Bought an ex-demo Uniti Atom and on the way. Looking at what stand mount / bookshelf speakers to get. Room is 3 x 4m. We listen mostly to a mix of today’s hits, vocals, and classicals. After going through this forum, here is a list potentials (with currently for sale 2nd-hand / ex-demo prices):
Budget is less than 2500£ for the speakers.
Yes, listening to these first hand would be optimum, but not possible at the moment.
I listed Fact.3 because there is an ex-demo for sale and curious if its worth the upgrade and can the Atom power it.
Looking forward to any opinions on these or any others not listed. Thank you.
The Naim iotas I would certainly look at. Neat use Naim to test and tune their speakers. I bought there big brothers the explorer and they sound fantastic with my Star.
I would suggest high sensibility speakers with the Atom. Forget about ATC, Dynaudio, Harbeth and PMC Fact. On the other hand, the B&W, Focal, and KEF models you have listed are …well… not worth exploring.
Could you please elaborate? I have first hand experience of both the 705s2 and LS50 (albeit not combined with Naim) and would rate them highly, so am quite surprised that you discount them like that. Is it the combination that doesn’t work for you?
To the OP:
The KEF I’ve recently seen discounted quite a lot, and I thought they were a steal at it’s original price. One thing is that they aren’t very sensitive though at 85dB, so perhaps other members can provide insight on whether that would pose the Atom issues, although I wouldn’t suspect so. I don’t see KEF being mentioned much on this forum though, which might say something.
They should come in well under budget.
B&W on the other hand seems to be quite popular here. In case it helps I run the bigger floorstander 702s2 from the same range with a Star and there’s at least one more member running that speaker with a Uniti range device. (Nova?)
@crispyduck Indeed, they make a good duo. In another thread, i said , upon buying my UQ2 , that They were the best speakers i tested, from a group of many.
Just picked up a used Atom and paired it with some ex-demo Harbeth P3s. Sounds superb.
System is set up in my home office which is 3 x 4m like your room.
On paper The P3s could be considered difficult to drive for the Atom but in reality that is not my experience. It was also a suggested configuration by a couple of dealers I spoke to before taking the plunge.
You might want to throw Audio Physic Classic Compacts on that list. I have the first generation and they are wonderful - totally disappear and say to use close to the wall and not to fussy about the ‘sweet spot.’. My local Naim dealer (Hawthorne) are big proponents of the Audio Physic line. Plus the glass finish is a treat.
The Neat Iotas are good but you will be lacking a little in the lower end. Good if space is an issue.
I am running my Atom with Guru Juniors and it is a fantastic combination. When I auditioned the Gurus with the Neats it was obvious within the first 5 seconds that there was no contest.
I’m not sure where you live as the Juniors are hard to find in the UK and the production issues after their debut at the Bristol Hifi Show (2013 I think) where they had rave reviews has not helped their dispersion in the hifi world. A price jump from £800 to £1200 has not helped either. They are front ported and very easy to place. And they look so cool.
So if you can seek out some Guru Juniors give them a listen. I don’t think you will disappointed.
I have the P3’s on mine. No intentions of swapping them any time soon. I’m more than happy.
I wouldn’t say the Atom has difficulty in driving them at all. They fill my room easily and I rarely push the volume above 50.
You aint going to get spine shattering bass but if you have a smallish room then that’s a blessing.
I would not go for the Harbeths , they need a lot of current to perform at their best. I have them and they are stunning speakers with powerful amps. I have seen people use them on this forum with Atoms , but my experience of them with a SN3 was plain vanilla .
Probably the Neats would be the majority advice, though if it were me I would also add KEF, PMC DB1 or ProAc Tablettes. You have to budget for stands and cable so possibly the small Neat floorstander would be a choice
Anyway you have a fine bit of kit and I hope it gives years of pleasure
I have the twenty5.22 in a room a lot bigger than the OP’s small room and think they might be a bit too big for a small room. Maybe look at the 21 instead or perhaps a Spendor A2. The Spendor A2 is a floor stander of course but very compact and still smaller than a pair of twenty5.22’s by the time you put them on their stands. In fact I think even the PMC twenty5.23 floor stander is physically smaller than the 22’s on a pair of stands.
I’m currently running in an ex-demo Atom with Iotas. Very pleased with the result, but the speakers were chosen partly because I could wall mount them which is the only option in my small study. Several people on here have that system and are very satisfied – I can see why. If you’ve space for knee-high floor standers, there’s also the Iota Alphas.
Amongst the others, I have experience of the ATCs and the Fact 3s. ATC speakers are extremely revealing and my concern is that they could highlight the limitations of the Atom rather than its strengths. The Atom also has a somewhat “lean” sound, which appeals to me as it brings clarity, but small ATCs might emphasise this, so auditioning would be mandatory. Fact 3s are brilliant speakers to my ears (not everyone agrees) but outclass an Atom, IMHO. I ran a pair for several years on the end of 272/XPSDR/250DR and this is the level I personally would be looking at to drive them. They’re also on the “dryish” side, tonally and I suspect you’d soon be on the upgrade merry-go-round with them.
I first heard an Atom at a local audio show where they were playing into Dynaudio Emit M20s and they sang together. Many people thought this was one of the standout rooms in the show (which went all the way up to a Statement-based system) so they might be worth putting these on your list.
with powerful amps. I have seen people use them on this forum with Atoms , but my experience of them with a SN3 was plain vanilla .