I am looking to replace my speakers MA Silver 300 with the ARIA 906s and would appreciate other people’s experience of this pairing. I listen to Eclectic mix of music from folk to jazz and easy listening.
Thanks in advance
Peter
No experience of your speakers , though i know @nigelb has a pair( maybe not the same), but has found they respond well to upgrades at the front end.
@Gazza was nearly right. I have used my MA GOLD GX300s all the way through my more recent Naim journey which started with the humble Uniti1. It is fair to say that the Uniti struggled to drive the MA GX300s and you might find the same with the Atom and the Silver 300s but I suspect the Atom is a little more capable than the old Uniti1 in this respect. Anyway I stuck with my trusty GX300s to the present day and they have responded to every Naim upgrade and are sounding glorious with NDS/PS555DR/552/250DR.
Sorry I have no experience of the Aria 906s. Why don’t you see if you can hear the Atom/906 paring at a dealer or, better still, borrow a pair of 906s to hear at home.
1 Like
Yeah I’m going to do that I like the MA’s but too much boom and with the bungs in place just lacks that something. Thanks for the reply.
The MA Silvers and Golds are very different beasts and I remember reading that the new (at that time) Golds were designed with one eye on the Japanese market where rooms are rather smaller. Indeed I use mine (bungs in) in a small room close to the rear wall and have no bass boom problems. I suspect the Silvers are a different story and it does sound like the Atom might be struggling to control that bass.
Good luck with your speaker search.
I used to run a pair of 906’s with a Unitiqute2 a few years ago, nice speaker, easy to drive, would recommend them, my friend has the set up now, still sounds good.
1 Like
The 906 is what I wanted with my Atom, I went Focal Chorus instead and later the Focal 1008be2.
I do like the synergy with Naim, remind me of my old SBL, lean, dynamic and fast.
Plus the 906 can stay put for a while if you upgrade boxes, but note best to get the matching stands, reasonable price but hard to get, well they where 2 years back.
Yeah, the recommended amplifier watt is 80 - 200 but they are easy to drive at 90db They are a good speaker though
1 Like
Thanks for your feedback, most appreciated. I definitely think it’s worth a look / audition.
Thanks for your input most helpful. Any reason why you went for the Chorus instead?
I was being tight, well in truth i got back on the Naim wagon after a 15yr break swearing no more multi box madness, so i started with a Muso, then convinced myself an Atom and some cheap speakers, i demo’d a few, the dealer had the Chorus i liked them - the 906 i really wanted but ruled out.
Now the Chorus is replaced with the 1008be2 it wasn’t the WOW moment, but they where better.
There are a few pre loved 906 in walnut kicking around, look gorgeous and sure the flax cone give a sweet sound.
BUT - THE BIG BUT ideally demo at home, i did not, the Chorus where fine, but the 1008be2 took allot more effort in terms of re positioning.
1 Like
Err…sounds like my story, just a Muso, then a Core and so on. But fun times.
1 Like
I am way behind you 
but must profess i have another SR Blue fuse enroute for my Innuos server and ahem a two stack Naim Fraim 
Honeslty guv it the last upgrade 
2 Likes
Same here i always been interested in Naim then the Muso came along then decided I needed more and I think you can guess the rest 
Great pairing. I auditioned my Atom with 905 and they are nice, but 906 easily beat them. Much more composed speaker.
Have you heard them? They are little brighter in their presentation, so depends what presentation you like.
I am probably going to go with LS50s as they are more compact and they work well near field, they will be on shelf in my office.
While I haven’t owned/heard that combo, I have owned the 906’s for a brief period of time in my second/small setup (they weren’t to my taste/room & sold them off for some Dynaudio’s). I would advise a listen before the swap as they will likely be a good sized jump sonically vs your current speakers. From what I have heard at show demo’s, the newer MA seem to be more neutral/relaxed, compared to some of their speakers several generations back. The Focals lean more towards the thin/bright/forward, so they may be too much of a shift from what you currently have. In the right room (typically smaller) know people who think their great, but I also briefly tried my pair in my main, treated listening room & still didn’t get on with them.
1 Like
Thanks for your feed back daren_p most informative. I’m also looking at B&W 706 s2
Have not heard the s2 series, but from some comments I’ve come across, sounds like they are well worth a listen.
I swapped the 906’s for Dynaudio Emit M20’s, if you can worth a listen at their price point. I have since moved to a different room & gone for small towers, Totem Sky towers (which I think are excellent for their price point). Not sure your location (I’m in Canada so these are all in the same price range), but if available the Totem sky’s (Bookshelves) are worth a listen as well.
Edit: Should mention my issue with the 906’s was listening fatigue, on good recordings I could listen longer but with more typical source material I would get listening fatigue within about 10min. Adding a sub in the mix to fill in the bottom end helped some (to get a fuller sound), but the fatigue still occurred.
2 Likes
You have provided some valuable advice especially regarding the 906s. I did look at the M20s but the sensitivity of 86 put me off a little. I’m in the UK I have a good choice of Hi-Fi dealers near me.
I wouldn’t be too concerned with the M20’s sensitivity, unless you have an unusually large space for bookshelves &/or listen at very elevated levels regularly. I was powering mine with a Nuprime IDA-8 integrated amp, believe its rated at 100w/ch at both 8 & 4 ohm (class D) & it drove the speakers no problem in a ~ 4x10m space (speakers were on the long wall). While I believe the Atom is only rated at 50w/ch, with what I know about Naim, I wouldn’t be surprised if it would drive the speakers just as well.
1 Like