Next up, came the Nel Ultime, a speaker that used exactly the same cabinet and drivers, but employed a specially developed internal cable loom from French wire wizards, Absolue Créations (dubbed ULTim) combined with significantly upgraded components in the high-frequency leg of the crossover. The changes resulted in a not-insignificant hike in price (to €9,600) but a commensurate increase in performance.
Adding a little ‘Stardust’…
With T&T well and truly bitten by the upgrade bug, the Ultime model soon found itself one-upped by the Nel Extrême (€12,800). This replaced the ring-radiator with the 29mm diameter Beryllium dome tweeter first used in the Joy Extrême and Nora designs, mandating a complete redesign of the crossover, a process that benefitted from experience gained with those other speakers. The quality of the connectors and the components in the bass/mid leg of the cross-over has been significantly improved,as has the mechanical damping of both the crossover and driver baskets/motors. The Absolue Créations cable has been further evolved to match the new driver line-up and the mechanical grounding system (okay – spikes) on the plinth have also been improved. These subtle but comprehensive refinements elevated the speaker’s performance yet again, with a more seamless integration of the drivers, wider dynamics, more natural timbre and harmonic development and, most importantly of all, more expressive musical delivery.
By this stage, you might be wondering just how far you can take a compact, two-way floor-stander? Well, as the Living Voice experience shows, you might well be surprised. In the case of the Nel, the answer (at least for now) takes the shape of the latest Signature model (€14,800), the speaker that turned up for review. Building on the performance of the Nel Extrême and learning from what that performance reveals, the Signature refines both the cabinet and the crossover. The bracing and damping are adjusted to further minimise the musical influence of the cabinet itself. The crossover components are upgraded or selected according to type and position, while the crossover topology and layout have both been revised. The bass/mid leg has been completely re-designed and, although the frequency balance looks very similar on paper, the designer claims that it is less intrusive, less subtractive and offers a big improvement in time domain performance. Having heard both the Extrême and the Signature, I think he’s right on the money.
The Nels are easy to handle. They’re heavy enough to be stable, light enough to manoeuvre with some precision. Which is a VERY good thing, as this speaker really rewards precise set up. T&T fit the speaker with three M6 spikes that are something of a challenge (you can read more about THAT here – https://gy8.eu/blog/installation-notes-5/), two at the front and one that is longer at the rear, the added length down to a recessed thread. In theory, set up should be simple: level the speaker laterally using the front spikes and then set the rake angle using the centrally located rear spike, thoughtfully fitted with a thumb wheel to ease adjustment. However, as I’ve already remarked, the Nel Signature is extraordinarily revealing of set up. Get it right and the speaker simply disappears, the bass hits its groove and it’s all about the music. But getting it right means dialling in the height off of the floor (which will depend on the nature of that floor and any carpet or covering), toe in, the azimuth of each speaker and getting the rake angle as near identical as time and a digital level allows. If that sounds daunting, it isn’t. In practice, the speaker reveals the impact of even tiny adjustments so clearly that with the right tools, the right approach and the requisite attention to detail, you should have the Nelssinging in short order. I ended up with the speakers 22mm off the wooden floor, firing almost straight ahead, with a forward rake of 1.8 degrees and an inward azimuth of 0.05 degrees on the left and 0.09 on the right. As previously related, the biggest challenge lies in adjusting the narrow diameter spikes and then (with little to grip) locking them down without disturbing their setting – and that just takes care. The low-mass, M6 spikes were selected on performance grounds. I believe that T&T are looking at increasing their practicality without compromising that performance. A switch to M6 spikes with flats or a through hole to anchor their position while tightening would probably be a step in the right direction…