I’ve tried the Oscar Duos a couple of times in rooms less than 20m2 and I think their low end in particular tends to overwhelm such a space a bit (they start to look slightly too big to me visually as well) and need more space e.g. from around 25m2 - but may be room treatment as in your case could help in smaller rooms? I guess it goes without saying that one needs to try at home before any such decision but your speakers look incredibly good and proportional in the space from your photos.
I will be trying a couple of RCA to DIN interconnects a bit more, especially in my Nait 50 dedicated setup with the Spendor D1.
Nice setup… shame you have to block the bottom of your window… I guess you had reflections there?
Those speakers look quite similar to the RK RED 50s I have. Are they un damped thin wall with internal bracing designs like the RKs. I ask as such speakers require typically rigid low mass speaker stands… and I see you are using SolidSteel stands… I was hoping they would do a wooden leg version.
Well I’m sure you can do a very large room on 25w paired with the sort of speakers you’d pair with a 5w tube amp. There are some very high sensitivity large speakers out there rated at 2w.
My 98db Omegas are similar. Large 8" drivers in a mid sized cabinet shifting plenty of air off a 10w amp.
While the 50 is meaty enough to drive anything reasonable, if I had a large room, I’d be thinking outside the traditional shortlist of things normally discussed on here and ponder what I’d pair with a tube amp. You’ll end up with an entirely different shortlist of brands most aren’t familiar with. The point being, a large room on that power is doable.
Good point. I hadn’t thought about that before, because the Oscar Duo’s aren’t much bigger than my Vienna Acoustics Hydn. But the woofer is 17.8 cm on the Martens and only 13 cm on the Haydns. When I think of the listening room at my dealer or the videos on the Internet, the room in which the Martens are demonstrated is usually larger than 17 square metres. A test in your own listening room is therefore crucial. But first I will continue with the Viennas.
The room acoustics elements in the window help to dampen reflections. The sound is much quieter as a result. GIK Akustics originally recommended two elements for treating the first reflection points on the ceiling. However, I didn’t install them there. The elements are quite heavy and I’m afraid that the suspended plaster ceiling won’t hold them. I plan to fit lightweight diffuser elements to the ceiling later. I am now using the two panels on the rear wall behind the speakers.
Vienna Acoustics uses very solid, high-quality cabinets that are manufactured in Vienna. They are multi-braced. This seems to me to be a different approach to the BBC approach of Russell K. There are no dedicated stands from Vienna Acoustics. When I asked them, they recommended sturdy metal centre stands. I previously had Quadraspire speaker stands (with MDF), but they didn’t convince me in terms of sound and workmanship. The Solidsteel SS6 are very solid, I filled them 2/3 full with sand and added Isoacoustics Gaia 3. The result was much better than with the Quadraspire stands. I don’t know the Russell L50 and they are not very well known in Switzerland. But there is a dealer in Fribourg (150 km away) who sells them. I’ll try to get a hearing session when I’m in the area.
Thanks I must admit I thought Russell Kaufman’s and the original L3/5A design principles were somewhat different. The former believes the least speaker enclosure colouration is to allow the cabinet to move in sympathy with the audio… and there is no damping inside, just bracing and load tuning but it can make stands/support pretty crucial… however the advantage is a wonderfully smear free presentation resulting in beautifully natural clarity without highlighting or unnatural accentuation… and by comparison it makes you realise how compromised some speakers are in this area… do enjoy a demo if you can.
I am now on my third speaker with the Nait 50 (Quad ESL). All three have been successful in my 12 x 17 room (feet) with no downsides as to loudness (I listen typically to 90db or low 90 db peaks and lower).
Quad ESL - not surprising that this would do well. Crazy amount of detail with this pairing and the magic midrange is still there. Bit more forward than other amps. Longest I’ve owned a speaker .
Acoustic Research AR3 - fully sealed acoustic suspension that, these days, requires a laborious rebuild to hear the real sound. Usually much higher power amplifiers are recommended but of course the Naim watts work well here. Perhaps the most underrated speaker because of the less precise imaging compared to later speakers…easy to place, amazing tone, big dynamics/big sound, and surprisingly sensitive at 89db. The tone of instruments with the Nait 50 and other amps is the best I’ve heard.
Fink Team Kim - fascinating and flexible modern design with a Mundorf built AMT tweeter. It’s almost a sealed box and I’ve learned that feeding a good source to the Nait 50 is paramount. Best bass and dynamics I’ve heard from a speaker this size. Looks great and unobtrusive for a chunky little box.
[quote=“Simon-in-Suffolk, post:107, topic:30774, full:true”] Thanks I must admit I thought Russell Kaufman’s and the original L3/5A design principles were somewhat different. The former believes the least speaker enclosure colouration is to allow the cabinet to move in sympathy with the audio… and there is no damping inside, just bracing and load tuning but it can make stands/support pretty crucial… however the advantage is a wonderfully smear free presentation resulting in beautifully natural clarity without highlighting or unnatural accentuation… and by comparison it makes you realise how compromised some speakers are in this area… do enjoy a demo if you can.
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That’s far better written and much more informative than many Hifi mags
Yes it appears they don’t obviously advertise it… so contacting them might be best. But a little investigative work shows the nominal impedance of the RED50 is 8 ohms, and the sensitivity is 85 dB / 1Watt / 1 metre.
A lovely pair of walnut Falcon LS3/5a Gold just landed here. Briefly played some solo Spanish guitar which was delightful - the strumming was so….strummy! More listening later…
Been playing the Falcons for a few hours now. Renaissance lute and vocal music, Blue Note jazz and some Dean Martin from my Limetree Network player via Roon. Starting to play some vinyl now - Prestige, Blue Note, Columbia jazz.
There’s a lot of resolution coming through from the Nait 50 to the LS3/5As. It was quite startling initially and I wondered if it was too much of a good thing but it all seems to have settled nicely now. It’s a spry and musically energetic pairing with great articulation of vocal and instrumental technique. I’ll be trying Harbeth P3ESR early next year that a friend is bringing over. This amplifier certainly has a lot to offer to a speaker.
Hi, a few seem to favour l3/5a variants, but there are many of us enjoying quite different speakers… I personally prefer slightly more a low end extension that the nait50 can comfortably dish out with delightful clarity.
As far as low sensitivity or high sensitivity, I think a lot of that falls down to enclosure size, you can choose the speaker to suit your environment, and how loud you need the speaker to be with the amp.
I would suggest however, to experience much of goodness that the Nait50 can bring I would use fast speakers irrespective of sensitivity. You will find complex and/or compressed music is well presented with great clarity and stereo positioning …. Lyrics become so much more legible, and choral music is portrayed with its natural reverb, and no or very little added smearing induced sibalence.
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More listening later…
