Uniti Nova and PMC

Great system! Must say my humble Nova has driven everything from Kef LS50 to Neat Momentum SX7i’s and always sounded great! interested to see how you get on with the Dynaudio’s

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Have to agree, finding the right balance makes most sense.
I have 25.24i with my nova in a 12ft x 12ft room and I’m in heaven.
However I recently saw a hugely discounted pair of 25.26 at my local hifi shop, and out of idle interest asked about the pairing as I was interested in the 3 way ( not that the 24i sound in any way deficient). I was advised that they would pair the two exactly as I already have them, and I should upgrade the Naim if I wanted the more powerful speakers.
Sticking with what’s already a very happy set up.

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How would the SN3/HiCap DR/ND5XS2/Qutest pair with the PMC 25.26?

I’d have had a listen for myself…

Ah, perhaps I didn’t phrase that well enough. He wasn’t trying to upsell me, he was advising that I’ve got a great pairing for my listening conditions and suggesting I didn’t need to spend the money.

Very nice! I have a Nova with Special 40’s which provides me lots of joy. Will not change that system for a long time!

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I had understood that, which is what prompted my comment!

A lot has happened since the last time, although it hasn’t been long, the first PMC Twenty 5.26 was replaced by a Dynaudio Contour 20i model, which remained small in sound even though it was bigger than the size of the speaker suggested. The midrange sounded stuffy and I couldn’t get them to work the way I wanted in my room. But when the opportunity came to change the Contour 20i to a bigger Contour 60 speaker, I didn’t even test it, but I made the purchase right away, these huge speakers brought a really big sound image to the room, but since they need power, I should have bought a separate power amplifier as Nova’s friend, in addition, the lowest bass started to be emphasized in the room and I couldn’t get these to discipline. Now I’m comparing everything to the PMC sound, oka was so perfect and it doesn’t help but to order PMC Twenty 5.24i speakers. I believe that these are a perfect pair with Nova and I will be happy with this combination for a long time, as long as I get my speakers, they will be delivered in 2 months. I’ll post pictures and comments when I get them!

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Looking at the size of the room, I would have thought Twenty5.23i is the right pairing.

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FZ, I feel your very sensible advice will fall on deaf ears. The OP initially had a pair of 26s, which most felt were far too big. They got sold and replaced with Dynaudio Contour 20s. Almost immediately they were swapped for Contour 60s, repeating the same mistake as the PMC 26s. As the old saying goes, if you keep doing the same thing, you will get the same result.

I agree with you that the 23 is the obvious one to get, and it will match well with the Nova. To me, the 24 is still too much.

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I wish I could teleport Jugi007 to my house. He could listen to the Twenty5 23i’s in the front room , with New Classic 222,300 & 250 and Twenty5 23’s with Nova in the back. I sometimes find it hard to justify the extra outlay in the front room system as compared to the one in the back. It is hard to tell his room directions from the photo, but looks similar to my front room (4.5x3.9m). I sometimes think that my room is too small for the 23’s. I have had 26’s in the room, and although they sounded good, I often thought that I was not extracting the most from them, due to room dimension limitations.
It is a easy path to take, we see or read what we think will be better. This can be down to the speaker being bigger, has more drivers or is currently all the rage. However, this is not always the case. In my case, this was with PMC Twenty5 26 and ATC SCM40 passive and active speakers.
Now before, people get too excited, I’m not trying to say that above 3 speakers are inferior to PMC 23/23i. However, “in my rooms” the 23 and 26 seems more musical, foot tapping, than ATC. The 26 seems on first listening to be the better speaker, which it is, but listening to the 23 seems to give a better balance within my room. I once heard a BBC LS3/5A two way monitor speaker wipe the floor with a branded 3 way monitor speaker, in a small room.
I see on the forum that ATC speakers are very much in vogue, on here. They are very good speakers and some of the ranges represents tremendous value for money. Alas, one size does not fit all☹️ The majority seem to find the 40 Active the superior speaker to the passive version. Well, in my room, and to my ears, the passive was superior. However, not superior in balance to the PMC 23. Before anyone thinks this is down to the electronics, I have had different models of ATC and Naim. Let’s not even mention cables😊
So, as previously stated I have no axe to grind with ATC, PMC or any other speaker manufacturer. All I say is that just because it’s the biggest, newest, value for money, best specification, everyone else has bought it or even best sounding speaker on the planet………MIGHT NOT BE THE BEST FOR YOUR EARS OR ROOM. :blush:

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I used to have 23s in a big room 5x8m and high ceiling and they raised the rafters, so to speak.

When I asked my dealer about 26s (which I had budget for) as an upgrade his advice was roughly along the lines of “just because you can doesn’t mean you should.”

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Hello,

for what I have experienced till now, including advices and my own ears… Uniti series are somehow like a middlechild. They have abilltiy for upgrade but they have limits. When you want to go large, it takes money and time. When you want to do just a small step upgrade it is not worth it. I went to my dealer to see what to do with speakers and amp for my Atom HE and it looks, and feels, change everything.

Now I feel it is a trap. I should have bought Nova or Star. Finding amp (NAP 200 or similar) for Atom HE, for a small money, takes you to idea that people want to sell you something just to convince you that you need it for this or that device.

We have this local advert company and there are two/three NAP 200 on sale that are 18-22 years old. Now I want newer amp but I do not want to be stripped for my salary just because someone is emotionally attached to his gear.

Also, reading that someone buys and sells gear fast as dog run and writes that it is “upgrade” and has same fixed electronic and then changes speakers is nonsense. Are you Dynaudio distributor?

But, Naim is my special star…so maybe they should go with the gear that is complementary with Uniti devices and that it is in the limits of Uniti brothers and sisters. Something like a guide to upgrade with marks and suggestions.

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Definitely need servicing if not done recently.

There is nothing wrong with partnering an atom he with a nap of any kind. That’s the point! Nap200 would be good but same for a nap155. Or a much older nap140. Just get something that’s either new(ish) or old and serviced.

You can also match the he with active speakers.

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Just to add I had a very similar experience when borrowing a friends twenty 21’s for a couple of weeks, in my room with the level of electrics I have they sounded so right compared to my resident twenty 26’s.
Can I ask how you find the new 23i’s compared to your twenty5 23’s.

You could just add active speakers instead, which you will be aware of. I have had a Atom HE on loan, for over a year. I can tell you this easily drives and controls ATC SCM40A active speakers. I realise you may not want to spend the best part of £8000, on amps and speakers. You could try the ATC SCM19A speakers. However, probably the best value option would be to try the Acoustic Energy AE1 active speakers. Just try to keep an open mind and remember what might work for the large majority on here, might not work for you. Hope, it all works out for you. :crossed_fingers::blush:

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That is a tough question to answer. Besides running in the new 23i’s, also still running in new Naim Classic system, along with new cables. However, I do hear the wife’s Nova and 23 system. You can tell that they are both have that PMC heritage, with the fast transmission bass. I do notice a with the new tweeter, but how much is the speaker and how much is the rest, I cannot say. What I could say, is I could quite happily live with either version and it is not often you can say that. :blush:

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I’d say that the 26 is far too much for a NAP200 and the rest of your system. If you felt that the 21 was a better match, why not downsize to them? Less is more and all that.

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thnx! :slight_smile:

A more suitable speaker choice as you pointed out is the more achievable cost option, that’s what I’m in the process of doing, hence the question on the PMC 23’s.
My wife is not a fan of speaker stands , which cuts down my choices considerably, so the 23’s looked a realistic option, plus they need to be either piano black or oak, so that narrows it down even more.
Having recently had hearing aids for the first time, it’s almost like starting from the beginning again.