What’s so bad about Naim Speakers?

It sounds better with to logos on.

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The SL logo is a good upgrade you have to admit

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I ran Kabers on my LP12/282/250 system for 15yrs. They sounded lovely to me. I replaced them with a pair of Focal 1028be which, to my ears, were good but my wife always prefered the Kabers. Now I have Kudos Titan 606’s and we are both happy.

I never heard Naim speakers but can relate to Feeling_Zen’s assessment of the Kabers.

I genuinely don’t think there is a more marmite speaker than the Kabers.

I’ve heard them several times - always struggled with them (and that’s putting it mildly!) - but now I have Kudos 808’s so maybe we aren’t so far apart after all :man_shrugging:

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Anybody heard the SL2 and NBL in the same setup? What would you say the sonic difference is between the two?

I’ve done that comparison with active mode SBL and active mode NBL. Not an easy swap and the difference in crossover/amp allocation is probably a factor (NAXO2-4 uses 1 amp for base/midrange, 1 for HF vs the SNAXO3-6 with 1 amp for each of L/R mid and base and 1 amp for HF only for both L/R speakers). Difference that was noticed immediately was the extended, controlled base with the NBL. The physical size and different heights of the midrange and tweeter sections between the SBL (and I assume SL2s) and the NBL also effects ones listening position and and overall characteristics and room interaction. In my setup, the NBL seems to be slightly more balanced, but also positioning you closer to the music (if that makes sense), the SBL was a bit more distant (I guess being in an orchestral setting, center front 10 -15 rows for the NBL vs center back 3/4 rows for the SBL). Not sure this helps, so generally more “balance and detail” with the NBL. Might not be the type of setting one is looking for. Not sure if this really answers your question, but …

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My cat has never taken the slightest interest in my SBLs!Cat

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Having owned speakers from Epos, Spendor, Totem, Rogers and Neat (Probably others too), I haven’t found a speaker that works as well in this position:

IMG_0733 by Jon Moody, on Flickr

IMG_0665 by Jon Moody, on Flickr

I also like the way they look, each to their own :slight_smile:

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In my case I trained my wife for a couple of decades by using speakers that had to be used away from the wall. When the SBLs arrived she loved them. :wink:

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Suggestions:

  1. Remove the grilles
  2. Change the grilles for a different colour foam - bright red perhaps?
  3. Put a real car scratcher prominently in the room to draw attention.
  4. Add a cat to 3).
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Same here, an extra 18 " of floor space and no loss of quality has earned me a few brownie points or whatever they’re called in this day and age

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I get it - and they obviously work for you - but that’s a bit like praising “the tallest Pygmy” - because it sounds like they are is the best speaker at being in the worst possible position! :joy::joy: …but domestic harmony is super important - so I’m not offering a critique here!

They do look nice in that finish mind you. Always thought they looked awful in black.

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Lovely looking cat.

BTW A friend has a theory that streaming and remote controls were invented by cats, so humans didn’t have to get up to change a record/cd and thereby disturbing feline lap snoozing.

They do, but the trouble is that they run up that nice sloping front…

Nothing wrong with my Ovators, I quite enjoyed them with my SU and even more so with my 272/250DR.

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Nothing. I own the SL2 and Allaes once setup correctly they are hard to beat especially when used with Naim amps.

Allaes are an absolute bargain if you can find a pair and work well with the Uniti range all the way to the top of the Naim ladder.

SL2s, these are keepers until something major goes wrong.

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Our cats get shouted at …a lot!

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Matt, the great value I received when trading in my speakers with my dealer is attributed to the side benefit of working with the same dealer over a period of time. I had purchased all of my equipment from the same dealer and then traded in all my equipment that I had purchased from the dealer when I upgraded.

I always felt that the purchases were more than fair for both the dealer and myself. I have always appreciated the many times I have listened to demonstrations of equipment from vendors on demo nights. Also the many times just dropping by for a chat or if the demo room was not being used being able to sit in there listening to a pair of speakers that I wanted to hear but was not going to purchase.

All the service provided had great value for the dealer and myself.

I don’t know why a pair of S-600 would sell for 10% of the new price. It may be interesting to see if they have any cosmetic or other issues that may be impacting the pricing. Then again they just be a loss leader to draw people into the shop and then steer them to something else. …or perhaps sitting on the shop floor for a long time and their perfect and the dealer just wants to move them on…

Perhaps check them out and report back?

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I am very taken with my SBLs, to the extent that I had a new set of drivers fitted and an uprated XO made. But, that doesn’t mean that I think they are ‘the best’. For me everything is a compromise. Recently I had an extended listen to the Sonus Faber Lumina IIIs and was taken with them. My wife thought they looked rather good, despite being rather more angular than one would expect from SF; no doubt to assist with the price point. Her question, ‘Can they work against the wall?’, sunk them in her view.

Trying to wring that bit more from the SBLs led me to fit a set of IsoAcoustic Gaias I own, and they had a nice positive effect.

What the SBLs have in spades for me is grace under pressure. Their presentation pulls me in whether I am listening at low, moderate or higher volumes; and, instruments don’t get masked or lost along the way.

My room is on the smaller side and when I have listened to larger speakers they have often over-loaded it. Other speakers may have facets that I slightly prefer, but the SBL package simply works in my room and I don’t anticipate us parting ways.

M

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One could argue, the solution to that would have been to make better speakers :grin:

… or even worse speakers that were easier to set up and sell.

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