They are very big …and they play best when your volume is loud around 10-11…if you try to listen quieter you lose the energy…unfortunately my neighbors don’t like it.
Can the neighbours be shifted elsewhere ? 
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I wish I could 
My daughters and wife don’t like it when I play mine loud 
I’m lucky as my neighbour doesn’t seem to mind me playing music loud, when I saw her in the garden later she asked me whether I was playing Genesis ‘A Trick of the Tail’ (she’s also a Genesis fan!) 
That is a problem i found with sbl’s and the demo off the SL2’s, they need volume to work properly, as if not the bass is week,and they just dont sound alive. Thats one off the reasons i sold mine.
A sub or different speakers is the only way around it i think, i went for speakers and the fact 12 did the job lovely.
Lucky neighbour it`s a gift
What is the physical divide between your neighbour and you? Floor/ceiling/wall/interhouse space?
There are measures that can be taken depending on the nature of this divide.
Correct SL2 needs volume otherwise it sound flat and dull also 552/500 needs gain to be alive
Strange. I wonder if you had them set up incorrectly Dunc. Mine sound alive and detailed at lower volumes. They obviously grow the more you turn the wick up (as most speakers do) but mine are certainly not flat at lower volumes.
I find I can play mine at relatively low volume and it doesn’t lack for engagement. Then again, I usually find vinyl is better here than digital.
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I also have a 552/500/SL2 system, and lower volume listening is quite articulate and engaging. I can’t help but think this is a room and/or setup issue.
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No experience with vinyl for the last 20 years …but to me it’s Sound not alive enough only when I increase volume to 10-11
I’m not sure the term ’very’ is justified, though of course it is ralative: they don’t take up much more effective floorspace than many a floorstander, and unlike many speakers they have the advantage in many rooms of going against the wall and not occupying room space…
But I gather they don’t have the fullest/deepest bass in the speaker world, and when played quiet the roll-off of ear sensitivity conceivably might be noticed more than with some other speakers: I wonder if that may possibly account for your perceived lack of “energy”?
Mine likewise - but that’s why we make sure in any house we buy that there is at least another lounge area separate from the music room. And its very loudest (rock gig level) is reserved for times she is out!
Hmmm – but this might limit your choice of music somewhat… 
I guess once again it all depends on what you think alive and engaging is? Plus that old question that always pops up with naim, set up. But i am sure i had the sbl’s set up fine, as spent many times over the years messing with them, but you have got to admit, bass weight especially at low volume is not great on the sbl’s or sl2
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Indeed. I guess, ultimately, you need to be disposed to taking care and time over things like set up to get the best out of a brand like Naim (especially at the higher end of the range).
If you are the sort who thinks life’s too short to bother with things like racks, mains, cable dressing or speaker assembly and would rather just have “plonk and play” electronics and speakers that are as quick and easy to bring in as they are to exchange for the next best thing then Naim probably isn’t ideal.
Hi Dunc.
Strangely I have the opposite experience with SL2s, which I had the pleasure of running active in my previous house at the end of 552/ 2x 300s for 12 years. I found them much more engaging than my present Fact 12s at low volume. The Facts I find not really waking up till about 8 o’clock and beyond. The SL2s are fantastic speakers in the right room. ATB Peter
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To be fair to sl2’s i only had them for 2 days, as it was when i moved rooms and lost my solid wall, i was trying to see if they had more weight to them over the sbl’s, they didn’t and that started me on the horrible speaker search
Fact 12’s are hard to drive, having a sensitive of 85, so you would probably find the volume a tad more round compared to the SL2’s.
But the sbl’s and SL2’s in the right room are good, as i was very happy with mine till i moved rooms and ruined it