New speakers for a large room

Yes, yes don’t we know.

Having heard the Ovators on a number of occasions, I think disappointment cannot be ruled out that easily! More of a Marmite speaker than many others, I feel.

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Thanks all! Lots of love for ATC and active operation. I’ll definitely need to listen to that.

Thanks @PeakMan. Yes I hadn’t really considered that a smaller speaker and a better preamp might be a better answer overall. Another option to explore.

Of course, any recommendation could be a disappointment or may not be a disappointment, more or less, who cares?

Marmite speakers, perhaps, but very much worth a try as opposed to the usual suspects that get mentioned…in my opinion.

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It just seemed a bit odd saying confidently that someone would not be disappointed with a specific speaker, rather than just suggesting it as one to try.

:roll_eyes:I did suggest to try it??? Excuse my artistic license IB.

Thanks @JOF I used to own some SBLs back in the 1990s but in the end Naim speakers weren’t for me after that. I didn’t get on with NBLs or SL2s but I’ve never actually heard Ovators, so who knows?

Everyone’s suggestions have been really helpful. I think the favourite approach at the moment will be to swap my SN3 for a NAC202 (I already have a HiCap DR) and to see whether the ATC SCM40As do the job in the room. It saves a lot of money over the SCM50As and my thinking is that the NAC202 is at a similar level (probably a bit better?) than my SN3 preamp which I have been enjoying so much.
That reduces the cost by half from the SCM50As and NAC282 and hopefully keeps the character of the sound I’ve been enjoying up to now.
First time I’ve come on here and actually saved money! Let’s see if that’s how it pans out.

Thanks for the help so far. In case it’s of interest I have a shortlist of the following speakers with my Supernait 3:

  • Dynaudio Contour 30i
  • Harbeth Super HL5 plus XD
  • Bauer Audio LS3g

In addition I’ll listen to the ATC SCM40asl actives with a NAC282.

I’m reliably informed all these will work in my big space, but in very different ways, so I’m really looking forward to hearing them at the dealers and I’ll take the winning combo home for a final test.
I think in the end I may upgrade my Supernait 3 to NAC282 NAP250DR (I already have a HiCap DR) but don’t want to do speakers and amps in one jump, so the passive speakers need to be able to make a decent fist of it with my SN3 for the time being.
Interestingly my dealer said that a 202 wouldn’t be a great preamp for me, I like my SN3 and thought the 202 would improve on it at least slightly, but he said I’d be wanting to upgrade quickly, hence the 282 above. Anyway, let’s hear them.
The Bauer Audios are new in the U.K. apparently, from the chap that made the rather sexy looking DPS turntables. I’ve been looking at German reviews that look good, but I did find one comment that said that impedance drops to 3 Ohms between around 80 and 100Hz, added to a a large phase shift as well, this effectively makes the impedance around 1 Ohm at those frequencies. I am not a great student of Ohms law and I don’t listen at loud levels, but that still sounded a little ominous for my SN3? Would anyone with some technical knowledge care to comment? I’ll talk to my dealer obviously, but nice to hear any thoughts.
I heard Dynaudio Contour 30i last weekend they were great. Seemed relaxed and musical rather like my DeVores, so a great start.
I was excited to hear the JBL L100 Classic, they looked great and certainly have much more low end than my DeVores, but whilst they were a lot of fun to listen to, in the end they lacked sophistication and voices in particular sounded rather weak to my ears.
I’ll report back after auditions if anyone’s interested?

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With your budget and if you can find a dealer you should try to listen to Audiovector r3!
Claus

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Audio vector floorstanders are running really well here at the end of a sn2 and in this particular room far better than the previous ovator s400. Not easy to find a dealer but we’ll worth the effort

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Big, room filling sound, musical, fun, easy to drive, and on budget - JBL4367. Much more sophisticated than the 100s.

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Bit late to the discussion but I used to have a livingroom of similar size. About 60m2 with ceilings of about 3m high. I was really pleased with the room filling capabilities of my Shahinian Obelisks. And even more with the ability to place them centrally in the room and have fantastic sound around them.

Don’t know how they work with a SN3. I have 252 with 300 and it works really well.

Another benefit: they are on wheels which makes them easy to position for serious listening sessions or for tidying up the room :wink:

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Thanks for all the replies. I will definitely try to get a listen to the Audiovector R3s. They look a little like the Dynaudio Contour speakers @Claus, would you say they sound similar? I really like the Contour 20i.
Shahinians are a speaker I loved from the past, not sure where to go for a listen these days in London. Thanks @tom-in-amsterdam.
Thanks @Elfer too. I was so wanting to like the JBL L100s. Reviews have been amazingly enthusiastic and whilst they had their moments for me, they just proved that there’s no substitute for listening yourself. The reviews certainly raised my performance expectations way too high. Those 4367 JBL monitors are obviously in another league price wise, so I’d hope they improve on every aspect of the L100s performance. I’ll need to find someone with a pair to hear.
Unfortunately the demo I had booked for later this week is likely to be cancelled now that London has been locked down, so my speaker search looks like it’ll go on into 2021.

I have similar sized room
I have Kudos Titan T 88s- the predecessor to the Titan 808s.
I bought mine second hand for approx $9500 US.
My system is ndx2/xpsdr/52/135s.
These speakers fill my very large room with wonderful sound.
For near field I sit about 8-9 ft from the Titans. But I can sit at the other end of the room and still enjoy the music and can feel the bass.
Second hand they are a great deal. Might be tricky to find if u are not in England I suppose.
David

The kudos titans in situ…

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For the titans might need to upgrade supernait…with money saved you could maybe go 282/hicap/250dr and use the funds from selling the supernait to help with purchase.
The Kudos Titans are really powerful and my 135s helps them easily fill this large room.
That’s all for now
I’m enjoying Radio Paradise Mellow Mix
David

Thanks @davidf. You have a great space for listening. Unfortunately with my layout speakers will need to be a little closer to the wall, but I understand that Titans are quite forgiving in that regard.
My dealer has Kudos too, so I am sure he will add them to the listening agenda if it looks like my listening tastes are heading that way, but I agree, I’d need to think about better amps. In that respect ATC actives offer great value for money with amplification built in. Of course Kudos can go active too, but it’s not exactly a minimalist option with Naim.
Anyway when I eventually get a dem (damn the lockdown) I’ll report back. I think it will be interesting to see whether the amp upgrades or speaker upgrades make a bigger difference.

I got a great dem today. I heard three great speakers with a Supernait 3 and a 282/250/Hi Cap, they were:

  1. Harbeth Super HL5 Plus XD: the were beautiful with voices and instrumental tone, and worked well on a variety of musical styles. They reminded me of a beautiful painting in a gallery, in they presented a great aural picture, but I was always aware of it being a picture, something separate from me and in which I wasn’t involved. Having said that they painted a picture that I thought I could sit in front of for hours and hours.
  2. Bauer Audio LS3g: a lovely looking slim floor-standing speaker with treble and midrange on the front baffle and bass drivers on the sides of the cabinet. New to me, and I really wanted to like them. They finished bottom of the day for me, but they were still great. Very clear sounding through the whole frequency range especially the bass which was very deep and articulate. Voices didn’t sound as good as the Harbeths to me, so because of that I didn’t listen too much more. If I had to choose between their better bass and the Harbeths’ tonality, it would be the Harbeths every time.
  3. ATC SCM40A: was it the trick of saving the best until last? Maybe, but the ATCs had bass control aplenty as well as beautifully presented voices and instrumental tone. The dealer said I was hearing the benefits of no crossover, I just thought they sounded great.

I listened to both of the passive speakers with a SN3/HiCap and then a 282/HiCap/250. The SN drove all the speakers to levels that were satisfactory for me and sounded great, but unsurprisingly the pre power combination added both extra delicacy and detail as well as greater weight to the sound. Having said that, neither combination came close to the active ATCs with the 282 directing things.

So in the end I ordered the ATCs and will trade in my SN3 for a 282. I have a bit of a wait until delivery but I’ll be dreaming of room filling sound tonight. Thanks to everyone for their assistance. In the end I didn’t need speakers as massive as I initially thought. Of course I am sure that larger ATCs would do an even better job, but that’s for another thread another time.

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