I’ was thinking to go active with my last IBL and was looking to this CB Naxo. bar the fact that someone exchanged the front chrome sleeve with the rear, are these blanking plugs either side of the rear panel correct ? My Linn dealer, the same who sold me the IBL recently, has an Olive one availble. Is there a significant difference among the two series, even if i’d prefer a last generation Black series whenever still availble new or pre loved
Regards
Roberto
Interesting. I suspect the sled would have been the same for 2-4 and 3-6 Naxos, the 2-4 blanking plugs replacing the extra sockets needed for Tri-amp or Six pack operation on the 3-6 version.
That’s correct 
Any difference from CB to Olive ?
More important when they were serviced.
Of course
Something that should be easy to reverse, feet off, sled out, the other way around back in, feet on again, presto. The CB black front is brittle by now, so do this surgically or as part of a service.
Serviced will likely sound better regardless of the CB or Olive version. Also a double-check on the settings for the speaker perhaps? I seem to remember these could be adapted to a specific speaker, so if it was optimised for Kans it might be off for IBLs then, but I could be wrong.
It will need to be powered and that HiCap - CB or Olive - would probably also need a service.
Looks really good, and in any case (no pun) a nice project going active with vintage gear!
My understanding of Naim Active Crossovers was that the frequencies were fixed in hardware, with pots to adjust the levels of each band. I am unsure if the frequencies varied, for different speaker types…?
@Richard.Dane - ??
They are specific for different speakers,as said by daddycool,Linn Kan for an example had specific change in components in the Naxo.
I got SBLs circa 1998 and went active - I tried an old CB Naxo the dealer had vs the ‘current’ SNAXO at the time and preferred the former due to a warmer more analogue sound.
I got a SNAXO 242 last year for several reasons and in all honesty the ancient non-serviced CB Naxo doesn’t sound much different, thoughg I’ve not done an A/B demo recently after the SNAXO 242 should have bedded in.
I was advised to go for the latest active crossover you can as each generation change brought marked performance gains.
Yes, x-over points were fixed with trim pots for hf and lf levels on the 2 way.
Naim could make the Naxo for a specific speaker - usually ARC, or Linn in the early days.
So as per @IanRobertM’s knowledge, good to know. Did these fixed points remain the same over the generations? Also still a form of optimisation for the speaker in question. Would Naim Service have the preferred pot settings for the IBL or is that left at the listeners discretion?
Ah that’s probably what stuck in my memory. Were these marked in any way, with a sticker on the back or inside perhaps? And early days is that the CB-era?
Wasn’t the early
Naxo 2 set for Linn Kan and Sara ,before Naim released the SBL and IBL ?
The earlier crossovers split L and R audio to different amps whereas the SNAXO 242 sends LF to one amp and HF to another potentially allowing unmatched amps for LF and HF. The olive SNAXO I tried had the older arrangement.
From memory I think I once tried to establish which speaker my CB NAXO had been made for but no record at HQ based on the serial number.
I always opened my CB Gear so reversing Is no prob. Frequencies have always been fixed like Richard pointed out. For peace of mind i’ll probably get the Olive one from my dealer albeit Is much more expensive.
Changing sleeve and front fascia to last Black series Is a feasible option ?
So the frequencies are set in hardware - and those frequencies were varied, for specific speaker designs…?
Guessing that the frequencies could be changed, but it would involve physical change of components …?
Yes, it would need component changes to change the x-over points.
My dealer one should be already set for SBL/IBL
Yes, the early 2 way NAXO would have been mostly for Saras or Kans. I think they can also be used on Naim 2 ways as well as they have similar x-over points. However, I’m not an expert here so best defer to Naim for advice on specific differences.