SL2

Posted by: S3 on 05 April 2017

Hi,

I have managed to source a pair of Maple SL2s in excellent condition which I will take delivery of next week and will run with my N272, XPS and 250DR. I have been reading numerous extremely helpful posts on the forum around set up and considerations; like, critically, the need for a solid wall to site them against. I am very excited about the SL2s but I must confess I am slightly apprehensive about the challenge of setting them up. Richard's set up instructions are very thorough and I'm sure that you really need to have the speakers in front of you to make absolute sense of them. I will be very careful in following the procedure to the letter and will take my time but I just had a couple of questions:

(i) I know that certain tools are required (mention of torque wrenches, allen keys, clamps etc). Does anyone have a definitive list of exactly what I need so I may ensure that I have the right tools for the job?

(ii) I am considering siting the SL2s on granite slabs on top of my carpet (noting the consensus that a solid floor is optimal as well as a solid masonry wall behind them). Is that worth doing or is it, as I suspect, just a case of "try it and see"? 

Thanks in advance for any tips / insight.

Posted on: 06 June 2017 by steven2907

Well done CDP, I'll have to pop around and have a listen when your sorted..I'm also on the look out for a set so if you hear of any more please let me know.  

 

  I'm sure they'll be excellent once you've set them in place. 

 

Steve 

Posted on: 06 June 2017 by S3

Brilliant news. Well done Clive. I'm really pleased to hear that. You sound like you are working out the set up and I'm sure they will sound fabulous. Do keep us updated.

Kind regards 

David

Posted on: 06 June 2017 by achique99

Congrats Clive on your purchased. It's in my wishlist. My current amp won't be able to run it yet... 

Cheers

Nasa

Posted on: 06 June 2017 by ekfc63
Cdb posted:

Well, I've joined the club! I didn't get the speakers that S3 alerted me to. I hesitated because I would have needed to drive a long way to see what the mark amounted to and this coincided with my aunt having some medical problems that she needed help with so I was driving south rather than north. However, I think as a result of this thread, I was contacted by someone who wanted to sell their cherry SL2s (2007) and I picked them up on Sunday. I have got them working but I think only at about 85% correctly installed. I need to cut a slit in the carpet to get the spikes onto the solid floor and I want to check the positioning first before I do that - of course that's a bit chicken and egg, but my starting point is the same position as the SBLs. I also wanted to make sure the cross-overs were working as the previous owner was using them active. I'm assuming there might be some warm up time for the crossovers. Anyhow they sound excellent already and will no doubt improve when finally sited. Richard's advice and all the comments here are very helpful.

The cabinets are very good but could do with some minor attention in a few places. For example there's some slight fading on the tops. However, I take it from the reply that Ken got, that given the varnish finish, polishing is pointless. Did anyone try any of the suggested treatments?

Photos to come when set-up completed.

Clive

How do you like the sound so far?

Posted on: 06 June 2017 by Cdb

Thanks for the good wishes! The step up from the SBLs is more significant than I anticipated. And my SBLS are late and had new tweeters last year. I find the most obvious difference is in the treble frequencies of which there is simply more detail. Occasionally it has seemed a bit too much of a good thing but I think better assembly and more secure spiking will help that. I'm not sure there is any greater bass extension but it is better articulated. But overall most importantly, as others say, they are very simply very musically engaging. 

Clive

Posted on: 01 August 2017 by steven2907

Hi Clive.  How have the SL2s settled in