Congrats , they are lovely speakers, mine are an earlier pair , they are sensitive to positioning.
From what I remember reading about the R4 is that they are less sensitive to positioning due to a change to the electronics.
What is the position of your R3? (which I had on demo at home and sounded great)
That system looks great. Howay the Toon…
Audionote UK speakers make use of the corners and give a huge soundstage. Reading Audio T took them on alongside Naim a couple of years back. It took Simon some time to get the hang of positioning them but after he’d tamed the tendency for ten foot guitars the results were rather good. I’ve never heard them with Naim, just AN and a Tom Evans Linear B but I know of one chap who replaced his NBLs with a pair of Es, though not which Es, he was running 282/sc/250 and was delighted with the combination. Simon has left and Gareth was running the shop last time I went but still carried AN.
I am using Superlumina. Is a change of cables likely to improve matters?
I’ve tried 5 different cables and have been surprised at how differently the 808s have reacted to each. Worth trying a few alternatives. KS-1 seem like a good compromise between the various options. A good middle ground and very transparent.
My personal experience of SL is that it is quite “boxy” with a small soundstage. Good impact, great midrange. In other areas the other speaker cable options I’ve tried have trumped it.
IMO nothing beats Music for soundstage. It’s not the end all and be all across all criteria, so other cables may present a more acceptable balance across the aspects that are most important to you.
Also consider the interconnect you are using. Same applies for superlumina here. I have a cocktail of cables going on, and it’s quite interesting tweaking the various parts of the chain! Currently a mix of Chord, SL & KS-1.
I have mine fairly wide apart and toed in.
I think you just have to experiment until you find the sweet spot.or what sounds good to you.
Interesting, I found a review of the Nait XS2 where the Author used it with a pair of AN E HE hemp cones , stated that the combination worked well.
Sorry but to what are you referring when you say “music” viz-a-viz cables?
Sorry, that is Chord Music.
And do not ignore the importance of the speaker bridge wires on the 808… my experience is that these are a crucial part of the chain!! I was scratching my head for a week until I swopped them out - that was quite an eye opener…!
I had a mind to try them myself but Brexit was encouraging a move to France to keep my wife happy, aided by a chance for me to retire early (and there’s a certain amount of F U on my part too) so the NBLs came with me rather than face any challengers in their old home. One of them was 23cm from a side wall with no bass problems though. You can do a lot with positioning if you have a free hand to prioritise it, use a bit of precision and arrange the rest of the living space to fit in. They do have a bit more room to breathe now which they like rather a lot (40 rather than 16 square metres).
There’s yet another move in the offing so it’s run what you brung for now and see what the, I hope, last house has to offer.
Thanks Graeme. The plants do help to soften things up. I like a bit of greenery in the lounge and I think they enjoy the tunes too
More info please!
Do you mean the external u shaped bars that connect bass/mid/treble when in passive mode?
Did you swap these out for speaker wire bridges?
Sorry if I’ve misunderstood
The top of the range Audio Note E’s that I owned were lacking in soundstage compared with my current Kudos 808 and aligned to AN amps were slow and fell apart with complex music.
I agree and feel that SL IC’s are what I would describe as grainy compared to Chord Music. Still a very good cable though.
Hi Mick
I mean the wires that connect the top box to the bottom box (apologies of I got the terminology incorrect).
robbo
No worries, it was my mis understanding