I have owned 3 pairs of IBLs. Sold a black pair to get a pair in cherry which I stupidly sold later. Had another pair in black but could not get them to work properly in a compromised room.
With a little care, IBLs can be a bit special. One of the best systems I have owned was a Nat01/snaps/42.5/Hicap/160/IBL. Radio 3 was stunning. I could happily sit for hours listening to broadcasts and that was a time when I had no interest in classical music ! The system just “gelled”. Perhaps I should have stopped there but upgradeitis bit and I never quite recovered the joy of owning that system.
IBLs with active 500s are said to be very good…
Like all naim speakers, they are very cheap and can be upgraded to the death.
Naim speakers seem to be very neutral, hard to get much better than £3k DBLs, even with £25k Titans. Would think the same rule would apply to IBLs (debatable upgrade even when it costs 8x as much).
Same for me. I always preferred the IBL over the SBL back in the 80ies. What I’ve learned: The IBL needs much care in partnering, forget a Nait or anything smaller than a 110/140. Used as a passive speaker it often lacks dynamics and sometimes it can even sound a bit boring and lean. Everything will be different when used in active mode. I always found that 2 x 140 in active mode clearly outperforms a 250 or a pair of 135 in passive mode.
The IBL also needs a lot of care in positioning. The perfect place for e.g. a Kan or SBL can be the worst place for the IBL. It takes some time finding the right place but is worth the effort. An issue is that the speaker covers will crumble after about 30 years. There are no genuine replacements available and the speaker was designed to be used with the covers.
I really enjoyed my time with the IBL but to be honest I can’t imagine still using this speaker. The 2-D-soundstage and some slight but audible colorations would bother me today.
I have never heard the IBLs, although a ‘friend’ leant me a pair of SBLs eighteen months ago and I ended up buying them, by ended up I mean one day later.
I heard a friend’s pair back in about 1988 or 89. For me their bass curtailment made them quite unenjoyable - no matter how fast they may be, part of the music was missing. For music without bass they might sound OK, while of course other people may not mind the bass lacking: My friend didn’t, at least not until until he heard the same music through my speakers …and a year later when I moved up he replaced the IBLs with my old speakers (IMF TLS50ii)
Spider eye view taken while cleaning mine yesterday. 30+ years of well considered naim amplification partnering has meant 30+ years of enjoyable listening.
I can remember many, many moons ago, there were a pair of IBLs at the factory that had been modified - perhaps prototype/experimental. They had twin bass drivers & downward firing ports.
I don’t recall ever hearing them though, which is a shame.
The internal layout would have been interesting to see too, with regard to the PAR filter.
I wonder if they still exist somewhere?!
Half of my IBLs driven by a freshly serviced Nait 5. I’ve an ixo around too and they sound much better using the ixo. Tempted to get a flatcap xs, use the ixo and power amps.
An old picture with French Advance electronics. The amplifiers are electronic waste now (gave them to a colleague) and the IBLs are still enjoyed by someone. Anyway, it was a perfect match, soundwise.
I’ve been listening with one of the kids to some really light music - recorder and light organ music - and this was magical. Once the music needs scale / weight / gravitas or whatever word is appropriate, they start to show the limitations. Considering a simple sub to cover this.
Yep. With a Boston PV1000, a Sunfire Truesub and a REL Storm. It doesn‘t work, IBLs are too fast. Placement plus a 250 (or more) is the way to go. Subs are great for movies but they should be avoided for music. But this is just my personal opinion.
