Oops - I fell for it!
Donāt worry. Arivas were Naimās answer to those who considered the Intros to be overly harsh, forward, and with no bass - a bit unfair really, the Intros were highly entertaining, but lacked some refinement. To that end, the Arivas were designed to be full and weighty down at the bottom, and forgiving up top, while still being able to play a tune properly, and in that they succeeded. They had a brilliant decoupled base that made set-up a breeze and the cabinets were beautifully constructed and veneered by Castle Acoustics. While not the most revealing speaker, they were hugely entertaining and encouraged you to explore music well outside your usual comfort zone. Even poor production sounded OK on them too. And they were brilliant for AV too. In a larger space, substituting the front left and right n-Sats in a full 5.1 n-system for Arivas made a big difference for the better. Their only problems were that the next speakers up the range were considerably more revealing and capable, oh, and that secondhand SBLs could be bought for similar money. Oh yes, and probably the worst thing about them was their name, Ariva, which sounded like it was a train or bus serviceā¦
Anyway, not much about power cords in my post, so apologies for going OT, but as the thread had moved to discussing Arivas, it became relevantā¦
Agree with just about everything, it is a fantastic all-rounder and Ive never heard a negative reviewer of them ever
Thats whatās making me keep them, along with the easy placement and consistency.
All moves up the ladder up to ndx/202/200 has been clear and obvious so I guess theyre pretty revealing after all.
I listen to just about all music except classical, which I guess would be the style that could compell one to go to āa more refined speakerā the most. Alternative (my main branch), Indie, Rock, Progressive, Jazz, Acoustic, Electronic, it all excells with these speakers. And especially at low volume with the 90db sensitivity. Thats a Big selling point when late-night-listening is the standard when you get kids. They just boogie on day in day outā¦
ā¦This all due to Naim made some error with them
I certainly wasnāt trolling and no offence was intended. I just donāt like them. Richard explains it well - making the bass more weighty and the speaker generally inoffensive. It makes them sound like so many other speakers out there, with that warm and cuddly sound. They just donāt sound like the classic IBL, SBL etc series of speakers and for that reason they are not a āproperā Naim speaker to me. But if you like them thatās all that matters. Othersā opinions are simply that, opinions.
Im sure their different from the rest of the lineup and yes they produce the full audio spectrum which is great since you wont need any subwoofer.
The bass is great: fast and punchy, If its boomy for some its due to bad setup - Ive experienced that too.
Certainlly not too warm and cuddly. Midrange forward and boogies, which are Naims house sound (in my view ofc) I think you need to live with them more before dropping more clumsy comments about them like you did.
Hereās a good example of a power cord
ā¦ launching a glider using a rather thick elastic cord!
My goodness that photo takes me back. Being launched into the air (albeit only a few feet off the ground) by an elastic band was a fun if unusual experience!
I remember launching RC model gliders from a ground bungee, The acceleration is So great I was surprised the fuselage didnāt leave its wings behind,
Just ordered an open box Shunyata Venom NR V-10 for my DAC V1. Should be interesting. I was so impressed by the $99 (half price) Venom USB cable I got recently, and the rave reviews of their NR power cords online (including one with an SN3), plus theyāre a local company, I figured it was a pretty good bet among the sea of cables out there.
Yesterday I installed 7 new powerlines going from a Nordost qb8 with Nordost Valhalla 2 from dedicated circuit. It replaced a Musicline Powerigel. I am pretty happy withe cable dressing! It has been playing all day and it is a definite improvement!
7 new Powerlines. Wow thatās a pretty heavy investment in one go. The improvement must be rather staggering.
I tend to form my opinion too quickly given the time it takes power everything down, install the new cables, powerup and running in. Now on the third day I would say it is s major improvement. Getting the mains sorted, having ābalance and harmonyā in the power and signal looms, proper cable dressing and the boxes placed properly on a good stand is very important. It is like making sure you have a solid foundation for your house. And yes, it was a major expense and no, I did not evaluate too many alternatives. I decided to trust Naim and several people on this forum.
Your Chord Music power cord is costlier.
So the Chord Music mains cable is connected to the Wireworld Matrix 2? I presume the cord has brought a noticeable gain to sound quality?
It has for years been my āMantraāā¦
ā¦Foundation Firstā¦!!
/Peder
Yesā¦Chord Music brought me noticeable gain to sound qualityā¦but now i need to consider for a better power-block than my Matrixā¦planning maybe
Isotek Evo3 Polaris or anything else on the same levelā¦ guys i needs good advices it`s impossible for any auddition in my country
The only one I can recommend based on experience is the MusicWorks Reflex G3 Ultra, with the optional upgrade base. Itās a really good block. No filtering and other stuff you donāt need.
Good information Iām going to look ahead
Depends of the price. @Mike_S is glad with the Polaris.
I am glad with the Eros Titan.
Some here enjoy a lot the Music Works Ultra, but more expensive.
Audioquest Niagara 1200 too. ( recent thread on it).