Speaker audition today for Supernait 2

And they are almost exactly the same size as my current Classic 10s but apparently 5 generations newer - they also have a long throw 8" bass driver tucked away in each of those little cabinets. They do look nice in red but I suspect it may clash with the countryside cottage vibe we have going on here!

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I recently demoā€™d speakers up to Ā£30k RRP with intent to buy, however a couple of months later I still have A7s in my living room and I am still loving what they do having invested in source/amplification instead.

I think that speaks volumes in terms of what great all rounders they are.

Fascinated to find out whether you find anything to beat them.

For what itā€™s worth I demoā€™d forum favourites the Kudos 606 and 808s and was left quite unimpressed!

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@WhiskyGuy Wow! On the end of your serious amplification and you still canā€™t better the A7s! That is certainly interesting feedback. Iā€™ve heard the A7s twice now, in different rooms but with the same SN3 and NDX2 combo and they just make me smile!

When I was up at the hifi lounge earlier this week I was lovingly eyeing up McIntosh gear - I just love the blue VU meters! For now, my rather more modest Supernait2 will have to suffice!

Itā€™s been a bit of a HiFi rollercoaster this past year for me starting with Arcam, moving to the hugely impressive SN3/NDX2 combo and ending up with Linn/Naim sources and McIntosh amplification!

Itā€™s been worth every hour and every penny invested. Complete escapism during the pandemic which has reignited my love of music. Itā€™s funny you mention the meters of the McIntosh units as I have them turned off. Personally not a fan of the look generally, but I decided at the start that sound trumps looks and kept to it.

In my opinion you are approaching this the right way. Nothing beats demos at home in your room and with your gear. Itā€™s your ears and your taste so forgot whatā€™s cool, or on brand and go with what you think sounds best.

Iā€™m playing around with various cables right now and although the tweaks are fairly small itā€™s amazing how often the ugliest/cheapest options perform in very impressive ways. Iā€™ve got Linn speaker cables, Chord signature interconnects and blue jeans balanced XLRs as my favoured combo right nowā€¦ a real mix and match situation and much better than Chord Signature throughout - just goes to show how much nonsense and snake oil there is in this hobby :slight_smile:

We have gone through similar journeys! I went from Arcam to Naim and have only recently ordered a NDX2 to replace my Nd5sx and added a HiCap (which I must admit was quite impressive on the SN2!). Not really up for loads of boxes which puts me off going down the pre/power/power supply route but when that NDX2 finally turns up, I may have to take a look at McIntosh/Accuphase/other integrated.

Cables are a funny business and I have to admit, one I spent far too much time dabbling with a few years back! I am pretty happy with my Chord interconnects and speaker cables but recently ordered a Morgana interconnect so lets see how that fairs. All the best, Paul!

ā€¦just a mention that I ran my SN 2 with the ProAc D30RS and I give them a hi-recommendation. I do hope you get a chance to give them a listenā€¦

Good luck with your decision

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There are also the new NEAT ORKESTRA now.They look promising.

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As an owner of Spendor D7.2, it is worth pointing out that these speakers are infamous for needing a huge amount of run in time. If the speakers are fairly new and/or have had not had at least a couple of hundred hours of run in on them you wonā€™t be hearing what they can really do. I auditioned a pair of well used D7.2 against things like the A7 and various PMC models and I felt the D7.2 were head and shoulders above them. They are capable of incredibly low bass for their size and the midrange and treble is very forward when new but calms down into a thing of beauty once they settle in. Those were my opinions anyway but we are all different. I run mine with a SN3 and Hi Cap.

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Thanks, me too but dealer availability (at least nearby) is a limited at the moment but fingers crossed!

Good call, slightly larger width wise than ideal but I must try them! Thanks!

Thanks, to be honest, I didnā€™t ask the dealer if they were properly run in, rather, I assumed they were but either way, they didnā€™t do it for me. One manā€™s forward/bright is another manā€™s accurate and detailed etcā€¦

Quick update on this thread following another enjoyable and quite surprising speaker demo session last week. Sadly, I am having trouble arranging Neat, Totem and Proac demos so they will have to be taken off the list for now unfortunately.

The demos were powered by a bare Supernait 3 with a NDX2 and the dealerā€™s cabling etc.

We started off the session with my current favourites, the Spendor A7. I was immediately struck with the impressive scale, detail and depth of the soundstage. Thoroughly enjoyable and threw my normal audition tracks at them as well as a few more. They did however, sound a bit wayward with a really bass heavy track, but overall, superb speakers for my system.

We then moved up to the Spendor D7.2 which I have already heard and didnā€™t like (I found them analytical and a little boring in comparison to the A7s), but this time, I absolutely loved them! All the traits from the A7s I enjoyed with deeper and seemingly more controlled low end, beautifully detailed and rich midrange (vocals and drums in particularly sounding super realistic) with a bigger soundstage. I think the dedicated bass driver really helps the midrange clarity; on some acoustic tracks, the guitars sounded like they were in the room for example. In fact, the detail was quite remarkable, the system providing deep insights into tracks I know very well, unearthing nuances I havenā€™t heard before, whilst never becoming analytical - in short, a worthwhile step up from the A7s.

Finally, we set up a pair of lovely looking Kudos Super 20s. Nice sounding speakers but a little polite sounding compared to the D7.2s and lacked some of the scale and detail I enjoyed from the Spendors.

So home came the demo pair of Spendor D7.2s, on loan for a couple of weeks to see how they get on at chez Brown. So far, they are settling in beautifully!

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I picked up a second hand pair of PMC OB1iā€™s to go with my new (to me) SN2 and they work really well for me in my room.

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Speakers are a bit like Dentists, everybody has a good one! Incidentally I run a NDX2 & SN3 with A7ā€™s so interesting to see how you get on with the D7.2ā€™s. I would have thought theyā€™d benefit from something slightly further up the food chain then a SN3, itā€™s easy to over step with speakers to find after a few weeks or months you feel the need to upgrade your source and amp. I made that mistake with a Nova and the A7ā€™s - it just dident work so in came NDX2 & SN3 which I think is the minimum for the Spendors. I always think your amp should have absolute authority over your speakers and be whipping them in to submission otherwise youā€™ll be left wanting after a while.

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Thanks - my modest SN2 plus hicap seems to be doing a pretty good job running the D7.2s here at home after the 2nd demo of both them and the A7s. After the first audition, I thought the same as you but since hearing the D7.2s again, they are the more enjoyable of the 2 Spendors to my ears. Hopefully, when funds allow, a nac282 and a nap250 will pull even more out of them, but for now, I do not see any need to update the amplification.

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Sadly not yet as my poorly streamer wasnā€™t back from repair so I postponed the home demo. Still very much on the radar though!

Great writeup @Paul_Brown, for sure! I must admit when reading your initial assessment of the Spendor D7.2, I was completely dumbfounded as to how you came to your conclusion; it dawned on me that room interaction/demo space must have everything to do with this conclusion, as I believe it is the single most overlooked aspect to speakers. Then I read further down in the thread and your turnabout sounded much more like what I would have expected and have personally found with the original D7. I have them paired with a SN2/HCDR. They are among the ā€˜fastestā€™, most engaging speakers Iā€™ve had the pleasure of owning. Well-balanced up-and-down; retain the magical midrange I loved so much about the Harbeths Iā€™ve owned without giving anything up; bass, thanks to its clever port design, that just digs and digsā€¦tight, textured and punchy as all get out with ZERO bloat; sparkling, very transparent highs that donā€™t shout at you. Oh, and theyā€™re easy to place in just about any room.

I admit they seemed a bit schizophrenic at first, and took some taming to rid themselves of a certain forwardness in the upper registers, but now theyā€™re just so balanced. I admire nearly everything about the Spendors. I sound like a shill, but they really are special speakers, and pair really well with Naim.

I do hope you get to audition the ProAcs. I was close to pulling the trigger on the ā€˜Rā€™ version but ultimately went with the Spendors. ProAcs are special speakers as well. Iā€™ve loved every pair I owned in the past.

Anyway, good luck! I hope you find your endgame or near as much speakers. Theyā€™re so important to clicking with the sound you like, IMO.

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I use PMC Fact 8ā€™s very successfully with Naim amplification and Iā€™ve previously owned and love ProAc Responses. If you like those two speakers and the feeling of really being there with the musicians, Iā€™d also recommend ATCā€™s. All 3 of these manufacturers make speakers for both HiFi and studio control rooms and I like the window that they give into the music. I also like the transmission line bass loading of the PMCā€™s which is why I use them.

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tried PMC, Spendor for mine and neither held a candle the Totem Forest

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Thanks Graeme,

Really like ATC but sadly SCM40 floorstander are too big for my room and didnā€™t really get on with PMCs when I tried a load out. The Fact speakers great as they may be are well over my Ā£5k ish budget.