SBL Vs Allae

Ajalden

My dealer said something like:-

"SBL's are a sports car - Allaes are a comfortable, pleasant ride"

I use SBL's on a CDSII - 202 - Hicap - 250 and am happy, but as ever; your ears must decide.

ajalden,
Could you give some more detail on the Allae vs. Ninka; I have Ninka and am considering Allae
but finding a pair to audition will be difficult.

Thankyou you all for the feedback it wall very constructive.

My dealer is able to get hold of the SBL's still from Naim but I believe they are only available in Black or Walnut but I'm not able to have a demo which is of some concern. The good news is that they should be able to get them for the same price as the Allae's.

Do they have better Bass Extension then the Allae's the only thing they seemed to lack was the kick I used to get from the Ninka's but I must admit I cut short my demo as I was a little disappointed that they blew the Ninka's away which is now going to cost a great deal more!!!.

I like the fact the Allae's are not too fuzzier about placement as I need them quite close to the wall besides a fireplace and the Ninka's did work well against my wall.

I also had a listen to the NAPSC and was surprised that this also made a difference to the overall sound and then adding the CDX2 just made my CD5 sound a bit rough in comparison. So I'm going to have to double the amount of lottery tickets I buy from now on.

Kentonious, I would differently audition the Allea's I was very happy with the Ninka's with the Nait5, Flatcap2 and the CD5 but since I've upgraded my amp's has made the whole sound different and I know I'm going to have to invest in the CDX2 if I want to get the most out of the Allea's/SBL's

By the way I don't even know what the SBL's look like are they a similar size to the Allea's?.

Tom I live in "Royal Berkshire!"

SBL's need to be close to a wall so positioning them here will not be a compromise. They are a joy to own and whilst I would hesitate to recommend anything without a dem it may be worth it.

Crucial that the dealer installs them properly as they are a bit fiddly and they should offer you a swap for an alternative if you do not like them-perhaps for the Allaes.

SBL's will support upgrades for many years ahead, revealing more of their quality as you invest in source etc.

Bruce

Ajalden,

compared to the Allae the SBL does perform MUCH better IMO.
BTW only the left (black) speaker in JPO's pic is a SBL, the right one is the new, even more expensive SL2.

Christian

Must be the woofers.

Ajalden
If you live anywhere near Reading, Audio T usually have some SBLs hanging around. If you want to hear them, you are welcome to drop by and listen to mine.

Simon

Thanks Simon for the offer, Audio T in Reading have managed to get a pair in for next week so I can compare them to the Allea's!...

I spent more than a week auditioning speakers in my listening room: SBL, Neat/Elite, and Allaes. I can tell with certainty, that YOUR room will make all the difference in the differences in sound coming from these excellent speakers. During the process I also upgraded from a CDS/32.5/HiCap/250 to a CDS/52/SuperCap/250.

In MY room, the SBL's(set up by the dealer), were incredible in all aspects except in the base freq's. No amount of tweeking the position of the speakers would provide the tonality in the base freq's that I was seeking. There was a good amount of 'slam' in rock, but in acoustic bass, cello, piano, sax, etc., the warmth and resonance of the lower tones was not in evidence.

For comparison, I was able to audition a pair of Neat/Elites, and then a pair of Allaes. At first, I was sold on the Elites, but when I had the opportunity to give the Allaes a good, long listen, the choice was very clear--the Allaes were the best choice for my listening tastes, and environment. Make no mistake, the SBL's are great speakers, but having a dealer who is willing to go the distance and provide in-home-trials is key to making the best decision for your situation.

Gregory

Both are good speakers and your dem at Audio T will help you decide which ones you prefer.

I use SBL's on CDS1/52/supercap/250 and I wouldn't change them anything less than SL2's.

I think new SBLs at less than 1500 quid should tip the balance of this argument nicely.

IMO it´s not a tight race bw SBL and Allae, the SBL is the much more natural sounding and involving box. The SBL is more the class of NBL with less bass than in the range of Allae and smaller. Guess why the new SL2 is much more expensive than the Allae (and only a little better than SBL... .
Buy a second hand SBL and enjoy,
Norman

Thanks Norman and everyone else I shall still have a quick listen to a pair of these hopefully Thur/Fri when my dealer get's a pair in.

It's just a shame they have to be in Black or Walnut but who knows the fashion might change again and everyone will be wanting Black/Walnut SBL's again!!!.

One last question on SBL's if my dealer has to install these speakers how hard will it be for myself to move these speakers surely they can't be that difficult to set-up?.

Ajalden,

"It's just a shame they have to be in Black or Walnut but who knows the fashion might change again and everyone will be wanting Black/Walnut SBL's again!!!".

I went in Habitat the other day and it's full of funky walnut and black ash furniture, so I reckon the pale woods like beech and maple may be getting a bit "last week"!!! Cherry and oak still seem to be doing okay though. Maybe you could get the black SBL's and have them piano lacquered later. A friend of mine had this done to his Epos ES11's and they looked the biz. May be worth asking Doug how much it would cost for them to do this for you at their end if you'd prefer the piano finish. Piano black will always look up to date in my opinion.

Best wishes,

Mickey.

Ajalden, its a bit of a fable about the set up, i takes about 30 minutes of your sunday afternoon.

Having heard Allaes, and comparing them to my own SBL's, personal bias notwithstanding, I think the SBL's are quite noticeably the better speaker.

Particularly in the Bass, but also in the mid and treble, being more open, slightly less coloured sounding, and more detailed into the bargain.

Interesting that a previous comment referred to the New SL2's as being a 'bit' better than the SBL's. I'll be very interested if and when I'm able to get to hear a pair, as I think I'd be very surprised if the SL2's weren't a resonable advance over the SBL, HOWEVER, I strongly suspect were I in that position of wanting/needing (??) to upgrade from the SBL, then the NBL would provide the better move in terms of a much more noticeable jump in performance over the SBL.

But Allaes? - no contest IMHO, go with the SBL's.

BTW, mine ARE in walnut, and they hold their looks extremely well, being less fashion orientated, and much more 'classic' and 'timeless' in their aesthetics than black ash veneer IMHO. However piano gloss black would be another story.

I agonized about finish a bit at the time of purchase, and could've got cherry at the time, and in some ways preferred it on the brochure photos to the walnut, but felt that the walnut would endure better over time, re changing fashions etc, which is still my humble opinion.

I saw a black pair at a show, not long after purchase, and they looked nice, but also like some cheap anonymous box from a warehouse bargain house at the same time. (No offence to those who have/love Black Ash veneer - only my personal opinion here )

Anyway, it's how it sounds that's more important than how it looks, isn't it (?)

Have fun with your new speakers,

Cheers,

John..

Populist thinking exalts the simplistic and the ordinary

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I went in Habitat the other day and it's full of funky walnut and black ash furniture, so I reckon the pale woods like beech and maple may be getting a bit "last week"!!!

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Ha ha! Shock horror, Rico is recognised as fashion trendsetter! 'have been predicting this (although not particularly subtly )for more than 2 years now...

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Cherry and oak still seem to be doing okay though.

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Heh - their days are numbered...

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Maybe you could get the black SBL's and have them piano lacquered later.

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Except you'll be too busy listening to them to consider parting...

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A friend of mine had this done to his Epos ES11's and they looked the biz.

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ES11's always look the biz... has anywaone tried terrazzo ES11's?

Cheers Mickey!

Rico - SM/Mullet Audio

SBL vs SL2

I have had active SBLs with 135s. A few days ago I listended to a dealers SL2 with NAC202 / PSU (Hi or Digital-PSU?) / NAP2x0.

I think the SL2 sounds like SBL but much cleaner and with added round earth facilities. In my view a huge step towards NBL territory. Also the new crossover seems to be much better than the SBL-xo. All together SL2 is distinctly better than SBL.

I still have my cherry-SBLs, they are mint and I am not going to sell them right now...

- Jun