwegian but have never heard Hegel. The Hegel H390 and SN3 are about the same price. Perhaps the SN3 has more grip over the Harbeths at higher volumes than the SN1, so a comparison between the H390 and SN3 might be interesting.

Sorry can you speak up a bit I didn’t quite catch that!

(Your post made me laugh! :rofl: )

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I once (!) did a childproofness and healthcheck of my Ovators. Listened to a 6 minutes Bach organ fugue having the volume pot fully open. My wife was standing next to me, she said something and I only could see her lips moving.

It was a piece of cake for the system. In order to get there the setup must be right and that did take a while.

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36m2 is far from small, at least not by UK standards (
though not good if long and narrow)

Sounds like a great fix

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I have heard the Supernait 3 through Harbeth Super HL 5+ 40th Anniversary Model speakers. It was superb. Outstanding in all respects.

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I’ve heard both and they are both outstanding, the SN3 being a big, warm, forward, clear and clean. The H390 is very accurate, balanced across the frequency spectrum, nice tight, well defined bass, transparent, a little on the analytical side but not excessively so.

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Warm and forward/clean/clear is a little contradictory to me. Can you elaborate? :slight_smile:
Do you remember at which level the volume pot was with the SHL5s when listening making that judgement? Basically I’m interested in knowing how it felt around 10 o clock where by SN1 is starting to get exhausted.

Spot on Mike. Naim power amps deliver current, but also have large capacitors to react to large dynamic swings in the music. I have always found power in Watts as a misleading metric. Responding rapidly to the dynamic variations in music was always where JV was coming from.

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This is really odd. My SN1 has its sweet spot at 10.

Speakers and sensitivity?

Here you go: B&W cm1’s, I think they have a sensitivity if 84db (!).

Really odd. I always liked to turn up the volume and listen loud - which it was at 10 on the volume knob.