I’m with the others who are still loving their SBLs. The original crossovers must be replaced or go active to hear what they can do. What is certain is that a good secondhand pair for around £400 is a great bargain if you’re assembling a Naim system on a budget.
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I have heard active SBLs with 250s and prefer them passive with a 300 Michael. I think the crossover gets a bad press, although I was fortunate enough to get a brand new set two years ago. Great speakers either way.
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Last year, in one of many bored zoom-discussions born by c-v-d, I discussed with a friend if you could buy the amp-pack for the ATC SCM19A and adapt the crossover for the SBL. Unfortunately reality killed the idea, the amp-pack is class-AB with bulky toroid and caps, would never go inside an SBL or on the back.
I presume you mean the problem is that with an amp bolted on the back the SBL would have to stand slightly away from the wall (about 40mm for the amp depth plus I guess a fiurther 50mm or so fo the connectors and cabling. It might not go inside an SBL (and it would be inappropriate to put inside anyway), however it could always be bolted on the side!
Whether the crossover characteristics and phase or other compensation would match the requirements for the SBL is quite another matter.
Nothing except Naim doesn’t make them anymore. No warranty and little factory support. There’s lots of Used stuff out there. Used speakers is way down my list of stuff I’d ever buy used. Although a mint Pair of JBL Paragons might work for me 
Why is that? It is the best way to maximise buying power - and older does not in general mean not as good, and they last a very long time. Of course those of us who buy secondhand do need others to buy new, but I’m just curious as to your objection per se as opposed to your consideration re Naim speakers.
The simple answer is used speakers might have been overdriven and abused. No real way to tell. As far as Naim speakers, Naim is no longer in the speaker business so getting parts or repairs might be difficult. I also wouldn’t buy a used phono cartridge.
The bad thing is they don’t make them anymore.
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If they sound good they are still good. (Or you can run a test with software like REW and a measuring microphone looking for distortion such as caused by a voice coil scraping if you are unsure about your ears) Voice coils and suspension don’t ‘wear’ like, say, car engine parts. (Excessive wear due to excessively hard use, poor servicing, wrong oil, falsified higher mileage than declared etc simply don’t apply, and even of they did that would then be part of the sound character you hear on audition, and doesn’t mean premature failure is likely.)
Foam surrounds perish on some drivers, e.g. DBL bass drivers, and some of the internal box damping can suffer the same fate, witness the DBL refurbishment thread.
My Allaes have escaped so far as I can tell and I’ve not got into the NBLs except for replacing the tweeters and there was no foam visible with them removed.
I would be interested to know what you make of some ATC standmounts, Stephen, down London Rd.
I know you are talking about the price but soundwise, I find them fast and tuneful.
C.
Edit: They sound very Naim-like to me.
Yes it is true that foam surrounds perish (though some at least are readily repairable), though that in itself needn’t be a reason for not buying secondhand, providing one checks that the the speaker is in good condition, including the driver surrounds. (E.g. a visual check and gentle touch of the cone surround with a fingertip feeling for stickiness - but not stickiness of the cone, bearing in mind that it is quite normal for the of a doped cone on some drivers to be tacky.) It is likely that a problem with perishing surrounds will have manifest itself by now in an older speaker, while with younger speakers changes in driver surround materials mean the problem should no longer arise).
I have almost no experience with Naim speakers beside mine n-Sats. I like their look but in sound comparison with another bookshelves I have - KEF xQ20 and Sonus Faber Concertino Domus my preferences go to KEF and SF. The n-Sats are not so involving to my ears. And somehow dry. On the other hand they are doing a decent job partnering Naim UQ2 in my kitchen’s set up.
All Naim loudspeakers I’ve listened to sound dry. I’ve accepted that happily since most louspeakers I’ve tried in my house have much bigger disadvantages. Sometimes a bit of sweetness would be welcome though. I wonder if this comes with source improvements.
Source improvement could help but my comparison was made with the same set up - DAC V-1, Nac 112x, Nap 150x, FlatCap2. And the n-Sats were the less involving. On the other hand if the source is improved most probably the competitors SQ will go up and the negative, to my ears, difference will remain.
That is so true - though across the board regardless of what speakers are being considered to be in some way limiting. People often say of speakers I consider poor something to the effect: “ah, but when you give them better amplification they really shine”. Even said of source. But, for example, a Y dB/octave roll off off bass by the speaker below frequency X will be the same no matter what amp you drive it with, though some amps might not get them to achieve even that.
Unfortunately Chris i’ve yet to hear a pair although i’ve looked at them on quite a few occasions when passing through. Build quality looks to be very solid and to a very high standard, especially for their asking price points. I Know the guys at London Rd speak very highly of them whenever i’ve asked about them. Perhaps i owe it two myself to go and hear a pair or two, now that you come to mention it. One main draw back, for me, is their bi-wire terminals. I’ve had speakers before with those terminals and it drove me nuts, so, for me, pretty much a deal breaker right off the bat. Maybe if i were to hear them though…?
Fair enough. The pair I heard down there had a pair of wire jumpers between the bi-wire terminals. I noticed Nick had wired the +ve to the treble and the -ve to the bass.
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I agree re. biwire terminals are the evil and should be avoided if at all possible.
Mostly pure marketing bluff
Yes, it would certainly make sense to at least offer both options, such as Neat and some others do…as for jumpers, links, F connections, treble sockets, bass sockets, diagonal, or soldered up on the inside? No thanks. Been there, done that…