Courtesy of Richard Dunn I had on home demo: NVA Cube2 speakers [£1000], NVA AP50 integrated [£700], NVA LS6 speaker cables [£300]
I’ve tried them in two different rooms on a Soundstyle Z1 stands
1st - 6m x 3m living room, regularly furnished, brick walls, suspended wooden floor, I’ve spend about 8 hrs moving the speakers and listening
2nd - 3m x 3,5m bedroom, after a dinner break I moved to the bedroom with nva’s trying to find sweet spot…rather empty space, two laundry dryers, ironing board, toys.. In both scenarios and moving the speakers a lot [ as per Richard Dunn instructions] in order to get them right the bass is uncontrolled, slow, all over the place, spoils the midrange and ruin vocals badly…there’s this nasty nasal layer over vocals something you notice immediately if you’ve ever spend some time with quality monitors… the midrange is recessed, stereo image average.. sound changes as I walk the room.. the Cubes are not producing balanced sound. Put some bass heavy music and it feels like 6,5 inch mid/bass driver wants to cover sub bass too but instead there’s undefined rumble far from tuneful, controlled or agile.. in fact, the bass is wrong to the point where stops me from any serious listening and further comments regarding sound quality.I think I can exclude possibility of bad positioning as in both rooms I moved the cubes a lot; I’ve started close to back wall [as close as the speaker cable allowed] and away from corners and moved them further away until I ended up almost in the middle of the room… you can read on NVA website: ‘ designed as semi omni to integrate with the room acoustic instead fighting it the way normal speakers do’ [ there’s no crossover and single capacitor as the low frequency protection].. I must say I did not experienced supposedly positive integration with the room acoustics as per manufacturer claim… no matter where I’ve placed them the bass was wild and abandoned. Yamaha HS8 [good for house parties, dance music or as an outdoor speaker as I’ve also used them] was most bassy speaker I had and still more precise and with ‘room control’ switches at the back I could reduce bass output if needed. You’re left on your own with Cubes if bass won’t integrate with your room as you can’t reduce the excess of it. I appreciate there are NVA customers out there in love with the products; they may all have ‘better' rooms, different taste and simply love this sort of sound. My reference for tuneful, controlled and agile bass from a 6,5 inch mid/bass driver is set by AVI DM10..
this is not ‘child friendly’ [ note the brackets; for the record: anything can be/ cannot be child friendly but if I have a choice and kid running around I think twice and I choose wisely] system; due to material used corners of Cubes and amp are sharp [something I notice straight away while unpacking components]; while I wouldn’t mind NVA amp sharp corners [as this component is often on the rack] I do mind speakers sharp corners… also, glossy & acrylic isn’t my first choice when deciding on speakers finish.
cables are very stiff so can’t hide them easily or push hifi unit right against the wall because of the inflexible cables hanging at the back;
no remote control is a massive minus for me.
NVA £2000 system seems a very poor value and bag of problems this system possess makes a big no-no for me. I can’t see myself enjoying NVA’s...
I don’t even try to compare NVA to AVI DM10 as both systems are on antipodes of decent sound reproduction..
I need to remind and warn anyone: if you ever sending any equipment using courier service don’t forget to take photos while packing and just before the actual package leaves your premises. I forgot and the next person that received the loan equipment [3 boxes: 2 with the speakers and 1 with the amp] blamed me for no protection or care at all with the amp and cables as the 'box was soaking wet on the underneath and ripped/ damaged in one corner with one speaker cable sticking out of the box. The amplifier itself was wet/ condensation on the underside, marked up mess, no bubble wrap, not cleaned’.. also, the amp was missing 2 of its feet.
I admit, did not polish Cubes or amp before packing and neither I’ve received polished. I’ve put bubble wrap and cables around the amp same way I’ve received them. The boxes were dry and not damaged when leaving my house.
I’ve tried them in two different rooms on a Soundstyle Z1 stands
1st - 6m x 3m living room, regularly furnished, brick walls, suspended wooden floor, I’ve spend about 8 hrs moving the speakers and listening
2nd - 3m x 3,5m bedroom, after a dinner break I moved to the bedroom with nva’s trying to find sweet spot…rather empty space, two laundry dryers, ironing board, toys.. In both scenarios and moving the speakers a lot [ as per Richard Dunn instructions] in order to get them right the bass is uncontrolled, slow, all over the place, spoils the midrange and ruin vocals badly…there’s this nasty nasal layer over vocals something you notice immediately if you’ve ever spend some time with quality monitors… the midrange is recessed, stereo image average.. sound changes as I walk the room.. the Cubes are not producing balanced sound. Put some bass heavy music and it feels like 6,5 inch mid/bass driver wants to cover sub bass too but instead there’s undefined rumble far from tuneful, controlled or agile.. in fact, the bass is wrong to the point where stops me from any serious listening and further comments regarding sound quality.I think I can exclude possibility of bad positioning as in both rooms I moved the cubes a lot; I’ve started close to back wall [as close as the speaker cable allowed] and away from corners and moved them further away until I ended up almost in the middle of the room… you can read on NVA website: ‘ designed as semi omni to integrate with the room acoustic instead fighting it the way normal speakers do’ [ there’s no crossover and single capacitor as the low frequency protection].. I must say I did not experienced supposedly positive integration with the room acoustics as per manufacturer claim… no matter where I’ve placed them the bass was wild and abandoned. Yamaha HS8 [good for house parties, dance music or as an outdoor speaker as I’ve also used them] was most bassy speaker I had and still more precise and with ‘room control’ switches at the back I could reduce bass output if needed. You’re left on your own with Cubes if bass won’t integrate with your room as you can’t reduce the excess of it. I appreciate there are NVA customers out there in love with the products; they may all have ‘better' rooms, different taste and simply love this sort of sound. My reference for tuneful, controlled and agile bass from a 6,5 inch mid/bass driver is set by AVI DM10..
this is not ‘child friendly’ [ note the brackets; for the record: anything can be/ cannot be child friendly but if I have a choice and kid running around I think twice and I choose wisely] system; due to material used corners of Cubes and amp are sharp [something I notice straight away while unpacking components]; while I wouldn’t mind NVA amp sharp corners [as this component is often on the rack] I do mind speakers sharp corners… also, glossy & acrylic isn’t my first choice when deciding on speakers finish.
cables are very stiff so can’t hide them easily or push hifi unit right against the wall because of the inflexible cables hanging at the back;
no remote control is a massive minus for me.
NVA £2000 system seems a very poor value and bag of problems this system possess makes a big no-no for me. I can’t see myself enjoying NVA’s...
I don’t even try to compare NVA to AVI DM10 as both systems are on antipodes of decent sound reproduction..
I need to remind and warn anyone: if you ever sending any equipment using courier service don’t forget to take photos while packing and just before the actual package leaves your premises. I forgot and the next person that received the loan equipment [3 boxes: 2 with the speakers and 1 with the amp] blamed me for no protection or care at all with the amp and cables as the 'box was soaking wet on the underneath and ripped/ damaged in one corner with one speaker cable sticking out of the box. The amplifier itself was wet/ condensation on the underside, marked up mess, no bubble wrap, not cleaned’.. also, the amp was missing 2 of its feet.
I admit, did not polish Cubes or amp before packing and neither I’ve received polished. I’ve put bubble wrap and cables around the amp same way I’ve received them. The boxes were dry and not damaged when leaving my house.
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