Scanspeak Tweeters for SL2, DBL & NBL may be updated in 2022

Thanks for the info. The purple doesn’t really bother me as I keep the covers on anyway, so I’ll leave them as they are. I already have a hot glue gun and soldering iron and I’ll check what type of solder I have. I’ll pick up some hylomar and get to work at the weekend. I’m quite handy at this type of thing, so it shouldn’t be a problem.

1 Like

That’s good to know, and I have quite a few litres of Isopropyl Alcohol already.

1 Like

Scanspeak have apparently agreed to make a limited number final production run in October.

Get your Orders in Folks.

1 Like

Due to demand Scandpeak will be doing a limited run in October of:

SCANSPEAK D2010/851100 TWEETER - NAIM SL DBL NBL REPLACEMENT

I’ve now replaced mine. Not too difficult as long as you have the right things to hand. IPA is amazing at loosening hot glue. I was worried that it would be difficult to remove from the soldered joints but it came off almost in one piece. It also removed the remains of the blue gunk after the majority had been scrapped off the front plate. The brass damping weights were more difficult to remove as they were stuck on with double sided foam. Once off, I cleaned them up and stuck them on the new tweeters with a thick blob of hot glue. Resoldering was easy and clean, as was applying the Hylomar. Reassembly was also easy. The result? As I did one complete speaker followed by the other, I did a quick listening test. The new one sounded crisper and more defined, I would say. They sounded almost mismatched, so I moved quickly on the the second speaker. All in all, a worthwhile Saturday morning. My 20 year old Allaes sound better than ever!

9 Likes

I’ve also replaced the tweeters in my 1988 IBLs now. Sorry, no photos, my soldering is still sub-par. 3 joints went fine, but number 4 was a dirty bulb unfortunately.

Anyhow, they sound much better now! I thought that the X-overs were to blame (capacitors), but apparently replacing the tweeters did give a major bump in performance. The feeling that they sound OK but something is not right is entirely gone now.

I did spend a few hours listening to them and couldn’t stop, thats a very good sign.

But hey, they are driven by a 72/hicap/140 fed by a Chord Mojo / Allo Digione.

Another 30 years of enjoyment I hope.

After holidays, I’ll try to drive them by:
Nait 5 as preamp, poweramp on IBL midrange units.
IXO
Hicap feeding the Nait 5
Nap 140 driving the tweeters.

6 Likes

That’s exactly how I felt. I’m now 3 days into the changeover and I cannot believe how big the improvement is. I never felt there was anything wrong with the sound before but this has almost transformed it, and not just to the high frequencies, the whole range has improved (though I don’t know why this would be). Much more open and clear vocals, percussion is more punchy and lifelike, cymbals ring - the list could go on. I would recommend this to anyone that has these speakers, bang-for-buck it is incredible. It’s the best €140 I’ve ever spent on hifi!

5 Likes

This is really interesting to read.
I ordered them for spare parts - not for replacement…
Never have thought of such effect. Aren’t the original ones matched and the ones we ordered are not?
My sbls might be next to go for…
A friend has a nice pair of mk2 - mine are mk1. If I can convince him to sell them and make the sealing new, maybe the tweeter replacement can also be done …

I also just bought them with the intention of keeping them as spares, but the chances were that they would just sit in their boxes for years and possibly never get used. I’m so glad that I fitted them, every single thing I play now sounds better. After I put them in, I spent the afternoon pottering around doing other things but had music playing in the background. Many times I stopped what I was doing to play something again, the difference was that big.

Obviously I can no longer do an A/B comparison but it is a very real improvement, not just something I am imagining. I’ve played many albums that I am very familiar with and am very impressed every time.

Is it possible that Scanspeak upgraded the tweeters at some point? Or do they ‘wear out’ and need replacing after a certain time?

Whatever the reason, I’m very happy that I changed them.

1 Like

Could someone kindly confirm that for MkII SBLs I need the ScanSpeak D2008/8511.

Thanks.

A dealer replaced some blown ones some years ago - wonder if they were a Naim replacement set or not. Would the Naim ones have come with hot glue/brass damper?

Straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak:

From this, it would indeed be the 2008/851100 version (without ferrofluid)

1 Like

Thanks.

:rofl: :woman_facepalming: :man_facepalming: :person_facepalming:

No idea how I missed that, though have been preoccupied with other things recently!

1 Like

Blame the heatwave :grinning:

1 Like

…and again just to be certain, I believe we are talking about the SCANSPEAK D2008/851100.

There are other D2008/numbers so interestingly some eg SCANSPEAK D2010/851300 for some Spender/Pro-Ac speakers also seem to be being discontinued or modified.

Could almost do with a separate thread on Scanspeak tweeter changes!

Just contact Falcon acoustics they will sort you out.

1 Like

Cheers, I’d visited their site earlier, and was only trying to clarify as they mention various brands that use certain tweeters but not always the exact models. At least they have some in stock and costs seem very reasonable.

The comments on replacing functioning ones with positive results are interesting, as I’ve certainly felt a bit of ‘sparkle’ is missing in recent years though of course that could be high frequency loss as I age!

2 Likes

Hi
Great Job!

Re: Hylomar

Which tpye did you use?

I had the same issue but eventually received a direct link to Tweeters.

Scanspeak D2010/851100 Tweeter -
Naim SL DBL NBL Replacement

Suggest you give Falcon a call, as I can’t post direct link here.

“Get A Move On Pre-Order” Final Production Run in October I understand.

1 Like

This is what Naim “instructed” me to use some years ago.

Willy.

2 Likes

Thank you Willy!

My reason for asking was the fact they had 3 types on their website.

:hugs::hugs::hugs: