The Demise of the SBL

Posted by: P on 24 May 2001

Friends of the forum I bear sad sad news indeed.

I was going to keep this quiet but I feel you lot out there oughta know.

I have recently tried to place an order for SBLs (like yesterday)

I have been told they have been discontinued.

They are no longer available in Cherry and only a limited stock exists of black and walnut..

I am extremely sad

Seems to me that the Allae will actually replace the SBL as well as the Credo.

Oh dear oh deary me this is a tragedy.

I was so looking forward to glueing on my first B Box.

I feel like I've missed a whole era

[This message was edited by P on THURSDAY 24 May 2001 at 23:17.]

Posted on: 28 May 2001 by ken c

marcus, "...just what I was thinking - yet more boxes! Maybe I should scrap the 250s and Snaxo and get a 500 instead - and then go for the mini-DBLs".

i assume you are referring to my earlier posting about additional 250 required when you go from 2 to 3 way speaker in an active system. yeah, i am crossing my fingers.

on the other hand, if one could afford a 500, i am hearing some very interesting things about this power amp. i listened to it yesterday driving a pair of nautilus's and performace was inconsistent. to be fair the guy did say their 500 needed some attention, but why demo it at all in this case???

what fascinates me is the claim that a 500 based system is better than any active system using 135's, for example, a 6pack DBL. for me this means i would probably not bother upgrading my active system to 135's from 250's. at that point i would seriously consider taking a "backward" step to 500 passive.

but you know how it is with hifi, as soon as you go passive with 1x500, then the "i wonder how it would sound with 2 or 3 500's active" thought drifts into your head again... never ends...

i am really looking fwd to the SBL replacements. and this time, if i like the sound, i will get a more interesting finish. are you hankering after NBL's?

enjoy

ken

Posted on: 28 May 2001 by Dev B

Even though the SBL will be around for a little while it is sad to hear that it may be nearing the end.

It is a truly exceptional speaker and is a landmark in terms of the engineering, execution and design.

For me, the SBL properly defined what a properly designed loudspeaker should sound like in the bass.

A true original. Finding a replacement loudspeaker has not been an easy task for me!

Dev (with beech SBL's)

Posted on: 28 May 2001 by Alex S.

had a look at your system . . . I think your first move should be XPS for CDX

regards Alex

Posted on: 29 May 2001 by ken c

quote:
Even at my dealer, powered by a 500, the NBL's sounded a bit bland to my ears. That changed when we switched to 500/SBL's. Could it be that the NBL's are more critical to setup?

i dont know. but i would imagine they would, like all naim stuff. i had a brief listen to the nbls sometime ago and they were quite yummy. its not a speaker i would buy though. according to she-who-should-be-obeyed, size is not everything...

enjoy

ken

Posted on: 29 May 2001 by P

Long live the SBL

What a marvelous piece of engineering.

Due to a bizarre quirk of circumstance I now own possibly the very last pair of pair of cherry SBLs to leave Salisbury and to say I am cock a hoop would be the greatest understatement of all time.

I'd just like to thank all involved in the rescue mission - you know who you are. I wouldn't like to embarrass you out here - just thanks OK.

Posted on: 29 May 2001 by Naheed

I've only had my sblzzzzzzzzz for a year now, but there AWESOME.

It's sad news, but knowing Naim the replacement WILL better it, won't it Paul !!!

Naheed

Posted on: 04 June 2001 by N. Mason

I too am sad about the demise of the SBL. Incidently, I have a pair of SBL's in piano black, unassembled, unused and boxed for sale. I foolishly should have purchased a property with hi-fi in mind and as I will be moving around a lot in the future I need something portable that I don't have to stick together; the one thorn in this great speaker's design. So if there is anyone out there who might be interested, please contact me at nmason28@hotmail.com Comments on suitable non-Naim speakers(circa £2,500)to go in a badly L-shaped room with lots of glass, lots of radiators and few walls, at the end of a CDS2, 52, Supercap, 500 would be most appreciated. What about NXT flat panels?

yours truly,

Posted on: 04 June 2001 by P

I really can't understand why folk make such a fuss about squeezing out a 6mm bead of mastic.

It's all part of the experience - like actually building your own speakers with TLC!

I can't wait to move house so I can do it again!

Assembling a pair of DBLs could only be more fun!

Surely.