Hello
Looking for a recommendation (ideally from experience) for smallish bookshelf loudspeakers that can work fairly comfortably near a front wall.
The rest of the system will be a digital front end and serviced Nac 42.5 / Nap 110. Room is about 3.5 x 5m.
Looking for speakers that have some warmth to them but can also boogie and are not boring !
Many thanks
TP
The classic combo here would be a pair of restored Kans, but with a digital front end, the Proac Tablette 10 should do nicely. Theyāll work well with your amps and source and are happy sitting close to the wall.
Another vote for Tab10ās. A quality item.
Iām tempted to suggest N-Sats, being the only ābookshelfā speaker Naim made, and they work pretty well close to the wall. They do like a bit of power though, as do nearly all small sealed box speakers, and I admit I havenāt heard them with a 110.
Having owned Kans, nSats and ProAc Tablette 10 Signature, my choice would be the ProAcs. Kans are great but do need as really good source, while nSats can sound congested without an nSub. The Tablette is a fine all rounder with a warmth the others lack.
Kans were Linnās take on the classic BBC outside broadcast monitor, the LS3/5A - same cabinet, different drivers.
I prefer the rather more neutral-sounding original to the Kans, which you can find on eBay from Rogers and others. Or buy a modern one (with improved cross-over) from Falcon Acoustics.
They need to sit on decent stands, rather than being dumped on a spare bookshelf or whatever, so factor that additional cost into your budget.
Thanks for all the replies.
Iām looking at some of ex-dem Russell K Red 50 speakers in a Matt black finish.
According to the dealer they should be a nice match !
Well the Russell Red 50ās have arrived and they seem a perfect match to the 42/110 combo !
Canāt believe how good these amps are - way more musical than my Nait 1 tbh (that could be heresy I knowā¦ā¦:))
Couldnāt be happier.
Happy listening
I ran a 42/110 combination with MkI Kans on MkII stands for many years. I really enjoyed the combination but as one poster has already observed, it needs a top quality source.
Nothing surprising about that. I put the Nait 2 as about the same as the fc/92/90. The 62/140 is way above that even without a hicap.
Sounds superb via AudirvÄna / Quboz and locally ripped lossless files !
Russel K50 are indeed a very good loudspeaker.
Should never have sold mine but you now, sometime the box swap went fast.
Same with Leema Xero, another really lovely mini monitor, often seen at bargain prices.
Above two speaker pair performed better in my room than Tablette X, but needed a bit more distance out in room.
Another point is, all Proacs is biwire, which I find completely nonsens degrading link, as thereās zero reason to put such plugs on speakers apart from marketing.
Iāve got them about 9 inches from the front wall and they simply sing, very effortless
I listened to some Tablette 10ās very briefly and thought they were a little bright / light sounding though they timed well.
LS50 Metaā¦worth a listen. Q Acoustics 3020i may work wellā¦PMC have a new slightly cheaper range that could be worth checking outā¦ let us know how you get onā¦
Iāve got the Russel K Red 50 home now and they are keepers. They musically gel with the 42.5/110ās beautifully. Very happy
Totem Mites work really well with this combination.
This seems to be a misconception that some people have. Two more different sounding speakers you could hardly imagine. The LS3/5a is all about midband tonal neutrality and imaging and is next to useless at conveying speed, dynamics and timing. It was not designed as a domestic hi-fi loudspeaker and IMO is totally unsuited to the task. Unless you only care about the midband in music and nothing else that is.
The Kan was all about speed, dynamics and timing. It was anything but neutral and uncoloured. In the wrong system, and that is anything but a system consisting of an LP12 and Naim amplification, it can sound anything between very average and bloody awful.
In the right system, set up correctly on the right stands and in the right room it is incredibly musical and addictive - like almost nothing else.
The only thing LS3/5aās and Kans have in common is the cabinet dimensions. Only purchase LS3/5aās if you intend to use them for listening to speech recordings. That is what they were designed for and thatās all they are good at.
Couldnāt disagree with you more about āmodernā LS3/5As.
But at least weāre agreed about Linn stealing the cabinet dimensions.
I had a pair of Kans long ago, which my son has āborrowedā long-term, and I have a new pair of Falcon LS3/5As on the end of a new Nait 50 (previously late model NAIT 2).
Not sure that modern LS3/5aās should sound significantly different to how they did in the '70ās. They are all built under BBC licence to exactly the same spec. If they do sound significantly different then something is not right. Of course there are modern derivatives like Harbeth P3ESR and Spendor Classic 4/5ās which are based on the LS3/5a and they do sound different.
If you like the LS3/5a thatās fair enough - I know some people wouldnāt listen to anything else. Iāve heard them a number of times and Iāve owned the Spendor Classic 4/5ās. Iām afraid I canāt say anything good about them. To my ears they simply suck all the life from the music.
I owned Kans for a number of years and ended up with a sort of love/hate relationship with them. They are incredibly addictive but terribly coloured and very unforgiving of poorly recorded material. Half my record collection was rendered unlistenable by them.
But they are probably the most musically addictive speakers Iāve ever heard.
Weāre forming an orderly queue 