Hi Everyone,
I wanted some advice from the forum on whether my new listening/living room is adequate for my DBLs. I would consider changing speakers if necessary but need to understand if the DBLs can adequately “express themselves” in the new room.
Below a pic of the new room, dimensions and potential placement of the speakers.
Feedback most welcome 
My room is pretty similar in size, the 3.6m width is identical. My SL2s are placed exactly where your DBLs would go. They will look very large when sited that close, but if the walls and floor are very solid there should not be a problem. I remember someone from Naim, it may even have been Julian, used then very successfully in a room 3.6m by 3.6m.
I’d suggest you simply try them. If they look or sound too big, then swap for SL2s. You’ll get the same Naim sound but in a more discreet package.
Hi Sbilotta
I have a very similar set up to you with DBLs. Before I had them in a much bigger room when I lived in the Middle East.
Sure they do work better in a bigger room where they are given more space to breath but you will still get tremendous enjoyment from them.
Good luck!
Karl
I
If it was me I would like them further apart, perhaps more central in the alcoves
Lyndon
Thanks all.
@Lyndon, yes and agree, just concerned that positioning them too close to the corners will increase bass boom, but I will try various positions once in place.
@HH, after DBLs not sure I could live without a decent bass
The reason I am asking this in advance is that I will be shipping my whole system, including DBLs, to London in the near future and so should I need (or want) to change speakers, best to know in advance so that I don’t need to ship them (they’re more than half of the total boxes/volume) and can sell them in Italy.
DBLs can work surprisingly well in a very small room, as some at Naim can attest. Get it right and it’s a little bit like being inside a super-sized pair of headphones.
My Isobariks were previously in a room of similar size and worked ok. The bigger problem, in retrospect, was the suspended floor. But I only really appreciated that when I moved them into a larger room with solid floor when the bass tightened up appreciably. It’s a very different kind of presentation you get which can take getting used to. Whether you decide the new presentation is better or worse probably is a matter of personal taste.
Very good point Mark (I presume your name is Mark )
I will have a suspended wooden floor and so am looking into either Townshend Seismic Isolation Podium (size 5) or Stillpoints Ultra 5 for the speakers.
Does anybody have experience or recommendations on this aspect too?
Thx
Stefano
Indeed Stefano, Mark it is. I use Stillpoints under my black boxes and Iso Acoustic Gaia under my speakers. Happy with what both of those bring in terms of improvements. However I only became a convert to that after moving my equipment to the larger room so I’m unable to comment of their efficacy with regard to suspended flooring. I’d be surprised if anything could completely negate the suspended floor effect though, especially when using speakers with bass quality like DBL/Isobarik. Having said that, I’d be interested to see what impact they might have in that scenario. And to reiterate, the smaller room with suspended floor did work for the Isobariks, it was just that the bass could dominate with the volume too high. But, as Richard pointed out, it gives an intimate and immersive experience that I sometimes feel I slightly miss in the larger room on some recordings. Near field, i think is the term.
My DBL’s are in a room that is 10mx5m with a vaulted ceiling and this does allow them to breath well. However, I don’t think DBL bass is particularly dominant and can see why they’d work in a small room. I always thought the bass to be a lot more agile than my Isobariks. They’ll do really deep bass but there has to be a really deep bass note playing.
Prior to my DBL’s I had Isobariks working in a small cottage front room with no problems at all.
I really wanna wonder how does naim DBL sound
The layout looks a lot like that of a Stockholm based Naim dealers home DBL set-up. He had a very large fire place between his DBLs. It still sounded great.
I do not know what your sources you are using but if you are only streaming I would suggest that you put the electronics in the storage room and run the speaker cables through the wall. Also, you will probably have a lot more reflections from the left wall (where the Fraim is placed in your drawings). Perhaps you should consider some kind of treatment.
Good luck
Hans
Maybe you are going to need ‘the big boy’ first
Man they are too expensive like 2 times the price of a nap180. And they are unserviced too. If I am rich, I’ll upgrade to 2 x nap135
They will get you so close to the real dynamics of a live band that you’d be amazed. They have a power that you can feel in your chest. Very fast and agile. They image much better than Isobariks and sound even more natural. They have leading edge detail that is unmistakably Naim. Instrument timbre is beautifully rendered. An all time great speaker but plug in anything less than 135’s and they will sound like a PA speaker.
I had a room with a somewhat chewed up suspended floor. The builder left it in place and laid a solid oak tongue and groove floor on top. The bass performance benefited considerably from the increased rigidity.
Back in the day, I sometimes placed the listening chair about 3-4 feet from the plane of the DBLs, so was in their near-field plane and removed much of the room additions/subtractions. This was a totally immersive experience with the sound whizzing all around you from all directions except from the speakers themselves. As Richard said, it was very much like having headphones wired into your auditory cortex-except these could shake your liver instead of merely ones tympanic membranes.
Damn, Must try them sometimes. I don’t know if there are any DBLs in Malaysia, but I know there is SL2s, SBLs and Allaes. How close does the small naim speaker get to the DBL in terms of performance.
There is a recognisable character in many of the Naim’s speakers but I suppose NBL’s are closest as they use the same mid/treble units. If you’ve ever listened to a well set-up pair of MK1 Linn Kans, DBL’S sound like a scaled up version of them but with bass.
