SL2

Quite so. You really don't want to be raising the arms out of the mounting brackets. 

Indeed. It didn't feel right. 

Hungryhalibut posted:

Quite so. You really don't want to be raising the arms out of the mounting brackets. 

The top of my arms looked pretty much the same as yours, but the bottoms weren't fully down on the bolts. The dealer who installed them lifted them up very slightly as far as I recall and explained this helped achieve a good "bounce" amongst other things (not his term). I wouldn't however go as far as to say this involved "raising them out of the brackets" - it was much less than this, but he did comment that it was necessary. Sounds like Richard never did it though....

I really like these, excellent choice!

My gap looks very much like HH's

Thanks EKFC. That's helpful. Beautiful setup you have.

Beautiful veneer matching between top and bottom boxes EKFC

To update on this - my SL2s are perfectly set up and sound absolutely stunning.

The reason for this is down to Jason Gould at Naim who, incredibly kindly, offered to come to my home and set them up for me. Luckily for me Jason lives nearby and, rather than have the SL2s sent back to Salisbury, he offered to check them over on site and set them up optimally.

What a simply fantastic thing to offer. With all he has on - being UK director of sales - to spare some of his precious time to help me out with this is certainly going the extra mile in my opinion and it was an absolute privilege to spend time with Jason - watching him work his magic on these fabulous speakers and teaching me so much about them and the Naim business. Absolutely fascinating.

Jason spent time initially checking each cabinet over to ensure that both plinths were correctly attached. Interestingly one of the leaf springs was fitted the wrong way round. This was nothing to do with the dealer I bought them from and it may have been like this since it left the factory originally. 

All screws were adjusted to the correct 3.6nm torque settings. The bass drivers were some way out - too loose. 

Another thing I observed was that Jason attached the tweeter assembly arms with the lower cabinets on their tummies rather than when standing on the spikes. He explained that this was only possible if fitting on a carpeted floor as otherwise the cabinet could be damaged but that this was the easier way to ensure the arms were correctly seated in the mounting brackets.

The cross overs solder points were checked and were all fine. An interesting thing was attaching the cross overs to the cabinets. Really only light contact is needed. 

Jason sited the speakers one at a time close up to the masonry wall with a fraction of toe in and spikes through the carpet. Before Jason came I decided to completely rearrange my office to ensure that this wall was available rather than the stud wall where my X2s stood. I also managed to set up the electronics well away from the SL2s utilising the 5m of NACA5.

Here is a picture of Jason's superb tweeter alignment

And to our previous discussion the tweeter set up which is identical to yours HH and others who kindly shared pictures of theirs

Here they are in final position

We fired up the system and listened to a couple of tracks. It's not often that I'm lost for words but I was. With a cold NAP250DR new NACA5 and the speakers having just been sited in their new home the system sounded like it never has before. The mid range and high frequency is sublime and the bass tight and controlled. Jason seemed really pleased to hear them sounding so good and in the hours since they are just getting better and better.

What Jason did here has cemented my loyalty to this fabulous brand. You very rarely get service like this these days. I knew that Naim was special but this goes above and beyond. They are certainly very lucky to have Jason in their organisation and I shall be forever grateful for his care and attention.

Kind regards to all.

That's brilliant, S3. And Jason is such a knowledgeable and friendly bloke. Naim are lucky to have him. I'm sure the fact that you and I both have our systems in a loft, with irregular walls etc, helps the SL2s to really give of their best. When my dealer visited to hear mine, he said he'd never heard SL2s sound so good before. They really are very special speakers.

Now just wait till you eventually go active. Then you'll be really amazed! Enjoy all the wonderful evenings of music ahead.

That's great news S3, and knowing where you were located I did rather hope that Jason might volunteer to sort your SL2s out - he's kept so busy but it's just the kind of helpful act above and beyond the call of duty for which he's well known. Jason's a fellow SL2 fan and there's nobody better to set them up.

Indeed Richard. Many thanks. I do feel incredibly privileged to have these wonderful speakers and to have had Jason set them up. I'm still pinching myself.

Thanks for all your and fellow forum members guidance and support with this. Quite an experience and certainly a fascinating one.

Fantastic news and service. Naim are brill, aren't they....

Well Jason certainly is! I hope Naim recognises that and appreciate what that kind of thing is worth in the long run. As a company it's been a strong point of theirs in the past but times change and it would be good for them to keep in mind the value this kind of thing brings to the brand.

This is not meant as a covert criticism. I really enjoyed a recent factory visit so keep it up Naim.

Hooray! What a great example of why we stick with Naim. You've a cracking pair of speakers there  Mr S3, & you can relax in the knowledge they're set up to give of their best (until you go active of course...).

That's wonderful, and how handy that Jason lives nearby. He's a great guy - many years ago he changed the bass drivers on my SBLs in my living room and set up the speakers beautifully. 

I'm so pleased that you are now happy with the speakers. As you know, my system is exactly the same as yours, so I have a good idea what your setup will now sound like. I'm sure you are going to love it. 

Thanks Tony. Going active is certainly an option longer term; for now I'm just loving what the SL2s can do.

For the first time I found myself - at 1am - saying "ok one more track then you must go to bed".... about ten times!

One of the most fascinating things I leaned from Jason is that only 350 pairs were manufactured.

DBLs  - 149

SBLs - nearer 1000 I think he said which makes sense given their longer production run.

Thanks HH and for your sound advice to connect with Salisbury to make sure all was as it should be. Much appreciated.

You are most welcome. This is the sort of thing where the real strength of the forum lies and it's always nice to be able help someone else. And well done for getting the 350 number. I've asked before and never found out - clearly I should have asked Jason! 

Hello,

How much are your SL2 s apart each other ? the right one also seems very close to the wall. When i owned these, now replaced by S600, were about 2,10m apart and 55/60 cm from adjacent walls but my impression was and still is, that are begging for more space to breath.

I recently placed my nSat on a wall 9m+ wide firing through a room depth of 4,5m and nver sounded this good 

Regards

Roberto

That's fantastic! Did Jason shed any light on the mounting arm seating discussion (the dealer who did my installation commenting they occasionally need to be lifted slightly but HH and Richard agreeing that should always be seated in the fully down position)? 

Fantastic service from Naim. It restores your faith in what is possible, although I must also say that this is the sort of care I get from my Naim dealer too. Talking of which he will be here soon to install my newly serviced 252 and remove the loan 202.

As I always say, it is expensive but you get what you pay for. Congrats on the SL2s.

Stu

Hi Roberto,

They are 45cm from each side wall and as close as they can be to the rear wall. I'll check how far apart they are but I reckon around 2M.

Ok, thanks, they looked closer from the picture

Regards

Roberto

Hi Michael,

On the seated mounting position Jason's view was that the arm should be seated as far down in the mounts as possible. Any tweeter height adjustments that are required should be made by way of raising slightly the teeeter above the top of the arm so that you see a slight (say 2mm) gap at the top (per my and others pictures). This is how they are set at the factory.

S3 posted:

Hi Roberto,

They are 45cm from each side wall and as close as they can be to the rear wall. I'll check how far apart they are but I reckon around 2M.

 

45cm from the side wall to the center of the speaker?