Naturally we’ve been indoctrinated for decades that we need to use spikes and foam grilles.
They’ll turn up, but I can’t currently find the floor spikes. Interestingly the ones from my Epos stands fit but are much longer than the SBL ones. Having an engineered oak floor I wouldn’t use the spikes directly and was using some Atacama ‘skeet’ type floor protectors before (all very well until you cut corners, move the speaker stand and don’t realise that only 3 of the 4 were magically stuck to the spikes, and scratch the floor anyway!).
So for now I stuck a couple of squares of insulating foam underlay underneath the SBLs. They sound pretty good to be honest though slightly harsh using the old passive crossovers. Where the spikes would help is levelling as the right channel floor is slightly uneven.
My old foam grilles, at least for the treble boxes have started to disintegrate, so using the SBLs without currently.
I cannot ever recall doing an A/B with spikes/without or even consciously comparing grilles on/off (they often fell off in later years anyway).
The spikes will turn up when I least expect them to, but is it worth the risk to the floor?
I don’t think Naim have any foam grilles left, and 3rd party replacements seems to be near £200. While I can’t quite visualise how mentally, I suspect these would bring something to the game.
I would buy those £200 foam grills. I did and very happy with them too. There are cheaper pairs on the Bay that might be good. They need to be rebated at the back and chamfered at the edges. If you are referring to those sold by TomTom you could add a purchase of the spikes. From memory they are M8 but others will no doubt correct me.
They were designed to be used with both grills and spiked so a no brainer in my view.
Thanks Stuart - I did mean the ones from TomTom yes, I generally used to use the original foam grilles on the SBLs.
Didn’t realise TomTom might have the spikes too - may be worth checking, but as with anything I can’t find I know they’ll turn up as soon as I get a replacement!
The Bay. Amusingly during correspondence, with the seller, we discovered that he went to school in Solihull with my cousin (came to light because Cuz & I were both named after our grandfather).
SQ-wise, I can’t tell any difference between them on or off. They do, however provide a modicum of protection from Burmese cats running up the front and jumping onto the Sondek!
I bought the TomTom ones and they slightly improved the performance vs by old original ones that had started to degrade. They are apparently made to exactly the same specification as the originals but the fit seems better and the way they are chamfered means that the critically important gaps between the boxes are not compromised.
I can’t speak for the £60 ones but my logic was in this game £180 is a small amount of money so why compromise. Maybe they work the same as the £60 ones but for just over £100 more I know there is unlikely to be a compromise in performance.
The expense is mostly to do with the hot wiring process that is now banned in most countries. This I believe is the only way to get the correct foam thickness, well correct to Naims original spec!
I suggest a phone call and see if they sound like the right item for you. You will either be convinced or not!
Agree with your thinking Steve. I have the Tom Tom ones too and think they are excellent. I noticed the other day how much the DBL foam set was. Ouch! However, if I owned DBLs I would buy them due to the high quality. Good to have the choice though.
I also went the ebay £60 route and was very pleased. They are chamfered but not in a way that matches the original. The top of the originals sat level with top of the cabinet. That said they look good and are acoustically transparent. May be the £200 models are a perfect match. Spikes are just standard M8s with locknuts.