HiFi Subjectivist ¦ Audio Forum ¦ NVA User Group

In the 4 years or so since I moved to NVA amplifiers cables and the Cubes I have had a chance to listen to a fair amount of other systems. To be perfectly honest most put me to sleep. Tuned to kill dynamics that should be there in the music and not anywhere near what instruments really sound like. NVA gets you closer to the truth every time.

I don't get to hear many different speakers, only the four pairs I owns so can't make the comparisons you have Chunk. I never ever get bored listening to the semi omni ones that use the doped drivers and no filters.

The essence of music shines through I feel. Timing and dynamics are extremely important aspects that enable me enjoy the music. Even when you use a first order filter on the mid bass the cut off slope is so shallow that you end up hearing some of the nasty cone break up modes higher up (kevlar and metal cones the worst for this). So most manufacturers end up putting music killing higher order filters in to make the cut off slope a lot steeper and the break up much less audible or out of band altogether.

I feel the dope has a lot going for it. I have listened to fresh kevlar drivers doped at several stages and the transformation was remarkable. As they are up firing you can dope them without moving the speaker as long as it is level. I even listened when they were still wet

Glad you are still enjoying your Cube 2's

Cubes are probably my biggest hifi WOW experience, the music taking on a new dimension with a sense of realism with a sound stage which was not there before. Previously I was obtaining a better musical experience through quality head phones. Because of their transparity the upgrades and tweeks I have made since have all resulted in benefits to a greater or lesser extent. I am sure many, particulary the digital tweeks, would be masked by less open conventional point and squirt speakers. The only speakers I have heard since are 3.5K WAF Spendors. It was not a pleasant experience.

Still loving my Cube2's and feel no desire to try anything else.

Hearing NVA Cubes back in the 80's changed the way I experienced hifi reproduction, although it took me 30 years to get a set of my own.

Magnepan panel speakers nearly had me hooked with their very special 2D imaging capability. But they lacked 'life' and punch. And my old warhorse Arcam One's have a glorious, rich, involving tonality but aren't too hot on imaging or precision detail.

Was messing around with my smartphone and installed a Spirit Level app for fun. Looking for something to try it out on, I thought I would check the Cube2's.

To my horror I found that both were leaning forward, rhe right one more than the left. That's what you get with wooden flooring in a 300-year-old farmhouse.

Using the Level app and a strip of wood for one side, now both speakers are levelled out and it has made a subtle improvement to the cohesion of the soundfield and widened the soundstage.

I have gone even further, my Cubix came with an early version of Richards quite complex Cubix stands ( 10 sections of heavy plate steel and 1 section of square steel tubing). I have subsequently had them powder coated and the 6mm spikes drilled out and replaced with longer 10mm spikes so I can angle my Cubix upwards by approximately 5° The difference in the presentation between level and slightly upwards is noticeably better.

I agree with CN, although NVA amps are good, the Cubes are the highlight of the NVA range Simply stunning

Maybe depending on how far you have the speakers from the front wall. Angling the speakers slightly gives a different reflection angle thus a different sound. I have found the cubes a speaker that changes it's presentation with the slightest of position change. At the moment mine are dead level about 2" from the wall toed in so I can just see the side of the speakers nearest the middle from my listening position. The stereo effect is incredible the music does not seem to be coming from the Cubes at all but from a large 3D sounstage the full width of the room on the speaker plane. I once suggested trying tilting the speakers back but the Doc was dead against the idea. I like to mess around with placement though and have found the slightest tweaks of the Cubes give different presentations of the music. All very good but just different.

I also have my subwoofers sitting on the floor just inside each speaker. The overall sound is breathtakingly real for a speaker system. Subwoofers with Cubes is highly recommended and were so easy to integrate. Didn't have any problems that the people with point and squirt speakers seem to have with integration. The twin stereo subs give a sense of body and dimentionality to the music without bringing any attention to themselves. You don't even notice them doing their thing until you switch them off.

Was toying with the idea of making up a spacer piece to sit on top of my subs to place the Cubes on and have them at the height they currently are on their own stands. Think I might prefer having them as they are though. Being independent of each other gives more options in placement of the Cubes. Although the cubes sitting atop a pillar of nice walnut suitably dampened and of the same dimensions would look the dogs bollocks.