New naim AMP for custom build speaker

This doesn’t sound right to me at all…

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you are absolutely right!

Do you think it doesnt effect the SQ? So I could just leave it like that?? Than I wont have to brake the cabinet if I would like to change anything in the future.

I found that very strange to! Just tried it out with my left speaker! Exactly the same behavior…

Even on -10 the speaker is playing very quitley and without highs…

On +10 just increased in volume…

I’d like to get in contact with Naim Support to make this clear! I dont want to spread wrong informations… do we have a person which I can tag here in this topic? If not I‘ll us the contact form from Naims website.

Reto

Maybe @NeilS can give some insight?

I’m not too sure on the Atom/Nova etc. But the balance control arrangement on the green screen range doesn’t work quite the way you’d expect, so it’s likely the Atom is similar.

I’ll check out next week.

Regards
Neil.

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This post from Steve Harris might help …

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I totally missed that post first time round.

@Retm i think it best if you just keep it simple and get back to basics. Stop playing with the balance control.
Does it sound normal?
Do you get a stereo image and a soundstage?
Does it sound like the sound is in phase?

Everything might just need some time to settle in.

In response to your earlier question, I adjust my tweeter a few times over the first 6 months. I try time with all the options at first, and usually choose the highest resistance as they tend to sound bright when new. Then once broken in this may need to be changed again depending on how much everything changes.

You need to make sure you always have access to the crossover. You never know when you might need to or want to change something.

Keep us posted.

Hello Everyone

let me quickly update you guys.

Since I received the Atom and the NAC A5 cables (4m btw) I have listend to music for many hours… (currently half of the week in homeoffice= 7h music during the daytime.)
And during the evenings a few hours almost every day. So quite a few hours of music on the Atom, NAC A5 an the speakers (the speakers have way more since I have them sind the mid of December).

I tried a lot with speaker placement, speaker height, the old speaker cables again, tried many settings on the SVS Subwoofer, bought isolation feet for the subwoofer, and so on.
I haven’t tried the higher R1 resistor yet! Will do that tomorrow.

I have to say: I am just not really happy with the system… (yet)

In the beginning I though I noticed a difference from the Vincent SV500 to the Naim Atom. Maybe that was just imagination or there really is a small difference… But the sound is still not really where I would like it to be…
Today I switched the amps again to my ears the Vincent sounds warmer and has way better bass.

The Atom on the other hand has the ability to stream and is just so convenient! The lacking of bass can be compensated to a certain level with the subwoofer though.

  • What i noticed If there is no music playing I can hear a the speakers very good! There is a background “buzz”, “sum” Idk how to say this in english.

What am I missing:

I don’t really get a sound stage… it doesn’t excite me…it sounds restrained.
It’s just listening to music… not really special.
I can exactly tell you where the music is coming from (even which speaker is playing). I don’t get that 3d (sounds stupid) effect at all when listening…
The sound is not “in the room” its at the speakers (hope you understand what I mean).

My room is not very good for acoustics… here is a picture (i don’t have any room treatments. My better half does not want them in the living room :slight_smile: )
Do you think thats the only reason the sound is so “borring”?

I also have a big mess with wires and every powercord goes to the same powerstrip.
Do you think this has something to do with my situation?

My powerstrip goes around half of the room (I don’t have power where the speakers, amp, TT are). So the cord on the powerstrip is 10m long. The powerstrip was maybe 10dollars or less…

I saw some dedicated power strips for hifi system but they can go up to thousands of dollars…

Also my subwoofer cable is 20m long… the subwoofer is 1.5m away from the atom. (I just had this cable left…)

Also the vincent powercord for the Phono Preamp is making noises very loud. If I tap it it stopps for a few minutes.

I don’t want to sound disappointed but maybe I am a bit… maybe I’ve just expected too much for my budget.

I would just love to have music wich floats in the room, makes fun while listening to and envolves me so that I automaticly move my feet to the sound :slight_smile:

What would you do? Any ideas what else I can try?
Wait longer for more “burn in”. Buy power strip and other cables?

I’ve already written half a novel… sorry for that!

Many thanks guys!

A power strip with earth connections would be a good place to start.
Are those plugs 2 pin C Type or 3 pin J Type

I would start by unplugging everything and just starting with the Atom. Make sure you have a proper earth and polarity is correct. Once you’re happy, then start to add other bits of kit, again, ensuring that anything that requires an earth gets it and that polarity is again correct - you may need an induction pen to ensure this.

Thanks Mike!
Since I’m based in Switzerland, they are J types… I googled quite a lot of powerstripes but they all seem to be in Shuko style… no J type style…

You may have more than one issue, but this part,

sounds to me like room acoustics issues and not the comparatively small differences one gets between amps. You played with speaker placement but I guess it may have not been possible to play with the seating position, which is at least as important. You are sitting very close to a blank back wall, so you will have lots of very early reflections from the back, which inevitably play havoc with imaging.

I would have also blamed room acoustics for the missing bass - if there isn’t a severe mismatch between amps and speakers, there are bass quality differences between different amps, but any reasonable amp won’t make the bass disappear. They all have an essentially linear response close to 20 Hz.

However, what you described confuses me. You wrote that the Atom has a “lack” of bass, while the Vincent has “way better” bass. Those are different categories, one is about quantity and the other about quality, so it’s hard to imagine from afar what it is that you are hearing. If you have the subwoofer in the mix, maybe there are phase differences depending on its settings and its interaction with the different amps.

As was previously suggested, I agree with going back to basics. Your setup with the sub and so on is complex and makes it harder to figure out. With competent speakers and amps it IS possible to achieve ok bass. Once the basics work, improving it with a sub will be much easier

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You need to adjust your tweeter level. Please trust me and do this. Troels will recommend 3 choices. Increase the resistance to the highest option and then reassess. My last two pair of speakers have needed to be used with the highest resistance option (lowest tweeter output). If this doesn’t work then I worry you have made a mistake somewhere. Troels’s speakers should disappear and image very well with a lovely natural and balanced sound. Once setup right.

The one thing that worries me, especially since you have imaging issues is the edge/Lip that you have on your speaker around the cabinet. Troels’s front baffle is flat. The diffraction will mess with the sound. How much, I don’t know but when you deviate from the plan you are taking risks. The bass issue I believe will be resolved by the tweeter adjustment by bringing everything into balance but the imaging issues could be related to your cabinet edge.

hello everyone!!
I think I found the reason why I dont get a soundstage

again small update for you from my side:

I was busy the whole afternoon changing the resistor R1 alternative and checking the crossovers again. Let me tell you @Mark84 what a difference it made to the bass!! I mean… how is this possible? The bass is way better now!!! so much more enjoyable! and also the tweeter merge way better with the rest of the speakers (it’s not night and day but
noticeably better).
A step closer to the finish line for sure :slight_smile:

But… (why does there always have to be a “but” I’m sure thats because this is my first DIY project)… :triumph:

I do have a problem with one speaker…
My brother noticed it… we where listening to different songs after changing the R1 alternativ.

He told me to set the balance to +10 and than to -10
And than I understood what he meant…
One speaker is louder, more “open”, more “dynamic” (I’m really bad in sound describing… lets just say… one speaker was very good !) and the other speaker is very “in the background” not dynamic… You can clearly hear the difference if you change the balance from one side to the other.
BTW I tried a mono song from Beatles… so both speakers should sound the same.

I checked almost everything…

  • Changed speaker cables
  • played with positioning
  • change left speaker to the right side
  • change the cables at the amp from left to right
  • played with speaker heights

In the end i checked the crossover boards again… they look the same on both speakers… since this is my first diy speaker, the crossovers do not look like it was made by a big brand or something :confused: but they should work I think…

It’s so frustrating right now … I know this is off topic, and sorry for that, but is there a way to find out where the problem is coming from? can I measure the speakers somehow?

many thanks for your help guys!
Really appreciate this community here! :wink:

A bit of a faff, but what happens if you move the left speaker to the right and vice versa?

I am glad the resistor change has made a difference.

The treble level of the tweeter is what really dictates your listening comfort level. By reducing it, you will raise the volume on the amp and in turn will raise the level of the bass and mids bringing things into balance. You need to try the different options until the tweeter disappears and you no longer hear treble. Just nice smooth music. Or whatever pleases you.

As for the speaker, I’m not sure what your options are. You can go over it again and try to find your mistake or maybe send a detailed picture of the crossover to Troels.

My guess is that you have missed a link or something simple. If possible, change the crossovers over and see if the issue persists in the same speaker or switches to the other narrowing it down to the crossover or a driver.

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Tried that aswell. I can tell exactly which speaker is the „good“ and which is the „bad“ sounding

Oh, yes, saw that now. As Mark said, you could try switching the crossovers - even more faff, but what can you do