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Hi again and what next? Naim Nova + ?, Genelec or ? not LS50’s!

mattski

mattski

pfm Member
Hi, I’ve been away from hifi for a while but would now like a new system.

I’ve previously had some pretty nice kit including PMC OB1i’s, Neat Momentum 3’s, Auralic Vega, Perreaux Eloquence 250, Gato DIA250 and some active Genelec, PMC and ATC’s. My musical tastes include everything from Holst through Led Zeppelin, Yes, G&R, Mr Mister, Oasis, Foo’s, Skunkanansie and Billie Eilish and Dua Lipa. My room is carpeted 3.44m x 5.90m with heavy curtains and furnishings.

I’d like a system that’s one or two boxes and, ideally, small stand mounts or maybe floor standers. Source-wise it’ll be streaming Apple/Amazon Music and Airplay for the most part but I do have some DSD’s. I *might* want a CD player or turntable at some point. I’d also like it to be good for both late night quiet sessions and raising the roof a bit once in a while. Budget is ideally up to 5-6k and used is fine.

I tried LS50 Wireless II’s on their stands and I was completely underwhelmed. I thought the bass was “ok” but felt that the soundstage was confined and midrange and top-end nasal.

By way of comparison, I’ve got some old Genelec 8030’s and 7040A fed by an RME ADI-2 DAC and I think they wipe the floor with the LS50 Wireless II’s (ack the sub…)

So what next?

I’m drawn to the Naim Uniti Nova based on the reviews and I really like the form factor and it’s features. The build quality also appeals. I was thinking of one of those and either Neat, Proac or maybe B&W 705 S2’s and Kef C62 sub. I like the form factor Atom but I’ve been told by dealers that it won’t really drive much given my requirements. If I could get away with Tannoy Legacy Eaton’s then I would but WAF…

But…

I can’t help thinking that I’d be disappointed with the Nova, that it’s very expensive and that something like a Genelec 8330 + KC62 + Bluesound Node would better it and be cheaper. (I had a Nait 5i and small PMC floor standers a while back and it wasn’t great).

I obviously need to try stuff but I’m very interested in what you’d suggest for amp and speaker. (Gato DIA250S NPM? Something from Denon, Marantz or Yamaha? Something else?)

Thanks!
Matt
 
Hello Matt, your post is confusing to me, are you after actives or passive speakers? Looking on pfm recent ads you will see Nord and Avondale power amps, ok you will need a pre (I'd be happy to let you borrow mine, more details up on request) and a pair of Guru speakers. I haven't heard the amps although most seem to say good things about them, but many years ago heard the Guru's and liked them. Plenty of other stuff on here and ebay to get you back into hifi.
 
Hi, I was on the fence with active or passive having had and enjoyed both - I was just looking for opinions really. I’ve heard good things about the Guru’s but have never heard them and thanks for the suggestion. I’ve now sorted myself out with Simaudio Moon 340i with DAC and Dynaudio Contour 20i’s.
 
I am a Nova fan - for the money, the sound quality and usability are both great. Given your comments, some bigger stand-mounts might well suit you. However, a good floor-stander, fed by a Nova, is probably the way to go.

With that room and music and your past ownership, I'd suggest a Nova plus Neat Iota Alphas as a first option.

A s/h Nova can be had for very roughly £3.5K. The Neats are tiny floor standers (though not to the ear) with huge vigour and involvement - new £2K but sometimes less than £1K s/h. Get decent cables if you don't have them - Naim's own, Chord, Tellurium Q and Witch Hat should all work well.

If you can live with bigger speakers, you can get Neat Explorers s/h for less than £2500. They are remarkable, with bass like boxes twice their size and not too picky about placement.

There are also great and comparatively unobtrusive floor standers that you could afford ex-dem on s/h - from Spendor A7, ProAc Response DT8 or even D20R. With patience, you could find affordable ATC SCM40s or KEF R900s.

Personally, I wouldn't expect KEFs to come top (too relaxed?) and would be happiest with ATC or Neat, but you may pick differently. Also, some of these will need to be further into the room than others.

The problem of course is that they are all good but they are not all similar, and not everyone is happy to use up a dealer's time on even a brief trial in their shop if they actually plan to buy off eBay. That may mean that speakers are more likely to be new or (better still) ex-dem, unless you are prepared to risk buying s/h speakers and then having to sell them again if they really don't suit.

A Nova is not unbeatable of course, even if we just look at Naim, but most better options cost more and/ or mean more boxes.

You could get a s/h ND5 XS2 for c.£2K, plus a s/h Supernait 2/3 for about the same, and that combo should out-perform a Nova with any of those speakers.

For sound quality per £, the best Naim for you would probably be ND5 XS2 plus 82 preamp (about £1K) plus Hicap power supply (maybe £700) plus a 250 power amp (a bit over £1K). However, they won't look as tidy, and not just because this means 4 boxes and not 1/ 2 - they also don't match.

I'll leave others to comment on good non-Naim options, but there are several.

Is that of any help?
 
Hi, thanks for the suggestions. I’ve liked Neat speakers before and the Alpha’s look interesting. For now the Moon and Dynaudio’s are good although I’ve always been drawn to Kudos Super 10’s.
 
You could consider the Lyngdorf 3400, roughly the same price as the Nova and has the benefit of Room Perfect DSP? Very neutral amp with plenty of power.
 
How about Uniti Atom HE and 8330s (or G Three if you don't need the GLM calibration), if you like the Genelecs? That would be a really nice one box solution, and should you later want to move to passive speakers, just add a power amp. Adding a CD player via RCA or optical/coax and turntable via RCA (ok, the Atom does a A/D conversion for the signal) is also possible. I've been really tempted to get the Atom HE and Genelecs myself, maybe in the next flat...
 
Consider a Linn Majik DSM. Does everything, sounds great. My Yamaha 803 was only a smidge behind it at a quarter of the price. Speaker wise, I bought my utterly gorgeous Sonus Faber Sonetto iii’s on here recently for £1,500 so stuff does crop up. I like Neat (had XL6 Ultimatum and motive 2’s) but the sound and finish of the SF’s is exquisite. If you want stand mounts, buy the Guru GM10’s on here.
 
You'll actually be very hard pressed to find anything that sounds better than the 8030's +7040 +RME adi you already have without spending considerably more than you're suggesting.

Your only sensible step up is bigger Genelecs or possibly active ATC's speaker wise and your DAC is already up there with the best.

If it's streaming you're after why not just get a suitably hatted Raspberry pi to connect to the RME?
 
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