I have a preference for the ‘full’ sound of the Spendors. Superb speakers but they do need a bit of room to breathe as it were. Happy with my D9,2’s on 252/scdr and 300dr in an open plan room with a large space and higher than average ceiling.
I also run my A5’s in a smaller study room and they wouldn’t sound so good turned up too loud in that smaller room. Of course they sound sublime at study listening levels.
Yesterday I listened to the Proms from the RAH.
I have a Nova and Harbeth P3ESR, they sounded very good for large parts of the day. Then it got to the organ from the RAH
I was hoping bass like this Ducati at full throttle
Instead it sounded like this Ducati
My search for replacements started today with an email to Audio T .
Short list Spendor A4, Dynaudio Evoke 20 0r 30 - prefer something with a pro background and not too much of a footprint
Space is limited and two incisional hernias mean I don’t want anything too heavy .
At the moment , these are early days or I might go SN3 /ND5XS2 . All depends on trade ins
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I run Spendor A4’s with my Nova, good combination, nice speakers with small footprint.
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If you like most of what your Nova/Harbeth setup gives but find deep bass lacking, might a sub be the answer, especially if you don’t want anything too heavy? Of course, I doubt if any domestic system is going to get anywhere near replicating the RAH organ, which can really set your insides wobbling. But a well set up sub might get you somewhat nearer.
Roger
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Measure the distance between your speakers from the center point of each one. Then times that by 1.5. That should give you the minimum/optimum distance your ears should be in line with the tweeters. Toe in or out as appropriate to adjust. There are very few perfect room situations for most of us. Most important, try to avoid reflection of sound from side walls that are very close. Don’t box your speakers in to the corners of any room. That would screw the sound 
This thread:
Good afternoon everybody. It’s time to reflect on some very turbulent days with the Ovator S400s.
Last tuesday i’ve been at the dealers to pick up the pair to demo at home. With some tips with regards to initial placement and a kind guesture to gift me a set of quite nice disks for the spikes to rest in and decouple i went on my way. Taking the rest of the day to fiddle around with placement. On the way back i’ve listened to a somewhat scientifical podcast by A British Audiophile with regards to direct and indirect sound perception by reflective surfaces and all that.
The dealer suggested to start with 50cm from the baffle to the rear wall and move forwards from there. So out came the measuring tape and level and that’s where i started, speakers placed free from other boundaries and 2m apart. I got some nasty room interaction so i started to move to 58cm (as per A british Audiophile). Better, but not yet. Then, at 60cm everything just fell in place. Effortless, well defined, tight, hard hitting bass. No boom or muddyness what so ever. The midrange was also very VERY good. Dare i say magical to the point of emotional. The best i have ever experienced. By this time is was seated about 3,5m from the baffle and when leaning a little forward, staging was also very good, so i left well alone and started to enjoy my music for the rest of the day. Over a period of three days it was very good with everything i threw at it. From casual listening while working at home or having guests and drinks to focused listening. I was quite certain if this was the baseline, these would be keepers.
Then disaster struck. On thursday, after 14weeks i finally took delivery of a very large kitchen cabinet and TV cabinet where my beloved equipment would be placed in. Until then, i was temporarily using cheap racks for both HiFi and tablewear and all was well, but after that all life was sucked out of the system. The speakers (not moved) sounded very restrained, stage and midrange was hollow, nasal and very thin and i felt i had to turn the volume way op to get some decent output. Naturally i’ve checked all connections, phases, left-right connections and all seemed ok. Tried to move the speakers out to give more room between them and the furniture but that only made it worse. In contrast to just before it sounded broken to the point of doubt so i contacted the dealer and ask for their advice.
Their hunch feeling was that the cabinet were acting like a big bass trap and sucking all body out of the music and that i might need to reposition the speakers.
From then, what i’ve tried so far:
Moved the TV furniture out of the room and put the old HiFi rack back and installed everything the way it was. This helped bring the bass and detail back, but there is still some noticable midrange nastyness.
What do you think could be wrong?
What would you do if you were in my shoes?
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Personally I’d say you need some more soft furnishings. Maybe a rug, maybe some other furniture to the side that may scatter reflections. Yes the cabinet won’t help matters. I had this same issue and after building a small rack the bass was much more consistent.
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Can you put this cabinet on a side wall? Most find the best performance with nothing between the speakers–regardless of mfgr. Also is the TV “Exactly” in the same place, or just approximately. That would affect the mids and highs more than the bass but this might affect the life.
Non carpeted floors can be quite reflective, worth trying a rug for sure……
Loads of stuff on the forum about placement of speakers but defo worth experimenting.
Is the issue with both speakers? just check with the balance and listen to each speaker individually to see if they both sound the same. It is odd that with one simple change the sound collapsed when logic says it shouldn’t have.
Also is that a JL cabinet? Not sure how ideal that is but if you swapped it back and still had issues unlikely to be the culprit. Still it maybe worth trying some vibropads under your equipment (c£10 on Amazon).
It’s worth engaging your dealer if no luck as stuff can break, I speak with experience on that front!
Gary
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What would I do? I’d try some different speakers. The massive TV and the big black fronted speakers looks rather oppressive. Remember that the cabinet will compromise the performance of the electronics. Assuming it has to stay, I’d try the Naim on a proper stand off to the left, and keep the cabinet for the TV, though it does seem rather too tall for the size of TV.
Check your wiring, Both the connections and the way they lay over each other, adjacent to each other, and proximity to equipment. Swap your speakers left to right and see if any difference is noticed.
If still not sounding right, try positioning them on another wall and using a different mains socket temporarily. Is it still the same sound ‘defect’ then its not a positioning or extra furniture problem.
I would wall mount the TV and get rid of the cabinet if you want to restore that great sound you had before. Either go back to a dedicated HiFi rack (which should work better without the mass of the TV sitting on it) or try putting the cabinet on a side wall if you can.
I do think the cabinet looks good as it is now, although for me the mess of cables visible underneath dtreacts from that look. Still, the loss of sound quality it has caused seems like a step too far, but only you can decide what level of compromise is domestically acceptable.
Make sure the mains cables are as far as possible from the interconnect and loudspeaker cables. This helped me a lot with Ovators.
Is the order of the mains cables in the mains block the same, this could make a difference.
Are there other changes in your house? I can hair it when my wife uses the hairdyer.
You speakers actually look quite close together for your listening spot. Have you tried making an equilateral triangle with your listening position?
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I have S400’s and they sound great afaik. My immediate impression is they are too close to the back wall. Mine are about 4 feet in front of the wall. Also I recently relocated my electronics so they aren’t between the speakers. This had a significant increase in sq even though the rack is now directly behind the right speaker.
In your situation I’d definitely try positioning the speakers well in front of the cabinet. Start with two feet. Also like others said they should probably have more space between them. Mine are separated eight feet.
I have a question about the cabinet in the above @SmauGii post because it’s a good example of something I’m contemplating.
If it were moved to the side, would the resonance problem be somewhat or adequately abated if the center section of the cabinet housing the components were independent of the rest of it? For instance, if the shelves were cantilevered from the wall, like a stack of Rega platforms, with air space on all sides and the remaining side sections simply slid over them would the “box effect” still be in play?
A few thoughts from me
I agree your speakers look too close together for the room. At least aesthetically.
I’m sorry I have to say it. That cabinet looks bad…it’s overwhelming in a minimalist room. Get something streamlined. More similar to what you had. Wrap up the cables. It will look better and may sound better. Also agree a rug and curtains may help on multiple fronts
Mount tv on wall
Unfortunately sometimes people can’t just get rid of things. He probably has a partner that likes it. If you have to stick with that unit, try getting the speakers further away from it, and also moving them away from the wall. You can also try moving the whole setup to the left so that the right hand speaker is out of the corner. A big rug is essential.