Recommendations for floor standing speakers to pair with a Naim Nait 5 Si

[rbraithwaite]

Hi folks,

After some advice.

My system consists of the following:

Naim Nait 5 Si (2018)
Yamaha RX-A870 AV amp driving centre, sub and rear with front L+R pass through to Naim
B&W CDM1-NT L+R (early 2000's, on official stands)
B&W HDM2 centre (mid 2000's)
Roth subwoofer (cheap replacement for a B&W PV1 that went kaput)
B&W M1 rears (on official stands)
Chord Mojo fed from iPhone/iPad for Spotify/Tidal/.AAC HD audio library, connected directly into the Naim via analogue cable
Rega Planar 1 (Record Store Day edition) + Rega MM Mk3 phono amp (pending Goldring E3 cartridge arrival)
Sony X800 UHD Blu-Ray player

Our room is 20x15ft with the speakers firing across the shorter width.

The CDM1-NT's were bought for a much smaller room and they need a lot of volume to "wake up" and even then lack deep/solid bass and sound too "bright" for me. Interestingly they sound more "musical" via the Rega than the Chord which is a bit odd as I know how great the Chord sounds through headphones (and even on my office/study's "cheap" Denon CEOL N9 driving Q Acoustics 3020i's)

I can only assume my amp/speakers are not well matched. The Nait is definitely "forward" and I'm guessing the metal dome B&W's are too, so 2+2 = 5 or something.

So I'm looking to replace the CDM1's for something floor standing to improve the bass depth and something a little more restrained in the treble area but that will still come alive at lower volumes too, so I don't get complaints from the family

Nothing too pricey, I was thinking about the Dali Oberon 5's (+ will likely replace the centre with the Oberon equivalent). I also have a friend with some old Castle Chester's that I'll try when lockdown is lifted.

Any view on what would achieve the desired effect? Or other options?

Thanks in advance!

 

[SpursGator]

So funny, I too had a B&W PV1 (actually a PV1D) that went kaput - in my case less than a year after buying. I was living in France, and had a hard time getting it serviced, and then suddenly had to move back to the US and it's still sitting in a box in my garage. It still plays, but the little electronic screen will not display anything so it can't be tuned. After less than a year!

It's probably a loose connection that could easily be repaired, but the French dealer was unhelpful, and now I'm in a different country and it's been five years and I don't have the bandwidth. Lord only knows where to get it serviced or how much it will cost to open up and repair a multi-grand-costing sealed plastic basketball that cost thousands. What a waste of money. It was a little technological marvel, but was much better with home cinema than music. I should get it repaired!

As for your actual question, ProAc and Naim love each other. ProAcs might be too pricey but have a listen. They have the additional advantage of being great at low volumes, an under-appreciated trait in speakers!

 

[Deleted member 116933]

Hi folks,

After some advice.

My system consists of the following:

Naim Nait 5 Si (2018)
Yamaha RX-A870 AV amp driving centre, sub and rear with front L+R pass through to Naim
B&W CDM1-NT L+R (early 2000's, on official stands)
B&W HDM2 centre (mid 2000's)
Roth subwoofer (cheap replacement for a B&W PV1 that went kaput)
B&W M1 rears (on official stands)
Chord Mojo fed from iPhone/iPad for Spotify/Tidal/.AAC HD audio library, connected directly into the Naim via analogue cable
Rega Planar 1 (Record Store Day edition) + Rega MM Mk3 phono amp (pending Goldring E3 cartridge arrival)
Sony X800 UHD Blu-Ray player

Our room is 20x15ft with the speakers firing across the shorter width.

The CDM1-NT's were bought for a much smaller room and they need a lot of volume to "wake up" and even then lack deep/solid bass and sound too "bright" for me. Interestingly they sound more "musical" via the Rega than the Chord which is a bit odd as I know how great the Chord sounds through headphones (and even on my office/study's "cheap" Denon CEOL N9 driving Q Acoustics 3020i's)

I can only assume my amp/speakers are not well matched. The Nait is definitely "forward" and I'm guessing the metal dome B&W's are too, so 2+2 = 5 or something.

So I'm looking to replace the CDM1's for something floor standing to improve the bass depth and something a little more restrained in the treble area but that will still come alive at lower volumes too, so I don't get complaints from the family

Nothing too pricey, I was thinking about the Dali Oberon 5's (+ will likely replace the centre with the Oberon equivalent). I also have a friend with some old Castle Chester's that I'll try when lockdown is lifted.

Any view on what would achieve the desired effect? Or other options?

Thanks in advance!

I wouldn’t call naim forward at all if anything the brand is pretty smooth and needs a speaker to liven it up a bit. And I’ve use a lot of metal dome tweeters with naim in the past. Soft domes can be just as “bright” and actually I find b and w a good match. Tbh it will have more to do with placement and the room.

If your not adverse to second hand I’d look for some naim intros. Full well within your budget just a bit of patients for them to come up.

or if new perhaps add q acoustics to the list

if you can push the budget Revel is a really good starting place as well. In fact revel blends with naim really well.