Piece by piece I have converted my old mixed system to Naim. The last issue are the speakers and I would appreciate any advice from you experts.
I have an NDX 2/XPS DR, Supernait 3/HiCap and my 8 year old MBL 126 omnidirectional speakers supported by a small Focal sub. The rooms is quite large and the distribution of the MBL’s is wonderful. However, they are quite small and hard to drive and don’t really sound relaxed enough.
Any ideas which speakers would fit the electronics and the room?
Hi @YetiStockholm, I have a very similar setup to yours, mine is in a smaller space looking at your photos. I continue to use my floor standing PMC speakers and have enjoyed those on multiple systems over the years. I have also tried out the Focal Kanta 1 and 2’s and liked what they were capable of.
I know there are quite a few forum members that have SN 2 or 3 and compliment their speakers with a separate Subwoofer which in your space could work out as a way of filling the space without the need to get enormous full range speakers.
I’m not sure what system you built with your MBL’s in mind but they will likely be better off being sold and replaced by something more suitable to the rest of your current system.
You may also want to look at ATC, Spendor, and Kudos for example. Appreciate it’s very challenging to home demo speakers at the best of times but if you are able to it’s always worth trying them in your own listening space first before committing to the change especially given the high cost involved to balance the system properly.
I’d expect the speaker placement in that open plan setting will be challenging and difficult to get a nice soundstage and stereo imaging, hence my suggestion to look at some bigger box options!
The SN3 can do a good job given the right speaker pairing to drive, I struggle to get mine much beyond about 10:00 - 10:30 on the volume pot in my room.
That’s a delightful space and lovely looking speakers. I have a similar room and the same system (expect SN2 not SN3) and I use Totem Forest Signatures, which match very well:
the Hicap is a bit too close to the Supernait, the first thing I would do is move them apart
lovely room and view, but maybe you need to think of some kind of hi-fi rack. Hope the various cables like Burndy and SNAIC between Hicap and SN are properly destressed and cable dressing is optimal. Are the power cables going into sockets directly or through some kind of mains extension, if so, hope it has no neon lights or surge protection.
These things do matter with Naim as the amps are revealing and will tell you if something is not right.
It’s rarely been the case in my experience that the speakers should be the first thing to be changed.
Can I suggest you take a look at ART. I run a pair of Emotion Monitors off of a SN2 with excellent results. They are a few fans of ART speakers on here.
There designs are often downward ported to which helps with the positioning. They can be hard to come by but second hand models can be found!
However, speaker placement and choice may be tricky. Is there any chance of moving the furniture? Or moving the position of the speakers? The right speaker (facing them) is firing over one of the sofas, which I suspect means a stand-mount on a reasonably high stand. The speakers are also a long way apart and asymmetrical, which could lead to a hole in the middle of your soundstage. I agree with others suggesting adding one or even two subwoofers, but it can be tricky getting them to integrate with the main speakers. However, this may be the only option if the speakers and furniture have to remain in the same position. ATCs were mentioned, but I’d try 19s rather than 11s if you can get them high enough.
If you could arrange things so the sound from the speakers is not interrupted, full range floor standers might work, but they would need to be efficient. If price were no object, I’d suggest some of the larger active ATCs, in white, and swapping the SN for a preamp. But that’s serious money. You could even drive them from a Linn DSM and use Linn’s space optimisation to correct for the room shape and materials.
Very nice setup and view! however I would like to put forward the Spendor D9.2s they are an incredible match with Naim I personally have the D7.2 but for a room that size you would need the larger size. Very good speakers for that room I feel. But speakers are a very personal thing so I think a lot of listening is required and if you can try home demos as your room would be hard as people have mentioned before to set up and get the best results.
I bought new loudspeakers not so long ago. I listened to several different brands and one loudspeaker that really stood out was the Focal Sopra 2. I warmly recommend that you listen to them at least.
Thank you for all you advice. It’s really helpful.
I will try to listen to the following speakers: Spendor D9.2, ProAC Response D48 and PMC Fact8. They seem to be in a similar category. Is there anyone who have listened and could share their differencies?
There is a possibility to buy two other great demo speakers at discounts: B&W 804 D3 and Dynaudio Confidence 30. An ideas about them – and is it meaningful to run such large speakers from my Supernait 3 or are they “too good”?
Your choice of speakers depends also a bit on your budget and what speakers that you can borrow from your local dealer to try in your system.
I have Kudos speakers myself and find them very good! I listened to quite a few different makes and models before I choose my Kudos. In the end it was a very easy decision since they sounded the best of all speakers that I compared.
The Swedish Naim distributor also carries Neat speakers and finds them a good match. I have been at several Naim-demos with Neat-speakers and have to agree. A few months ago I actually listened to a system like yours with Neat speakers and it sounded really good. I think it was the NEAT Ekstra or maybe the NEAT Acoustics Momentum SX5i. That could be an option for you to explore…
There are off course a lot of other brands to choose from as well. I would recommend you to listen to several different alternatives and to try the top contenders in your own system before deciding…
Have a listen to the PMC twenty5 range, anything from the 22 and up. I have a pair of the 22s with a Nait XS2 and that’s a fantastic combination that would work well with a Supernait
