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Speaker Upgrade

CJBenno

CJBenno

pfm Member
Hello, this is my first post and was looking for some advice.
I have a Rega Saturn CD Player, Naim Nait 2 Amplifier and Castle Harlech Speakers.
I am thinking of changing my speakers and was hoping somebody could recommend some new speakers that may be worth considering.
My listening room is about 4m x 3m and I mainly listen to rock/pop/folk type music.
Thanks for any advice you can provide, Colin
 
The Harlech was a really good speaker and will be expensive to improve upon economically. Unless you are looking to change the style of presentation, I would be tempted to look at an amp change first.
 
Colin,

Welcome to the wallet emptying zone :D

There are various speakers out there that could be recommended.

Is there anything that you have heard and been taken by that you have heard in other speakers to look at changing your own?

Best

James
 
I used to have some S1 Harlechs and had to partner them with a bright-ish amp to stop the bass from being over-heavy. I always enjoyed how deep they could go but it could be over-bearing sometimes for me.

I'd say the Kef Reference 1 or 2's will give you a similar depth but I found them to be far more balanced and the midrange and treble were far better - a pair of Kef Reference 2's replaced my Castles . I got around £200 for my Harlech's when I sold them and the Kef's can be had for £400-500. They do tend to thrive on powerful amplifiers (they are 4 ohm) but they are fairly sensitive so the Nait should be OK driving them to reasonable levels.

Another option would be the old TDL Studio 1's if you can find them.
 
I bought the Harlechs sometime ago to replace a pair of old Tannoy Gold Speakers which I still own, as I thought they lacked bass. But as you state I do also find the bass of the Harlechs can be a bit over powering at time.
 
I hankered after Castle speakers in the dim and distant past. How about some second hand PMCs? If you like bass the transmission line design does that, and they are good at other frequencies too. I think there are quite a lot of Naim users who find they match.
 
I recently got some EB Acoustics EB2 and heard them on the end of a NAIT1, it couldn't go very loud but boy did it sound good, very warm and involving. Currently got them on the end of my Brio-r and handle most types of music very well.
 
Thanks for the suggestions so far, does anybody have any experience with the small floor standers from Neat or Kudos.
 
Had a set of Neat Petite SX but didn't think they were worth £1400.
 
I have a pair of Totem Arro's on the end of a Nait 1, won't go super loud but sounds rather delightful to me both at low & moderate-ish volumes.
 
CJBenno said:
I bought the Harlechs sometime ago to replace a pair of old Tannoy Gold Speakers which I still own, as I thought they lacked bass. But as you state I do also find the bass of the Harlechs can be a bit over powering at time.
Click to expand...

Are they Tannoy Monitor Golds in the cabinets? If they are you have speakers if put in an appropriate cabinet will give you ample bass that will be tuneful as well as deep.
 
Yes the Tannoys are still in their cabinets, but the cabinets are not in great cosmetic condition. I did think some time ago about rehousing them but don't really have the technical ability.
 
The Harlech's are really good speakers and work well with Naim. To get better, rather than a sideways move, in my opinion will require a couple of grand but then you'll need a new amp! Perhaps upgrading the Nait 2 to a pre-power would be a good idea. Naim's the obvious place to start although there's plenty of others as well.
 
A lot of modern mid range speakers tend to be of the impressive look at me type that impress on a demo but ultimately end up disappointing and fatiguing long term.
I think you will have to spend a lot of cash on a modern speaker to actually improve on what you have.
 
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