For this years Xmas present (to myself) I’m about to change out my SL2 tweeters with some new ones supplied by Naim. I have all things in place . My only question is the solder. Would it be the lead solder they use or some other recipe. I say this because looking at the existing connection through the glue it seem to be very shiny. I get it’s oxygen free due to the hot glue.So I just would like to get it 100%
If you have any knowledge on this I would very much appreciated it.
Thank you in advance.
It would be lead / tin all the way for me…
Silver solder…too much temperature
Lead free …useless
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You could buy a meter of whatever Naim uses. Or buy WBT, or Wonder Solder
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Hi Rick, as it happens I can get access to the tin/lead solder I think it a 60/40 mix?
A buddy of mine is going to do the installation for me. I would never attempt to do it. I’d probably over heat it and cook the coil in the tweeter. Best leave these things to those that know.
Cheers Mate
And thank you Mr Scarlet I see you are a invited member from the administration so I’m banking on your knowledge 
Just ordinary, leaded solder will do the trick. It’s futile lashing out for more expensive stuff, and avoid lead-free.
Here’s a tip. If there is enough wire running up to the tweeter I’d just snip the wire as close to that hot glue blob as I could making sure each channels wire length is equal. And theres been long threads about different solder sounding different. If the new drivers haven’t been shipped I’d ask Naim to add a couple of feet of their solder to the order. Good luck.
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It will depend on whether they are pre or post ROHS. If the former then use Naim’s usual Crystal 505. However, if post ROHS you must use lead free solder - never mix the two different types of solder.
In your position I would pose the question of solder to Naim. Provide them with the serial numbers and they should be able to identify whether your SL2s were pre or post ROHS measures.
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Oh dear, thank you Richard. My Sl2 speakers are 08’s so I guess ROHS was in full force. Will email Naim with serial numbers.
My only problem is Naim’s customers service department are hit and miss. I have emailed them enquiring about installation procedures 3 months ago but have yet to receive a response. So I feel they aren’t so interested in helping people who aren’t using a service agent to do a simple job. But I will try again…thanks
ROHS Introduced in 2006, after the directive in 2003 with additions in 2013 to my knowledge, my field is medical electronics but i’m guessing the rules applied to all electronics.
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Why would you replace the tweeters? Are they damaged?
You really don’t need to worry about whether it’s pre or post ROHS. If you can cut the wires just before the solder on the end by the tweeter, then the new tweeters can be soldered using whatever solder the person doing it prefers. The important thing is not to mix the solder type in a single joint, but it doesn’t matter what solder the other joints in the SL2 used.
Best
David
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As David says above, if you cut the wires before the solder then you could use whatever solder you like. However, it’s good practice not to mix leaded with unleaded solder on any piece of equipment, otherwise you may create a problem further into the future.
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Definitely this!
Can the tweeter suppliers solder a couple of bits of wire on before shipping, then you can join to the cabinet wiring with one of these…
Simple, quick, effective (probably…) and straight of the That’ll Do school of electrical engineering.
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Hi Rick, no they are not in the slightest. What happen a while back, reading the forum was I became alerted to the Sl2 replacement tweeter stock was starting to run low, me being me I made a knee jerk decision and brought some. Yes I know Willy’s or Falcon have the same scanspeak tweeter at 1/3 the price, once again me being me they wouldn’t be good enough so paid extra $ for the Naim spec ones. Then a short while after that I read replacing the tweeters with new ones will gives a bit of tickle up particularly in the upper bass so that was that’s it’s getting done. The old tweeter will go into storage as an extra set.
I plan to get some woofers in the new year, I very much enjoy the sl2 speaker. While not the be all and end all they will do me for many’s years to come as they are happy with a 500 system attached to them which is my end goal for this life time.
Yes thank you Dave, I did think of that, my only concern was shortening the wire length and how this may affect the sound, as my OCD gets the better of me when it comes to Naim audio. “Everything in its right place” I know don’t be a knob but that is how I was made unfortunately🥴
OMG I’ll need to take a pill
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Just received an email from naim support.
Thank you for your email.
I’ve been reliably informed that we used to use a 60/40 lead-based solder when constructing the SL2’s…
So that’s that I guess.
Onward and upward, Tally-ho!
That sounds very weird to me. Tweeters affecting (upper) bass ?
Been there. Done that. Weird but true.
Willy.
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