SL2

just checking -- i'm sure you are aware of these issues anyhow -- but worth re-iterating:

i am assuming you have adjusted the bottom spikes such that (a) the back two spikes mate with the back floor protectors more or less at the same time (b) when you made adjustments -- make sure the top box is NOT in place -- i.e. you only have the bottom box, with the TSA attached. (c) further to (a) -- make sure the TSA verticals are indeed vertical (d) make sure the front of the speaker is level -- check with spirit level on top of the curvy front -(d) also check back to back and side to side levelness (e) to be sure -- there should be no rocking when you have adjusted all spikes accordingly.

when you have covered these points -- the TSA should more or less self centre in the upper box -- provided of course the plate is correctly positioned.  of course you may need to make small adjustments by loosening this place, with emphasis on 'small'. if you find having to make large adjustments -- may be time to check all the above points, again. a few well chosen swear words always help to keep morale up!

i have a problem with my RHS SL2 caused by the fact that the floor in my office is not level -- it slopes towards the wall -- so i have had to make adjustments to take that into account -- a damn nuisance -- haven't done that too well really , so i intend to revisit over Easter to fix this if i have the strength.

Good luck. Keep trying -- can be frustrating -- but extremely rewarding when you get it right in the end. I find that it gets easier when you get used to it.

and enjoy...

ken

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Many thanks Ken and HH. I managed to free the front plate (using a lot of force!) and have improved the position somewhat. 

It is now more or less flush with the plate but still needs to be raised up a couple of mm.

The base unit is level. Fortunately I'm working on a pretty level floor surface. The plate has been brought down as far as it can go while enabling the bolts to find their holes.

It seems that the only other thing I could do to raise the tweeter would be to lift the arm up slightly in its base housing. However I thought it was important that the arm remained seated as far down as it would go so that seems like the wrong thing to do.

Any ideas?

 Thanks - I'm really enjoying this!!

Yes, you will have to lift the arm. It's not uncommon and not a bad thing either - less contact surface in theory means more decoupling. Tighten the arm bolts just sufficiently to hold the arm in place then jiggle it up to centre it - you may even consider raising the plate a bit. Using a small spirit level or smart phone with a level app in it, try jiggling things so that the rear of the tweeter plate is level, then tighten firmly but don't go mad - it's not that difficult to strip the threads. If you haven;t already done so - ensure the top plate of the bottom box is level before doing any of this.

As I understand it, it should not be necessary to raise the support arms - it's hard enough to get them tight without lifting them out of the slots. There should be enough scope in the front plates. I'm wondering if the base is attached exactly right, given that it should not have been removed. 

Neither of my two pairs of SL2s have needed the arms lifting, which is why I think it should not be needed. But Mike has owned them as well, so may be quite right. I'd suggest a call to Naim in the morning to check. It's essential to get the setup exactly right, or they won't perform as they should. Maybe Richard can advise, as he's a bit of an expert on them. 

Thanks HH. I suspect you are right and that is certainly what Richard's excellent instructions say. Interestingly the SL2 manual says that adjustments can be made to align the tweeter via the two bolts holding the assembly in place (presumably up or down) and via the front plate. Anyway I've managed to get the tweeters in reasonable position:

So I might connect them up and see how they sound. These may not be there final position but I don't mind doing all this again if needs be. I certainly felt I was improving at each attempt and it is great fun!

You can see why Naim don't make speakers anymore.. blimey what a faff..

As with the Ovators, I'm sure its worth the time and effort but..

The Ovators are essentially 3 separate boxes in one, and as such retain some of the qualities of the earlier separate box speakers without the faffage. My 400s are simple to place and care free. I would not bother with the earlier separate box speakers, which I am sure are superb in their own way, but I don't need the aggravation.

S3 posted:

Thanks HH. I suspect you are right and that is certainly what Richard's excellent instructions say. Interestingly the SL2 manual says that adjustments can be made to align the tweeter via the two bolts holding the assembly in place (presumably up or down) and via the front plate. Anyway I've managed to get the tweeters in reasonable position:

So I might connect them up and see how they sound. These may not be there final position but I don't mind doing all this again if needs be. I certainly felt I was improving at each attempt and it is great fun!

looks very well centred to me (can you post a more closeup photo?) -- well worth the effort -- congratulations! what did you do?

if you ever need to reset them -- you will find it a lot easier and you will also find yourself developing your own techniques to get the best out of them.

Its a fascinating transparent  design (meaning the mechanics are not wholly hidden) and i can see you are not put off by comments from folks who don't own them. Mark of owner of this elite speaker.  No plonk and players here...

if the rest of the system is up to it, you will be amply rewarded -- that i know for sure...

enjoy...

ken

They look beautifully centred, so well done. How far from the wall are they - they look quite a way out, but it may be the picture. I found the optimum to be four or five inches. 

As for why the faff - it's because you can get them for around £2,000 and they are bloody brilliant. Some things really are worth the effort. Mine took about two hours to set up, and they have sat untouched - but much played and enjoyed - for nearly two years now. That doesn't sound like a bad use of time. 

What's a bit strange here is that I've never had to actually raise the tweeter arm in its mounts, and if anything the opposite, i.e. to put downward pressure on the arm as the bolts are tightened to ensure the arm locates right into the bottom of the mount.  I'm not entirely sure why you have had this issue - maybe a tolerance that I'm not aware of.  Are you sure the base is OK?  Is the rear spring working properly? The base was carefully set up at the factory during the build and was never designed to be taken apart by the customer...

Anyway, it looks like the tweeter is well centred, so that's good.  The face plate can get a little stuck so best to loosen off the retaining bolts and then carefully push out from behind to unstick it. The tweeter arm should be very firmly located in the mounts so it's rigid/stiff.  You will need to tighten to the limit here - just don't round out the bolts. Any looseness here is a problem as it doesn't allow the sprung base to work properly.

I applaud your work. I've heard SL2s once and it will be worth it.

Chris

Thanks guys. I've connected them up with 5m of NACA5 and put the grills on.

Richard - The base plinth is a strange one. It was very straightforward to fit back on. Just two bolts at the front and three screws at the rear. I was in two minds as to whether to screw in the three black screws to the rear:

As I know that this cross plate is supposed to be loose and screwing in fixes it. I screwed them in in the end as I thought if they were not supposed to be used then why on earth would there be holes in the plinth.

Could you explain what is meant by the leaf spring as I am hearing how critical it is but can not work out exactly what or where it is?

As the base is never supposed to be taken apart I've never paid too much attention as to exactly what goes where in putting it together - I guess I should take a look at my own SL2s.  It'll have to wait though until I'm back at the weekend. In the meantime you could check with Naim HQ.

The way to check that the suspension is working - I think I mentioned this in my first reply - is to rap the top of the base box with your knuckles and to see if it oscillates and slowly stops moving. The tweeter should not move. If it does not oscillate, something is not right. Give it a go and report back, if you would. 

Thanks Richard. I'd appreciate that.

HH they are just under a foot out from the wall. I just wanted to try them in the optimum position first just to see how they sound. If they work there then it saves me reorganising the entire room and moving my work station to where the rig is currently. I will do that if necessary but I thought why not just try the SL2s where my X2s were to see how they go.

So far they sound very very good! Very detailed and great imaging. Bass seems a touch light but I'll give it time. After all the NACA5 is brand new do will need to burn in.

They need to go much closer to the wall - that's how they were designed. Try four inches. And do they rock when you rip on the fronts?

If I rap the top of the base unit on the left speaker it does rock a bit back and forward but not much. The tweeter moves too when I do this.

The right speaker moved but not only back and forth. It moved a little to the side too. So I checked that the rear spikes were both firmly grounded and the back right was just off. I tightened it which moved the tweeter off centre so had to then adjust the front plate again to get it back cantered. When I rap it now it moves back and forth like the left one.

In both cases the tweeter moves as well. Is that a problem?

This is why I suspect there is an issue with the base being removed. The base sits on the floor. The tweeter is fixed to the base. The main speaker is on a leaf spring and moves independently of the tweeter. That's how the tweeter is kept separate and what helps the extraordinary treble quality of the speaker. I'm not convinced that the base is properly attached to the speaker, but may be wrong of course.

And they do need to be near the wall. 

Ok. Thanks HH. If I actually knew where this "leaf spring" is located I could take a look. Is the leaf spring the cross plate on the underside of the base plinth that the manual says is intended to be loose?

I redid mine a couple of weekends ago Which I felt was necessary due to some tweaking i.ve been doing with my pair.  Richard's instruction really do help get it done right.  I found the technique of levelling the front them tilting the speaker back and forth on the front spikes to level the rear spikes really did the trick.   Compared to the first time setting them up I found it quite enjoyable.  I guess the more you do it the more you get to know the speakers and appreciate the concepts behind their construction.

I have never quite understood the HH test re rapping on the boxes and 'the tweeter does not move'. The bottom boxes of mine definitely move if pushed but the tweeter assembly stays the same position-which makes it move relative to the top box aperture until the box stops swaying.

is this is a healthy 'positive HH test'? If not they sound lovely anyway....

Incidentally the tweeter does not fit perfectly in the top box aperture, it is very slightly off centre (sitting a bit low) but I assumed as long as it is clear on all sides this was not a problem. It also lays absolutely flush with the front of the box, a function of getting the whole thing level and the tweeter arms vertical I think.

I found the bass of mine improved over several weeks after installing. I assumed this was the speakers loosening up after a period in storage. It was quite obvious anyway so be patient with yours.

Bruce

Hi, In Richard's instructions it says;

"7. Because of the leaf spring at the rear, getting the spikes perfectly level at the back is tricky...."

The back of my SL2s look like this:

Ignore the tiles, these will not be used in final position; just so I can practice on a solid surface.

Is the leaf spring the cross bar across the bottom on which the Tweeter assembly mounting points sit?

Does the back of anyone else's SL2s look different?

This seems to correlate with the picture in the manual:

Bruce Woodhouse posted:

I have never quite understood the HH test re rapping on the boxes and 'the tweeter does not move'. The bottom boxes of mine definitely move if pushed but the tweeter assembly stays the same position-which makes it move relative to the top box aperture until the box stops swaying.

is this is a healthy 'positive HH test'? If not they sound lovely anyway....

Absolutely correct. The speaker moves but the tweeter doesn't, so the tweeter moves relative to the aperture. It's quite hard to explain all this, especially with a frontal lobe brain injury - I confuse even myself!

The leaf spring is underneath the speaker - it is not the bar at the back. When you push the front of the speaker and it moves relative to the base - it's the leaf spring that lets it happen. 

If the idiotic dealer who incorrectly disassembled the speakers is a Naim dealer, they should be paying to have them shipped back to Salisbury to have the base checked. Nobody on here really knows if they are ok or not, though if they pass the rocking back and forth test they should be ok I'd have thought.