I agree if SL2’S were made today they would be more than £10k.
They also would sound very different or they wouldn’t sell a pair off them.
As been said above, things more on, and with something designed this long ago, things have certainly moved a long way.
But for today’s money they are cheap, you can buy a lovely pair right now at less than £2k.
As long as you know the pit falls you face with that, then fine, go fot it.
I’m sure there would be a lot more folk than myself who would jump at the chance of a brand new pair of SL2s, even at £10 or £12 grand. It’s hard to see anything currently on the market that combines such quality and style with performance.
I’m driving mine with a pair of 300drs, 552 & high spec. LP12. Best upgrade for bass ( and the rest ) was definitely Stiletto, Skorpion & Eklipse.
SL2s were always a tough sell. They were not a speaker that sounded good or even OK with only casual set-up, and moving them around would mean spending time setting them up again, so most dealers feared giving a demo. Just getting a dealer to stock them was tough, and that was just the start of the difficulty; A few dealer really got behind the speaker, understood it and were able to properly demonstrate it, but more often than not I would visit a shop and find the SL2s languishing in a corner, often with missing pips, washers, or with the tweeter arm way out of position. No way they could ever have been demoed in that state.
They were not a speaker to immediately wow you with sonic fireworks, they were far more subtle than that, and rewarded you best over the longer term. And that’s before you get to the engineering under the skin, which is pretty remarkable, or plain crazy, depending on your point of view. There was always a good deal of admiration for the sound and the engineering of the SL2 from within the speaker industry, but also a feeling that only a company like Naim could be mad enough to actually try to make it a commercial proposition.
Thanks for that perspective Richard.
Perhaps that ‘difficult’ approach was present throughout Naim’s loudspeaker history. Most of their models weren’t totally straightforward or typically immediately impressive. Not just all the ‘BL’ range but the BMR designs too. Designed by engineers, not marketing consultants!
I have owned Credo, nSat/nSub, SBL and SL2. Still have the last two.
Bruce
SL2s should really be active. You will never hear the full potential of them unless they are. 135s will sound nice but anaemic. 500 passive is good but the speakers are strangled by the crossover so you will never hear their potential.
SL2 are the best 2 way speaker in the world - out of the box thinking in terms of mechanical engineering, but I would have 2 x 250 any day over 500 passive.
Best wishes!
Brilliant post and fully agree. They take time to set up, fine tune and adjust. When dialled in, they are amazing on every level. We have taken 2.5 years to get our right, and now we are moving 
but I have a very special helper who will help me dial them into the new dedicated listening room.
Hi Bruce, I have SL2, SBL and IBL. All amazing in their own way, especially SL2.
So i have the best 2 way speaker in the world!
i guess i’ll give up on Kudos titan range then 
i believe the Sl2 we’re designed with the crossover in mind where the NBL was designed for active originally, I could have that around the wrong way around as it’s been awhile since I read about it.
The SL2 was development of the SBL and designed from the off with both active and passive use in mind.
The NBL was originally designed active but I was told that the passive x-over took a while to get right. IIRC it received some changes during early production too, so I guess it wasn’t quite “there” to start off. Certainly the times I’ve heard the NBL I was much happier with it active than I was when it was passive.
From memory the NBL was pretty expensive. Iam guessing it wasn’t a big seller?
Bruce
I wonder how close the Xulyde MD1 or MD3 from Synthèse Hifi in France is to the SL2 in sound and positioning, if not in aesthetics
They look a bit like Credos.
Only 173 pairs made IIRC. But it was an astonishingly good loudspeaker. I owned a pair for 20 years. It wasn’t as costly as the DBL, but considerably easier to accommodate in the home.
Who dat?
I seem to remember Naim recommending not to remove the foam grill as they served a particular purpose but when a chap was around saying he’d always remove grills as the less obstacles for the sound the better and I found I had no specific explanation except Naim said so which sounded a bit lame!
What is the specific purpose reasoning behind the foam grills?
.sjb
I’ve tried with grilles on and grilles off. I preferred grilles on. They were designed to have the grilles on and look better too.
Because they go from one of the world’s best looking speakers to… rather less so 
Hi Richard, what part of the setup was hardest to get right? Or conversely, what were the biggest setup mistakes that held people back from hearing their potential.
I have a pair and am wondering what if anything I might be doing wrong!
I had this explained to me wrt the SBL by a former naim engineer involved in their design…however I have forgotten why and I fear that even if I remembered the words I wouldn’t be able to explain it.
The conclusion was that the grilles need to be in place and need to be (in the case of the SBL) precisely the foam that was specified. I’m assuming that the same applies to the SL2.
Hardest to rectify would be a room that just didn’t work with them as that would be impossible to fix. They need a good solid wall behind them and it helps if you have a solid floor too (under carpet or not).