CUBE1 Review
I've owned quite a few brands of speakers over the course of the last 30 years, in roughly chronological order: BLQ1, Epos ES14, Linn Kans (3 times), Heybrook HB1, Mission 70mk2, Rega Ela Mk1, Impulse H6, Royd Eden, Mission 753, Usher s-520, Harbeth P3ESR...and probably a few more that I don't recall right now as they fell into the 'oh god, no' category and time / memory loss is a great healer
All the above did some things well; the Royds, Kans and BLQs were great communicators but ultimately unsatisfying due to missing bass (real and perceived), the Mission 70mk2 came close to adding some bass to the qualities of the Royds / Kans / BLQs but were outrageously coarse (I recently realised that they have a very simple crossover arrangement, so there was perhaps a decent idea lurking behind the cheapo components), the Heybrooks promised balance for a short while but were too 'obvious' at both extremes, the Impulses gave a lot of pleasure but were a little shouty and just overpowered / didn't really fit in my living space and I had to eventually accept the inevitable, the Regas were great in many ways but they lacked a bit of 'oomph' for my tastes at that time, the Mission 753s were dreadful screamers and only have a place in my heart because they persuaded me to never trust a magazine review ever again, the Ushers were a slightly more refined version of the Mission 70mk2 to my ears but still fatiguing in the long term, the Harbeths are wonderfully refined and, while they are a little constrained at times, I hold them dear. I wasn't really looking to replace the Harbeths but I was tempted to try more NVA after I was blown away by the improvement that the Balanced Mains Unit has made to my existing system at a very sensible price. I read more about the philosophy behind the NVA designs, the quality of the components, the savings offered by not paying for marketing and dealers, the 30 day home trial, and the full value upgrade path...and knew I had to hear more. When a relatively new pair of traded-in Cube 1s became available with warranty from Doc, I hit the 'buy-it-now' button.
The Cubes are not the prettiest speaker I've ever owned, but they are not show-stopping ugly, either. I'd describe them as purposeful and mercifully lacking bling. They obviously fit in very well visually with the rest of the NVA range. The Cubes are easy to place in my living space as they work close to the wall. This placement is appreciated by the other members of the household, too. I picked up some positioning tips from threads in this forum prior to delivery. I have the Cubes about 5 inches from the back wall, about 5.5 feet apart and toed in so that the tweeters face directly at my usual 'lounging on the sofa' position. It's very easy to know when you have positioned the Cubes correctly because they aurally 'snap in place' in terms of focus, balance and slam. To my mind this makes them easier to place than 'normal' speakers. Too far away from the back wall they sound soft and indistinct, too far apart and the imaging is awry, too near the back wall and they can start to thud. You will absolutely know when you have got them right - like focusing a camera or binoculars. The whole process took me less than 30 minutes from un-boxing.
When I'm listening to new gear I always remind myself that my ears are only as knowledgeable as what I've heard before. In the case of speakers, having written out the list of my previous 'adventures', it seems that I am (a little embarrassingly) quite experienced. I had originally considered the Cube 2s as I reckoned that the 8" bass driver in the Cube 1s would boom in my peculiarly shaped / configured room, but my fears were completely unfounded. The Cubes have the 'hairs lifting on the back of the neck' type communication skills but also real, detailed, tight, proper bass, clear, transparent mids and open, natural highs. Imaging is broad and deep but natural and not at all contrived. The sound is very consistent as you move around the room - and I can now lounge horizontally on the sofa, which I very much appreciate! I don't yet fully understand how to describe it but they are different to any of the 'normal' speakers I have owned. They just sound 'free'. Speaker choice is reckoned to be very personal. My theory about that is that all the speakers I have owned previously have had some obvious compromises. Those compromises force you to make choices about what you cherish most and what downsides you are prepared to accept and therefore the 'discussion' becomes quite polarised. My suggestion is that the Cubes involve far fewer compromises. The one adjustment you might have to make is to suspend your previously learned prejudices about how speakers 'should' be.
Load-wise the Cubes seem easy to drive - they sing on the end of my 23 watt Sugden a21as2 integrated amp. I'm also going to try them on the end of NVA pre-power amps soon but for now the Sugden / Cube combination is bringing great pleasure.
Lastly, I should point out that my traded-in pair were, of course, already run-in
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
