Yes, Mk2. Quite a late one, 1994 I think.
I will check tweeter replacement options when I get a chance.
Yes, Mk2. Quite a late one, 1994 I think.
I will check tweeter replacement options when I get a chance.
Bruce, how do they sound? If they still sound good just put the grills back on and ignore the problem. Heresy perhaps but itâs not your main systemâŚ
I had a statistics lecturer (perhaps 40) in my first year at university, who one day produced a table where the data was in columns, as he put it, âBroken down by age and sex.â
And then, more sotto voce: âArenât we all.â
Thatâs a real shame.
You probably know that Scanspeak revised the tweeter design such that it would not be a straightforward replacement anymore. There were a few threads about it when people snapped up the remaining compatible tweeters.
I blew my SBL tweeters nearly 20 years ago playing far too loud and they were replaced by the local dealer. No idea if they did as good a job as Naim would have done using various adhesives and some form of metal damping which didnât come with the tweeters from factory.
They are âOKâ. Any change doesnât happen suddenly but of course now I have seen the issue I am wondering if they have lost a bit of life. Not the most revealing source of course, and my main system is several levels up soâŚhard to know.
I have to take some bits of my system for service and have asked the dealer to dem some possible replacements. I have a feeling that I will still come back to the SBLs but we will see. In this second system the budget for potential replacements is modest. The room shape is also not ideal or easy so any options will have to be tried at home.
Bruce
Sadly the speaker units are discontinued. They are usually afixed with some blue goo that really keeps them in there so perhaps lean back and try not to think about it?
It would be a bother though.
@BruceW the well known dealer in Leicester have a pair of SBLs for spares, worth a look on their website.
Is my suggestion of the Scanspeak unit shown on the Falcon Acoustics not the solution thatâs needed?
It may be.
I am going to scratch the itch and try some new speakers on demo and at home. If I like them I might sell or just store the SBLs. My suspicion is that this process will just remind me how good the SBLs are, and Iâll end up buying new tweeters etc. We shall see. It is a very long time since I heard anything apart from Naim speakers.
Bruce
This will be hard - to beat the SBL.
Feel free to share your thoughts!
Graham, that unit that Falcon sells doesnât fit Naim speakers without alteration to the speaker mounting. Itâs been covered several times in the forum, but you may have missed this of course.
It could be the best solution if new tweeters really are needed, but itâs not a simple fit and replace. Any Scanspeak dealer can supply this current unit, not just Falcon.
Thanks for that, David. I thought that it might be too good to be true. I suppose that itâs of some help to be able to get the drive unit, even if some serious DIY is needed.
One person who you could ask is Oskar Wrønding at Hiquophon. He is the ex technical manager at Scanspeak so might be able to help with what the replacement options are and the exact specs of the damaged tweeter. He was very helpful when I had a problem with my Linn Keilidh tweeters.
FWIW I have had a dealer demo having decided to make a change. First time I have done A/B demo in a dealer for a long time!
I had a budget limit of ÂŁ2.5k (well, maybe ÂŁ3k if I really needed to). These speakers are for my second system, with an Atom and 250. The room is awkward; a large âHâ shape with quite a high roof (attic style) but with the speakers in a shallow alcove on one âlegâ that is only 3m wide. This system tends to be used for background when i am at my desk, often with radio but also for higher volume âbit of a blastâ sessions away from the main listening room where others may be!
Incidentally I am not very good at describing HiFi sound differences.
With the high regard for Neat and Naim together I wanted to try the Iota Alpha and Mystique Classic. I didnât like the Alpha much. Lovely tweeter, surprising room-filling ability but I though the bass was rather dull, slow and lacked resolution. The whole style was a bit laid back. Didnât convince me at higher volumes and taken as a whole I thought the tweeter didnât integrate well with the whole picture. The dealer said Iâd probably find the Mystique similarly relaxed so next tried ATC SCM 11. I had wanted to hear the 19 but these are actually a better size for my room. Impressed. Pretty neutral, nicely dynamic, great at higher volume-real toe tapping PRaT I thought. Good resolution without being too busy. Hard to single out one characteristic. The bass had some detail and definition but no great thump-but going from SBLs that was fine by me.
Lastly tried the Shahinian Larc. See my thread re those. Quite amazing, very distinctively lush and almost seduced me but not quite.
ATC SMC11s on order. I think the SBLs will be boxed and stored just in case, or possibly passed to my nephew.
Bruce
Good decision!
Before I bought my Larcs, I had N-Sats which just didnât cut it with an Atom. Out of curiosity I put my 250DR between them, and that really bought the N-Sats to life. Not so easy to find these days, but maybe worth a try if you can track some down, and should be well under budget.
I also have nsats - with nait 50. works wonderful! But compared to SBL - no Chance
I have had a pair too, when the SBL were in my main system. They were good, but never really filled the room. Anyway, the ATC and some stands are on order.
Bruce
Scan Speak have just recently consolidated their old âClassicâ range and replaced the two versions of the D2008 with a single version which is really more like the high efficiency version. Iâm not sure if Naim used the same model as Linn but if they did then this new one will be 2dB more efficient and so, without an L-pad (or changing the values of an existing L-Pad), it really wonât be suitable at all. Itâs hard to know why Scan have done this as itâs not so long ago that they reintroduced the D2008-8512 precisely because there was such a demand for replacement Linn tweeters (and because they can sound pretty good, I guess). Falling between two stools in another way, this new tweeter also doesnât fit in the old holes without needing some cabinet modification.
Iâve been looking at Scan Speak tweeters since 1976 and have never seen this before (and I really must have had hundreds go through my hands). I have seen single screw hole breaks and plastic broken off taking a single hole with it, but never all three. First of all I can assure you that anyone will be hard pushed to hear any difference with that damage. It will certainly be unmeasureable and those screws donât really do much anyway. Most of whatâs holding that tweeter in place is a bituminous or silicone based goo, and that will still be there. You are also in a Seperate Box loudspeaker so much less will be exciting that panel.
One thing you could do is decant the innards of that tweeter into an unblemished housing. Itâs not hard to do, though the rear of the tweeter will never be perfection. Have a look for some blown tweeters in nice cases on eBay. This will take away that pot luck element involved in buying new tweeters when you donât have measurement kit and itâll hang onto whatever matching Naim did at that time - and keep them completely inside the Naim spec. for when you come to sell them.
Incidentally, thereâs usually a lump of brass stuck to the back of the SBL tweeters, which can complicate things, so itâs worthwhile getting someone whoâs got patience and has done this before. Depending on the lengths of cable Naim used (and the Hirschmann 4mm sockets might get in the way of this) it should be possible to do a casing change like this without having to unsolder anything.