Cube Audio Nenuphar Single Driver Speaker (10 inch) TQWT Enclosure

Hi guys,
Im a bit late to the party here but being a Nenuphar owner I thought I should contribute my nothing but positive experience with these magical speakers. I’ve had them for about a year. They were Refined Audio’s 2019 AXPONA demos. My last speakers were RETHM Trisha’s so I was already soaked in the single driver widebander koolaide. At first I was powering them with an Audion 2A3 which has a preamp section and was more than enough power for digital sources. It didn’t quite make it happen with the lower signal of my phono stage. I tried a few line stages, I couldn’t find the synergy I was looking for. By luck I was able to buy one of the last SIT 3s available. I also sold/replaced the rest of my kit and arrived at where I am now which for me is grail level. The Nenuphars powered by the First Watt SIT3, The Truth buffered no gain linestage, Sutherland 20/20 phonostage, VPI Classic 2 SE, Ortofon 2M White SE mono cartridge currently mounted while waiting for new Soundsmith Paua stereo cart. I had been listening to a Grado Reference 2. The Nenuphar and SIT 3 could not work better for the music I listen to which is 80% acoustic. The other 20% is Steely Dan, Allmans, some old fusion, nothing too grungy. This system loves Steely Dan. Right now though for analog I am stuck in mono until my new cartridge comes. I was just listening to the 45rpm mono pressing of Billie Holiday Body and Soul. It was so present and so beautiful I was utterly in awe of her and her band. Srajan said these speakers are a benign psychotropic drug if you are receptive enough to get it. I find that when I am able to be that relaxed into it, and with the right recording, there is a deep sonic architecture occurring. An album that demonstrates this in way that I could hardly believe is the MoFi One Step of Yes, Fragile. I don’t listen to much prog anymore in my advanced years but it was huge part of my youth and I had to have this album. What the sound of this record coming through these speakers does in my minds eye is astonishing. I gained a whole new respect for Eddie Offord.
I have heard a few true cost no object systems. I truly think the only thing any of them has over my system is the ability to produce scale.
The actual scale of a symphony or ZZ Top live. None of them had the kind of intimacy I felt with Lady Day a little while ago and that’s what I was shooting for when I chose my components. I want Gillian Welch or Joan Baez or Janos Starker to be present. I don’t care if I feel a kick drum in my chest.
The Cube Nenuphar give me everything I could want. The only upgrade I wound ever make from here is the turntable and I don’t really feel a need for that.
FYI: I’ve noted that Peter B and others are placing them close to the front wall. That does not work in this room at all. My optimum location is 60" from front wall to drivers. 7’ apart driver to driver. Listening position in 7’ triangle with that. Toe in just a few degrees, found by by ear to optimize center image/soundstage relationship.

Good morning david_ten,
A party of one. The audiophile disease is a lonely pursuit. I have exactly three audio buddies in real life. The closest is about an hour and a half away. I try to turn people on to this stuff but few get it. It’s not that they don’t hear, it’s more that they don’t give themselves time to come under the spell properly. Also, people don’t know or have forgotten how to listen as the primary experience. And then there are those who are incredulous about the expense. "You mean you could have bought a boat instead of a stereo?" Some get it and want to get away from it as fast as they can so it doesn’t infect them becoming the expensive itch that must be scratched.
My wife used to hate it but is learning to appreciate it. Until just recently when she looked at it all she could see was dollar signs.
Dave Slagle and or Jeffery Jackson have a blog called HiFi heroin.
True enough.

I live just outside San Antonio Texas.
I actually have a new friend in Victoria who wants to come up.
He has friend in Houston that has a Kondo Kagura based system.
I hope to experience that someday. 

I have the Nenuphar 10" in a 15’ x 13’ room. Drivers 60" from the front wall and 7’ apart center to center. Listening position 7’ triangle so also in a near field configuration. I’ve tried them in every position I could think of and always come back to this. Toe-in is important. I started with them straight on then toed them in in tiny increments looking for a balance of sound stage and center image.
I’ve noted that in the last year or so Peter B. from AV Showrooms and others have placed them on the front wall and prefer that position in those rooms. It doesn’t work at all in my room. The sound stage collapses in depth, imaging disappears. The bass isn’t all that much if any better. These speakers have magical properties that will manifest for you if you find the right formula for them in your space. If the rest of your system and placement are right they will create sonic places, architectures, landscapes...places for you to go. When Srajan said they are a benign psychotropic drug, maybe he was having a similar experience.

I purchased the pair of white Nenuphar demoed at AXPONA.......having never seen or heard them. I trusted my gut and the return policy. I drove them with a 2A3 and with 2v input (CD) it was sublime. But I quickly discovered that my anemic phono stage signal was not cutting it with the 92db Nenuphar. I purchased a line/phono stage and ran square into HUM HELL. But only on phono, the CD player was better than ever. Several weeks later having tried every remedy known to man, including sending the new unit back for diagnostics......I gave up. The generous dealer took the linestage back for refund and I decided to change paradigms. I ordered a SIT 3 from Reno HiFi where they are still listed as available btw. I purchased Ed Schilling’s *The Truth* no gain buffered linestage. I found a used Manley Chinook in perfect condition. The SIT 3 is currently burning in. Schilling says The Truth doesnt need to. Simply enough I have reached the mountain top. The sound defies superlatives. With the right recording of course the 2A3 brought the musicians into my room. Beautiful and delicate yet dense imaging at the same time. Sometimes the Nenuphar created a forty foot wide stage in a 13’ wide room. Then the SIT 3. They are here bursts out into you are there with uncanny realism. I wish everyone equal joy with your systems. I’ve stumbled onto the grail. Nelson Pass, Ed Schilling....and the guys at Cube.......are wizards.

David_ten.....
Thank you sir and I’m happy for you! As we know it’s not just finding the right piece but getting it to work in synergistic harmony with the other pieces and room.
I was lucky enough to be able to put this system together but maybe more lucky in that my listening room works without a lot of intervention. It’s 15’ x 13’ with a 9’ symmetric but odd shaped ceiling. The front of the Nenuphar are 60" from the front wall, 7’ center to center. Listening position, ears 7’ from each cone. Toed in a bit, but aimed behind me, off each shoulder. I experimented extensively. Srajan’s advice regarding these speakers toe in proved true. It’s a largish near field setup but works very well.
I was just listening to my new MA records LP of Nima Ben David’s "Resonance". I think it must be the among the most beautiful recordings I’ve ever heard. She plays the viola de gamba. A Renaissance pre cello instrument with 6 or 7 strings that has serious bass range.