Thanks. The 242 makes it possible to enjoy active now, and then upgrade/recap when ready.
Certainly not āglorifyingā the old way its just how it is, building materials are very different these days, as i have explained
Iāve been listening to some other speakers and it emphasises just what a personal and room dependent decision it is, so I wonāt mention brands. And then I come back to the SBLsā¦I borrowed 3 CDs Iād not have thought of - Tubular Bells, the 2003 remake, Autobahn (Kraftwerk of course) and Joni Mitchell, Both Sides. All three show the SBLs in great light, even with room issues, and thereās a moment between track 8/9 on Tubular Bells where the bass is so pronounced, I just think the quality Iām after is in there, but how do I get it out more often? Joni Mitchell - one of the best Hifi listening experiences of my life.
Lolā¦ thatās exactly what I thought recently - without listening to other speakers.
There is everything and sometimes massive bass. Would love it more often but there are these moments with excellent bass reproduction.
But without a look to other speaker I can not tell if it could be better. For the moment I am totally happy.
I have SL2s and they are capable of phenomenally deep bass - when itās on the recording - and thatās the important thing. A lot of modern speakers are far too bassy for me. They seem to add bass when itās not really there. Go and listen to a jazz trio live. Then listen to the recording of the same band. Listen to the acoustic bass. Some of the ECM artists will play virtually all of a new album when they tour it on release, so itās possible to listen to the album at home and make a direct comparison. The SL2, and the SBL, have an uncanny ability to reproduce that live performance. It may not be great ālisten to that bass!! listen to that pinpoint imaging!!!ā hifi, but itās great on a musical level, and after all, thatās what most of us want from our stereo.
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Totally agree Nigel, and I think this is true of all of the original series of Naim speakers. I wasnāt as convinced by the Ovator 400 that I demoed and was happy to keep my SBLs. I did eventually replace them though. I bought a late Mk2 pairā¦
I had a lovely Mk 2 set once, with the all over veneer, though they were cherry and a bit to orange for me. The āproperā Naim speakers are just so musical. You can just forget that itās recorded sound. Modern F word speakers for example can be the opposite - fantastic hifi pyrotechnics but no relation to real music. Who wants to listen to a piano that sounds like itās thirty feet wide?
Mine are cherry Nigel, but they work visually in my room. They used to belong to Ken of this parish. He used them actively but I managed to source a brand new Paxo, new sealant kit and some grills from Tom Tom. Although I can set them up quite well my dealer did a professional instal too. Simply sublime.
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