NAIM OVATOR S-400 User manual

Constructed on the rigid foundation of a pressure die-cast aluminium plinth,
the Ovator S-400 and S-600 comprise visually stunning leaf-spring decoupled
enclosures tted with two custom designed rigid paper cone bass drivers.
Located above the bass drivers, within nested and decoupled enclosures,
is a uniquely advanced Balanced Mode Radiator. The Balanced Mode
Radiator (BMR) drive unit reproduces the full bandwidth from the low
midrange crossover point to well above audibility with a at frequency
response, minimal distortion and consistently wide dispersion.
Encasing all of this, each stunning Ovator curved-panel enclosure is an
outstanding example of contemporary aesthetic industrial design. The form
is striking yet subtle and with four real wood and one solid colour nishes
available, it integrates effortlessly into domestic settings of any style.
Music played from the Ovator is a revelation. The uncoloured, detailed
and natural coherence of the Balanced Mode Radiator combines with the
rhythmic clarity and accuracy of the twin bass driver system endlessly
to reveal previously unheard musical details and insight. Stereo imagery
and recorded ambience are portrayed with scale and depth that remains
consistent across the listening room, and with either Ovator model, an entire
music collection becomes new again. The speaker is the point at which
recorded music leaves the world of electronics and becomes real. With the
Ovator, the reality is a musical experience that sounds live and real.
The story of the

Beginning with the S-600 and now joined by the S-400, the Ovator Range is the
result of a four-year development programme and represents both a remarkable
new expression of proven Naim speaker engineering and a technological advance
that, quite literally, recasts the accepted ground rules of electro-acoustics.
S-600
Featuring twin 200mm bass drivers and an 85mm BMR in a 60 Litre enclosure,
the S-600 is designed for larger listening rooms and for use with upper echelon
Naim amplication. With bass extension down to 28Hz and maximum levels that
can do full justice to the dynamic range of live music up close, the S-600
offers the ultimate in wide bandwidth and dynamic music making.
S-400
With twin 165mm bass drivers and a 46mm BMR in a 40 Litre enclosure, the S-400
is designed for more modest listening rooms and can be used with less ambitious
Naim amplication. Low frequency response still reaches down to 36Hz however
and the S-400 gives only very little away to the S-600 in terms of dynamics and
maximum level. The S-400 gives nothing away in music making however.
The Range

Computer Optimised
Bass Driver
Hardened
Floor Spikes
Surgical grade, anti-
magnetic, stainless steel
M8 oor spikes dene the
vital mechanical interface
between speaker and
the oor of the listening
environment.
A steel leaf-spring
denes the interface
between enclosure and
plinth and decouples
above 12Hz.
The pressure die-cast
plinth incorporates
enclosure interface
locations, housing for
the crossover, and oor
spike ttings with top-
access adjustment.
Die-cast
Plinth
Incorporates features
on its mating surface
that consistently dene
its interface with the
cabinet and help manage
vibrational energy.
FEA Modelled
Driver Chassis
Decoupling
Leaf Spring
The crossover
incorporates state of the
art components including
laminated and air-cored
inductors, and metallised
polypropylene capacitors.
Computer-modelled
Crossover
The enclosure is
constructed from a
combination of 25mm
and 50mm panels
comprehensively braced
to provide a rigid, non-
resonant and low diffraction
reference plane for the
drivers. Selected panels also
benet from strategic mass-
damping, and the internal
bracing includes a division
that creates separate loading
volumes for each bass driver.
Rigid Multi-composite
Enclosure
The Ovator Balanced Mode Radiator (BMR) constitutes its most visible technological
advance, yet its performance is equally the result of painstaking renement in
numerous elements of design, construction and material selection. For example,
there is so much more to the musical reproduction of bass than low frequency
extension, so the Ovator LF drivers are designed not simply to play bass, but to do
so with faultless musical accuracy. They incorporate a multitude of electro-acoustic
details aimed at minimising distortion and compression, and the result is extended
bass with peerless timing, dynamics and pitch accuracy. One vital element in the
design of a high performance bass driver is its chassis. Great rigidity and an open
structure are vital but potentially conicting requirements, so the Ovator pressure
die-cast bass driver chassis incorporates a triangulated framework, the product of
nite-element analysis, that ensures both rigidity and unimpeded air passage.
Ovator crossover networks are housed within the plinth and divide the audio signal
between bass drivers and BMR with fourth order acoustic slopes at 380Hz in the
case of the S-600 and 700Hz in the case of the S-400. Each component selection is
the result of intense technical analysis and signicant listening, and the component
arrangement is fundamentally informed by the layout and earthing techniques
developed for Naim power ampliers. A crossover module suspension system and
individual component decoupling ensures any chance of microphony is minimised.
Conversion to either bi-amp or tri-amp active drive is easily achieved through removal
of the crossover module*.
Just as much as it is BMR technology, it is the ne detail and the sum of the parts –
the result of decades of speaker experience and development – that make the Ovator
S-600 and S-400 so remarkable.
*Please note that the S-400 active crossover will not be available until late 2011.
The Ovator up close
Ovator bass drivers feature rigid paper cones, natural
rubber surrounds and aluminium demodulations
rings within their neodymium magnet systems. The
S-600 bass drivers additionally incorporate generous
pole-piece ventilation. The linearity and resistance to
compression of both Ovator bass drivers is outstanding.

BMR Isolating Enclosure
BMR Suspension
BMR Driver
The Ovator Balanced Mode Radiator (BMR) is the result of many years of intense effort in
both development and manufacture. Not only does the design of such a driver demand great
intellectual understanding, but consistent manufacture requires extraordinarily ne specication
and control of the physical characteristics of its components. The underlying concept of the
BMR is to engineer a practical implementation of the theoretically wide bandwidth and linear
acoustic output of an unconstrained vibrating diaphragm. In practice, this is achieved by
attaching balancing masses to a constrained diaphragm in carefully calculated locations.
Such “mode balancing” modies the diaphragm’s vibrational behaviour so that it
simultaneously operates in pistonic and vibrational modes to generate wide-bandwidth
acoustic output with a at frequency response, consistent dispersion and low distortion.
Thanks both to the BMR’s exceptional inherent performance and to the absence of any
mid/high frequency crossover discontinuity, it takes just a moment’s listening to appreciate
the Ovator breakthrough levels of musical coherence, timing and clarity.
The BMR units in both the
S-600 and S-400 are isolated in
their own nested enclosures, a
12.7mm wall thickness extruded
aluminium tube in the case of
a the S-600 and a 10mm wall
thickness composite tube in
the case of the S-400. Both the
S-600 and S-400 BMR isolation
tubes extend the full depth of
the enclosure and are gradient
lled with damping materials
selected through technical
analysis and critical listening.
The S-600 BMR module,
comprising the driver and its
enclosure, is suspended within
the main enclosure by circular
front and rear duralumin leaf-
springs, while the S-400 BMR
itself incorporates a high-Q
elastomeric suspension
system The resulting isolation
in both systems decouples
at a frequency many octaves
below the BMR pass-band.
The S-600 and S-400
BMR drivers comprise a
honeycomb diaphragm
driven by a voice-coil
immersed in a twin
neodymium magnet system
optimised for linearity
through nite element
analysis. The pressure
die-cast chassis provides
the rigidity necessary to
ensure that every last note
of musical detail is
accurately reproduced.
Balanced Mode Radiator explained

*Please note due to the nature of wood, actual finishes may vary slightly to those photographed.
Frequency Response (in room) 28Hz - 35kHz
Sensitivity 88dB for 2.83Vrms i/p
Nominal Impedance 4Ω (Minimum Impedance 3.2Ω)
Suggested Power Amplier Rating 25 - 150W (8Ω rating)
Weight 61 kg
Dimensions (inc. spikes and grilles) 1168 x 401 x 434mm (H x W x D)
Frequency Response (in room) 36Hz - 35kHz
Sensitivity 88dB for 2.83Vrms i/p
Nominal Impedance 4Ω (Minimum Impedance 3.8Ω)
Suggested Power Amplier Rating 25 - 130W (8Ω rating)
Weight 31 kg
Dimensions (inc. spikes and grilles) 1060 x 330 x 345mm (H x W x D)
Ovator S-600 Ovator S-400
Specifications
Finishes*
Cherry
Ash
Black Zebrano
Rosewood
Satin White
Inside the Ovator
Ovator S-600
Ovator S-400
1
1
3
11
11
12
13
14 14
15 15
16 16
17
6 6
7 7
88
9 9
10 10
2
4
5
5
4
1 Balanced Mode Radiator
(BMR) driver for mid and high
frequencies
2 Front BMR suspension plate
3 Elastomeric decoupling
system
4 Rigid grilles with high
percentage open area
5 Pressure die-cast drive unit
chassis with FEA-designed
triangular rear section
6 Bass drivers with computer-
optimised motor systems
7 Low diffraction baffle
8 Computer-modelled crossover
9 High-pressure die-cast plinth
10 Hardened stainless-steel spikes
11 BMR isolating enclosure
12 BMR suspension system to
reduce cross coupling
13 Rear BMR suspension plate
14 Mass damped multi-
composite panel enclosure
with internal bracing
15 Decoupling leaf spring
between enclosure and plinth
16 Custom input terminal
system
17 Rear spike adjustment
system

NAIM AUDIO LIMITED
Southampton Road • Salisbury • England • SP1 2LN
Tel: [phone] • Fax: [phone]
www.naimaudio.com