I think speakers are sometimes seen as an afterthought on here or downplayed a bit. The last thing to be bothered about etc. The speakers can wait for now.
And yet they are ultimately the end of chain monitor which has the role of relaying all the signal coming from those glorious electronics.
So for me, by all means lead from the front , but a 40 % source 30 % amp 30% speakers cost split suggests a good balanced approach. There is a train of thought here that a good speaker will always reveal electronic upgrades upstream and that is true, but then changing say a Marantz budget cd player with an Ndx2 , into eg. an Audiolab budget integrated and the integrated amp would reveal that upgrade too of course, but you wouldnât be necessarily getting the best out of the Ndx2. Hope that makes sense to use an analogy
So hey letâs not downplay the role of the humble speaker ! I use a Kudos C20 with my SN3 and I think that is a nice balanced approach. My front end needs some attention when funds allow and used prices return to something like normal.
Neat and Kudos are an excellent match with Naim electronics, in fact they design their speakers using Naim electronics, so they would be my personal suggestion for a harmonious pairing.
The Ndx2/SN3 is an excellent real world tidy system and a pair of speakers that maximise itâs performance would be the icing on the cake.
Once you start playing around with Hicaps et al, you are on the slippery slope, so beware !
Coming from an ex obsessive addict (555/552/500 a very long time ago) who is worryingly showing the same weaknesses again. Maybe I just need to get a life instead ?
Yes quite true, then we try to separate the brains from the brawn on a single rack, right? âŚand thenâŚ
To be honest here i think the NDX 2 & SN3 are amazing as they are - itâs a very special system in itâs own right. This is what i was trying to imply further up on this thread. If one over does it with the speakers then they maybe in for a financial hiding, and in my case iâm âonlyâ using a pair of Motive SX2 speakers. Theyâre easily good enough for my current system. Do i want to upset this balance i have? No not at all. My advice to the OP here is to not to âover-speakerâ his system, a very common mistake made by a lot of listeners in my view. One only has to visit a HiFi show to hear this with their own ears. My baby Neatâs literally doubled in size once i started adding the external power supplies.
Yep brain stuff on top levels and then maybe a spare shelf, or alternatively a medium size fraim level with a brawn item placed on it, to create a gap between the sensitive items, as a workaround.
You could put your partners fancy ornament on the spare shelf, to gain her approval.
Having read through the thread there are lots of ideas to follow up. So, if it were me I would keep the speakers you have, buy a pre loved XPS for the NDX, and a Rega 3 to make use of your records and the MM stage in your new amp. That would be about 4K and you might just fall back in love with your speakers.
Well, the OP is only three months in with his NDX 2 and SN3, so upgrading to me at this stage seems a bit superfluous, but here we already have suggestions of ATC SCM 40âs being highly recommended, make of that what you will. Personally speaking iâve lived with a NDX 2 & SN3, together as they are., and with the additional PSUâs, as iâve already mentioned, the last thing iâd be looking at this stage is power hungry ultra revealing three-way loudspeakers.
Which is why itâs best to give those dealers a ring and get listening. Everyone has their own take on things and can only offer their own experiences/opinions with such a system.
I told myself i would not get involved with speaker discussions anymore as there are so many source first die hards waiting in the wings ready to gun down those who dare mention speakers with more than two drivers.
The reality is that music delivery through a pair of speakers is governed by the laws of physics. if you want to get closer to how things should sound, you need to have a speaker that can move plenty of air. Obviously you donât have to if you donât want to, you can have small speakers giving you beautiful midrange and highs with amazing stereo imaging but you wonât get close to how anything that dips in to the lower registers is supposed to sound.
It depends on what someone demands from an audio system. I for one, through experience, know that what i like is to have a full(ish) range, large, soundstage with low distortion and really good bass at low volumes as well as nice mids and highs.
You might look at my system and feel it is unbalanced and maybe you are right but i did it with future upgrades planned. My speakers are one of Troels Gravesens DIY designs. They are big speakers that are an easy load and sound stunning. Low volume bass is effortless. You would be surprised at what 40 watts can do with the right speaker. However, because big speakers like these and the likes of ATCâs are expensive to build, expensive to ship, and take up a lot of room, they are rare and pricey. Truth is though, since building these speakers, i have never been more satisfied with music and will never buy a pair of commercially made speakers again. Too much of the given budget goes into cabinet finish and they often sacrifice performance for aesthetics, until you get very high in cost!
My advice is to, when you can, listen to as many different types of speaker as possible and decide for yourself. Although i know that is really difficult at the moment.
Also bear in mind that source first promotion and a âsky is the limitâ product range, is clearly a great business model. Getting some decent speakers might just slow down your journey on the upgrade ladder!
For the record, i would love to end up with the same system you have!!
Get a Rel sub and the new LS50âs. Iâve heard people using these speakers in better systems than the sn3. Youâd be surprised how much a properly integrated sub can improve sound quality.
In the sn2 the hi cap was a significant improvement. Do you have a high quality hifi stand? That makes a big difference. In my system adding stillpoints to the components was more significant than any other upgrade. Unfortunately they are quite expensive but Iâve been told newer products are available that are much less expensive and perform even better.
My point exactly!! I chose the ATCâs because I liked them in my listening room, not because of any driver configurations or power requirements. To me this system is well balanced and was bought with future upgrades in mind, namely a ps for the NDX2 and a pre/power amp swap for the SN3. As the OP has the same system as me I can only recommend he tries these, along with as many others as possible.
