Probably I’m just easily satisfied. There are more important things to worry about. The lip sync isn’t always right, but hey ho.
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Don’t know what cables you are using but I had the same problem when playing Blu rays when I was using some cheap optical and HDMI cables from Amazon. I hate to mention Chord as I’m starting to look like an ambassador for the brand with my liking of the new mains blocks but when I swapped to a Chord optical and HDMI cable the problem was cured completely. Just the C series cables - nothing fancy.
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Hi chaps - hope you don’t mind me asking - at the mo I’ve got a largish pair of monitor audio gold 200’s and was thinking about dropping down in size - I don’t know why but I’ve always liked the small speaker close to a wall kind of thing.
Perhaps goes back to my very first demo at Sound Advice in Loughborough - wanted a Rega tt - so they rigged it up with a Nait and Kans - Should’ve gone back there - but it was a long way back to north side of Nottingham on the bus!
Anyway my question is can you give any inkling as to the differences between the 10’s and the signature 10’s? I know it’s not an easy question to properly answer but they look to be the sort of thing I could go for if I were to “downsize” so to speak/
Many thanks….
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I believe the major differences are the updated crossover and the irresistible magnetism of that copper phase plug (updated magnet system)
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Having owned both: The Signature conveys a more confident, hefty, ‘free of the box’ sound. This at both low and high volume.
I think the drivers are a tad better integrated too.
That, plus you would always hanker after the Signature if you buy the straight 10.
G
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Yes I’d been thinking exactly that - after being interested in this hobby for so long I’d concluded best to take one big step instead of two small ones to end up at the same point - and it actually works out cheaper.
But I must admit since I’ve come over to the Dark Side - it’s been a bit of a sideways move in financial terms - each item of Naim equipment bought has been of a similar value to what it has replaced - BUT the performance is so much better.
And likewise the monitor audio’s I’ve got are more expensive than the ProAc’s or whatever I choose to replace them with!
One other speaker I had been thinking about was the Falcon LS3/5A - I have actually had a pair at home for a dem and loved them but that was with the Musical Fidelity stuff I used to have - has anyone got or heard these on the end of Naim gear?
Nothing to do with your question Simon (which I’m afraid I can’t help with) but I remember Sound Advice well. They had a branch in Moseley in Birmingham and they were my local dealer - I knew them quite well. Andy who I think managed the shop was a real character. I have fond memories of travelling to the Loughborough branch with my girlfriend (now my wife of 30 years) in her car on a very snowy day to audition a CD player that she wanted. We got lost on the way back and I remember it being a bit of as nightmare negotiating the roads in the snow back to her home in Leamington Spa. Happy days!
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Yes brilliant shop - I was very young and naïve in those days - a friend who was also into his music had bought the Dual/NAD combo - not sure what speakers he had - so I had to have a different front end - so only one choice really - the Rega! Couldn’t drive in those days so lugging this turntable on the bus back to Nottingham and then across the City and onto the bus home was a real pain - but I’d got the better start! Added a Rotel RA820BX2 and Celestion DL4 speakers and I was away…
Oh and I was introduced to The Blue Nile - A Walk Across The Rooftops used as music as I hadn’t taken anything with me - oh happy days…
Simon, I can’y help with the Tabletts but I’ve heard LS3/5a’s a number of times over the years (though not with Naim) and I’ve owned Spendor Classic 4/5’s which are a derivative - again not with Naim.
I’ve always thought, perhaps wrongly - and I’m open to correction here - that LS3/5a’s are a rather odd choice of speaker to put on the end of Naim electronics. I’ve always thought them to be more at home on the end of something from Quad. They seem to have a completely different set of design priorities to Naim, being all about tonal accuracy in the mid-range and imaging ability. Not a great synergistic match it seems. The Linn Kans, which look virtually identical, were a superb match for Naim and sounded about as different from LS3/5a’s as it’s possible to get.
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Hi Pete
Yes I fully get what you mean and the first time I heard the Falcons I thought what’s all the fuss about - they sounded really yuck - but after a little experimentation with different sources, amps and cables they sounded brilliant - I remember listening to Tool’s latest album and being drawn in without realising it and Naim gear does that it gets hold and you just go with it. Whether its sounding neutral, or any other hi-fi cliché you just go with the music so adding 2 + 2 I got 4 - Naim + Falcons - will it work?
Not compared the Tabs to the Falcons directly but ok - previously I had the Stirling V3 which I chose over the Falcon Silver and Harbeth P3 40th, and then directly comparing the Stirling to the Proac 10S ending up with the latter - no more demos or changes planned, I think I’ve found them.
Complicated to choose between all these, I can go into more detail but it’s a lot (or should I say most) down to personal preference. To my ears in order of preference, least to most preferred (with various amps including Nait 2, Supernait 3):
- Harbeth (sweetest, smooth, best voice, but always a feeling of some bloatedness, a bit unnatural)
- Falcon (open and fast but can be a bit too harsh and hysterical if pushed slightly more)
- Stirling (deepest bass, smooth and very open, rich but a bit slower in maintaining timing and rhythm)
- ProAc (just the blend for me personally, perhaps between Falcon and Stirling - dynamic, exceptional soundstage and realism, great overall balance, no boxiness, clarity with no apparent harshness, probably the easiest to drive but sound thinner/more forward than the Stirling
I think generally all have good synergy with Naim sound signature, some require more power/current than others. And, of course, let me emphasise that all above descriptions should be viewed as relative to the rest/best in this group, not absolute characteristics per se of the speaker. They are all very good speakers.
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Hi Simon,
Without doubt LS3/5a’s can sound truly superb. They aren’t really my cup of tea but I see why they are regarded as being so special. Likewise Naim as we know sounds special. I see where you are coming from but remember you’ve heard the Falcons in the context of a different system. They drew you into the music, which is what it’s all about. Likewise you find the same with Naim equipment.
Trouble is I’m not so sure that it follows that therefore the two will work well together. I mean yes of course they will work, but whether it will be a match made in heaven or not is a different matter. These days system synergy is rarely mentioned, but way back it was a prime consideration. The concept of matching components so that the whole will be more than the sum of the parts was almost a great art. This is what can make a system at a given price point really rise above anything else. Just throwing excellent components together and hoping for the best is really a recipe for disappointment.
My approach would be to get a demo of the Falcon’s driven by a Naim system and compare that to having them driven by say Quad or Musical Fidelity or some such. If you really love what the Falcons can do but they don’t really deliver with Naim then you’ve a difficult choice to make. Stick with Naim and buy different speakers or go with the Falcons and trade in your Naim gear.
@SimonDC
that’s the album I always take to any shop demo and the first album I put on at home because I’m so familiar with it. It still sounds great 37 years later.
This.
After many years on the old & current forum, this is exactly what always puzzles me the most (understatement). Just as huge systems and speakers crammed into small rooms etc. Indeed different strokes for different folks.
Sorry… burp relieved. I’ll shut up. 
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I feel old now - 37 years ago I was 21 - gosh that makes me ………old! Still I’ve got This on at the mo…
And that goes back almost 40 years!
Thanks also chaps for those words - one thing I do know Naim stuff going nowhere - only just “found it” - no I think I might try the Falcons and ProAc - especially like the ebony finish on the ProAc!
Anybody else with suggestions up to about £2k?
CELEF LS-8, a further advancement on the Sigs. Built in VERY LOW numbers, approx 30 pairs worldwide.
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That’s another not sure I’d heard of them but one to look into - thanks and welcome!
…… ah yes thought the name familiar - are they still being made?
Great photo GraemeH!
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@GraemeH - I know it sounds great, but still seems strange to power 2K worth of speaker with 80K worth of electronics.
There’s probably so much more potential in those electronics … but who knows maybe not.
At least that way, I don’t feel too bad powering my Totem Sig Ones from a lowly NDX/XPS/282/Hicap/250.
At least you don’t have the ND555 powered by two CD555s. 
If your story is anything like mine - the system you have now wasn’t the plan - but too much work to balance’ things out - and one can always change speakers. OTOH / you did upgrade from the NDX to the ND555 - so maybe per plan or just an offer too hard to refuse. 
And I’m one of those with huge speakers (Titan 606s) crammed in a tiny 3mx4m room with the 500 system - and my bookshelves and a desk , while the 282/250 system is in the living room - and none of this was the plan - but nothing is permanent so whatever… - the kids are growing up - and at some point even the little one will be fine having the bigger speaker out there - but no room for the 500 system there anymore …
No one needs a 500 system and a 282/250 system … but one thing led to another and I get a bunch of use out of it…
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