Old NAP 135 (1984) as good as new ?

Posted by: rorominator on 30 September 2002

Hi everybody,

I can buy a pair of NAP 135 "first generation" (1984) for a good price.

Do you know if these old 135 are different than the newer 135 : technology, sound ?

Will they sound better than a recent NAP 250 ?

Thanks for your reply and sorry for my poor english !

Posted on: 01 October 2002 by Arthur Bye

Mark has it about right. Older style 135's are a bit sweeter and smoother. Maybe a bit slower, but that could be psychoacoustics. If you're trying to tame down an overly forward speaker this is the was to go. I find them a better match with Kans for instance, which can be a bit forward and bright(pardon me while I duck for cover), over the new style 135's which I also have.

It's just about what is right for you.

Arthur Bye

Posted on: 02 October 2002 by rorominator

Thanks,

It would be for BW 804. The rest of my system :

CDX/102/Flatcap2 and 180 (for the moment).

When I'll have sold the 180, I'll buy a HiCap.

Could the 102 match well with the 135s. Or need absolutely to buy a 82 ?

Posted on: 02 October 2002 by rorominator

Christian,

What was the making year of the 135s you listened to ?

Or serial number ?

Posted on: 02 October 2002 by Arthur Bye

Paul Duerden wrote

quote:
Surely a really well serviced and recacapped pair of 135s should sound very close to a new pair. The mellowing people experience could be a sign of age.

Paul: I have made direct comparisons between recently recapped 135's and new 135's. I have both.

It is not simply a matter of recapping. The older 135's sound different. As Christian said the newer ones seems to have better levels of resolution. It really depends on the speaker though. My older 135's on Kans sound a better match than on the newer ones. On a pair of Spendor SP100's though, a very "polite" speaker, the newer 135's sound much better and the older ones sound wrong.

System matching is all important.

Arthur Bye