Unfortunately the Nova accepts a 3.5mm (1/8th inch) jack and not a 6.35mm (1/4 inch ) jack that my Senn HD800s are terminated with on a Chord Shawcan lead so I never tried an AB test against my usual HD800S pairing with the Hugo2.
I bought the Nova and the Core to get rid of Upgrade fever .To no avial. I bought a vintage Naim set in order to feed my upgrade hunger again. Somewhat silly I guess.
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so you have 2 systems ? nova/ core and olive system?
Yes…
I got the Nova just before the price increase at the beginning of 2018 with a Core and it has been brilliant. Added a Powerline late last year and it improved the bass and the imaging.
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Bass is a problem with the Nova. Hear that a lot. My dealer is comming this afternoon trying to install a Rel subwoofer. I hope this improves the Bass situation.
I’d be interested to hear how you get on with the REL audition as I’m thinking of adding one to my Nova.
I added a Powerline to my Nova and agree that it produced a more musical sound.
John,
I will let you know.
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i too made the change from an Atom to the nova in the last few weeks, although I think the atom is also a great bit of kit, it never really woke my speakers up. The Nova provides that added extra power needed for my speakers which was the missing link, it also adds a fuller sound which I hadn’t expected.
all in all a great product for me.
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Any ideas how the Nova compares to a 172/250.2 combo? I know the answer is to demo but just picking brains to see if anyone has been down the same or similar pathway.
Must say I do like the styling of the Nova and one box also has an appeal…
John,
Sorry it took so long to respond. Well the first thing I dit was te connect the REL sub low level by means of a simple rca cable into my Nova.The bass improved a bit was not entirely to my likings. Sounded a bit muddy and I could not set the REL right.My dealer adviced me to buy a second Rel. And that is what I did…And…suspense…WOW. thats astonishing. everything is falling into place. More air, more silence. coherent basses and overall sound… But for me the most inportant thing. I was lacking Pratt with the Nova. And that came back connecting two subs. In abundance. I am indeed very happy. I consider this the best buy in years.
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Thanks for the information.
I may have space issues with two subs as I have double doors in the way.
I wonder if I could stack my Special 40s in some way. Probably not.
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I’m surprised you feel you need a sub with the S40’s, they’re not exactly light in the bottom end
Curiosity rather than conviction. Having read a few too many articles on the subject I’m intrigued to see what difference they’d make, if any.
I’d probably do better to look at Dynaudio focus active speakers rather than add subs.
Then go full circle and stay with Nova.
yes curiosity is a terrible (and expensive) thing! I’m at a bit of a crossroads with my Nova, not been entirely happy with the synergy with it and my Spendor A7’s, I auditioned the S40’s with a Nova recently and was quite impressed. The A7’s are good undoubtedly but not quite right with the Nova I feel - I think they need a better amp. Of course I could update the Nova with an SN2/NDX2 and hope that gets more from the A7’s but its a slippery upgrade slope. So I’m sort of thinking of back peddling a bit and getting speakers (S40’s perhaps) that have a known synergy with the Nova. Thoughts anyone?
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S40 seems like a sensible choice to me. I’m curious about Focal Kanta 1 and 2 myself. Seems like Kanta 2 has been denied with Nova by Naim and others with good results.
Hi Hollow,
Don’t have personal experience with A7’s have listened to the A4’s a bit, Spendor make nice speakers. Looking at the specs the S40’s, also a really nice speaker, might be harder to drive than your Spendors ?
I have PMC Twenty5 23’s with my Nova, also have a set of Neat SX1’s both are a good match
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Special 40s go well with the Nova.
I’ve heard the NDX2 andSN2 into what I believe were the new Kanta 3 at the eastern audio show and they were good. They also used separate power supplies which ups the price considerably.
If you’re interested in the Special 40s I don’t know if you are aware they are a limited edition and I believe will soon be unavailable.
I’m becoming more interested in active speakers as the few that have been reviewed attracted excellent comments, especially the Dynaudio focus range.
Finally heard a sub with Nova Special 40s.
Obviously added more bottom end but also sounded to me like a second system had been added. Sound not a clear as 40s and sounded a bit boomy at times despite tuning.
I preferred the sound of the Special 40s on their own.
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