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

I just checked - it was the v2 that was demoed to me.  I think what I need to do is get it in my room and work with it.  A bit of a risk, but I feel as though I can get it to the point that I’m happy with the frequency response.

is Refined audio still the distributor/dealer in US for the Cube product line ? I sent Jon two emails but no reply so far.

I have had the Cube Jazzon speakers since late June of this year. David Ten has raved about Cube speakers on this thread and others and that is what I heard at Axpona when they were played with Pass Labs gear.  Sensation speakers is what I heard.  

I wanted to love them in my room and kinda did with my strong confirmation bias until I concluded that the were bereft of LF response and the expected spatiality and had nowhere nearly the ambient response I heard of them at Axpona.  

To be honest, I put them up for sale as they came nowhere near to performing in my room to my liking with a stellar pair of 300b monos so bought a pair of Dynaudio C1 Signature speakers which I had before, loved their sound, but parted with them because I didn't fancy their blonde finish. Right, I know, a foolish sale, but the new Dyn's have the awesome mocca finish, pure eye candy and a sound to match.  The Dyns will arrive next week. 

At any rate, last Saturday I sat down for a long listening session and by God, the Jazzon speakers just blew me away.... sounding just like I heard at Axpona.  Overnight, the speakers just blossomed with maybe 100 hours on them.  I recall I had the same experience with my Spatial Audio M4 Triode Masters.... they sounded not that great until I had well over 100 hours on them and I might say that their sound improved mightily for the next few hundred hours.

My intent in my comments is to note that the Cubes speaker, in my estimation, take a wicked long time to run it to perform as they ultimately can do so don't be too impatient during the process... they will come alive at some point.   They now are sensation speakers, with ample bass absent a subwoofer and have a poise and delicacy to the sound that is remarkable with a massive soundstage. You gotta part with some coin to acquire them and while I have not heard the upper-end line of Cube speakers, I am content that these provide a fair approximation of their more expensive line of speakers .  The Cubes do require careful matching with you amplification as they match best with amps with a low damping factor, which inherently includes most all tube amps as well as the sensational Enleum SS amp as well as the Pass Labs First Watt ss amps. 

Be patient with the run-in process with Cube speakers - and all new speakers, they can take a very long time to sound their best. 

@whitestix 

wow! 
Quite a dramatic transformation. I’m glad that you gave the speakers a 2nd chance. A shame if you had dumped them prematurely. I just truly believed that these speakers with your magnificent Don Sachs/Lynn Olsen built 300b push-pull amplifier would be a sublime pairing. It is genuinely great that this has turned out to be the case. Congratulations!

Charles

@whitestix @charles1dad

I had a similar experience with my Nenuphar Mini’s. Bsically, the first year I owned them it was a love/hate experience. Often, I was enamored with the sound and loved the transparency without harshness. However, as my previous posts mention, I struggled with imaging and often the speakers would "beam" especially with vocals, and/or the soundstage would be tilted to the left side of the listening area, which I attributed to my room. However, I moved houses and have a bigger room and still had the issue.

I upgraded the drivers, tried different components, cables, power conditioners, amps, even Dirac room correction. And I tried positioning speakers all over and adjusted toe in. I even reoriented the entire room which helped but eventually my wife veto’d (to her credit she let me get away with it for a few months). Some changes made improvements but couldn’t quite get it to consistently sound the way I wanted.. One day earlier this year I was getting a little frustrated and went to a local store to demo some Sonus Faber’s which they had hooked up to a Luxman integrated (liked the speakers, but more impressed with the integrated). The imaging was excellent and I noticed the speakers were closer together than I had tried and toe’d in. I had tried putting mine close together but didn’t really try toing in. I went home and started with the speakers really close together (about 5’) and toed in so they "connected" at the MLP. It was an improvement. I started pulling the speakers further apart a few inches at a time and keeping toe in towards the MLP. Eventually I got to the spot they’re at now. I took measurements and made a diagram, just in case they get moved accidentally! Now, I’m getting amazing imaging, detail, depth depth depth (which I think is the hardest attribute to achieve) and tone. Speakers completely disappear. What’s interesting is that I’m pretty sure I’ve had the speakers in about the same spot as I ended up with, but maybe they’re toed in a little more and they’re a couple inches narrower. Just shows a couple inches can make a big difference. I also think it really did take a while for the drivers to break in. If some people say 100 hours, that’s listening for about 2 hours each week. Well, some weeks I don’t listen at all as I travel for work or am too busy. And, when I do listen I would say most of the time is at low volume as I’m working or it’s early in the morning and I don’t want to wake the house. So, it may have just taken a long time to break in the drivers. Either way, I’m loving these speakers at this point. I just acquired a Line Magnetic 845 Premium and I’m blown away by how much better it sounds vs the 518. This is the best sound I’ve ever had and I really don’t think I’m making any changes for awhile. But, I have been following the Sachs 300b thread and might be interested in those down the road potentially, maybe. Once I sell the LM 518 and my Primaluna Evo300 amp (both are excellent but the 845P is in another league) I’ll probably get a solid state amp (thinking Atmasphere GaNFET) to use in the warmer months since the 845P is a heater as well as an amp. But, other than that I am sticking with the Nenuphar Mini’s.