Hi. I’m new to this forum. I bought a Star 18 months ago. It works very well and sounds good, even through the old B&W 603 s2 floorstanders it’s hooked up to. However, I’m sure it would sound really great through better speakers. Any suggestions? Thanks
I guess it all depends on your price range, but I have it with the B&W 702s2.
The Revel F206 were also really good (close in sound to the B&W’s BTW)
Harbeth. I have the P3 on my Atom, they are superb.
Choose whatever size suits. You wont be disappointed.
I bought a Uniti Star a couple of weeks ago; I listened to some Focals and some KEF R5s - both floor standers, both the same price (~£2,000) and both about the same size. Whilst I marginally preferred the sound of the Focals, both me and my wife much preferred the look of the KEFs (in walnut), so liveability beat ultimate sound.
I had intended to buy some Monitor Audio Silver 300s initially (at half the price), but very glad I opted for (& could cope with) the additional cost of the R5s.
I use a Nova, and like a couple of others here use PMC Twenty5.23s on the end, a great combination which I’d be pretty sure will work well with a Star as well.
Someone mentioned the B&W 702s2 above, I’ve not heard them with a Uniti, but I did an extended listen to ND555 / 555PSDR / 252 /SupercapDR / 300DR driving them, and they were very good indeed, so they’ll work well in a wide range oef systems.
Perhaps worth mentioning are the Sonus Faber Sonetto V.
I’ve heard multiple times that they’re amazing with the Nova, but I auditioned them with the Star. And they were amazing, just not with all pieces of music. One of the best looking floorstanders you’ll find as well.
Low and mids, really good, but the issue was the top end, which was in some ways good, but . This was not an issue with classical pieces or Miles Davis (the trumpet is shrill to begin with, so can cope), but was with some female singers, making the music sound dull.
If you absolutely hate brightness, or listen to (instrumental) jazz and classical music mostly, definitely worth an audition.
Thanks for the reply. The 702s would be too big, but as I generally like the B&W ‘house’ sound, and I’ve read favourable reviews of them, I might audition the 706 s2 standmounts.
Thanks for that. Have auditioned many speakers, but never Harbeths, so will bear that in mind.
Thank you. I had some Kef standmounts many moons ago. V detailed and rhythmic. Interested to hear Kefs might be suitable for Star - I had got the impression not all Naim users think Kef matches Naim kit well. Focal floorstanders too big for me.
Thank you for replying. The PMC twenty five 23 is indeed impressive with Star and Nova. In fact, so are the 21, and especially imo 22 in the series. I am also looking at Neat SX2/ Iota Alpha, as I gather many Naim users think they work well with Naim. I once auditioned some Dali Rubicon 2 stand-mounts (£1600), but not with Naim kit. They were awesome, and might work well, as they’re very fast and dynamic with surprising bass, both in quantity and quality.
I use both PMC Twenty5 23’s and Neat SX1’s on two Nova’s both an excellent match, have also auditioned the other speakers you list, apart from the Dali Rubicon, all a good fit.
I auditioned Neat SX1s at the same time as the PMCs and thought they were also a great match, I preferred the PMCs, but would have been very happy with the Neats.
(I also tried Kudos X2, they didn’t work for me, I found the bass a bit flabby and unresponsive, this isn’t a view all people share, so maybe the pair I heard wasn’t run in. The treble and midrange were lovely.)
I run both the PMC’s and the Neats and would agree with that.
I have the Sonetto 2 bookshelf speakers with my Atom and I’m very happy with the combination.
I recently added a Rel subwoofer to the system for some additional bottom end, which I’m still trying to find the perfect spot for.
When I was out hunting for new speakers for my Atom, I tried the Sonetto 3 and 5 floorstanders but they didn’t sound good to me. I think the Atom lacks the power to drive them properly. I also listened to the Sonetto 5 with the Nova, OMG what a difference! Perfect match. If I had the funds to swap my system for a Nova and Sonetto 5, I’d do it in a heartbeat.
I also found the X2s flabby, but they were just out of the box. PMCs would probably be my choice, but 25.23s fairly expensive, though they often come up for sale ex-demo. Thanks.
Enjoy the music with your Star, the Unitis are great boxes.
There is a bit of a price difference, you get what you pay for ?, EX demo 25.23’s approx £2500, Neat SX1, £1500 and SX2 £1000. The last two can be picked up new for this price if you do a search on the net.
Thanks for the advice. I’ll try to get a listen to those.
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