Removing silicon, replacing gasket and pads for SBL's

Unless you pay a competent Naim dealer to do it; you'll never be sure it's 'right'.

There is no substitute for experience.

Stuart

buy the silicone only from your Naim dealer.

In fact - if you buy a gasket kit, it comes with the correct silicone sealant, pades, gaskets, staples, instructions etc.

If you get the wrong type of sealant by heading off to your local B&Q in search of common or garden sealastic, you could find yourself floating up diahharea drive without a paddle! Head to your dealer, order the correct kit, all sorted.

As for removing silicone, very carefully is the best course of action. After 90-odd minutes, it's unlikely you'll forget to apply tyhe Fairy Liquid when reassembling - call it cheap training.

Rico - SM/Mullet Audio

Rico,

yes, it's a ****ing nuisance to clean up.

However, it's worth noting that the manual for the DBL does NOT mention soap, where that for the SBL does. I suspect that the seal is under much more stress in the former.

I'm really, really interested in a safe silicone removal agent. Anyone any comments if it is safe?

I'd also appreciate any feedback on whether residue of the removal agent might compromise the new seal?

cheers, Martin

the process is somewhat cumbersome but you can risk it, don’t let be yourself frightened by any mistifications. The result will be surprisingly good.

graphoman

Found a dealer with a gaskit kit in stock so about to have a go. I'll let you know how I get on.

Decided to only replace the pads if I need to, as per the instructions that came with the gasket. Since I may try a few positions in the room, may as wait till I get them in there permanent home before I fix new pads.

Well it wasn’t difficult but boy was it tedious, getting all that silicone off took ages but thanks to the edge or a credit card, loads of picking with finger nails and a small computer keyboard vacuum cleaner (thought what a useless gift at the time but was great for getting rid of those tiny bits of silicon that seemed to go everywhere).

That was no where near as bad as getting the glue off where the old gaskets were, took very careful scraping with a blunt Stanley knife blade, loads of surgical spirit and finally to remove the last trace of residue some isopropyl alcohol.

Putting the new gaskets on, was no problem. Quick check with a torch to see if I needed new pads and luckily no a nice gap between the gasket and the top box.

Then the old cross head screws through the carpet trick and got them level with no trace of movement. Finally the bit I’d been dreading applying the new silicone and discovered that the nozzle on was not pre cut for a 6mm bead so got a knife and cut it myself, luckily got it right. After a few test runs on a piece of paper did the first one, no problem, checked with a torch and no gaps so finished putting that together. Second one, did the same and rats a minute gap about 2mm long between the top of the silicone and the middle box. So took it apart, and isn’t fairy liquid wonderful, had the silicone off and boxes ready for another try in 5 mins. This time got it right.

Power up and wow we now have tight bass, was surprised at how much and how deep it goes. They sound great especially listening to vinyl but the bass will take some time to get used to after the IBL’s. As the SBL’s and 250 haven’t been used for a while going to give them a while to run in before experimenting with positioning.

So the verdict on SBL setup, not difficult but very time consuming and there should be a special circle in hell for those who don’t use soap before applying the silicon !

To err is human; to really foul it up requires a computer.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Stuart M:
To err is human; to really foul it up requires a computer.

---

To really foul it up requires a silicone gun and no soap.

cheers, Martin

And someone who's never had a pair blow his socks off I must say that when set up well they must be a truly great speaker for you guys to tolerate the bullshit factor involved in owning a couple of 'em.


Fairy liquid and a tube of sealant????



Sounds like a perverts night in

There is nothing special about the silicon sealant from Naim and B&Q can offer perfectly suitable options (stick to the transparent, flexible silicon). The only advantage of the Naim pack is the nozzle is cut to the right size. I think most on this forum could probably cut the end off a nozzle to get the right size of bead.

Removing the staples to change the metal plates is a bugger, particularly as the oiginal staples in mine had been banged in so hard (by Naim ) that they had cut right through the plates. I hoped to get away with just sticking the new plates in place without the staples, to make future changes easier. It didn't work as the edges of the plates curled up when the top-box sat on them. So best to re-staple them. Obviously you will have to buy a Naim staple gun, as staples applied with anything other than the recommended pressure will adversly affect the sound.

malcolm

quote:

---

Originally posted by Rockingdoc:
I hoped to get away with just sticking the new plates in place without the staples, to make future changes easier. It didn't work as the edges of the plates curled up when the top-box sat on them.

---

Malcolm,

I presume that the wood under the plates had been dented by the spikes? Did you fill this before applying new plates?

I ask this because the bass bins on my DBLs are setup without staples, and show absolutely no signs of curling under the weight of the boxes (I estimate about 60 lbs, a heck of a lot more than SBLs).

cheers, Martin

No the wood was fine. I can't explain the difference in our findings, perhaps my sticky tape was less sticky?

malcolm

I decided that the bass was just to much to handle, and in particular tended to swamp send female vocals into the background, so after reading some previous threads as I had them hard against the wall decided to try them out a bit further and also some toe in.

6" out better but still not right. Some toe in, getting better. More toe in, even better decide to move them back and shot to hell. Yup broke the seal. So took them apart and easy as pie this time but this time the pads need replacing. So back on the IBL's while I buy some wood filler! And according to Naim instructions do you really use a hammer to get the staples in?

Now I've heard SBL's many a time and would never have expected to be overloaded with bass and recessed female vocals so think it's my room. What's the best way to experiment with positioning when a few moves can break the seal and with my floor I need X head screws to get things stable? How much time should I leave for the seal to set after assembly?

If you've any ideas on better positioning the room is 19.5' by 15.5' at it's widest and is this shape:-

________________________DDD____
| I     RRRRRRRR                |
|                               |
|                              S|
|                               R
--|                             R
  |                            CR
  |                            CR
__|                             R
|                               R
|                              S|
|                               |
|_I___           ___KKKKKKKK____|
      |          | 
      |          |
      |_WWWWWWWW_|

I = Center Channel (IBL's)
D = Door
K = Kit
I = Rear channel (IBL's)
R = Radiator
S = Where the SBL's are now
W = Window

The wall with the door on is a stud wall all others are brick

The alcoves either side of the chimney breast have built in cupboards.

Current listening position on sofa in front og the chimney breast.


Speaker positioning is limited to either side of a radiator or either side of the window alcove which is about 9 ft wide. But got a plasma TV arriving which will be wall mounted so, to me, that only really leaves the existing position to allow for Stereo and AV setup. Any ideas gratefully appreciated.

BTW Any publishers out there as my SBL story is turning into a small novel

[This message was edited by Stuart M on WEDNESDAY 06 November 2002 at 00:05.]

Took some time, but after the new pads in place and more practice with sealant......

BIG GRIN

Tight bass, female vocals working now and the Verdict, SBL Setup is a pain but when you got it right the twelfty hours spent was worth it.

Happy Bunny

To err is human; to really foul it up requires a computer.