HiFi Subjectivist ¦ Audio Forum ¦ NVA User Group

I have a big birthday coming up later in the year and I think a new system is in order. I currently have a budget integrated amp running a tuner, cd player, tv and turntable, with 2 headphone out.

I know if I get the pre-power combo I need the speaker cables and I would also like a NVA interconnect to go from pre to power.

I am guessing I will have to drop one of the headphone.

My main question however is speakers! I have a budget which probably doesn't stretch to new speakers however I am quite happy with what I have with my old set up. So what speakers are best suited to that pre power set up? I currently use bookshelf speakers (Mordaunt Short Aviano 1 XR.... will the amp power these okay?) I would like to get some better speakers in the future but I think to get this set up I will have to use my current speakers for the the immediate future.

Which speakers are recommended for this pre-power setup? Bookshelf preferably under £650 and Floorstanders for the same budget.

Appreciate any input and gratefully received.

Don't know those speakers bit just Googled them and they should go nicely with an NVA amp. Certainly to get you up and running.

You could keep the integrated amp for headphone purposes - run an interconnect from the preamp Tape Out to an Aux input on your integrated and you have a headphone amp!

I'll give you a few options:-
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/313583987748 ... c%3D233150
never heard a pair of Revel speakers I didn't like

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/144025912536 ... SwNzlgjRvk pushing your budget to the top

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/274640692330 ... SwARheW~Dy I haven't heard this particular speaker but have heard Golden Ear at a show

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265198304222 ... d#viTabs_0 couldn't find a pair of 600's but these aren't far behind

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/274810066122 ... Sw-wlgrNSZ I thought these would work well with an NVA amplifier

And of course NVA Cubes, if you can get yourself a pair

Build some diy speakers - cube3 copy with an up firing 5.25" mid bass and front firing tweeter.

It can be a very rewarding and soul cleansing experience.

Welcome to the8 forum by the way

Welcome to the forum.

The S80 will work fine with most speakers - for better sound quality, avoid models with very complex crossovers and low impedance profiles. Your Pioneers don't break either of those rules, so I would keep them, initially, while you let the NVA combo settle in.

If you're willing to put in a little time and / or DIY effort then the S80 can do justice to some very good speakers that could be bought / modified within your budget.

Firstly, look at the secondhand market. Most of the speakers you will buy new, at around £600, will be little better than your pioneers. Even if you prefer to stick to modern speakers, then buying secondhand will get you something that originally retailed well over £1000. Remember that a speaker bought at a dealer for around £600 will have around £75 worth of parts.

If you're willing to look at vintage, then any set of NVA Cubes will be a guaranteed synergy, but they don't come up for sale very often. Elsewhere, a well cared for set of Royds will almost certainly be a very nice match (there are enough that come up on ebay to be able to wait for a nice example). Epos and Robin Marshall era Monitor Audio speakers are also a really nice match (my favourite is the MA R352). Others will chip in with lots more, I'm sure.

More exotic, and potentially superb if you have the room, is an original set of Quad ESL57 electrostatics. The NVA circuit was designed with the 57 and the S80 is all you would ever need with them. Make sure they are original spec with no protection circuits / filters added - as that sort of thing can return DC to the amp, which the NVA circuit is not protected against. You can normally find a nice, unmodified set for around £400 - then budget a bit more to have them checked over and serviced. Listening to these will make any modern budget speaker sound like a cornflake box.

Another route that I like with the small NVA amps is a high efficiency design. I've used Klipsch Heresy (wonderful immediacy but a little bass light). Prices are starting to go a bit silly but you might land on an early pair at sensible money. Klipsch Cornwalls will be better, still, if you can find an early tatty pair to restore. Lindsayt will chip in with other ideas for high efficiency designs.

Last, but definitely not least, is to modify a vintage speaker using the 'Doc' modifications - steel lining the cabinet, doping drivers to allow removal of the 'traditional' crossover, using a high quality capacitor / resistor only to protect the tweeter. The benefits are dramatic. Lots of info on the forum about how to do it (search 'Doc Mods') and several here have already done it and will be very happy to help. Prime candidates for Doc Mods are larger driver speakers from the 1960s / 1970s such as the Goodmans Magnum and the Wharfedale Dovedale...but nothing to stop you doing the same with a more modern speaker.

Hope this helps.

To add to the doc mod route I could not diy the steel so I used ceramic tile- easier to work with.

You haven't said you are inclined or able to do DIY.

If your not I would check out infinite baffle preferably with no xover on mid/bass eg epos. Es14.(strictly speaking they have a port but it can and should be blocked), royd speakers and vintage b&o ,ar speakers

All speakers before 1980 had 1st order crossovers and were invariably infinite baffle, which tells you all you need to know and lucky for you , they can be had for tens of pounds on eBay

You'll frighten Vertigo away, all that talk of making your own speakers, buying some old tat and then tarting em up, you'll be drawing diagrams and listing all the tools he'll need just to get started
Do like Savvypaul's recommendations of of Quad 57's and Hersey's though

I prefer EV to Klipsch.

Klipsch used to use EV drivers in their speakers. But in Klipsch's top of the range Klipschorn they didn't use the top of the range EV tweeters. There are EV speakers that use top of the range EV tweeters. They have good treble.

Plus, the Klipschorn is a great idea. To use the corner of the room as an extension to the speaker cabinet. But Klipschorns are not big enough to get a speaker with reasonable bass extension and reasonable tonal balance. EV made a corner horn that was big enough to achieve both.

OK, I'm an EV snob when it comes to Klipsch. Guilty as charged.

Altec also made some great drivers and therefore speakers in their heyday. With Urei making some Altec 604 variants that can be picked up for reasonable money.

If you live in or visit the States, it's easy to get great deals on classic high efficiency speakers. In the UK it's a lot more difficult to get them.

One huge downside to high efficiency speakers is that you are looking at huge woofers in order to keep the efficiency and bass extension respectable. And for this reason alone, high efficiency speakers are academic to most people in the UK. Because they don't like the wide baffle look of speakers with huge woofers. Even though a full sized corner horn or an Altec 604 intrude less into the room than many a pair of tiny modern rear ported speakers.

From about 2008 to 2014 I went through a phase where I bought Bozak Symphonies for £500, EV Sentries for £415 plus about £80 in parts to repair them, Sansui SP5500's for £220. They are all nice speakers for the money. And they are all amplifier friendly.

If they all got nicked tomorrow, I'd DIY some Frankenstein speakers. Cherry picked body parts from various dead speakers stitched together into a couple of monsters.

Please do not take this as recommendations for specific speakers. It's more a case of looking out for great deals. And having an open mind. Classic EV, Altec, JBL, Urei, Bozak, Quad 'statics - look out for deals on any or all of them.

And on a somewhat pedantic note, most of my 1960's to 1970's speakers have 3rd order crossovers in them. And 3 of them have ports - which is reflected in a lack of bass quality around the port region.

antonio66 wrote: ↑Sat Jul 24, 2021 1:44 pm You'll frighten Vertigo away, all that talk of making your own speakers, buying some old tat and then tarting em up, you'll be drawing diagrams and listing all the tools he'll need just to get started

Damn right Dave.

Who ever suggested doing diy needs their pants pulling down, bending over and their lily white ass spanked by every member of High Farming Society. You go first Dave