Naim/Quad bass!!

[admin_exported]

current system is Nait 5i, CD5X, Quad 22L, Naim din interconnect and Nac5 speaker cable.
I have had the system for the past two years and it has been wonderful - I like a warm, defined sound with plenty of bass.
But I have had to move and the listening room is smaller (5m x 3.5m) with minimal furnishings, patio doors and wood floor (with rug). Also speakers are 150mm from the wall.
Now i have a system that swamps with bass, anything near loud (9 o'clock) means all definition of the base is gone.
Anyone with any ideas of how I could modify etc. to gain back my wonderful sound??

 

[Andrew Everard]

Sounds like a classic case of standing waves and too much reflection to us. MRJ. You could try plugging the 22Ls rear ports with some low-density foam - Quad or a local dealer may be able to advise on something suitable, but you could get a rough idea of whether this will help by rolling up two socks and putting one into each port. Yes, we really are advising you put a sock in it!

The other alternatives are more damping in the room - bookcases on the side and rear walls or anything that breaks up the flat surfaces or more soft furnishings. Try standing in the middle of the room and clapping your hands once. If you hear a pronounced echo, the room is simply too live, and some more damping will be needed.

You could also try running a CD with some frequency sweeps on it, to see which low frequencies are louder than the rest - these are the resonant frequencies in the room, and the ones you need to tackle with extra damping to improve the sound. Assuming you have a computer with a CD writer you can download a test CD from here and burn it to CD for just this purpose.

The extreme solution will be to go for some smaller speakers with less bass extension, but we're fairly confident some of these tips should help you calm things down a bit.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Andrew

Seems like a very good advice, I wonder you can advice me on choosing a compatible speaker for Naim systems

• 
  NAC 122x Pre Amp
• 
  NAP 150x Power Amp
• 
  CD5x

I have auditioned Neat Motive 3, considering Monitor Audio RS8....

Currently used in room size 3.5m x 12.0m lounge with my old KEF Cresta 3 speaker - I would apreciate your views.......

 

[Andrew Everard]

RS8 yes worth trying. PMC GB1 certainly very worth a go, or how about Naim Arrivas, which would seem the logical choice?

 

[Anonymous]

Hello Andrew,

many thanks for the advice, I will be following it shortly. the download seems very interesting. Hopefully I will not need to raid the piggy bank as my other half has really got used to the Quads as a piece of furniture now (it has taken nearly the whole two years 'look how big they are!!!!!!')

 

[Andrew Everard]

[quote user="MRJ"]

my other half has really got used to the Quads as a piece of furniture now (it has taken nearly the whole two years 'look how big they are!!!!!!')

[/quote]

Makes me feel lucky to have a signifcant other who, when I set up my current PMC OB1 floorstanders, said 'oh, they're quite small, aren't they?'

Mind you, she's also the reason we now have a 50in plasma screen in the room, as she refused to go back to a smaller screen when it was time for it to go be returned after review!