Thanks for the information and reassurance Yours look lovely. Showed the picture to SWMBO, and she was very impressed!
Just go with the Majik 140s, for no other reason than it sounds like you wonāt hear the last of it if you buy something else. Fortunately theyāre not bad speakers.
1 Like
I feel your pain with regard to falling down the LP12 upgrade rabbit hole!
I have seen 2 year old Cirkus along with the subchassis on LP12 bits for around Ā£330. I really donāt feel confident (or have the tools and stand) to fit it myself, so would have to pay to have it fitted. If I get the Karousel now the dealer will waive the cost of the service and refurb, and throw in a couple of other bits so the difference in price is not very much in the Linn scheme of things.
For the moment at least I will be limited as to what I can put the LP12 on, so also seriously considering a baseboard upgrade to make it a bit more tolerant of less than optimal support.
Now that I know what I am looking for I will be patient until the right ones show up. Once all the other bits have been serviced I will be in no huge rush as I will be able to enjoy the ES14s for longer 
2 Likes
Linn LP12/Naim/Epos were a fantastic combination decades ago, and Iād struggle to know what would sound like the ES14s these days without listening comparison.
ES14s are still a great speaker, the Epos stands are a bit ugly and industrial but they pair well. I have SBLs and ES14s, when I last had a āhome cinemaā setup I may have had the ES14s on Atacama stands which were a lot nicer visually, but sounds like standmounters are off anyway.
Presumably sheās enjoying the sound of the ES14s just not the ālooksā. You need to get both the visuals and speaker sound right though to keep you both happy.
Why not take her for some demos (maybe take your ES14s along for comparison) at a dealer (or two) which stocks some potential options visually. This may require some travel, though I suspect so would SBLs if you wanted to listen first. You never know, if she heard speakers within budget up against ES14s she might see them differently.
I replaced my ES14s with active SBLs nearly 25 years ago, but kept the ES14s as I enjoyed them so much - my initial thoughts were that the ES14s went an octave or so deeper than the SBLs, maybe the Epos were just overblown and less refined, but they were certainly fun.
If SBLs were available new now, Iām not sure Iād go for them again, largely as a few decades down the line I find them a real chore to move around ācarefullyā without damging the gasket or me! Standmounters potentially have benefits in terms of easier siting/moving around, though I guess if you selected something very heavy a helpful dealer would hopefully assist with installation.
Good luck.
AC
1 Like
Funny how tastes change over time, these days I really wish Iād not gone for black SBLs and LP12 plinth!
Just occurred to me, though Iāve no experience of them - what abouts N-Sats and N-Sub? Very discrete looks for the sats because of size IF they can be wall-mounted (someone with knowledge may advise). They pop up quite cheaply from time to time on fleabay, and youād be able to sell on at minimal loss if you took a punt. Sats and subs rarely appear together, so likely would mean buying at different times. (That said, thereās a pair of N-Sats available now in cherry and sub available now in black - non matching but possibly irrelevant!) what would be critical would be setting up correctly, but much on that topic in other threads.
1 Like
I have a black pair which I bought in ā88 as sparesā¦
1 Like
SWMBO loves music.
However, sound quality is not something that she really cares about. In the kitchen she is happy to play stuff on an Echo Show because itās more convenient then connecting her phone to my Nexus 2 DJ mixer and playing it through my Yamaha DXR PA system. The sound quality on the Echo is dreadful, not just bad, but actually offensive! The DJM/Yammies while not of audiophile quality by any means are pretty decent, can go loud enough to cause physical pain, and adding just a touch of reverb on the effects makes them very pleasant for casual listening.
The system SWMBO wonāt use:
This means that as long as they look alright, she will not be bothered over the more subtle differences in sound quality that keep the likes of us awake at night. On the plus side this has enabled me to justify the extra cost of the Lingo over the Magik on the grounds of convenience.
The chore of moving SBLs shouldnāt be too much of a problem as once I have them sited I donāt envisage moving them very often (it at all).
1 Like
I donāt get it: she is and has been happy for there to be a set of twin decks and small PA speakers in the house, but not a hifi system till now and then not the hifi speakers? I would have expected it tge other way round!
What a pointless thread if what you say in the above quote is correct!
Do exactly as you want. If your current wife doesnāt like the ES 14s, hopefully the next one will.
1 Like
Keep the ES14ās and explain that youāre still looking for the perfect replacementā¦
2 Likes
Women and cats will do as they please, so men and dogs just have to get used to it!
The main reason is that the music that I play on the decks is trance, just about the only type of music that we both like. Our kitchen is also quite large, and we sometimes have friends round for a ākitchen raveā.
The living room is not particularly large and is rather cluttered so up until now there just hasnāt been the space for the HiFi. Itās in dire need of redecorating which has forced us to get rid of a lot of the accumulated junk and suddenly thereās the space needed.
This is the closest to a logical explanation that I can offer, since I donāt really understand it myself!
3 Likes
Wouldnāt worry about the 140 with SBLās however I think the 62 may be exposed as a little thin sounding ā¦ but worth a try of course. If thatās how it pans out ā¦ Iād be thinking minimum 72 but probably 82. Atb.
2 Likes
Our room is a similar size to yours, and 3.6m wide with the speakers firing across. Weād had Naim SL2s for the past five years, then last November I (thatās me, not Mrs HH) wanted to make the stereo less imposing. So we ended up with very small stand mounts, chosen because they will go very close to the wall. Whatās nice is that you can see through the stands so the room looks bigger. Iām just putting this approach out there as an option.
6 Likes
I would consider NOT doing that as longer lengths are often nicer than the basic minimum.
While at Naim and enjoying unfettered access to lengths of free NACA 5 I went the scenic route (around 3 sides) from amplifier to SBLs with (it was necessary) with 11m per side - lovely. Funnily enough - originally with a NAP 140 that had been driving my SBLs to my entire satisfaction for years.
We usually get terribly excited about advising not to coil speaker cable but you can loop it back and forth and stuff it somewhere acceptable.
With NACA 4 it was a good idea to trim back the ends until verdigris was no longer present and fit new Naim plugs. Iāve never seen this with NACA 5 but it would be as well to check amp and speaker plugs are well soldered and decently (donāt go mad) clean. If they might benefit from re-termination you should get someone competent to make a good job.
That might be you but Iāve seen an awful lot bolloxed to useless.
6 Likes
That looks lovely. Out of mild curiosity, what speakers are they?
2 Likes
Thanks for the heads up! Reterminating with new plugs is definitely on the agenda once everything else is sorted.
ProAc Tablettes , HH is a strong and articulate advocate of these speakers.
I think the thread is show us your Tablettes - and there are a helluva lot of happy users on this forum. With decent stands they would come out at around your budget price
1 Like
Presume Maple finish?