Dear SL2 users,

Posted by: Reto D on 27 March 2004

tell me, why should I go for those speakers? What are their strenghts, what are not? I demoed a pair of it at the dealers premises (with CDX2, 552,500) an it was in some way great stuff (PRAT!!!) but the sound seemed to me flatter than I expected (esp. when listening to large orchestral music). It sounded marvellous when there were playing just a few instruments or voices (like a Jazz trio, or a small classical orchestra, chamber music), but the larger stuff did not convince me too much.

Is this Flat earth philosophie, do I really need to be a flat earther then or do I get more 2 or 3 dimensional space when placing the loudspeakers differently or by activating them.

Any comments?

Thanks.

Reto

the partner components would be: CDS3,252,300
Posted on: 27 March 2004 by Trevor Bennett
Hi.
I tried them for a week at home and was not impressed at all.They are very room dependent and in mine there was no base at all and very bright.They might be great in your room.
So I am keeping my Ruark Crusaders which sounded much beter.

Cheers.
Trevor
Posted on: 27 March 2004 by audiogoose
Trevor:
Your experience with the SL2 is familiar to me, however, I found that it took quite a while for my pair to sound their best. Not days or weeks, but months before the bass really started to come into its own.
The SL2's are really special speakers in my system, very smooth sounding, not strident or harsh at all. Overall balance from top to bottom is excellent with my 135's driving them. I think anyone who has them only for a short time really doesn't get the full benefit of what they are capable. They gradually become more transparent and musically involving, too.
The problem with this speaker, for Naim, is going to be convincing the buyer to be patient. Not that they sound all that bad at the outset, but with time they improve so much.
I can't compare them to SBL's, or any other Naim speaker for that matter, but I have had Linn Keltiks (active) and Proac 3.8's, and the SL2's simply sound better than either of these to me.
If you, or anyone else, can listen to a pair properly broken in and driven by at least 135's, I think you will have a different description of the sound. They are very attractive, too, although it seems some think they are downright homely.
I would like to hear other SL2 owners' opinions. Are there many out there??
(If anyone has tried Mana soundbases with the SL2, I would like to hear his experience on how they affected the sound.)

Jerry
Posted on: 27 March 2004 by Reto D
Jerry (Audiogoose)

Check your privat PT. Thanks.

Reto
Posted on: 27 March 2004 by Trevor Bennett
Hi Jerry.
I really wanted to like the SL2s as they can be placed back against the wall and as you said they are a very attractive speaker.
They were Naims own demo pair so they were well run in.I think they just did'nt suit my room which was a shame.
Anyway Naim still got my money because I made the mistake of trying the CDS 3....

Cheers
Trevor
Posted on: 27 March 2004 by J.N.
quote:
they are a very attractive speaker.

I think they look awful!

That too-tall lump of eighties foam 'grille' obscuring the nicely curved cabinet top.

And at double the price of an SBL (which I have)...................

Over-priced or what?
Posted on: 27 March 2004 by NB
Reto,

I had the pleasure of a pair of SL2's courtesy of Naim for about six weeks and thought they were a wonderful pair of speakers.

I still maintain that their speed, transparancy and detail are up there with the best of them.

However I did find them a little lightweight for my musical tases. I think they are wonderful on certain types of music but very dissapointing on others.


Regards


NB
Posted on: 28 March 2004 by ben r
hello if you heard that kind of system at the dealers i e 552/500/sL2 and weren't wowed by pretty much everything you threw at it then something is amiss, either the equipment is not run in or you simply don't like them. Did you try them on any other equipment, that might help. Ben r