Thanks @vinylMessi - The dealer I’m going to visit stock the full range of Spendors and I’ve read excellent reviews elsewhere of them. Also well within my budget
Def one to listen to - thanks!
Hi I like you mostly listen to classical and piano music forms a large part of that including Olafur Arnalds Nils Frahm Max Richter as well as other classical piano players. I use a pair of Fyne 501 SP s with my Nova and they just sound great. Much better than the Q Acoustics or the B and Ws I had before As they are are floor venting they have no problem being a little near the wall in my listening room. Headphones I have some great Grado sr 325x as well as B and W p8s for wandering around but I mostly link these with my Astell & kern for better Bluetooth.
Regards Nick.
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Thanks @NickW
Unfortunately neither of the local dealers I’m visiting stock the Fyne speakers afaik.
I ended up buying the Atom HE with Focal Clear MG headphones.
I’ll use the Atom HE as a preamp and I’ve bought a NAP 250RD power amp.
Naim are making a suitable cable for me - at no charge! 
Then I’ll go and audition speakers.
So I’m now in the process of re-ripping my ~1600 CDs in WAV format… should be done by Christmas!!
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How about a pair of Naim SBL’s? They sit against the wall so no dog issues, they excel at the type of music you mention, they are relatively inexpensive and as far as I know Naim still supply the rebuild kits. I had mine for some years and were never out of their depth, even on a full 500 system. If you take your time to reseal them and replace the metal pads & gaskets I believe you would be hard pushed to better them based on what you have said. They perform very well at low volume as well.
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Hi @pete84, I was going to start by saying that the Nova will sound very good with the Kanta 2s but it is not ideal. I had this pairing and it was very good but once I moved the SN3 and NDX2 onto the Kantas I heard what I was missing. Control, cohesion, bass, and all that.
Now that I see you have gone for the Atom HE and NAP250 I would definitely encourage you to try the Kantas. As you have gone with Focal headphones, the sounds should not be too dissimilar. The beryllium tweeters in the Kanta are fantastic. They play jazz, rock, electronic brilliantly, whatever you throw at them. Good luck with your search (I’d also audition PMC and Neat by the way).
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Many good choices….
A Nova will drive lots of good speakers, and pairs well with Neat (try Iota Alpha or Xplorers). Spendor A7 and D7 are both great speakers but might well want more amp than that.
A 250 (even a serviced old one) will make the most of any speakers that will work with a Nova and several that won’t. It would do nicely with either Spendor or with PMC Twenty5.23s, and is great with the Xplorers or even B&W 804s. Some here will also point you to a 250 with passive ATC SCM 40s.
The suggestion of old SBLs for a 250 is also a great one if you can put them against a solid wall - not the ideal place for either Spendor, Neat Xplorers or B&Ws.
Good luck!
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I’d recommend ripping in flac. They are much smaller and won’t sound any different.
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Hi @pete84 and welcome to the forum.
Like you, I listen to a lot of classical music including piano and ATC speakers do reproduce pianos extremely well. ATC’s founder was a jazz pianist. But they really start to sing at a realistic volume so I’m not sure they’re really an ideal choice in your situation.
I’ve had a look at the pics of your room and your floor plan and I’d ask for a home trial of candidate speakers to check that they work at your place and not just at the dealers. You’re spending a good deal of money after all.
I also wonder if there is any possibility of moving the speakers to a near field setup with the speakers and listening position closer together than in your plan. That would reduce the impact of room acoustics and allow a lower and more neighbour-friendly volume.
Whatever you choose I hope it brings you many years of pleasure.
Roger
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Cheers @Steve but I’d not be able to audition them first probably, then a lot off faffing about tbh.
I considered re-laminating, re-coning and replacing caps. the x’overs on my KEF 104-2, but it’s too much work- Im after an easy life now
Appreciate the idea though, thanks
What Roger says, at this level of investment any dealer worth their salt would do a home demo.
Speaker wise the choice is endless and my experience is matching speakers to your room is more critical than matching with your electronics…… I use ATC but that’s me and my room.
Do the dealer demo narrow it down to your top 2 and do a home demo and repeat until you find a good match.
Headphone wise the Meze 99’s are excellent and great value but again lots of choice so take your time and have a listen to a few - decide open or closed back first (open back will leak sound so if that’s an issue then closed is the way to go)
Hope that helps and welcome to the forum!
Gary
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Thanks @JamesBKK that’s good to hear.
I’ll definitely give the Kanta 2 a listen - they seem like a natural choice, maybe even No3…
One of the dealers stock Neat don’t think they have PMC
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Thanks @NickofWimbledon
Had a look at the Neat speakers - I think they look awful, irrespective of their sound so not sure about them,
I am keen to hear the Spendors though
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Yes @HungryHalibut
I’d ripped about 10 in WAV which was around 15GB!!
I got dbpoweramp ripper and it’s working a treat to rip in FLAC and much smaller files
Thanks for the suggestion
I got the Focal Clear MG headphones @Farthings-cat and they sound very good - as they should!
I agree I do need to demo speakers in my home.
Thanks @PeakMan - appreciate the tip about the ATCs
You’re so right re my listening area - I’ll see if I can trial some at home as it’s a tricky area.
I could move the speakers or sofa/coffee table, but it’s mainly a lounge.
I rarely listen to a lot of music on the hi-fi over the summer months - too much to do in the garden!
So it’s mostly in the cooler, darker months that I enjoy my music - with the patio doors closed.
I really appreciate the help and suggestions you have all offered - THANKS!!
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Can confirm the D7.2s are fantastic
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Very sensible. I find iota Alphas so small and low to the ground that they are almost invisible, as well as sounding great, but I can’t recommend you put something in your living room that you can’t stand to see.
Everone’s taste is different anyway. When I upgraded to these B&Ws downstairs:-
My old Shahinian Compasses went upstairs.
Personally, I still prefer how the Compasses look to lots of other options, but few agree. You will spend a lot of time seeing your chosen speakers so picking something that looks ok to you matters.
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Speaker choosing is a faff but well worth investing the effort to get the right ones for your room.
Best of luck and my counsel is get a good dealer!
Gary
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As you have found, dbpoweramp is very good. I’d suggest sticking with the default level 5 compression. You can rip uncompressed but it sounds no better, and just takes up more space. You can compress flac as much as you like, it will still be lossless.
I hope you manage to find speakers you like. It’s really important to try whatever you feel is your favourite at home in a relaxed environment.
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Glad you like them.
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Thanks again all for your replies.
The cable that Naim made for me to connect the Atom HE to the NAP250DR arrived a couple of days ago for which there was no charge! - Thanks Naim!!
I hadn’t realised that the NAP 250DR needs a min cable run of 3.5m for the speakers, so had to get some NAC A5 cable which arrived yesterday. I was very pleased with my soldering effort to the Naim plugs, fitting the covers was not easy though. That cable is very inflexible!
Had my dinner last night, poured a generous glass of red and settled down for a first listen (still with my old KEF 104-2 speakers).
WOW what a difference!
Previously the lower mid-range was very blurred and other frequencies were prominent.
Now it all seems more together, balanced and natural. A joy to listen to again.
I’ve no doubt that my cherished old NAC62 NAP140 would not sound that dissimilar if I had it serviced, but I’m thrilled with the new setup - and I don’t have to get up and manually change the volume any more - deep joy!
I’ll get used to the sound for a while then look to audition some new speakers.
Will let you know how it goes in a few weeks.
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Congratulations so far @pete84. I hope the rest of your journey brings many more such moments.
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