SL 2

Posted by: J.N. on 03 May 2002

Anyone had a proper (home?) dem yet?

I have SBL's and am looking forward to not being able to afford them, when my dealer has a pair!

I hear reports of them being very special. Designed by Roy George (DBL and SBL).

Interestingly, NBL's were designed by Roy Gregory.
Posted on: 03 May 2002 by Chris Metcalfe
I think you mean Phil Ward! Roy Gregory interviewed him for HIFI+, November 1999.

Not sure Roy George designed the SBL, either.
Posted on: 03 May 2002 by J.N.
You're right about Phil Ward, now I think about it.

Someone's been giving me duff gen!
Posted on: 03 May 2002 by Allan Probin
I believe he used to work for Mordaunt Short where he experimented with a skeletal arm attached to a metal frame for holding the tweeter.

This sort of briefly came up in the middle of an unrelated google search and I thought that looks interesting I'll go back and read that sometime and now I can't find it.

Allan

Edit, found it:

Stereophile NBL Review

Okay, maybe not a skeletal arm but it says: "Phil's résumé includes time spent at Mordaunt-Short, where he was involved with the 442, a radical speaker whose drivers were attached to a backbone/stand and decoupled from the enclosure"

[This message was edited by Allan Probin on FRIDAY 03 May 2002 at 21:05.]
Posted on: 03 May 2002 by David Ng
I don't know, but from the open port design of the SL2, I doubt it will be as tuneful and snappy as the close box SBL. I make this comment based on my experience with the Allae. I hope naim will not discard their, IMHO, so successful closed box philosophy.
Posted on: 04 May 2002 by Chris Metcalfe
The 442 was a really good speaker, I nearly bought one at half its UK price, but finally the looks put me off. The whole speaker cabinet sat on a rubber gasket around a rigid central stand, to which I think the tweeter was attached, so there are similarities to the SL2.

The SL2 seemed a much better speaker than the SBL when I heard it in Bristol; I think nearer to a closed-box than the Allae is, as the head unit couples more closely to the base, which uses a mesh mechanism similar to the SBL.
Posted on: 04 May 2002 by garyi
Phil did them werd all around sound speaker for another company didn't he?
Posted on: 05 May 2002 by David Dever
quote:
I don't know, but from the open port design of the SL2, I doubt it will be as tuneful and snappy as the close box SBL.


Please wait for the final production version before making a judgement on the SL2's performance--it's not a ported design, but rather a gasket-free high-tolerance mating.
Posted on: 06 May 2002 by Phil Ward
All,

I don't often post, but a spy tells me my name has popped up, so it's probably time to make an appearance

NBL "designed by Roy Gregory" made me chuckle. Roy Gregory is editor of Hi-Fi Plus, and lots of things beside, but I don't believe he's designed many speakers. The NBL was done by myself with Roy George and Julian looking over my shoulder.

Yes, I did do the 442 at Mordaunt-Short. We experimented with many things (hey, it was the 80s and the factory was in the middle of a field), but never a "skeletal arm attached to a metal frame". The 442 was launched about the same time as SBL and had a few ideas in common. The SBL was cleverer though. And yes, I was at Canon Audio for five very interesting years.

The SL2 is effectively a closed box speaker. The gap between the two enclosures is so small (0.2mm is correct) that the "leak" is insignificant.

Phil
Posted on: 06 May 2002 by Manu
Phil,
Quite funny to see: Phil Ward "Junior member".
As if you were a newbee.

Please post more often, you should have a lot of very interresting thoughts and hints to share with us.

Emmanuel
Posted on: 06 May 2002 by J.N.
Thanks for the clarification.

I realise that you're far too busy to bother with us twerps on a regular basis, BUT:

Who designed the SL2?
Posted on: 06 May 2002 by garyi
Phil I enjoyed you contribution in this months HIFI + where you tried valiently to give the 'egg' speakers a good review, but failed miserably, so in the privacy of this forum were they utter crap or what?

snigger.
Posted on: 06 May 2002 by Phil Ward
Quite like being "junior". Makes me feel young again. Wonder if I can be granted permanent junior status?

Product design at the kind of level Naim do it is very much a team effort - so it's hard to identify one person with a product. Only thing I can say for certain though is that neither me or Roy Gregory designed the SL2.

What do you mean "privacy" of the forum Gary? I think the Eclipse is a brave effort and there'll be folk out there that will love it. I'm not convinced it works though.

Phil
Posted on: 06 May 2002 by Rico
quote:
I think the Eclipse is a brave effort and there'll be folk out there that will love it. I'm not convinced it works though.

Phil

welcome. I would like to politely add that you might have missed your calling - diplomatic corps. I could not imagine a more appropriate response to Gary's question. In the privacy of the forum, of course!

I look forward to having a read.

Rico - SM/Mullet Audio

[This message was edited by Rico on TUESDAY 07 May 2002 at 03:08.]