Hi
Went to my dealer in Australia last week to demo the Nova , but came away much more impressed with the XS3 and ND5 XS2 combination.
Didn’t have time to get into the specifics of how the speaker cables connect to the XS3 , but now want to order some speaker cable from the Uk - I refuse to pay the somewhat exhorbitant prices for cable that are charged down under - thinking of either Chord Remedy X or Witch Hat N2.
Can I ask the forum - do I just need banana plugs on the amp end or should I be using the naim branded connector?
Hi
I used the lockdown to completely re-arrange my listening room which meant that my existing NAC A5 simply wouldn’t reach. I took a punt on the Witch Hat N2 and ordered 2 x 8m lengths which ticked the first box by being able to go round corners. Sound wise they are really excellent and are a great substitute for the NAC A5. More high end detail and mid bass not as bloated. I had bananas on the speaker end and Naim plugs on the amp end, but really you could go with bananas on both ends. A no brainer IMHO.
feel for you
did you get much discount on the retail price?
im looking for new speakers too - only tried the Spendor A7’s so far - but they performed admirably
PMC twenty5 series speakers (I have the 22s) work really well with Naim and with the new variants recently introduced there are probably some good bargains to be had on the non-i versions as dealers try to clear stock to make way for the new models.
If you can, it’s worth having the Naim plugs at the amplifier end. They make the ideal contact with the sockets. Do try NACA5 too, it’s a fine cable.
As to speakers, I’d suggest that the A7 or PMC twenty5.23 are too much for the Nait XS. You’d be better off with a Supernait and lesser speakers for the same budget.
My XS2 has no problem driving the twenty5.22 so given that the tweeters are the same as in the 23s and the bass/mid cone is bigger on the 22 than the 23 I imagine it would have no trouble with the 23 either.
im cooked - have now had a demo on the SN3 and NDX2 - its a delightful pairing - that I need to buy
tested with the Sonos Sonetto v speakers which are 25% off across australia at present
The Twenty5 series is, despite the lower sensitivity, noticeably easier to drive than the older Twenty series. That said, my UQ2 had no difficulty with my old Twenty.23s. Sure, they sounded miles better with the 250 but I never felt like the added power was the main aspect behind that so much as it was just a much better amp.
An XS3 with Twenty5.23s (which I also have) might be egging it a bit but from a driving perspective it would have no issue at all. You could go for a lower cost speaker like Twenty5.21 but as they have the same drivers and crossover, if you can afford the larger 23s, why not? Plus if your system evolves, those speakers will respond well to all sorts of other changes. I drive them with a 282/SCdr/250dr and don’t feel they are a bottleneck.