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At some point in their lives, every Naim owner goes on a quest for speakers. This quest will either be a pleasant Midsummer Night's Dream or an epoch of Hard Times. It's not enough to hear speakers in a show room. You really need to hear them in your own room; I've found speakers always sound much different at home. For this same reason, always take speaker reviews with a grain of salt (and toss it over your shoulder if you're on a quest of your own). * Speakers that typically sound fab avec Naim are : Neat, Rega, Epos, Linn, Naim, Royd, Spendor and Shahinian. There's no shortage of speakers out there, so have fun with it! Some of the speakers that I've used are in oldstuff.
My personal quest ended with the Neat Mystique. I found them perfectly suited to my tastes and room (and wallet). They compliment the Naim sound to a T. They're bright, forward and when properly placed, have bass that fires at you like bullets- none of that bloomy, pillowy bass that's all the rage. (Damn, I've just caught myself dissecting music into highs, mids and lows again. >>>Smack!<<< Pavlov would not be impressed.) Note the absence of mounting lugs for grilles. Much cleaner looking this way.
Joe Petrik, avid mullet collector, put it better. Many moons ago, Joe spent some time with the Neat Mystique and wrote of his impressions.
"What a fun speaker! That's really the best word to describe them -- you put on a record or CD and just have fun. (Oh yeah, that's why I spend $$$ on hi-fi.) Sure, I've heard speakers with deeper and more tuneful bass (Linn Isobariks), cleaner midrange (Quad '57s), a more detailed or 'tinkly' top end (Royd Sorcerers), better timing (Naim SBL), and more thwack (Tannoy 1200s), but very few speakers in this price range have such a solid and well-balanced mix of strengths.
I'd certainly put them firmly in the flat earth end of the flat earth/round earth continuum, but the Mystiques tend be a little more biased toward musical "flow" than they are to musical "groove." I don't mean imply that the Mystiques are boring - far from it -- only that you're more aware of the music's direction than its temporal structure. I strive to get the best balance between flow and groove, so music is portrayed without overly emphasizing flow (making it sound seamless but lifeless) or overly emphasizing groove (making it sound like a drum machine -- exciting but metronomic). The Mystiques do groove but they are just one step toward the flow end of that very fine line.
For the soundstage freaks, I should note that they do recreate some depth, width and height. Nothing over the top or unnatural -- and no disembodied floating heads -- but you get a bit of that soundstage stuff."
Cheers to Joe Petrik for allowing me to slander his name.
March/02: After adding Mana Soundbases, I feel the groove side of things has surpassed flow, which is fine by me. Click here for more details.
Audax TW025A1 tweeter paired with 6.5 inch driver made to Neat's specifications by Tonegen. Paper or plastic? Paper of course!
Unlike most other designs, Mystiques work better closer together with little toe in as opposed to far apart with sharp toe in. It's easier to get them away from the corners this way, too. Due to their very even bass loading, they prefer close to wall placement. No need to have them 1/3 out into the room. As with any speaker, ensure they're level and don't rock- all 4 spikes must make contact with the floor.
Obligatory ass shot
Aye Cap'n, ports- the work of the Devil. Even so, the Mystique doesn't fart and wheeze like most ported designs. Their only real annoyance is the non-standard spacing of the terminals. Nevertheless, removing the standard Naim plug spacer is supposed to yield sound improvements, so Bob 'n Derek (the brothers Neat) probably know exactly what they're doing!
Bi-wiring
For those with bi-ampable speakers (ie. 4 terminals), this is the best way to hook up if you're a normal person and have only one stereo amp:
Forget about double runs of wire on a Naim amp. Simply attach four plugs onto your single run. Bypassing the jumper that connects the bi-amping terminals will yield worthwhile improvement. Hypocrite that I am, I've yet to do this.
Naim crossover packs & driver tightness
For those with Naim speakers, try loosening the screws that attach the crossover packs. This tweak should improve the sound and it's easy to fix if you don't like it.
Every other year, Naim bass drivers should be tightened to 3.6 nm. Any good hardware store will carry the necessary torque wrench. Tweeters can be tightened with a regular screwdriver, just be careful not to over tighten and crack the faceplate.
Rega Kyte
Got these off E-Bay for 67 GBP. If you find a pair, jump on them. Perfect for a small room and they'll do justice to any rig. They won't do slammin' bass, nor will you be able to crank them up for Oktoberfest, but everything else about Rega Kytes are "just right". These classics are far better than Rega's recent offering.
Custom Neat Elite SE
Steve Kaelin sent in this photo of a pair of customized Neat Elite SE. SE is an abbreviation for Special Ordered Off-Board Crossovers. The custom bit appears to be a pair of Ultimatum woofers the owner had "lying around". Nice wainscoting, too.
*the salt, not the mag. -ed. **No, the mag too. -Mike
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Cheerst to Andy
Weekes for the pic
