There’s a pair of SL2s available for sale here, and I’m thinking that they could be worthy replacements for my Epos ES12’s (which have been with me since 1996, so I’ve had a reasonable run from them).
I’ve seen many forum posts commenting that SL2s run really well passive with a NAP 300, or active with 250s, but at the moment I’ve got a single 250DR. Does anyone have any thoughts on whether this would be a good choice?
It’s what I use and it works really well, as you might expect.
The SL2 would be perfectly fine with a 250, though in my experience it’s the 300 that really brings them to life. In your situation I’d be more concerned with the limitations of a SuperUniti as preamp, and the use of the NDX2 without additional power supply, if you intend to get such revealing speakers.
Indeed. I’ve got a longer-term (probably next year) plan that involves a 282 (or maybe a 252 if the finances will stretch to it). Right now my dilemma is whether I snap up the SL2’s whilst they are available, or run with my ES12’s and look for some Dynaudio Special 40’s or Totem Reference One’s next year.
Probably depends on how often used SL2s crop up in NZ.
They are all very different. Which do you prefer? Have you heard the SL2, or indeed the others?
One of the many strengths of SL2s is their great ability to respond wonderfully to whatever amplification you care to use. A 250DR will no doubt make them sound great, and should you feel the urge to upgrade the 300DR will make them sing some more. A 500DR even more so. I ended up running my pair active, with a brace of 500s. A great speaker!
They’re rather rare over here. This is the first set that I’ve seen, and I’ve never heard them before. Plus they’re in a different city, and with all domestic travel unavailable due to Level 3 lockdown, there’s unlikely to be an opportunity to listen beforehand. So it’s basically coming down to whether I’m prepared to “gamble” £1700 listening unheard (as it were).
Or hold on until the budget comes up to get a NAC 282 next year, and replace the speakers later and wonder what might have been 
I can’t answer the question as to whether you’d like them, but if it is a good price and you have a real interest, you could snap them up and if you decide you don’t like them you should be able to sell them at fairly small net loss to you. I think that’s what I’d do in the equivalent position,
I’d never heard SL2s (other than when they were at the Bristol Show many moons ago) but I saw a maple pair come up at a dealer in The Hague and knew I had to move quickly to avoid potentially regretting it later. I knew they would be a good fit in my relatively small listening room with their up against the wall set up and if they turned out not to work well I was pretty sure I could sell them on without losing much money.
So, I say go for it!!
At £1700 I would grab those SL2s and yes they will work well with your 250DR, don’t miss out
I just read this. So did you go for it?
I agree with HiFiman,
I had a pair of passive Allaes hooked up to a 250DR, the combination sounded very involving. So I do not think that it would be a mistake if they are in good condition.
(although the Allae cabinets are different, I believe they are similar to the SL2’s in some ways)
Good Luck
I’ve been demoing a pair of totem signature one stand mounts this week. They’ve been good - slightly deeper bass than my Epos ES12s, and very good soundstaging.
But I think I’m going to go for the SL2s. I feel that if I don’t I’ll spend a long time wondering “what if”…
Snore . . . - and they’ll really work brilliantly with a 552/500, right?
Considering that they were often demonstrated with a olive 52/250, a 250DR will have zero issues with bringing SL2s to “life.”
If you want an “out there” suggestion, a conrad-johnson Premier 11 (or successor) really allows one to hear how good SL2s can be. 
I simply report what I have found for myself.
The SL2s arrived at the beginning of the current Classic/Reference period and were usually demonstrated with a NAP250.2, NAP300 or NAP500 and could be made to sound wonderful on any of them. Indeed, they would even sound great on the end of a NAP200, and I once demonstrated the importance of the pre to power hierarchy by demoing a NAC552 + NAP150x vs. a NAC122x/Flatcap2x + NAP500, both on SL2s. No prizes for guessing which one was unanimously so much preferred by all who were present.
Oh yes, and while for a few years I drove my SL2s with a NAP500, these days I use a NAP250DR and I’m still loving what they do.
We used to demonstrate the PSB 300 (a smallish $300 bookshelf speaker) on Target R2 stands with a 82/250 and then dare people to guess how much the speakers cost. Most guessed $2000-3000 (this back in the 1996 timeframe).
And I remember hearing the SL2 for the first time at CK’s; with CDS2/52/250.
Yes, that’s a great fun demo! I had a play with some cheap standmounts here some years back that I posted about on the old forum. Nothing cost more than £50 secondhand, and a pair of Goodmans Maxim2s on the end of a CDS3, 552/250 were flawed but such great fun! They cost the grand sum of £10 off eBay and I still have them as they’re quite handy now and then. IIRC the cheap speaker that really surprised me the most was a pair of KEF Coda 7 SEs. They weighed hardly anything at all, but once placed on top of the stands (Target R2s) and positioned just right, they were amazing. Properly sophisticated sounds emanating from a pair of speakers that had cost me £25. Of course, the rest of the system that made it all happen (and let’s not forget the stands here either) was rather more expensive…
My longer term plans include a 282 (or 252, if the budget allows) next year. This is mostly about grabbing what sounds like a good speaker whilst it’s available.
Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I’ve bought the SL2s, and they will be collected and packed by the courier on Tuesday.
I’ve also just bought and set up a Fraim for the system, so it’s getting quite the upgrade. To say that I’m excited to get the SL2 into the system and hear what it can do is an understatement