I’m thinking about Vintage speakers with large Woofers (around 15"-16") to bring some life to my Music.
I’m very happy with my current setup (Forty 40), but don’t find the association to deliver the sound I’m looking for. If Find NOVA + Forty is a bit too accurate & sensitive to average / poor recordings.
This association is really excellent for Blues, Chamber Classical, and Jazz, but fails down for Rock, Symphonic Orchestras, and Metal where it feels harsh.
Anyone already experienced NOVA associations with Vintage JBL, KLIPCH, CORNWALL, OTHERS ?
Need front Ports.
Thanks for sharing your experience and recommendations
As a previous long-term Naim owner I now use Sim Audio Moon amplification with a pair of Klipsch Forte III speakers. I would not consider using these with Naim amps as I beleive it would lead to a harsh, forward aggressive type sound. You need to be careful here.
If you want large vintage type speakers to use with Naim I would be looking at the vintage Tannoy speakers which would be a lot more suitable.
I have a pair of old JBL 4311s and they may be the sort of sound you’re after. They are seriously flawed in many ways but really come into their own with rock music. Hardly surprising I guess, and indeed my own pair used to be used by Martin Birch in his studio, so a great way to hear Deep Purple, Fleetwood Mac, Rainbow et al. just the way he would have done when their albums were recorded.
One of the most exciting sounds I heard was a pair of JBL4343s fed by just a modest Naim CD player and NAIT 5i integrated. Listening to Neil Young’s Sleeps with Angels album was a revelation with that system. Finding a pair of 4343s of my own became my mission, but sadly they are relatively rare (most likely now reside in Japan), usually require substantial refurbishment, and prices can be very high. However, if you ever come across a pair and the price is right then don’t hesitate.
Volti Rivals are were found to be a good match by one member, @JSQT, Just don’t get tempted to upgrade to a supernait later. Not vintage but they should do the trick.
Interesting experience Richard, thanks for sharing. I’m a bit eclectic regarding sound… my wife is very much Rnb/Soul and I navigate between Classical/Jazz Blues and Rock.
Not so easy to tick all cases here…
On top of that, volume is often 1/3rd and sometimes between 1/2 to 2/3rd which is already rather loud.
I understand that combining all these contexts might represent a challenge.
I’ve already got some positive advises about the named brands. I was also lucky to hear a stunning set of custom Lancer 110 with external tweeter. I have to say that « presence » was impressive. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to try them in my Own environment /setup.
I got to listened to forte with a valve amp and thought it was lovely but it was rather forgiving system.
A friend started with a Forte III to go with his Atom. A year later he went for a Forte IV, Cornwalls and K-horns demo.
You can see a scale better here between Forte and K-horns.
I have friend who runs a pair of Klipsch Cornwall’s with a LP12/52/500. I’ve heard it and it produces an “old school” wall of sound with BIG bass. The head of DartZeal is also big on Klipsch speakers, he uses K-Horns at home with his $$$ amps.
Someone mentioned vintage Tannoys and I believe they would be very good. i have a pair of fully reconditioned Kef R107’s which sound excellent thru my NDS/SN2 rig. With two 10 inch drivers per speaker, there’s no lack of accurate bass and the mids are sublime.
I have a pair of Forte III’s running off my Nova and I just love the setup. I won’t refer to all the jargon here - there are folks much better than me that can do that! What I will say is all the reviews I read have borne out with the Nova and the Klipsch. What folks say about the live sound really is true. It probably is fair to say the sound can be quite bright sometimes, but that is normally only when I am playing it very loud. Maybe my ears are telling me to turn it down - certainly my wife does!
I have no earthly idea whether they would be a good match, or whether they are even good speakers, but when I was a teenager I dropped something close to $1000 on a pair of Cerwin-Vega 3-way speakers with 15" woofers. I have never heard a pair of speakers rock harder. The bass was overwhelming at times, even with old Sony ES components purchased at Circuit City. There was nothing laid-back or retiring about them. They simply boomed. I believe that they had a front port. It could be that something as highfalutin’ as Naim might spit them out, but who knows?
I have a Special 40 being played recently by newly acquired 555, 552 and 250 and it finally sounded sweet and right. Previously played with Star, NDX 2 + 252 and really disappointing.
Now I am seriously considering JBL 4312G or JBL 4349. But really afraid of the Naim + JBL pairing.
First time I’ve heard KH were back in the late 70’s / early 80’s if memory serve (reminds me how old I am).
Citation amps and Micro deck
They played a demo vinyl with a train sound coming against you.
I tell you I got scared, even a big room.
They could play some music afterwards.
Original Klipsch were special.
Guess a A21 is all you need.
I think within this realm of vintage high efficiency speakers, classic Yamahas are really quite an item. Personally, they aren’t my thing, as I’d rather go vintage JBL, but that Yamahas have quite a following among vintage gear officianados.
