Hi, this one is a bit of a play system in the front room so has had a few iterations:
Nova + Special 40’s
Nova + 300DR + Special 40’s
Atom HE + 300DR + Special 40’s
Atom HE + Luxma M700u + Special 40’s
Using the Nova by itself I found the sound a bit “thin”, good but not great. Adding the 300DR made a huge difference with a whole load more presence to everything.
Switching out the Nova for the Atom HE made little change over the Nova, again a very acceptable sound but now with a better headphone amp and of course at a much lower system cost. The main sound complaint I would have is that both the Nova and Atom were a little shrill at times with the Special 40’s. I did wonder if replacing of the Chord Epic (silver) speaker cables might help but never got round to it as yet.
Staying with the Atom HE and fitting the Luxman the sound rounded off a bit, less grating at times. I still intend to try some good copper based cables to see if that further improves things.
Overall this is a very acceptable solution. I intend to move the Atom HE to the other side of the room by the sofa and use long balanced cables to the amp. I may also change speakers, the 40’s are really good at their price point but don’t necessarily suit the indie rock I usually play - they may actually be the limiting factor here.