SL2 owners: re. foam

I’m pretty certain that they’re the same as later SBL ones. And yes, replacing the pin spacers at intervals is important. Good that dealers like Tom Tom still have them. Worth getting in a few as spares.

I agree - it’s made a big difference to the SQ of mine too.

Funnily enough, I’m going to the Proms on Saturday night with my 9 year old son to see Vikingur Olafsson play Bach et al (will be on BBC4 on Sunday evening).

Yes, I got some of these from Signals - who I think may still have some in stock.

Yes, the mid/bass drivers are essentially the same, however, on SBLs and SL2s they were selected and matched, whereas, IIRC, on Credos and Allaes they were not.

Poor Jim, you will have to replace the foam, the tweeters, the spacers, ….and don’t know what other parts still. It will cost you more than the second hand SL2 you bought.
:woozy_face::chicken:
Just kidding

Actually, brilliant value, and enjoyable to do it too!

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It’s a time investment much more than a financial investment. I already replaced my tweeters. Will replace the foam. At that point will have less money into them than a pair of Rega RX5s. On the other hand if the drivers go off then it’s potentially a total loss…

I think the main drivers are bullet proof look how many SBLS are still out there

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Fingers crossed!

I was more kidding….

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So 3x12.5 80ppi inside the enclosure of the mid bass box.
If the tweeter foam has had it then would of the enclosure be shagged as well???
@NeilS is the inch thick tweeter foam is still 80ppi as is the mid bass box? Thanks

Yes - same spec.

If one lot is degrading, then it’s a safe bet it is all in a similar state.

Regards
Neil.

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Thank you Neil.
Using the wide lens on my iPhone I manage to get in behind the speaker. Seems to be all good atm. These are a 08 build, in fact the very first set ever sold from the old “pure hifi” store in Christchurch NZ. 13 years old and still going strong! The multicore Crystal 505 solder is on its way from Sydney, so I may be doing the tweeter replacements in the near future. As Jim says it is fun.
Since I’ve upgraded my cart the SL2 are giving much more, having friends who run speakers like sopra 2, 801 nautilus (really good at 400 watts RMS), another mate has some very highly priced Sonus Faber katima but prefers the Cremona M on his 500 system.
I’ve have come to realise that the SL2 aren’t the be all to end all as I once thought but a very very well priced second hand speaker that was once made with real passion so Naim could bring great/fantastic quality audio to every day people who live in every day houses. They can/do bring a big system sound from a small enclosure, however to get it out of them I feel they really do need to be powered with some real curry . I sometimes feel the 135’s barely scrape the surface at times or is it knowing the SL2 can do better with a more powerful amp?? Oh I wish I had a Nap500! My friend tells me I should let him bring over a set of SBL speakers for the 135 amps but I say bring the 500 over mate!
Jim dog while I’m sure the 150x is great but powering the SL2?? Or have I got it wrong?
Nap500+SL2= Slam factor
End of rant :pensive:

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Just an observation, from what I can tell from the pictures of the Wilmslow Audio foam sheets, there’s a very big difference between the foam used for them, and reticulated foam. The WA foam looks to be closed cell, reticulated foam starts off as closed cell but is placed in a chemical that takes away the “cell” walls and leaves just a matrix. I would imagine the two types have significantly different effects when used interchangeably within a speaker cabinet (you’d find it difficult to blow through closed cell, blowing through reticulated foam is way easier)

Not sure if anyone has replaced closed cell with reticulated, or vice versa, but it would be obvious, with both in your hand, what the physical difference is. I’d also imagine if Naim specified reticulated then they did so for very particular reasons, and that changing the foam type would result in perceptible differences in sound

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Re a couple of the points above…
Yes, the better the system the better the SL2s become. They just keep giving the higher up you go. It was only when I reached (for me, when I retired and got a healthy lump sum) the top stage of ND555 and CD 555 each with 2xpower supplies, 552, a pair of 500s, everything DR’d and SL throughout, that the SL2s really, really sang.
With updating the foam, they now disappear into a massive and utterly involving sound stage. My dealer said he’s never heard SL2s perform so well, though I think my dedicated room acoustics must also help.
And yes, the Wilmslow foam is quite different from the original spec, it seems, but wow, does it work in my system. Possible, of course, that Roy George didn’t try different types of foam when he was designing them. Such a brilliantly clever design anyway.

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Thanks for the suggestion - I’ve just taken a similar photo with mine. A quick finger test suggests that the foam has lost its elasticity (leaving a little depression where I lightly pressed), so I’ll wait until the foam I’ve ordered arrives.

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Yes I did the same and it bounce back. Looking forward to your results :upside_down_face:

Mine feels like it may need to be removed with a spoon…

Bruce

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More before and after pics would be nice!

I’ll pull my top cabinets off tomorrow (time to replace the pip spacers I think - I’ve had the replacement spacers for a year and been meaning to do it), so I’ll take a photo when I do so.

I’ll be leaving the lower box foam the moment, as removing the drivers isn’t something I’m wanting to do just yet.

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