good combinations

[alializadeh]

hi, i know that equipement choice is a bit personal and subjective, but if i'm correct, a good matching is very important, and that you can only know by experience.

i made my choices for a amp: naim nait 3 or atoll in50/80 (depends on the speaker)

for the speakers:
chario-silverette-100 + stands italiaans 250 [/list] Quad 11L 440 new[/list] donnet direct 100 belgian company 300
[/list] Xavian Accorda speakers 350 euro
[/list] quadal rondo 200 euro

[/list]
i know the signiture of atoll, neutral without any fuss, naim is a bit bright and full of energy, but from these speakers i have no idea what their signiture is, any thoughts? recommendations?

 

[drummerman]

Never heard of Donnet/Xavian. Quadral's are popular on Europe main land including my home country.

Still, can't tell you how these sound as Quadral's portfolio is prodigious. Of what I read they (Quadral) are erm ... fairly neutral with their higher end products scoring highly even here. It's a sizeable company with good R&D and they make, I believe, everything in-house (even if in-house for the cheaper lines may be somewhere in Shentzen these days). Thats not unusual and Quad do the same.

I quite like the little Quads though I haven't heard the latest versions. I was once endeared with the way they sounded with an un-proportionally expensive Musical Fidelity system. I believe P.J.Comeau has his hands in most of the design process of modern day Quads. Not a bad thing. - He and Karl-Heinz Fink are gifted speaker designers.

Some reviews find them lacking 'drive' but I thought they were just truthful and didn't try to over do things ... and fail in the process as quite a few small speakers do. - You can't cheat physics.

So, not very helpful probably but I could live with the quads. They are also exceptionally nicely made as are, I believe, the quadrals.

Another good, cheap small speaker you may add to your list is Usher's S520. They are not perfect either (what is?) but cover their tracks nicely. They too look classy.

Good luck

regards

 

[tomlinscote]

+1 for the Quads, I have 2 pairs which I use for surround channels but in the past I used a pair for fronts too and they cope with all music. I too used a Musical Fidelity amp which cost 3x the price of the Quads but they didn't let themselves down.

Given the pound to euro exchange rate 440 is not too bad a price

Tommo

 

[matthewpiano]

The Quads are great speakers and thrive on the end of higher quality amplification. They definitely need more than budget Marantz (or Denon, including my own) to show their best, but get the pairing right and they really do provide an honest and unexaggerated musical picture. The affordable amp I've heard them sound best with is the Rotel RA-04SE so I'd expect the current RA10 model to do well too. The Naim Nait 3 powers them really well.

No experience of the other makes you mention though I know Quadral by reputation and have heard good things about their products.

 

[alializadeh]

ok, thanks a lot for the feedback, the naim+ quad combo is indeed not a bad choice, but i can't finf the quad second hand. that's the problem.

however, i extended my list of speakers: any thoughts here?

chario-silverette-100 + stands italiaans
[/list]Phonar moonlight foteEpos m5Focal 715,716,714Triangle titusstudiolab hes b10[/list] Linn indexTotem rainmaker[/list]
any should i pick the atoll o naim to be able to be flexible in my speaker choice?

thanks

 

[drummerman]

however, i extended my list of speakers: any thoughts here?

[/list]

Yes, thats a lot of speakers.

You will start to confuse yourself. Just go and listen to some speakers if you can.

regards

 

[alializadeh]

indeed, the more i esearch and reas all kinds of review, the more confused i get, i know that the key is listening, but you actualy get to know your speakers after 2 or 3 months, so the first impression is always exciting and suprising, but after a while it can change.

many have adviced me to buy second hands that have decent reviews and trie them, and if they don't fit your expectations , sell them and buy another one, untill you find the ultimate one.

the BIG problem here is that i can' decide my amp, (atoll in50, naim nait3), the moment i have that, i can go and trie some speakers. that would be a good plan. but i still am confused about the 2 amps.

naim: lively, just spits the music out, reputation, balanced in bad: 30W, (balanced in), old

atoll: honest company, detailed, crisp, pre out, lot of inputs bad: bad housing (cabinet)

thoughts?

thank you for the frequent feedback