SL2

Thanks, S3. I managed to have conversation with the seller this evening and they're from 2003 which prompted my query about longevity. Unfortunately they have one mark on the front and it's not really possible to see from photos how intrusive that might be in actuality. 

I hadn't realised that Tom Tom were now committed to producing the grills.

Clive

Well I have one of those later 350 pairs and I'm facing the prospect of packing them up for a house renovation. 

Does anyone have instructions (or even better pictures) of how they should be dismantled and packed in their boxes?

I'm intending to ask my friendly Naim dealer to resite them but I don't want to do anything silly when dismantling and packing. 

It sees  that I just about have them 10 years now (and the most I've done is resettled the grills)

I should have paid more attention (and taken more photos) all those years ago!

https://forums.naimaudio.com/to...783#1566878605769783

.sjb 

Agree it's tricky to ascertain - from the photos on the site - the issue on one speaker that the seller mentions. Maybe he can send you a better picture.

In any event I'm sure it can be sorted. Go for it Clive! You won't regret it. They are very very special speakers....

David

S3 posted:

I think 2009 was the last production year Clive.

Mine are a 2002 pair and are in superb condition. If they have been looked after well (no damage to the cabinets etc) then there is not really anything to worry about as the components are pretty bomb proof.

Good news on the grills as I understand Tom Tom are going to produce replacements using the original designs so I'd expect them to be of excellent quality if their SBL grills are anything to go by. So no worries there.

How is it going with that Cherry pair?

 

this would be great news indeed!

but just checked their website and i cant see mention of this. was this confirmed to you directly?

My SL2 griiles are really close to the end... evidenced by black bits that gather atop the bottom box.

enjoy

ken

Yes it was Ken. My 2002 pair were starting to crumble so I called Tom Tom last week to ask id they could put me down for a pair once they were in production. To my surprise and delight they said they could do better than that as they had a pair left from the stock that they bought up from Naim when production ceased. So I bought a pair of original grills from 2009 and have them on my SL2s now. They look fabulous. 

My pair date from 2003 and the grills are in pretty good shape. Probably the most bombproof of the Naim speakers.

To sjb: I did box mine up recently to move to a mates house on "loan" as I'm renovating a pair of DBLs. You should be able to reverse engineer the packing from the packaging itself. Failing that my mate took some photos as we unpacked them and I'm sure I could get copies of you need.

Willy.

S3 posted:

Agree it's tricky to ascertain - from the photos on the site - the issue on one speaker that the seller mentions. Maybe he can send you a better picture.

In any event I'm sure it can be sorted. Go for it Clive! You won't regret it. They are very very special speakers....

David

Hmmm. You might regret if the mark on the front is untreatable and stares at you every time you look at the speakers. I suppose it depends on how important a pristine appearance is, but I wouldn't be too hasty. 

Willy posted:

My pair date from 2003 and the grills are in pretty good shape. Probably the most bombproof of the Naim speakers.

To sjb: I did box mine up recently to move to a mates house on "loan" as I'm renovating a pair of DBLs. You should be able to reverse engineer the packing from the packaging itself. Failing that my mate took some photos as we unpacked them and I'm sure I could get copies of you need.

Willy.

I'd really appreciate those photos if you could manage Willy, you'd be surprised how inept I can be when it comes to things like this. My email is in my profile. 

Thanks in advance,

John. 

.sjb

Have requested the photos.

Willy.

Hi Willy, just read that your renovating a pair of DBL's would love to know more about this.

Mine are in pretty good shape but any knowledge for any future repairs would be great!!

Do you have any thoughts on Evars NBL midrange cut outs, no body else responded. 

I have DBL's SL2's NBL's and Nsats, I obviously love naim speakers to bits but am saddened that they no longer service or supply many parts for them. My SL2s I purchased new and are pretty much perfect. The only issue with them is the foam inside the top box which is disintegrating. I got a pair of grills on naims last run but remember someone else saying that an American manufacturer who also does DBL grills is working on being able to supply SL2 grills also.

best regards,

Mario.

Hungryhalibut posted:

S3 posted:

Agree it's tricky to ascertain - from the photos on the site - the issue on one speaker that the seller mentions. Maybe he can send you a better picture.

In any event I'm sure it can be sorted. Go for it Clive! You won't regret it. They are very very special speakers....

David

Hmmm. You might regret if the mark on the front is untreatable and stares at you every time you look at the speakers. I suppose it depends on how important a pristine appearance is, but I wouldn't be too hasty. 

Yes, that sort of thing can be quite annoying and I don't really want to have begin by thinking about how to get a dinge repaired - pause for thought...

Clive

Mario posted:

Hi Willy, just read that your renovating a pair of DBL's would love to know more about this.

Mine are in pretty good shape but any knowledge for any future repairs would be great!!

Do you have any thoughts on Evars NBL midrange cut outs, no body else responded. 

 

I have DBL's SL2's NBL's and Nsats, I obviously love naim speakers to bits but am saddened that they no longer service or supply many parts for them. My SL2s I purchased new and are pretty much perfect. The only issue with them is the foam inside the top box which is disintegrating. I got a pair of grills on naims last run but remember someone else saying that an American manufacturer who also does DBL grills is working on being able to supply SL2 grills also.

 

best regards,

 

Mario.

Mario,

I picked up a pair of 1993 vintage DBLs in black. Several issues:

1) Cosmetically I'd rate them 7-8 out of 10. Not really an issue as they're in my home office and years ago I had black brics so I'm a dab hand at touching up the edges. Know a friend of a friend who does woodwork restoration so may pick his brains on best practice for "tarting" them up.

2) Bass driver surrounds are perished. One had a 3" section of the surround missing. At this precise moment in time they're in a van to be delivered to ATC for a recone. Had it not been for Jon Honeyball's recent thread on this I would have probably run a mile at seeing that.

3) Gaskets were in reasonable shape apart from where a crossover had been leaning on one due to poor packing. Thought I'd need replacements but after a few weeks the "notch" has bounced out again.

4) Aluminium pads on the bass box well used but not perforated. I've ordered replacements anyway.

5) The bottom of the HF/MF boxes are quite worn, grooves of 3+mm deep. Have procured Ronseal High Performance filler and i'll patch them.

6) Mid units were replace 3-4 years ago.  This is good as they're no longer available. 

7) HF units may have been replaced 5 years ago. Front faces are a bit gouged but they seemed to sound OK. Still available so unconcerned if I need to replace them.

8) HF mounting plates are different. One is gloss and one is a satin finish. Also they bulge a bit at the bottom. Will explore flattening, stripping and refinishing them or having new ones manufactured as they're apparently no longer available.

9) And now for the weird bit. A section has been cut out of the lower cross member of the upper box support bracket. No one seems to know why though I note that it makes it a lot easier to disconnect the cable from the back of the bass box whilst it's in situ. Maybe they were being moved a lot at some point and this would make it easier to remove the bass box without damaging the gasket/silicon seal? I don't believe it affects the structural integrity of the support (held to the L shaped cabinet by screws outboard the cuts). It can be repaired.

Needless to say item 9 allowed me to negotiate a favourable price.

I'll do some more posts with photos as I work through the repairs.

Willy.

Hi Willy,

thanks for taking the time to post, really enjoyed reading the details of the restoration. Pics when you are doing it would be of great interest to me. Have to say that I really like seeing these wonderful designs brought back to their former glory, they are such good speakers that communicate music so well. Not many designs today have that certain magic, they all just sound too shinny and try too hard to grab your attention.

So good that ATC can referbish one of the main things that can go wrong over time.

Will you staple the aluminium pads? just sticking them down probably won't do as any indentation will probably cause them to unstick. Naim usually also supply the stapples but finding the correct stapler is the trick. I have seen someone screw in some very small button head screws, 2 per pad, and that seems to work very well.

The mids seem to be quite robust if one takes care, I believe that music can be played quite loudly before they show any kind of strain, only issue is the cut out looking a little less flat as time goes on. 

I think the gouges on the scanspeak tweeter is just a foam sticker that can be removed and a new one stuck on. I need to this with an Axess  center speaker and have a spare sticker waiting. They only cost a couple of bucks each. The tweeter has to be removed form its springy mounting plate first.

I'm sure any metal fabricator could order the same box section, weld and grind back the repaired support bracket and have it ready for powder coating. I doubt that it would be affecting the sound, who knows, may be decoupling the box even more, at least you can get it done if you want to.

Best with it all.

Regards,

Mario.

Mario,

Hadn't realised that the foam on the front of the tweeters could be replaced. Useful to know. Must source myself a pair of "stickers".

When replacing the aluminium pads I'd look to stapling them. I have a compressor so I'd buy a suitable pneumatic upholstery stapler. Had a look and can get a reputable brand for about 50 quid. The friend who has "borrowed" my SL2s used little tacks to secure the pads on his SBLs having failed with several spring loaded staplers.

The cross members of the upper box support are a flat section mild steel. They are slightly bowed and then damping material is used behind them so they don't rattle against the cabinet. I have a "tame" car restoration guy locally who could form a bar to the correct curve, cut a section of the right size and TIG weld it into the gap. His repair would be visually indistinguishable from the original.  I don't think that the gap would have any (significant) effect on sound quality though for the sake of completeness I'll eventually get around to doing it. 

Forgot to mention that the DBLs came with nearly new USA sourced grills. Not sure how they compare to the originals (as I've never seen them up close). They're cut from a fairly soft foam and then the exposed surfaces have been spray painted black giving them a rigid surface. They look the part but I'll be interested to do the on/off comparison in the fullness of time.

Regards,

Willy.

Hi Willy, just sent you an email with details of who sell the foam tweeter stickers, though they probably could be found cheaper locally for you.

Regards

Mario.

well, today, a much anticipated package arrived:

with some goodies....

the old ones were really on their last legs:

i actually swept off some bits of the old foam last night -- and you can see some more gathering already...

So now the new ones are on -- and don't they look great?!

Thanks to the guys at TomTom Audio - now my SL2s have a 'new lease of life'. And no more sweeping off the bits everyday!!

enjoy...

ken

Great news Ken.  Those grilles look bang on.

Well done James - judging by the black foam dust that I keep dusting from the gap between the boxes, it looks like you'll be hearing from me soon 

May I ask how much they cost?

Hungryhalibut posted:

May I ask how much they cost?

HH, i think its best if you ring TTA.

enjoy...

ken

Great Ken. I assume those were one of the last original pairs TT bought up from Naim in 2009? I had one of those pairs a couple of weeks back and agree they look amazing!

Mario posted:

Hi Willy, just sent you an email with details of who sell the foam tweeter stickers, though they probably could be found cheaper locally for you.

 

Regards

Mario.

Mario,

Got a pair in the post yesterday. Expecting reconed bass drivers back from ATC tomorrow. Still a few more bits to source but I'm getting there.

Willy.

S3 posted:

Great Ken. I assume those were one of the last original pairs TT bought up from Naim in 2009? I had one of those pairs a couple of weeks back and agree they look amazing!

Yes. Thanks for getting me on to this S3. Mine were beginning to look rather 'desperate'

enjoy...

ken

Mine aren't really crumbly yet, but are decidedly grey. Can I wash them in the sink to restore their inky blackness? That's actually a serious question...

I used to gently wash my SBL grilles in the sink with very dilute fairy liquid, then a warm rinse with water. Do not hang on the washing line full of water, as they will distort. Pat dry with kitchen paper, and patiently air dry, in a horizontal position. Best of luck, mine were done from new? To keep the boss happy.

Hungryhalibut posted:

Mine aren't really crumbly yet, but are decidedly grey. Can I wash them in the sink to restore their inky blackness? That's actually a serious question...

Vacuuming gently for a while worked on mine....