peebs: Helpful David. I am driving Spendor A6's from Nait XS , Flatcap 2x combo but have wondered if I'd be better with Naim pre / power separates ? As you already have your Nait XS, you'd be better off adding a power amp, then later on changing the XS to a dedicated pre. I'd say it's not a big enough jump for some people to go to the 152x/155x from an XS, so if you're thinking of taking this route, have an audition and see what you think. For those who are in the fresh position to buy either, as good as the XS is, there are many speakers out there that will benefit from the pre/power. For some, this may be a choice of convenience, which is where the XS comes in.
Also do you think room size and listening postion is significant here ? I get great detail and separation between 9 - 11 o clock on the volume dial , after that things break down . But I know there's a lot more left in the Amp and speaker tank which will distort in my room and from 12 feet away...Partly yes. The closer you are to your speakers, the less you need to drive them. The further away you are requires more juice, and there are some amplifiers out there that just start to lose it once you near the 12 o'clock position. The size of room is important, because the system isn't just filling the gap between you and the speakers, it's having to fill the whole room. Notice how different your system sounds with the door open compared to it fully closed.....
Finally can you comment on the Cyrus 6 cdse + the equivalent amp . Is it the same kind of sound as Naim . I have some PMC DB 1's which need a system and while I could get something cheap and cheerful like the Nad 326 bee and Nad 545 cd or the Cambridge audio 650 A and C , I wonder if the PMC 's deserve better or am I being too hard on the CA and NAD.Naim and Cyrus are quite different, and even Cyrus is different when you compare their integrated amplifiers to their pre/powers. Cyrus integrated amplifiers tend to have a leaner sound than the Naim (and their own pre/powers), which will suit some rooms/music/speakers, but not others. It's all personal preference. I feel KEF Reference goes with Naim better than it does Cyrus, but quite a few people have chosen Cyrus pre/powers with them because they prefer that presentation. Horses for courses.
I know people tend to think that little speakers don't need much in the way of amplification, but they tend to be the least sensitive out of their entire range. Generally, my rule of thumb is to spend more on the amp than the speakers. The speakers can only sound as good as the amplifier lets them - the amp has to have total control over the speaker otherwise you're not getting what was intended. This rule will be affected by the price point it's applied to, so it's not a blanket recommendation.
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