Ah yes thanks - that makes sense. I knew it was something along those lines. Memory plays tricks you know…
They made a real Kant of it. 
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Yes that is certainly unrealistic. Neither mono or pin-point stereo is at all realistic IMO, although I can appreciate why some people like being able to pin-point instruments within the sound stage. One could argue that doing so at least partly makes up for the lack of any visual cues.
For me the ideal, and what approximates to what I experience in real life (and that includes visual cues as well obviously), is a spread of sound that positions the various instruments here and there but without any really sharp pin-point images. However I do like a pin-point image of any vocalists - so I guess I’m not being entirely consistent. Luckily my Klipsch speakers seem to do this very well.
I think it’s currenty impossible to reproduce accurately the combined visual/auditory experience of a real life performance so anything is just an approximation.
In the case of people who like to hear what the recording engineer does in a typical studio recording session , rather than wanting to imagine a live band playing in front of them as I do, then I think that’s simpler and possible to achieve far more accurately - at a price of course. One could say that this is in fact how it should be if one’s system is accurate and that attempting to create the illusion of a live stage performance from s studio recording is a folly.
I can’t disagree with that in principle but at the same time it’s not really what I want from a system. I suppose this one of the differences between what some people categorise as either a ‘hi-fi system’ or a ‘music system’. I want something that is accurate to the spirit of music as I experience it live (in general obviously - I haven’t heard all the bands that I like playing live) rather than being technically accurate to the recording. Not that anyone can claim that their system is accurate to the recording unless they were present at the session of course.
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Why is that? The beard? 
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The mustache indeed. I know this was popular all across Europe, but I think a bit more in Germany those days.
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I am not sure about that … 
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Are you thinking of the Tukans from the mid-1990s?
It was a cheap version of the Tukan,both with bass reflex holes in them, nothing like the original Kan or Kan II.
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No . I think they were actually called the Kan MkIII or IV. The Tukans were different. The only thing these later Kans had in common with the classic Kans of old was the name.
Nope, It’s the ex New Zealand distributor.
you could imagine what a good job they would do with the mid range they have.
Yep, my SL2s are cranking out this 1971 Blue Note album at the moment and it sounds extraordinarily present and real.
Best I’ve ever heard from Barry Altschul and Dave Holland.
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I used to, but now have two pairs of nsats at the correct height for surround that actually do a better job. SL2’s are in system 2.
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Yes, in Roon at least. I’ve put the maximum volume at 80%.
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A number of years ago I sang in a choir for the 9 Lessons and Carols service, which was recorded.
I grabbed a copy of the recording and listened to it that evening. I heard every damned mistake we had made as a choir.
The following morning I returned for the Christmas service. As I entered the vestry and heard a fine recording of one of the anthems we had sung the previous evening.
In due course I made a bee line for the sound desk. Yes, it was the same recording, but played back in the Church acoustic.
That reverb can hide a lot!
Made me appreciate just how good the professionals are; and why they are sensitive about when they are recorded.
I absolutely agree with your point, that our systems are our choice. Accuracy is an interesting concept.
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I see a potential problem here. Your account refers to the SBLs, right? And the new tweeters fit. That would imply they’re on a 93mm faceplate whereas the SL2s used the D2010 which has a 104mm faceplate (with the foam) and are MUCH more efficient (one of the reasons for them being a bit better as they need less power for the same output, so heat up less). I expect you may have to change the resistors in the padding to get the levels correct again. Also there’s the problem of there being a gap remaining around the outside.
I don’t remember which of the two D2008s Naim used in the SBLs; there were two. One at 87dB sensitivity (which Linn used) and one approaching 90dB sensitivity. A look at the SBL X-O would tell me which, though Richard might know which one it was straight away. If the tweeter reduction levels are similar between the SBL and SL2s then the new tweeter might well be a runner. You can, of course, transfer the innards of the new tweeters into the old cases which would get over the fitment problem and no one would know the difference (assuming you get the crossover right - and I wouldn’t trust most people to do that, especially from the perspective of choosing what sounds best, though there may be a retailer out there who specialises in this sort of thing who might get you more into the right ballpark).
I’ve got some D2010s here from Naim, in fact the reference pair for the DBLs (and marked as such), so we could get a near perfect comparison. The newer tweeters might be a little harder to get inside than the 50 year old injection mouldings of the old ones, but I expect the innards are much the same. We could then give these measurements to Richard to have as a resource for when this arises again, though there we are getting more into commercial territory. In fact one could do a reference redesign for the new Scan Speak tweeter that Naim could approve and hand out for when people blow SL2 or SBL tweeters.
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My pet theory for the decline is that they lost Julian’s ears and that he was actually the one who recognised the specialness of the LP12 and things like the Grace and Supex 900. I’m going to guess that it was Julian who gave the de facto stamp of approval to whatever was going to become a Linn product - say Ittok, LVV … - though I don’t suppose Linn would ever admit it wasn’t they who had the “golden ears”. Personally, I don’t think they’ve ever recovered.