How well would the Focal JM Labs 907 Electra BE bookshelf speaker or Micro Utopia BE work with the new 5 series from Naim?

I have tried the Chorus S 707 bookshelf and like the sound I am getting.

Is the 5 series high enough quality to use with the above speakers?

I noticed high frequency hiss coming out of the speakers even with volume completely off. Is this normal? You have to be within 1 ft of the speakers to hear this noise.

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Originally posted by miatadan:
How well would the Focal JM Labs 907 Electra BE bookshelf speaker or Micro Utopia BE work with the new 5 series from Naim?

I have tried the Chorus S 707 bookshelf and like the sound I am getting.

Is the 5 series high enough quality to use with the above speakers?

I noticed high frequency hiss coming out of the speakers even with volume completely off. Is this normal? You have to be within 1 ft of the speakers to hear this noise.

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I've not heard the Focal JM Labs speakers you mention with Naim, so what I'm about to type should be taken with a big grain of salt.

The speakers you mention strike me as rather expensive speakers to mate with Naim's Series 5 components, as good as those components are for the money. Before you spend that type of money on speakers, you should invest more heavily in your source and amplification (particularly your preamp). You probably should be at the CDX2/202/200 level - or higher - before you go for the speakers mentioned. Demo those speakers with Series 5 gear. Then, ask the dealer to mate the Naim reference series gear with cheaper speakers - I bet you prefer the latter combo.

Good luck with your search. I'll exit now and let folks with direct experience in the speakers you mention take over.

Mike

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I noticed high frequency hiss coming out of the speakers even with volume completely off. Is this normal? You have to be within 1 ft of the speakers to hear this noise.

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Yep, it's normal. All naim amps do it.

I don’t have directly relevant experience of the 5 series with JM labs but have had a one week home dem of micro utopia Be with my CDS3/52/250. I had these as a potential replacement for my Shahinian Arcs. I was essentially looking for a high quality speaker with with less bass and decided to try the utopia Be and SL2. I’ve already decided that MFS had too much bass for my small room. Bear in mind that I’ve only had a brief listen to SL2s at a dealers at present.

A brief summary of the micro’s is, a fantastic speaker with huge amounts of detail resolution, the bass present was of good quality with respect to texture but a little soft. Having had Arcs the lack of deep bass took some adjusting to and is still a barrier against a purchase at present for me unless I can’t find an alternative in my room. The utopias have excellent ability to resolve complex rhythms but perhaps lack a little of the actual rhythmic drive that the SL2s have. Having said that the rhythm that the micros do have sounds extremely natural and unforced and the difference between the micro’s and SL2s in this respect is a personal thing. One area where the micros are outstanding is at the top end, the ability to hear the different texture and decay of cymbals for instance is fantastic.

I think that the micro utopia Be is a good compromise of rhythmic integrity and round earth qualities with the best top end I’ve ever heard. However, whilst I can’t really comment on these with 5 series I suspect that the speakers may outclass those electronics and a better front end would be desirable.

Either way for me speakers are on hold for a while and I’ll be trying an old pair of B&W 601 S3 with a Stampede sub until things settle after baby number 1 arrives next year.

Brendan

Ifound the Chorus range lively but a bit coarse and tiring. The Cobalts were more refined, but not very involving. I sttled on the Electra 906 and I am very happy with the results. If you can go for the 907 or Micro Utopia, they should (I haven't auditioned them) sound really great.

The rest of my kit is CD5/112/150/FC2/NAT05.