SBL's

To bring the best out of the SBL,s you need a 250, but the 140 would still drive them. Though I think you might be a little disappointed with 140/SBL combo.

Gazza posted:

To bring the best out of the SBL,s you need a 250, but the 140 would still drive them. Though I think you might be a little disappointed with 140/SBL combo.

thanks for the reply, so i might go down 250 then SBL's or maybe 2 X 140's?

Gazza is right. However, if the SBLs are good ones at a fair price it would be worth getting them. Get a 250 later as they are much easier to fund second hand. The 140 will drive them fine. I once borrowed a Nait an that was fine with mine while my amps were awaiting delivery.

If they turn out not to your taste simply move them on. I think you will keep them though...

Stu

I have SBL's and run them on 135's, however I've tried them a 250 and a 140 for a substantial amount of time. 

The 140 was a lot of fun, and contrary to the advice above, I would suggest that this will provide plenty of enjoyment until you can upgrade to something more substantial.  The sound opens up more with bigger amps, but that's not to say it is 'better' per se (as in more fun to listen to). 

Try it out and see what you think.  I've driven the SBL's with a Nait 1 and Nait 2 and this was also good.  You don't necessarily 'need' meaty amps to have an enjoyable system I don't think, or at least I did not find this to be the case in my personal experience. 

To add, yes they will go a lot louder with bigger amps but people get too hung up on what 'should' be paired rather than what is actually fun to listen to.

Thanks for the feedback guy's, just waiting to see if they will take my PMC's in PX.

An active system with 2 x 140 will drive SBLs but you need a crossover, a power supply and 2 sets of cables. A serious step. I ran precisely that for many years in my main system but active systems are a big can of worms and need a good source and pre-amp to really show the benefits.

1 x 250 (an olive secondhand one is not a great outlay) will however drive SBLs very nicely. That is what I use now in my second system with just a 'Qute up front and perfectly decent it is too. I think only 1 x 140 will miss a great deal of what makes them special speakers.

Bruce

I can only answer your question indirectly. My SBLs sounded great when driven by my NAIT XS where the source was a CDS3.

When I 'dropped' the source to a CD5XS, it was clear the SBLs had to go.

Christopher_M posted:

I can only answer your question indirectly. My SBLs sounded great when driven by my NAIT XS where the source was a CDS3.

When I 'dropped' the source to a CD5XS, it was clear the SBLs had to go.

My source is an LP12 only.

Nait 2 and sbl sound fine, if you like the sound of sbl's in the first place. I have this as intermediate setup while 250 is out for service, being used to 52-250 the nait is surprisingly enjoyable! 

Even if 250 is better, I would think that if you don't like 140+sbl you probably wouldn't like 250+sbl either. 

Claus

Lewis posted:

The 140 was a lot of fun, and contrary to the advice above, I would suggest that this will provide plenty of enjoyment until you can upgrade to something more substantial.  The sound opens up more with bigger amps, but that's not to say it is 'better' per se (as in more fun to listen to). 

I'd agree - having run my SBLs for some years off a NAP 140. I was using a NAC 52/CD2 with this combination. Many of the claimed failings of SBL/140 seemed to be addressed by improvements to the front end/preamplifier.

You don't mention your source components - what are they?

My experience was that the SBLs were pretty benign but revealed improvements. The little IBLs positively demanded a 250 to sound remarkable.

That said - now we've all calmed down and the products are not out being discussed in a market context I'd expect to be pretty happy with IBLs/SBLs and a Nait.

But I'm so easy to please. And deaf.

Adam Meredith posted:

Lewis posted:

The 140 was a lot of fun, and contrary to the advice above, I would suggest that this will provide plenty of enjoyment until you can upgrade to something more substantial.  The sound opens up more with bigger amps, but that's not to say it is 'better' per se (as in more fun to listen to). 

I'd agree - having run my SBLs for some years off a NAP 140. I was using a NAC 52/CD2 with this combination. Many of the claimed failings of SBL/140 seemed to be addressed by improvements to the front end/preamplifier.

You don't mention your source components - what are they?

My experience was that the SBLs were pretty benign but revealed improvements. The little IBLs positively demanded a 250 to sound remarkable.

That said - now we've all calmed down and the products are not out being discussed in a market context I'd expect to be pretty happy with IBLs/SBLs and a Nait.

But I'm so easy to please. And deaf.

LP12

SBLs collected today can’t wait to set up in the morning.

Good luck and hope they sound great for you ..

Take care in the set-up. There are plenty of threads on here about careful set-up procedures for SBLs, but I'd suggest that you check that the aluminium pads haven't been perforated. There may also be some notes on here about the distribution of the wadding which should be heeded. Also, before applying the silicone sealant apply a very thin wipe of washing up liquid and try to maintain a consistent bead of silicone.

When set-up properly they are superb loudspeakers.