Ambrose said:
Hooked up the Petite’s last night and had a couple of hours to play and test out.
Speakers are similar size to Motive’s but wider / flatter and bigger woofer, but surprisingly seemed lighter. Need careful handling as no covers which is a pain for me setting up / packing away each time.
Initial impressions were lower level listening were not as impressive as Motive’s, however, the motives are extremely good at low volumes due to their punchy and very dynamic sound signature.
Started to play with setting up on stands with / without risers or bluetac and with different digital interconnects and was feeling a little flat in comparison to Motive’s. The soundstage and levels of details clearly superior and more layers in music with better scale. Whereas the Motive’s are a bit more one dimensional (not what I originally thought) the Petite’s present a rock solid soundstage with greater separation. Reminds me a little of the soundstage when I demoed the Linn Silver interconnect, very tangible and in control.
Took a while to get stand/speaker setup right and don’t know if it took some time to adjust to new speakers or gear to warm up from cold or seemed more like when I changed from using risers to very small blobs of bluetac, but by the end of the evening things started to really sound sublime and the foot tapping started again testing lots of tracks to see if anything new jumped out.
So far I would suggest the Petites are lively (as opposed to bouncy Motive’s), super fast with spot on timing, much more resolving than Motive’s and I think a little fuller with greater scale. The Motive’s are punchier and more dynamic with the Nait 5i I am using and although I suspect an XS would deliver more the Nait 5i seems perfectly up to the job which is good news!!!
The Motive’s probably sound more exciting and don’t seem that much less lightweight sounding overall than Petite’s. The Petite’s are really drawing me into the music however.
Be interesting to see how I evaluate after next few days.
Ambrose
Hmm Petite SX speakers… starting to have doubts L
Although clearly better speakers in resolution, speed, scale and soundstage and with a slightly fuller sound I can’t help feeling it is not balanced in my setup like with the Motive’s. Few thoughts:
Not as good at low volumes (quite important to me)
Although lively sounding and fairly punchy, the Motive’s are still better, perhaps in part that the AMP is able to get more out of Motives than Petite’s? Even at Shop the Motive’s (played through Nait XS and new CD5si were not as dynamically bouncy, give you as much change in volume between quieter / louder parts of music and hence not as punchy / exciting to my ears as the Motive’s. I guess the Petites a more balanced speaker and being very able speakers would suit a much higher end rig?
Am finding a little harder on the ear listening, whereas the Motives I can listen all day to anything and enjoy at some level. I guess because the Petites are a lot more insightful / revealing and Nait 5i might not be the best match long term.
I have been doing some listening just to Petite’s last 3 nights trying to adjust to them and thought at end of last night I would swap back Motive’s and it just worked better / sounded more emotionally involving.
Will listen some more but think they might disturb a very well balanced system. My second thought after listening to Motive’s again was that these are wonderful and still detailed speakers and maybe match
me better than the Petite’s? When listening to The Who “behind blue eyes” it just stirs my emotions and the vocals encompass you. I think this may have helped quash the tweak / upgradeitis and to enjoy the music.
Hmmm, think I have made up my mind but will have to make sure as possibly won’t have such an opportunity to own Petite’s as I have now again. A shame if so as wanted to be like the Motive’s + extra but are in fact a little different.
Might be another story if the rest of electronics were significantly upgraded but that’s only likely over a longer period of time.
Opinions welcomed.
Well an update after some time. I am now running Naim CD5XS CD player and decided to try some Petite SX speakers again, buying of a well known site for £450 (were B grade - but not noticeable).
Had a few months and still have Motive 3's as well. I did hear new Motive SX at dealer and preferred the 3's.
I am now starting to appreciate the Petite SX having had the chance to listen for longer and importantly find the best positioning (which is alot harder than the Motive's). Quite a lot of original opinions remain the same but I have become more familar now and switching back to Motive's I get an initial feeling how they are better at entertaining and better at lower volume, but after an hour, the feeling of missing something.
I believe the Petite's will stay and am now looking to add Naim DAC to CD5XS or maybe look at Supernait Mk1 as alot of development was apparently done on these. I have heard nether however to date
There are a few Naim Forum members who run high end sources with Petite's and they seem to deliver with such as capable as they are.
The petite's are a special speaker and given patience are worth the investment!
Ambrose
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