If you compare the standard passive crossovers for sbl, ibl and sl2 you will find that the sbl has the lowest treble output, the ibl is in the middle and the sl2 has the highest treble output.
I always start by running one speaker using one amp and the corresponding passive crossover. Just plug in the bass speaker. I run the other speaker using the snaxo crossover. Place the preamp in mono mode and with the balance knob in the middle adjust the bass pot in the snaxo until the sound is dead centred. I then set both left and right bass pots to the same position and then repeat the process with the treble speaker. You will be surprised by what a difference it makes. The SL2 sounds incredibly dull when used with the settings for an SBL but incredibly amazing when the snaxo is set to match the passive crossover. I really think that many systems are not set up correctly which is why Naim active systems do not get the universal praise that they deserve.
I have always found that the best is to leave the bass at the factory settings and only adjust the treble.
Good job I don’t have space to go active 
that’s fascinating JXZ311 - its a very “pro-active” article. excuse the lame pun.
It’s certainly something to aspire to but theres a steep price difference between an old olive 250 and one of the newest ones. Pin layout on interconnects change too, so you cannot just use existing witchhat or SL interconnects.
that’s got to be worth a go Jesfirth…although it’s going to be fairly fiddly as I’d have to juggle the naca5 around a lot as they run under the floor, not an awful lot of space behind the fraim either.
Do I need to change the wiring of the amps too in any way? (I think I do but not quite getting it from your instructions…)
I have always found the Naxo or Snaxo´s sounding better without the case on.
If you are going to try it you plug the amp you are using passive directly into the supercap that powers the preamp and the one you are using active into the snaxo output. I hope that helps, john
I believe that active set up was with a SNAXO/Supercap and Chord cables/speaker cable. Of course the SNAXO is now discontinued so it’s used items only, if available… The rumoured forthcoming 808 Kudos crossover should be good; will it better the SNAXO/Supercap though? How would Exposure’s current 808 crossover compare to both? Also cabling: I/Cs and speaker cable is a further minefield as all require different options and a significant expense, especially 2 further runs of Superlumina if desired to match an existing single run… Then there are future Naim passive amp developments; the 300 replacement is coming, but 2 box, so 6 boxes/Fraim levels, plus crossover/power for active operation will be too much for many. Would one new gen 300 ‘better’ 3xnew gen 250’s? I suspect not, but who knows. I believe a new gen 500 is years away, would it ‘better’ 3x250? More likely, as a 500 bettered 4x135s, but I suppose one could upgrade to that solution relatively cheaply in a few years’ time and benefit from the active set up vs the existing 500 in the meantime… Lots to ponder/ try to dem! Can’t make the Bristol show so if anyone who can could probe Naim/Kudos on this topic, feedback would be of great interest!
NB
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