What are the gains and losses going from Ariva's to Allae's on a 202/ 200 within a 6m x 4.5 m room? Quite a bit of info in the search function found, but I am keen to know forum wisdom on pluses and minus.

Thanks

Don

there are only pluses in my experience. I have not had Arriva's as a couple of dealers I have used over the years said the Intro II's I had some years back where better than Arriva's so never went down the Arriva route. I currentley have Allea's (had other speakers in between Intro's and Allae's) and from memory they blow the Intro's out of the water in every respect, and I enjoyed the Intro's for many years. I am not saying thre Intro and Arriva is a bad speaker, I am saying the Allae is a great speaker and I don't think you will be dissapointed in any way if you get some.
Steve

Not exactly the comparison your after, but a while ago I got the chance to compare Credos to Allae's on the end of a CDX2, 202/Hicap/200 and the Allae's were much better. One of the best sounding speakers I have heard to be honest.

Those in-house drive units are a force to be reckoned with!

Steve

I can't really do the comparisons, but I would urge you to audition Allaes at home - to me they are truly great speakers.

Arivas are very nice speakers indeed so it seems a bit churlish to break down their performance against the Allaes. The Ariva is the first implementation I've heard which is relatively successful at implementing the 2.5-way principle.

However, the Allae brings quite a bit more to the party which delineates the difference that the multi-box approach for which Naim speakers are famous/notorious. The fundamental differences to me are a stronger sense of presence, an immediacy and 'slam' which eludes the Ariva, a bigger, better sense of scale all allied to better resolution and pace. It's a testament to using an 8" driver instead of two 6.25" drivers.

The only place where the Ariva betters the Allae is when both sets of speakers are cold. A pair of cold Arivas will always sound a bit warmer and listenable. A pair of cold Allaes can literally sound cold and uninviting if not setup well. So you need to spend a bit more time with Allaes to get the magic they can produce, but once you hit that spot, they're in a different league.

For your setup Don, I would without reservation recommend the Allaes...

I also run Ariva's, but on a Supernait at home and have had the Allaes home for a listen as well...I must admit that when I went back to the Ariva I realised there were some things they did that I kinda felt grooved a little better but overall the Allaes will find a home with me as soon as I move the Arivas on to a deserving home.. ;-)

I think you would be well served with the Allaes, particularly as they will sit better with future Naim amplification upgrades.

PS: Love Subaru's Too...

quote:

PS: Love Subaru's Too...

Can't get them in my listening room - aren't they a bit noisy though?

Don, i cant help with this, but i am also considering moving to allaes but from dynaudio contour 1.8. i would like to hear them but currently am listening to advice on here first.
jon

quote:

I also run Ariva's
PS: Love Subaru's Too...

And apostrophes in plurals it would seem...

I was all set on getting Arivas for fronts in my AV set-up, but listened to Allaes as a check. The others above are right, they are in a different league. An ex-dem pair was not much more expensive than the Arivas' list price, and well worth it.

Neil

PureHiFi,

One area where Allaes leave Arivas in the dust is actually in the groove and rhythm department. If you feel that your Arivas outplayed them (however slightly) in this regard then something to do with the Allae setup is amiss. I have had this happen to me on several occasions where I just could not get them sounding right for ages until all of a sudden it just 'came together'. On other occasions they would work brilliantly fom the get-go. Same pair of speakers, different demo scenarios. Weird but eventually they always outplay the Arivas in every department.

I've got so used to them and enjoy listening to them so much in the shop that I almost want a pair at home! But then I think of SL2s...

Only plusses Don. Allaes are in another league in terms of resolution and bass control.

I think they also look a lot more attractive than Arivas.

A free upgrade tweak for Allaes, if it's practical for you to do so, is to unscrew the cross-overs from the cabibets and let them dangle.

Use a small block of foam or packing material on the top edge of the x-over to support it away from the cabinet.



You'll be amazed at the improvement in overall clarity.

John.