Hello everyone, I’m new to the forum and I’d like to introduce myself. My name is Marco and I bought a Naim Uniti Atom and some JBL L52s about 6 months ago. I put my old system aside and kept my Marantz PM8000 with Jamo C603 speakers and Thorens 104MK2 turntable as a second system. I’d like to move the JBL L52s to my second system because I really like how they sound in the nearfield and I’d like to buy some towers for the Naim Atom. I’m looking at the Fyne Audio F501s. Does anyone know how they sound with the Atom? Any advice or opinions on this? I’d listen to them from about 2-3 meters away in a medium-sized room (neither small nor large). Thanks
Hi Marco
Welcome to the Forum.
The available budget would help. Are you able to demo any suggestions/options? Even a demo in the dealer is better than nothing, although trying at home is always best.
You will find a large number of threads about choosing speakers for Atom if you use the Search function. It is a very common query! There’s experience of the Fyne 501s too, plus threads on nearfield listening that may be useful too.
With any speaker recommendations you will always have to bear in mind people can have very different personal tastes, and rooms vary a lot too.
Have fun.
Bruce
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Hi Bruce,
thanks a lot for your reply and for the welcome.
My budget is up to around €3,000. I’m definitely planning to demo some options — ideally at home, but also at a dealer if needed.
In terms of sound, I’m looking for something dynamic and engaging, with good bass extension and control.
Thanks again for the pointers, I’ll check the threads you mentioned.
Marco
Hi Marco
Until recently, I ran a pair of B&W 603 S2 with an Atom. I thought they sounded great. I sold them recently to someone who also had an Atom and they were really pleased with them.
You can pick these up used for much less than £1000. I would imagine their successor, 603 S3 would be just as good or better - these are around £1500 new.
Welcome to the forum !
Looking at your current speakers ( larger monitors), the size of your room and the ( decent but in the end limited)output of the Atom i would go for “ a tier higher” set of monitors instead.
Your current speakers are all around 1k a piece. Going with a 50% budget increase with current inflation will get you modest improvements. Although a dedicated standmount for the new monitor will set you back some €/$. Idem decent speaker cables.
I have the earlier type of Focal Aria 906. They match fine with Naim ( not specifically bought for the Naim, they where left overs from a previous system).
Did auction them ( The aria) with their price monitor counterparts from B&W, KEF, Monitor Audio, Dali and SF.
The Focals, at pricepoint, did sound the most Active. With no backport they are also a bit easier to place.
Then If you truly want a floorstander at this budget I doubt it will sound much better at this pricepoint compared to monitors plus the level of control an Atom will have on such towers.
Then I have heard positive reviews about the Fyne brand..
These sound great on my Nova, haven’t tried them on the Atom but I would think they should work.
Neat Iota Alpha.
No idea if you’d like this kind of sound, but I’ve listened to the Magnepan LRS+ with the Atom.
Even though the speaker might be lacking of a bit of bass, I think the combo is very well balanced and enjoyable. Lovely details in the highs. You could easily place the speakers close to the wall to enhance the bass response of course. And it’s pretty smart looking too.
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I would expect them to work well with an Atom, but sadly they’ve been discontinued. But I think Grahams have a new pair and there are used models for sale.
Roger
Nothing lasts forever I guess, I’ll be hanging on to mine.
I had a pair of big maggies driven by a pair of large musical fidelity class A power amps. The sound was amazing if a bit laid back. Lack of bass was not a problem.
Hi @Marco1977
I owned the Uniti Atom for many years. It is a wonderful little device with great sound qualities and is also a small, living room-friendly solution. And it is still Naim’s best device in terms of value for money. I used it with Vienna Acoustics Haydn speakers. At the time, I listened to them at the dealer with the Atom in comparison to Sonus Faber Sonneto II and B&W 706. The SF seemed too warm to me in comparison, and the B&W too much foreward. The Viennas were balanced and harmonious to my ears and suited the Atom. They are very well made, living room-friendly and fill even larger rooms with ease. I still use them with my Naim system today, even though they are not so common here in the forum.
Speaker manufacturers all have their own specific sound philosophy, and a lot depends on personal taste. It’s exciting to listen to different models at the dealer and try them out at home before making your final choice. The decisive factor is not only that they match the amplifier, but also how they interact with the respective listening room. The positioning of the speakers is just as important. It is definitely worth trying out different positions. For most speakers, it is advantageous if they can be placed at a distance from the side walls and the rear wall.
I positioned mine 160 cm from the rear wall and 90 cm from the side walls. Of course, this is not possible in all rooms. Nevertheless, the positioning ultimately determines the tonal balance (especially in the bass), the transparency and the spatial imaging. If this is right, you will be able to build a great system with the Atom. Enjoy!
I’m glad you had a good experience with the bass. Unluckily I had quite a short demo and couldn’t listen to tracks I knew well, so a proper evaluation wasn’t possibile. But I was impressed overall, it was really that enjoyable.
On the other hand I tested some big Magnepans (maybe the 3.7i) with the 222/250, I was very surprised by their bass too.
I used a pair of Dali Menuet SE’s with the Atom. Great for small rooms and are very impressive. I’d have to spend a lot more to get an improvement I imagine. I still use them with my ND5XS2 and NN50.