I recently bought a Nova replacing my Nait XS2 and Node 2i. However I find the bass less tight and more boomy/bloated with the Nova. Several of my friends thought the same and went for the XS2 + ND5XS2 as the bass is tighter and more controlled.
I have Russell K. Red 120 speakers so 80W of the Nova shouldn’t be a problem for these speakers.
Do other people also find the bass of the Nova bloated? Is there anything I can do to fix this?
I found the same with my Superuniti, predecessor to the Nova, with the same 80W output. Moving to separates sorted it, although I’d say it was the preamp that contributed to the improved bass more than the power amp. I suppose squeezing all those components into a single box involves making compromises.
You think it’s a characteristic of the Nova or is it solvable?
How long have you had it?
Try moving speakers further away from front wall? Different amps may require this adjustment even with same speakers
2 Likes
I have to say it is not a description that I recognise with my Nova. Although I have limited exposure to other systems for comparison. I did have to move the speakers about a bit to get it right and the last couple of inches solved it.
I’ve heard a Nova controlling the bass of RK 120s well but in comparison to a Star and an Atom not a Nait. Optimising speaker position would be the first thing to try, it’s free apart from time but it can take a lot of that, 5mm can make all the difference when you get to the fine tuning stage. I find Sumiko Masterset (do a search) useful if I’m getting nowhere, Qobuz has the horse track if you search for Bob Wasserman.
I agree about trying speaker positions. Improving the power cable will also tighten things up nicely - I use the Naim Powerline and there are other good alternatives out there to.
Certainly going to look into the Masterset guide! Thanks for the tip!
This might be something to explore in a later stage if the speaker repositioning doesn’t work.
1 Like
I am currently listening to Tool “Fear Inoculom” streaming from Qobuz in 96/24 HiRes.
The bass is tight, fast and just right from my Nova through my KEF loudspeakers.
Having said that, if the recordings are poor I can agree that the bass can sometimes sound somewhat bloated or boomy.
However, I subscribe this to the recordings rather than to my Nova as what I am listening to just now is just awesome.
I would agree. I think this is especially true of remasters of eg 70’s albums where there is often excessive boomy bass added to the mix. Try the remasters of the original CSN album to see what I mean
2 Likes
I experienced the boomy bass on my Nova after I downloaded the latest update a while back. I believe there were a few other people that noticed this at the time as well.
This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.