Nice recap Nigel……glad it has worked out. 
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It’s been a pleasure! Probably one of my favorites threads.
Really nice to hear how much enjoyment this thread has brought. In a small way a nice tribute to Stewart Tyler. It would be nice if his family could see it.
G
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Most important thread since the inception of the Naim Forum. 
Seriously, the Tab10’s in the right room, with the right electronics, produce the most musically satisfying experience. I get why folks love them. They get the most important part of music right and keep you involved. Sure, my K6 Sig’s are better, but my Tab10s remind me that less is more and I could easily live with them. Yes, they are that good.
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As everyone says give them time. Also placement will help experiment with it, don’t expect then to work in exactly the same places as your old ones. Play with toe in, ProAc recommend to toe them in quite a bit so you don’t see the inside panel. But you need to experiment with this to best suit your room. Also as close to the wall as you can get. They like stands with a lot of mass to help reinforce the bass. Even in my room these little things can kick out some bass at times it doesnt go as low as something bigger but what it gives is well rounded and way beyond something this small and closed should make.
I can’t say how much I have enjoyed my tabs they are just great. My room still has issues but they play along pretty well with it and better than anything else I have tried they also work extremely well though the range of Naims amps much more expensive than the speakers are themselves, so if that’s not a testament to their strengths and quality I don’t know what is.
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Thought I would provide an update after a month of ownership and having had the opportunity to try a handful of different amps with them. Still not close to a 100 hours of use but I am clearly noticing things have changed. Like many of you have mentioned, they are opening up, the initial brightness I was experiencing has given way to a more details, more balanced and very nice low end. I do like these small boxes very much.
As suggested, I have toed in the speakers quite a bit so that I cannot see the inside panel. Placed about 10" from the rear wall. I was also fortunate to get a pair of solid steel open frame stands like HH from someone who used them with Graham LS3/5.
As for synergy with electronics, I just received my new Hugo TT2, so I was itching to connect the Melco to it and try some amps. Was intrigued by tubes, so tried a Leben CS-300XS and it sounded too forward. Incredibly open and live sounding amp but did not work with my setup. Then tried a vintage Spectral pre-amp/power amp combo with MIT cabling. This 30 year kit belonged to friend. Liked it very much, better fit with my current gear. This past weekend, had a chance to bring home a Cyrus 8₂ DAC integrated amplifier. Was not expecting too much but it really threw me a curve ball yesterday. It bettered the Leben and the vintage Spectral setup. Could be a question of synergy but it just works. If anyone wants to know, I am/was using a True Signals Audio power cord on the amp but now connected to the Melco. It brings out more from the Melco. TSA Silver RCA interconnect from TT2 to amp, TSA Silver speaker cables. Ethernet to and from Melco switch are WireWorld Platinum and USB cable from Melco to TT2 is also WireWorld Platinum.
I still want to try the new Exposure 3510 as I have a fondness for Exposure. If it does sound right for me, I may take Steve’s advice and start with 2 XM mono blocks. However, the modest Cyrus 8₂ is making music.
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Anyone doubting the ability of a small speaker to play prodigious tuneful bass hasn’t heard these two tracks through the Tab 10 Sig.
Wow…and wow!
G
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No, I haven’t but I have heard those tracks through my Spendor 4/5s….
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Thanks for the suggestions. I’ll try them on the slightly larger D2R’s tonight.
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I think after nearly a year of ownership I have found my perfect positioning for my Tabs in my Room. Taken a lot of moving ,listening, leaving , moving listening leaving. I think now I am content and after a year they are firmly broken in. My room has some nasty modes and nulls and circumventing these as much as possible has not been easy. I either have too much lower bass, but missing a big chunk of mid bass. Would only be on some songs that I had not played on them for a while that I could notice something amiss. In other places they could be a tad too bright. But know I have the perfect spot until I have to move them come Christmas to make room for the tree. I’ll mark out the exact placement before moving though.
The actual perfect place for them I can’t actually use. I found it and wow but unfortunately do to window placements it’s not practical as Mrs Gipsy would constantly knock them opening the window. This was tempting fate too much. Funnily mthr position I have now found gives pretty much the same performance but has a wider soundstage which I much prefer. I ended up with them much closer to side walls than I imagined, about 43cm at the nearest, 31cm away from the front wall to the speaker itself and a little over 2m apart and toed in so I only just see the insides. Everything sounds so much better, not that they have ever been bad, I just new I could get them better. Bass is full but not bloated, better midbass it’s still got a null around 180-200 but it’s been reduced enough to bring back what was missing on the tracks that showed it up. Treble is nice and balanced and seems to roll off much nicer. Have plenty of room around them to open windows and they feel less intrusive from a looks perspective.
Now I can finally stop fiddling I have done the best I can as I have tried pretty much every placement I can and I can’t change the room layout or add any mods.
One thing though is that it still strikes me as to how such a small speaker can give so much, they do sound bigger than their stature, have just the best midrange I have heard and hold their own across all types of music. Perhaps not ever going to shake the walls but Massive Attacks Angel sounds pretty damned good and doesn’t feel too lacking in bass. It won’t please bassheads but then I am not one and would have kept my floorstanders if I was.
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Nice that you have managed to work it out! Mine are close back to the windows, at about 15cm from real wall, I am listening near field on a computer desk, so I did not have much choice, but to place the desk near the windows with me facing outside, otherwise I would have to be facing a wall. I have put acoustic panels (after consulting a dedicated company) on the walls in front and behind speakers, so more or less these are in a perfect position now. I had these panels installed for my previous speakers, which were rear ported (Dali Rubicons 2), but they were too big for this room, needed a lot of space around them, the port was firing at the back wall and windows, so the results were pretty disastrous.
These are now long gone and with the tablettes there are no such issues. I never had issues with them sounding bright either, maybe those panels are helping a bit, bass is phenomenal also, given their size, and yes I am a bass head, but never thought I needed more, probably in some very few cases on certain tracks which I am familiar with and I know bass should be extended more, but I am definitely not missing it. One very obvious, well known example is Depeche Mode’s Personal Jesus, there is a double kick drum and bass guitar playing simultaneously, this very part went very low on the Dali’s, and on the tablettes it is mostly flat. Maybe a sub would help in those cases, but I am happy with them as they are now. Very special speakers those tabs.
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I found this comment about length of time to get the best position for the Tablette 10. I have had mine for over 3 years and still feel that I have not got them positioned suitably for me. I listen in a room roughly 19ft by 9.5ft, across the narrow width. They have been anything from 1.5m to 1.9m apart, 15cm in from the rear wall, toed in and pretty much square but I still can’t seem to get it right. My seating position is roughly 7ft away.
In the end I think they are bass light, so again I will consider alternatives I think. They are a great speaker but after this time reluctantly not for me.
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If I could have dedicated more consistent time it would have been a day or so not a year. So is life.
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Plonk and play for me & perfect bass. It just goes to show what a finely tuned ‘instrument’ the room is.
G
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Oh and BTW those tracks from Miles Davis do sound outstanding in my modest system! Great bass!
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Tell me about it. Struggled with 4 sets of speakers so far, in the end have up with floor standers in favour of the Tabs and still have some but greatly reduced issues. I still bet bass reading at 30hz and below, which the Tabs I don’t believe can produce so has to be room resonance.
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This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.
One of the teeniest tiniest things about my beloved Tablette 10s that I’ve always felt slightly less than 100% positive about - in fact the only thing I’ve felt less than 100% positive about - is the ProAc labels attached to the bottom of their grilles. I’ve sometimes thought of asking ProAc to supply me with a label-less pair but never got round to it. It just seemed too petty.
So today I girded my loins, crossed my fingers and took the challenge full on….
PS, thanks to @Richard.Dane for reopening this fine thread.
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Such is the mystique surrounding the Tab 10S the post has magically reopened…
One week until they have a 300 to contend with here.
G
Edit - HH was typing synchronously with me so all is explained.
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