Wanted - Naim Nait 5i or Exposure 2010s or similar

[Martinh]

Hi Osvaldo,

Any sign of your Neats?

My Exposure amp has arrived! Only problem is that I'm in France at the moment, so can't play with it

Cheers,

[osvaldo]

Hi Martin,

My Neats arrived yesterday. I'm still clearing up the mess for a good photo but I can definitely say that the sound is awesome. Excellent overall presentation.
You where absolutely spot on when you said that placement was crucial. I ended up moving mines about 50 cm from the back wall..

The pairing with the Nait XS is also excellent, just by themselves (subwoofer OFF), it was already a satisfying sound. Of course with sub ON the bass becomes more sweet, especially before my volume knob goes over 9 o'clock.

I wasn't expecting the Motives would be so small. Side by side along with my B&W683 they pretty much look like a baby toy
The sound on the other hand, when you push them a little, they start to make you wonder if the 683 are really disconnected

When are you returning home to play with your exposure?

Cheers
Osvaldo

[Martinh]

Arrived home yesterday and picked up the Exposure amp.

First impressions out of the box are that it looks and feels great, very nicely made indeed

Plugged it in and let it warm up overnight for a pre-work listening session - oh dear

There's loads of definition and the soundstage is great but there's not much bass. Sounds very lean.

I didn't have much time this morning, but I did move the motives back into the corner a bit and the bass filled out at the expense of everything else above. Sounded closed in.

Gonna have a play tonight, but I'm not sure about this combo in my room.

[osvaldo]

Damn! It seems you're not so very happy with the Exposure. Let's see if you develop the taste for it or... well flog it on ebay and get another one

I can definitely tell you that mine even after the 50cm push from the rear wall has got plenty plenty of bass... listening to them with my subwoofer off was still great pleasure. I do like it with the sub because it helps me get the warm sound at low volumes but I recon I could live without it. It's that good!
I also got loads of more definition. Soundstage is very much the same

I can't blame it to your much bigger open room because the Marantz seems to have done a better bass job dunno...

Let me know your thoughts. Give it some more tries.

[Yomanze]

I find it very strange that the bass is a problem as this is one of the Exposure's strengths. Have you tried switching to a different input on the amp? What about plugging the Marantz back in, does the bass come back & it is as tight?

Good luck, but if it doesn't work out you'll easily get your money back via eBay.

[DSJR]

Thanks Dave and no, I couldn't do that to a dealer (I have a retail shop myself). By the end of the summer, Ill have the £8-900 needed to buy a new one.

If a nait 5i or exposure 2010s came up in the meantime at a good price, I may well take a punt. And if it wasn't good, I could easily eBay it. Seems that not many people sell theirs, as they don't come up too often on eBay.

Cheers,

That post I made has got me into trouble again on another little used site, since once again, I'm accused of shilling Rega

[Martinh]

I think i need some help with this one

I spent some time earlier comparing the two amplifiers.

I have 4 sources:

Apple tv2 with dacmagic
Tv with built in dac
Marantz tuner
Marantz cd/DVD player with inbuilt dac

All of these sources sound better via the Marantz amp than the exposure

The marantz cd/DVD does sound great through the exposure, as it has a quite pronounced bass. This source can sound bass heavy thought the marantz amp.

I can hear that the exposure has everything more tightly controlled and the bass is definitely tighter. It sounds very fast.

It's the balance that's not quite right and it sounds also a bit flat and uninvolving compared to the marantz.

I don't really want to start moving the speakers back into the corner, as they sound very open where they are and the off axis sound is much better ( we are open plan, so the sound goes everywhere downstairs).

I hate to say it but maybe the £300 marantz is better than the £850 exposure in my system and room? Doesn't sound possible

I've checked the speaker phase, Bi wire connections etc any other ideas?

Cheers,

Martin

[Martinh]

Just tried the port bungs and the bass output was reduced further.

The cable won't stretch across the Bi wire bars unfortunately, so can't try your other suggestion.

Now listening to some music through the Manantz and it's great

Marantz sounds more natural, 3 dimensional, less hifi etc.

Just one thought: I listen at relatively low volumes - certainly less than typical dealer demo levels. Could this be a factor? Also, the exposures volume control is barely off the 0 position.

Heeeeeelp!

[RichB]

That post I made has got me into trouble again on another little used site, since once again, I'm accused of shilling Rega

As if they even need shilling, the products speak for themselves.

[DSJR]

I know, and it's not as if my mate os the only Rega dealer either I think some people get a bit jealous and the huge chip on their shoulder starts to bite. I'll leave it there 'cos he can't answer back here but no doubt I'll get another ad hominem slaughtering "over there."

Anyway, LOW LEVEL LISTENING (he says in giant capitals ) has a totally different demand on a domestic audio system. The Exposure may be set up to thrill at higher levels, but may just fall flat at very low levels for all I know. Don't even begin to think about price tickets being an arbiter of sonic worth, the Marantz is made cheaply in the far east where the Exposure is UK made as far as I remember? If the latter is made in the UK, then it will cost loads more to make.

Well, I'm going back to where I started...