Hi Srajan, your review of the Cube Audio Nenuphar 10 makes it sound like the definitive speaker when it comes to reproducing the real sound of natural instruments. You are not alone. Peter Breuninger of AV Showroom thinks that it is the perfect speaker. He is totally blown away with it. So, naturally, I am interested in it and would like some feedback from you. Given the fact that you were so impressed with it, that it created an almost psychedelic experience of listening to music for both you and your wife, I am wondering if you decided to own it? I am not a bass head. I don't relish bass that pounds you. But feeling the bass to some extent is nice. Quite unusually, by all accounts, the Nenuphar widebander produces good bass. But does the bass have real weight? Does it produce bass that can be felt as well as heard? It is clear from your writeup that pairing it with the correct amplifier is essential. In the review, the Crayon CFA-1.2 is not mentioned. A friend of mine posits the possibility that the CFA-1.2 could be a great amp to pair with Nenuphar 10 due to the fact that it offers the possibility of controlling gain and has a setting option that matches it to the sensitivity of the speakers. What are you thoughts on this, please? How do you compare it to the sound|kaos Vox 3a to which you also gave a Lunar Eclipse award? I know you decided to own the Vox 3a and that is, I believe, the highest recommendation that any reviewer can give. Hope all is well with you, Peter Borelli
What's definitive? Only that all is relative and then there's death. This is a big deep box. The rear-loaded bass system is powerful just as described in the two separate reviews by me and Dawid. It's very full and present. Obviously it's also on the bloomier side just as certain ported bass would be. After all, the extra extension is created with resonances. I didn't try it with the Crayon so couldn't say; and I didn't compare it to the sound|kaos so wouldn't know other than triangulate the reviews I wrote on each like you're doing. My Swiss friend still listens to Nenuphar and previously had Voxativ. He's very happy with the Cube Audio. He also uses quite a lot of tubes in his system which is the traditional choice for this type of speaker. It prioritizes speed and resolution over tone and mass so electronic choices balance out the final mix of attributes.
Of course there's also Nenuphar with a smaller widebander and one of two active bass bins which I reviewed subsequently. That eliminates the bloomier aspects of passive bass milked from a bigger widebander with bigger cab plus makes the bass output adjustable to room, placement and taste. If I were you and seriously considered this type speaker—Voxativ have their own with active bass system—I'd focus on passive-on-top, active-on-the-bottom division of labor. It's the still smarter approach. Srajan
Thanks Srajan, that is excellent advice. Peter
