In a word, no. I’d take NSat, IBL, SL2 over Allae in place of SBL if i had to. Closest to SBL are SL2, which i loved when i owned them, IBL too were special. Never much liked Allae in my rooms, honky bass no matter what, somewhat cured by going active but still no SBL.
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Well, the plan is try and if not suitable donate bass driver to knacked sbl .People say same driver but not a nathed pair
Correct, the mid/bass drivers in the later SBL and SL2 were essentially the same ones used in the Credo and Allae, just not specially selected or closely matched.
Thank richard ,so they should be ok. The credos are only £240 look minty so going to give them a try .If they dont work in my room I will transfer bass unit, well hopefully lol
Don’t autopsy the Credos, they’re perfectly good speakers much more suited to domestic audio than a lot of other, more eccentric and demanding ones. The lack of curved panels doesn’t imply lesser quality…
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I had Credo and Allae, in my opinion the credos were suitable with nap 140, 180, 200 with nap 250 the body of the Credos vibrated because of the bass band offered by the 250.
The Allaes worked well with nap 180, 200, 250, 300. The Allaes body was much stiffer than the Credo, with effective decoupling. The Allaes offered exellent performance, as Richard explains, and could be fitted more easily than SBLs and even SL2s, which could be placed 25/30cm from the rear wall.
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I disagree. The Credos were a more exciting speaker. Not without fault. Admittedly here. Times have changed…
I respect your opinion. However, the Allaes were designed a few years later, technically the box was better constructed with internal reinforcements and dampers, trapezoid walls; there was double isolation from the ground thanks to floating shoes; the tweeters were decoupled from the body by rubber joints suspended between the box and the tweeter. The Allaes were perfectly optimised Intros and Credos. It’s possible that people might prefer Intro’s to Credo’s, just as they might prefer Credo’s to Allaes. This depends on the acoustics, the size of the room, the distance from the listening area and the power of the amplification. With my new Allaes there was a 6 month break-in period before the speakers freed themselves and played like the spontaneity of the Credos, the Allaes added better definition and understanding of the music, clarity.
I agree, Allae are more refined with a better construction.
But Credo and Intro have more PRAT or groove.
I add that this opinion doesn’t mean the Allae didn’t have those qualities.
Independently of the room, the level of vitality (PRAT, groove, rhythmic abilities, sensuality and rapidity of inflexions in the voices for example or all those characteristics which make the music at home funny and lively) is higher by Credo and Intro.
And in this area, the flagships of Naim loudspeakers era are without any doubt the SBL and the bigger sized DBL…
For loudspeakers I listened several times or had at home the “grooviest” are: SBL and DBL, Intro, IBL, Credo, SL2, Allae.
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I understand what you are saying, but I think that the level of prat experienced is linked to the reproduction band and the ease of use of the speakers. My intros had more prat than my Credos, the 20cm Hp of the intros had a shorter and more reactive coil, they worked better on low power and small amps, same difference with Credos whose cabinets were less reinforced and less heavy than the Allaes, but this is relative and secondary in my opinion. The differences perceived at the beginning fade with the sum of the qualities, a pair of well driven Allaes and a large source play great without lack of liveliness. In the case of Naim loudspeakers, the level of sound perceived is the result of a successful compromise between the electronics and the loudspeakers.
A friend of mine has DBLs driven by a 250DR, later a 300DR, the DBLs were fine but lacked energy, now with 2x nap 350 he’s happy, his DBLs have become more exiting.
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