Probably! NBL are really lovely, though i’ve been told having quite a forward presentaton, probably they actually deserve Active operation. Not easy to find either. A dealer in Germany had one, but told me that were reserved already
Di you have them?
Nobody mentioned SL2 yet?
Bruce
I have two pairs but one is more of a donor set at this stage. I would not say they are forward, but very detailed in the mid range.
I heard SL2s back in the day which I guess were the successor but did not like them at all.
Before S600, i had SL2 for a few years. At the beginning with CD555/282/HC/250, then with 552/250. They never worked very well here, an absolute nightmare to set up.
Never owned SBL, for this price are worth the experiment.
You won’t be disappointed with sbls I have had three pairs over the years
nSats anyone ?
In smaller rooms nSats were not a bad choice, more universal than IBL (which failed in too large room).
nSats were one of the very few bookshelf sized loudspeakers that challenged my old Royd Sorcerers, not an easy task. (250/HC/72) its all history, However I could easy go back living with this performance - no silly streaming issues back then, CD was invented though.
@Loki Out of curiosity, how are those speakers performing after 27 years?
@rsch How come you are considering the SBLs, that are even older than the Ovators? Excuse the maybe silly question, I don’t know much about those speakers. Could they possibly sound nicer than the much newer S600? And I really agree with you - the Ovators are beautiful speakers.
PS: I wish I knew you had a spare BMR, since I am looking for one 
I still have nSat with 62/HC/250cb, very engaging, more rubust mid bass. One of the favourite of mine and Max B. The IBL is like a precision instrument but leaner. They seems sounding bigger and bolder in my big basement rooms with l’esser systems, than here with 500 system
Unfortunately spares for Ovator loudspeakers are rare as hens teeth. A pity Naim din’t manage to secure spare units for future customer support. My S400 (now sold) performed 100%, but I was very carefull not to over run them. Fantastic speaker and nice working rather close to wall with zero bas boom.
If you are unfamiliar with early Naim loudspeakers, you have good times ahead, most of them were fantastic - NBL and DBL indeed, innovative design but sometime quirky to setup. Your right SBL are older than Ovators (the last loudspeaker range from Naim) This does not make them worse, many older speakers are better than later ones, so an invalid argument. In my view any older Naim speaker are better than recent Focal speakers, taste matters too.
There are a fair number of very well kept SBLs and SL2s out there because they tend to be cherished and various spares have been available, although exact replacement tweeters are now a problem for both I believe. Newer isn’t always better. The ‘L’ series of Naim speakers had a particular design philosophy (and sound character) that was quite distinct and had a lot of fans amongst Naim users at the time. The Ovators are pretty different, and they certainly didn’t gel with everyone when they were on sale.
Not an unusual point of view.
Focal are Focal. Not Naim. Any suggestion they have particular synergy with Naim IMHO is marketing first and foremost. They have their fans, but far from universal affection on the Forum.
Bruce
Well, it’s nice to know that speakers can live that long. My reasoning was that, after 20-30 years, the flexible parts of the drivers should start to deteriorate to the point that they can’t perform as they used to; or are nearing some point of mechanical failure. So given that SBLs can be anywhere from 20 to 40 years old, I’d guess that there’s no point in buying them. But I’m not arguing that this is the case, since I really know very little.
In any case, I wish I can keep the S600 for quite a while longer.
The Linn Keilidhs are still performing very well indeed. It’s just that the 600s are so much better, (and so they should be at that price and size!). I really like the 600s, especially partnered with classic series kit, for which they were designed to work optimally! I have spare BMRs (no you can’t have them!) although my dealer has only ever known one pair to have failed and that was in a full-sun position where the unit delaminated under UV duress.
Did the same and have spare bmr drivers just in case. I went one step further and bought two sets of bass drivers. In the grand scheme of things very little money, and imo i have listened to speakers £40k plus that are great, but still prefer my s600 speakers.
I bought my 600 in 2016 and in a couple of years if failed three times, IIRC not always the same channel. That’s was not a total failure, just a sort of zinging noise at 2.8k circa. Since then they performed faultlessly. The main reason for selling them, was just the lack of spares for the future, even if i had a new BMR
@loki @Gazza That’s so great. You people are lucky! 
Well, I wish you can remember me, should you ever decide to sell them.
In any case, I shouldn’t push the thread off-topic.
Naim still have bass drivers.
@Gazza Are you sure? I thought they didn’t! Would you be so kind as to tell me who I could contact?
My dealer just rang up and ordered them. I was on a forum visit just before Xmas and i spoke with Jason the Naim brand ambassador who was giving the tour……he confirmed no bmr drivers, but they had the bass drivers. Presumably they are much less likely to fail. If my memory serves me right i paid £350 for the bass drivers.
You have a point, and its normal to have SBL crossovers serviced. Otherwise at their current s/h prices, you can’t really go wrong as long as the units are in working order along with nice condition cabinets. They are a bit love or hate loudspeakers, well setup and active, they are fantastic IMO.