Have your say & ask the experts

Having very young children has necessitated the imperfect positioning of the speakers in my set up.  Whilst at lower volumes and for background listening I like the sound, when on the very rare occasion I can turn the wick up, the sound is swamped by midbass because of the shelf positioning of my Dynaudio Focus 110's.  I have the ports bunged and although this helps, the problem still remains at higher volumes.  Repositioning is not an option and I don't want to change my speakers if I can help it.

 My question is:  Is it worth getting an equalizer(new or preferably 2nd hand) to help with the problem without losing too much quality.  One with the ability to switch off the equalizer and have a straight through signal would be better.  I have little or no knowledge of good ones either in the present or the past, so suggestions would be welcomed.

I am surprised at your choice of amplifier for the Focus 110's and I'd guess it is half the problem, the other being the shelf (and the speaker itself, which isn't exactly short of 'bass'). It's probably irrelevant as you don't mention another amp as an option. I'd perhaps try some dedicated speaker wall brackets, pivoting ones if possible which give you more leeway than the cramped, close to wall position of a speaker sitting on a shelf, which can have other implications than just an awkward bass node.

My first instinct is to say sell the Dynaudios and buy a pair of good (sealed cabinet) speakers that are compatible with wall mounting.

I cannot imagine using your Naim Nait 5i and good speakers with a graphic.

(You could use a computer based equalizer if using your DAC and computer as the primary source but it still makes me shudder to think of it.)

With very young children it is going to be some years until you feel safe with spiked stands and expensive speakers within reach. So it may be time to start auditioning suitable alternatives that sound great on shelves or wallmounts.

Naim N-Sats (with your sub) could be an alternative or ATC SCM7 (need to ask Dave from Frank Harvey Hifi or Rick from Musicraft if those particular sealed cabinets are ok against walls.)

The AVI Neutron V users here might be able to advise if they are ok on wallmounts (the AVI website say they are fine on shelves).

I just cannot bring myself to recommend a graphic equalizer. It does not matter how great the Dynaudios are, if it is going to be years until you can hear them at their best again. You may as well bite the bullet now and get equally good speakers that can live on a wall rather than 'butcher' the sound with a graphic.

Indeed - you may as well go to Comet and get a music centre with as many lights on as you can find as put a graphic equaliser on a Nait5i.

Neither would I agree that Dynaudio & Naim isn't a great combo - mine is fantastic.

And while I'm not trying to tell you how to parent (God forbid I'm woefully inadequate!) - I have Dynaudio Audience 52SEs atop spiked stands and a 20 month old boy who's discovering the joy of destruction - but who's been brought up with a firm 'No...' each time he goes near them and now doesn't bother.. in fact we have an oak cabinet for the hi fi for the same reason and if I leave the door open he actually goes and gently shuts it ! (any other door gets slammed)...

I reckon though the solution has already been given - closed speaker cabinets and decent wall brackets - don't compromise the Naim more than you have to!

Trilobite

You may find something in the home musicians/studio magazines/forums - Behringer is one german-made brand that springs to mind for not very much money; they offer both digital and analogue models. At the other end of the spectrum, there's Lyngdorf and Tact, but they're around the £3000 mark upwards as I recall.

It's easy for those who haven't tried (or needed to try for reasons of practicality) an equaliser to snub the idea, but I have a friend who had a similar problem. He loves the sound of his Bryston 7B monoblocs and PMC IB2 speakers, but the combination just excites the room (and it's a large, dedicated listening room) resulting in (some minor) bass boom. He would've preferred to buy the Bryston pre-amp and DAC to keep that character of sound, but ended up with a Tact 2.2XP to control those resonances. Fed with a Wadia CD player, it hasn't lost too much of the Bryston/PMC sound he loves and the bass is now under control, which is the important point. The trouble is, every equaliser I've heard does lose at least a very small degree of transparency - even at this £5,500 Tact level. In the real world, you'll probably get better results at less cost by changing something else if you possibly can. So it's cost and compromise whatever you do.

That's the trouble with kids - there's never any money left for hi-fi, and what kit there is will be worn, torn and battered to destruction... unless of course, you can sell your good lady the idea of an AV system with a 50" plasma for the kids to watch their cartoons on... then you can hook up your naim/Dynaudio's through the AV receiver's pre-outs for stereo, and you've got full room-correction/graphic equalisation built in as standard. Result, eh? Plenty of advice from naim users doing that over on the Home Cinema forum...

drummerman:

I am surprised at your choice of amplifier for the Focus 110's and I'd guess it is half the problem, the other being the shelf (and the speaker itself, which isn't exactly short of 'bass'). It's probably irrelevant as you don't mention another amp as an option. I'd perhaps try some dedicated speaker wall brackets, pivoting ones if possible which give you more leeway than the cramped, close to wall position of a speaker sitting on a shelf, which can have other implications than just an awkward bass node.

Concur totally - it seems a slightly lop-sided set-up in terms of synergy. The Naim is a very gutsy amp and the speakers share similar traits. And Dynos and walls....Ouch! they're one speaker that deserves positional respect, needing space to breath. As Chebby mentioned, a dedicated wall speaker is the solution - and depending on room size - maybe a change of amp.

roger06:

I guess with some amps you'd get away with an equaliser - but Naim amps don't even have tone controls as they like to keep everything as 'pure' as possible...

How about a decent pair of headphones and headphone amp?  You don't have to worry about speaker positioning, children knocking them over and you can have them almost as loud as you want any time you want.