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

If you have Roon you can adjust the DSP.  I found that -1dB at 4000Hz and +1.5dB at 100Hz (both 1 for Q) with the Sample Rate Conversion set at smooth linear phase sounds excellent to my ears in my room.  This will get me by until there are more ears on the V2.

abd1, I understand your frustration. This is my opinion but when I had the Acoustic Zen Crescendos that have a wide dispersion ribbon tweeter, the vocals where better focused in the the center most of the time. The Cubes speakers don’t have a ribbon tweeter but have many other significant advantages as a full range single driver loudspeaker. In my set-up I struggled with the same issue to a lesser extent. When I replaced my QNAP NAS drive with an AfterDark Roon Server, replaced my component isolation, lowered the noise floor by adding ac filtration, and added Stilpoint Apertures, the center fill improved greatly. I have my Nenuphars with 5 degrees of toe in, 11” from the front wall, 91” apart and I sit 10’ from the front baffle in a 15’ wide room open to a kitchen area. I’m going to point out the elephant in the room now. You have a difficult room to work with. The side wall(s) first reflections are asymmetrical and your room closely resembles a square. If you could position you system (speakers and electronics) in the bay window area, that would be more ideal but impractical. If you have a basement below the room, then you could locate your electronics down there while leaving your speakers in the bay window area. Before doing all of that, I would try David’s set-up and toe the speakers in so they intersect in front of your listening position.

abd1,  Just for fun, see if there is a polarity switch on your Streamer, DAC or Preamp.  Change the phase setting and listen.  You might not have the phase set properly.

Mozartfan,  You can’t fault Cube Audio for refining their product further.  If they didn’t try to develop a 15” single driver speaker, we would never have a perceived better Nenuphar.  If you apply your logic to every manufacturer of audio equipment then every manufacturer would be in the wrong for refining their products.  Be glad the technology has advanced in full range reference single driver design.  I don’t want to speak for Cube Audio, but I am sure they have considered the impact of the new advancement on existing V1 Nenuphar owners.  Can you image them getting 5000 requests at once for the driver upgrade and how they could handle such a request given their existing work force and resources besides being able to fulfill existing orders for all of their other products.  You might consider contacting your local dealer or distributor and inquiring about a possible upgrade path.  JMHO.

Stereotimes review posted. The Ayon Audio Odin SET run in parallel with a DF of 12, operation in class A, and with zero negative feedback, is another amplifier that can be added to the list of compatible amplifiers that work well with the Nenuphars. I also have a new pair of FW SIT-1s that are having the voltage changed at Pass Labs that should mate well with my 6H30 tube based Ayon Audio S-5 Network Player/Preamp/DAC. I like to change it up from time to time between tube and solid state based amplification.

Update: I received my new in the box FW SIT-1s back from Pass Labs three weeks ago after having the voltage changed from 240v to 12v.  They did the service for free.  I waited for delivery on my Marigo Audio L3 platforms and E2 Mystery Feet (new products) before installing them last Monday.  I started with the stock power cords and on Saturday I reconfigured my system to replace the stock pc with Synergistic Research Galileo SX pc.  All I can say is I am completely over whelmed by how they sound with the Nenuphars and my Ayon Audio S-5 6H30 super tube based network player/DAC/preamp to the point of not being able to sleep more than two hours at a time.  I also have a pair of Lessloss Black Body Radiators shielding the SIT devices and PPT Edens (mini Gates) over the transformers.  I had a jaded audiophile buddy over last night who has had more equipment than anybody I know ( he hasn't heard my system for over for over 8 months) and he was so impressed (enthralled is the word he used) by the Nenuphars and the grain free sound of my system with the FW SIT-1 amplifiers.  He also mentioned the Nenuphars were free of colorations, slice threw music like butter, and had endless high frequency extension which I fully agree with.  What I also like about the FW SIT-1 is how they sound like the best SET amps out there without the short comings of tubes which mainly relates to tube life and cost of operation (my other amplifier is the Ayon Audio Odin MKIII Build 4 that has four tubes that cost $1000 each). Too bad Pass Labs can't develop another source for static induction transistor devices.    

Stephen,

I haven't tried the Ayon on the Marigo Labs L3 platform and isolated by the Marigo Labs E2 Mystery Feet.  I also plan on isolating all of the tubes with acrylic cylinders like Allnic Audio components.  I'm sure the butcher block amp stand under the Ayon rung like a bell.  I will have to reserve final judgement until then.  They sound very similar but the Ayon is a little more detailed in the midrange and may be a little more dynamic.  The FW SIT-1 definitely has a lower noise floor.  I faintly hear tube hiss on the Ayon when not playing music but the FW SIT-1 is dead silent. But there is something magical when the entire singe path including power supplies is SET based. Planning on keeping both.  They are back-ups to each other.   

“New models within the Ianus Series include the Geminae (€110,000) Class A amplifier that produces 130 Watts @ 8 Ohm. Aries Cerat’s Essentia (€39,000) is the little brother that produces 40 Watts @ 8 Ohms”.

That makes the FW SIT-1 a bargain. Given the FW SIT-1 has 2 watts/ch at 1% distortion, yet it sounds more like 50 watts/ch. I have 9ft ceilings and my dedicated listening room that has no back wall to speak of is open to a decent size kitchen/eating area (shaped like an “L” close to 600 sqft) and I’m never wanting for high volume.

I also want to report that the FW has opened up nicely and has a beautiful mid bass response. I also found that like the Ayon Audio Odin, the FW SIT-1 benefits greatly by adding SR ECTs near the on/off switch, binding posts, the male IEC connector and on top of the transformer. I had these on my Ayon Audio S-5 also and they eliminate high frequency grunge that provides a multitude of benefits in the recreation of music.

One other thing I left out:  I started with the Tidal Audio Impact amplifier on the Nenuphars.  That amp has a damping factor of 200,  two separate transformers (left and right channels), 8 transistors per channel, 145 watts/ch class AB but it runs hot so I think the first 25 watts are class A, listed for $32K, built to deliver high current, and weighed 120 lbs.  I didn’t hold a candle to the FW SIT-1.  It would sound dry more times than not and at higher volumes there was a loss in clarity.  I was afraid I would blow the Nenuphars if I was careful with the Ayon S-5 preamp remote.  I was glad to sell that one to someone that had Dynaaudio loudspeakers which it matched well to.

debjit_g

I have a similar room to yours but mine is 15' x 20' with an 9ft ceiling, speakers 8ft apart,  that opens to a kitchen on the left, and sit 8.5 ft from the Nenuphars.  I have the FW SIT-1 and the Ayon Audio Odin III amps.  I had better bass moving the speakers closer to the back wall with 5 degree toe-in.  I recently added the Stillpoints Aperatures to the side walls which made the greatest impact in the bass when using the FW SIT-1 (I haven't swapped in the Ayon for a while).  The lower damping factor and dual mono amps on the SIT-1 as compared to the SIT-3 might also have an impact.  

Interesting... The bass response is now 38Hz (6 dB).  It was 30 Hz (6 dB).  Why did the V2 lose the lowest bass response?  Should be easier to drive as an 8 ohm impedance.  What is the minimum impedance?  We know replacing the foam surround decreases the efficiency but extends the life of the driver.  Losing the lowest bass would be a non started for some.  I wonder why the decreased bass response wasn't noted in the 6 Moons review.  Not everybody uses the Nenuphars with subwoofers.

Here's some food for thought:  I think this a question for Cube Audio with respect to the V1 and they will see it as a mute point.  Why did Cube Audio have a list of compatible amplifiers when they offered the V1s?  You don't see a recommended list for the V2s. Why did the Mono & Stereo Review state: "For tube amplifiers, Cube Audio recommends such designs based on 2A3, Px4, 45 tubes" and not 2A3, Px4, 45, and 300B tubes.  Have you ever seen Cube or Refined Audio specifically demo with 300B based amps? I remember addressing this exact question at some point in my search.  

Based on the photo on the current last displayed page on 6 Moons, it looks like Cube when to a single footer on the front baffle and two footers on the rear of the cabinet.

Installed the V2 drivers on Friday. I had +1.4dB of Roon DSP at 100Hz set on the V1s. I eliminated the Roon DSP before hearing the V2 drivers for the first time. The V2s definitely require a break-in period. I am hearing some of the differences as demonstrated in the Cube Audio in the V1 vs V2 youtube video. I do prefer the V2 over the V1 drivers and will go into more detail after 100 hours of burn-in. Refer to my recent review of the Farad Super 3 power supply on stereotimes.com for my complete system configuration. The V2s require more gain from my Ayon Audio S-5 preamp to power the First Watt SIT-1. My preamp volume runs from -60 to 0. I typically play music between -47 and -35 (-30 is half volume) with the V1 drivers and now I play music in the range of -39 to -32 with the V2 drivers. The V2s start to open up after about 20 hours of playing.  I think it's a big plus that I have been able to eliminate the Roon DSP 100Hz bass boost with the V2s and I anticipate being able to move the Nenuphars further away from the front wall which are currently 11" as measured from the rear of the speaker cabinet.

I’m at the 75 hour mark on the break in. The V2s definitely take longer to break on and that was confirmed by Jon Ver Halen. The V2s are opening up more and the need for more gain has dropped some. I never run out of gain on the V2s while using the FW SIT-1 which I was concerned about prior to the upgrade.

I think eliminating the Roon DSP 1.4dB of bass at 100 Hz and down (shelf) which I needed on the V1s is huge advantage for the V2s. V1 and V2 are both good but having more body and meat on the bone on the V2s eliminates the need for adding one or two subwoofers (in my case 2) because I can’t locate a single subwoofer centrally. So in a sense for my system, the $1500 V2 upgrade cost is well worth it considering 2 REL subwoofers, interconnects, and power cables would cost $7600. I also think the V1s with their added presence are a little of too much of a good thing. I mainly listen to jazz and I can say that I never have ear fatigue with the V2s. The V2s seem to match better to my all silver based cables which is a big plus also.

I tried my best to maintain the speaker position and toe in when I swapped in the V2s. On some recordings with the V1s, there was a less center fill and sometimes instruments were localized to the individual speaker. I never experienced with the V2s. The vocals are also more pinpoint on the V2s.  One might say the V2s soundstage better. The magic of the V1s is clearly carried over to the V2s but he V2s extract every last bit of musical energy and impact on the recording.  This is just my opinion. I also think reviewing a full range speaker such as the Nenuphar with a subwoofer doesn’t give the whole story on the performance of the speaker.

@david_ten The V2s disappear better on all recordings than the V1s.  The extended bass and high frequencies result in better soundstaging and center fill.  It might be that I needed to move the V1s closer together than the V2s.

I haven't validated yet but I also think my Ayon Audio Odin SET tube based amp will better mate or bed in with the V2s.  

@david_ten What I mean related to the Ayon SETs is that the V2s would pair better than the V1s.  If you remember, Cube Audio didn't like the pairing of the V1s with 300B based amps which I think is closer to the SET tube used by Ayon Audio. The V2s pair extremely well with the FW SIT-1.  As it has been stated by others, the V2s will pair with more amps and that is another reason Cube Audio went in that direction.

@david_ten The following paragraph precedes that amplifier list and this what was stated one time as referenced in the Mono & Stereo review of the Nenuphar:

Magus are dedicated for rooms of 12 - 25 square meters. They are a perfect match for a tube amp with at least 3 Watts per channel. Our personal preference is somewhere around 2A3, Px4, 45 tube-based amps.  Nonetheless, most solid-state amps (especially those working in A-class) are also an amazing match for the Bliss C.  When it comes to placement, they can be placed both forward and placed right against the back wall. They like about 5-10 degrees of toe-in.

“Our preference” is the distinction I picked up on and 300b amps were not included.
 

@realworldaudio That was an excellent summary and I find your speaker cable mod (single run for the positive and five runs of speak cable for the negative) very interesting.