Considering a move to Exposure or Naim

Hi folks, thanks for the replies. I will be running a pair of Monitor Audio RS5 speakers. Long term they will move to HT, but for now they will be the stereo speaker.

A bit of history...the RS5 are new and I've barely listened to them. I plan to do that now to see how they alter the sound. Most of my listening thus far has been through Tannoy Mercury F2 and Wharfedale Evo2-10. The Tannoys rocked pretty good when used with an old system (a Denon mini-system) in the same room. Much less power and refinement obviously, but I guess for whatever reason it let rock come out in a way that made sense.

Of course the Tannoy are way outclassed when matched with Rega/YBA, but to me that should mean that I should be getting everything out of the F2 that there possibly is. If this system could rock then the F2 should rock the way it did before.

So this has lead me to where I am now, considering a change of electronics. The RS5 just happens to have happened at the same time. I saw a great deal and grabbed it, in large part because I do not enjoy the Wharfedale, which itself was supposed to be an upgrade to the Tannoys. I hope everyone follows what I am saying!

I really love the Saturn. It's such a sweet and elegant player. I could hear the improvement in sound immediately over my old player (a Marantz universal). I am loathe to get rid of the Saturn, but on the other hand it may improve overall system synergy to do so even if the Saturn is the better player.

Now there has also been a change of plan. I really wanted to try Naim and to like it, but the dealer I was going through let's just say is not the most customer focused guy. I am going through another dealer now, one that I've dealt with in the past who is an awesome guy and who I'd rather deal with. This dealer opened up as an option since coincidentally I found out that he just added the Exposure line and will get the new 2010s (version 2) in, probably today. He also carries Creek. I should be able to compare the two.

The thing with Naim, that the first dealer had made me aware of, is that it has no pre-out or sub-out. I do run a sub and would like to use it. I could do so with speaker cable to the sub I guess, but I also just bought some subwoofer cable earlier this year to use with the sub. Seems a silly reason to not consider Naim perhaps, but this is going to involve more work when I was hoping to have things finalized in the next few days. So Naim is on the back burner...I think I will demo Exposure and Creek. If I don't like either then I may re-consider Naim. If I like Exposure or Creek then I feel I will buy one of them. Whether I just buy the amp and continue to use the Saturn I guess I will see.

Does anyone here feel there is something to be said for synergy, obtained by using the same brand? If we agree that different components sound different, and that different companies build their gear to sound a certain way, then aren't you messing with that sound by combining different brands? How can you expect to get the sonic signature that Rega puts into the Saturn if you combine it with Creek or Exposure? Whereas, if you used the 2010s amp and CDP together, you should be assured that you are getting exactly what Exposure wants to come out. This seems logical to me but I know many will disagree!

And I apologize for the long post.

I understand your liking of the Tannoy F2's as I have the F1's and the MX1-1m's. These are great sounding spks. I disagree w/your statement that the Saturn and YBA outclasses the Tannoy's. I've listened to the Monitor Audio's for about 3 hrs while waiting for a car audio install. They were powered by Parasound seperates and they sounded excellent. I was impressed. I take it that you've listened the MA w/your Saturn and YBA? I'm assuming you found the sound not to your liking. I have a feeling you'll need a warm, powerful amp to bring out the best from these spks. Good Luck!

Well the Tannoy is a $300 speaker, while the Saturn costs 10x as much. The YBA about 5x more. So it should be outclassed on that basis alone. They are a great speaker though, the best entry level speaker that I know of (not that I've listened to tons of them).

I haven't listened to the MA with the Saturn and YBA all that much. The YBA/Saturn just don't sound all that hot with both the Tannoy and the Wharfedale, prompting me to consider this change. But I am hoping to listen to the MA with YBA/Rega just to see what impact the MA has on the sound.

However, I'm pretty certain I'll change at least the amp. From all I have read online the YBA isn't exactly the most rocking or PRaT-y amp out there. Powerful, refined, smooth, and detailed; great for certain types of music but not rock.

I have not heard the Naim but have had exposure (ha ha) to the Exposure and now have a 2010s. I listened to( in my own home) or owned Musical Fidelity A300, Plinius 8200,8200mkII, Bel Canto, Vincent 236MKII, Creek Destiny Creek 5350SE and Cambridge Audio 840 V1, Anthem 225 not to mention several NAD and Rotel items. While I could live with several of these the Exposure sounds like real music to my ears and has a very strong and rich bottom end. I listen at absurd levels sometimes to rock and blues (cannot hear myself talk) and the Exposure handles it fine. it sounded more powerful with more slam then one 3x its output. I bet the Naim is like that to.I would like to hear the Version 2 of the CA 840 keith

Although great results can be had by carefully matching components, IMO one can reduce the chances that components will not match well by using components from the same manufacturer. For example, I owned all McCormack electronics and was very pleased with the result. Everything was "voiced" by McCormack at approx the same time, using the same equipment. I have heard a all Naim system and it sounded very good. So IMO, using components from the same manufacturer can hieghten system synergy.