Upgrading and siting IBL

Shalom Arye,

I must confess that I have not heard of an 'upgrade kit' as such. I do know that IBL's can be upgraded to MKII spec. This involved new bass drivers, less wadding inside & I believe a subtle change to the stand mounting assembly.

I do/did own a pair of MK II's & have it on good authority that they are significantly better that the Mk 1's. More bass, more open & a little less 'dry'.

As for siting them higher than the floor that is probably not recommended unless Mana is used.

Best wishes,

Bob

Arye

Stephan,

Please tell what it makes to the speaker when you'll know it.

I'm also curious to hear about the difference between SBL and IBL especially
in the very lows.

Arye

The IBL was a one box speaker that I remember sounded good with a 72/140, but really came into their own when paired with a 72/hicap/250.
They sounded clear, but were lighter in the bass than the SBL's. A good speaker, but not as good as SBL's.

SBL's require better sources and amplification than IBL's because of their more revealing nature. A minimum is the 72/140 and they require sources of the quality of the CDX.

I use SBL's with an 82/hicap/250 combination.

Quote Peter C

"SBL's require better sources and amplification than IBL's because of their more revealing nature"

Peter, I would beg to differ on this point. I have owned both IBL's & SBL's & find them equally revealing. In fact I am selling my IBL's because they are too good for my present system & going back to Kans, another revealing speaker, but not as much as the IBL IMHO.

I found that IBL's work better than SBL's in smaller rooms. YMMV.

Best wishes,

Bob.

I don't konow the Kans but the IBLs are excelent only if your room is a small one.
About the Nait3, to my opinion it is enough to add a flatcap to it, no need to add a power amp.

Arye

hi,

I'm very interested in hearing about the relative merits of ibl's vs. Kans (I or II, I care not). Seems like they might have similar strengths, and represent two viable alternatives for people looking to purchase one or the other.
Judd

Have to differ here on what room size IBL's work in. My current room is about 25 feet by 15 feet with the IBL's firing across the narrow part of the room, and they sound fantastic, much better than when they were in a 12 by 10 room.

I guess that a lot of this comes down to positioning and amplification. It did take a long time of gradually tweeking the speaker positions to get them on song, and I think anything less than a NAP180 would not be powerful enough in a room this size.

Also some of the furniture needed strategic placing to get rid of some unpleasant echoes.

I agree with Bob as well, that SBL's are not that much better than IBL's. They do more bass sure, but apart from that the two are very similar.

Simon

Simon Jenkins

My experience differs from yours.

I had IBLs with a Nait3 and a flatcap and they were great.
I listened to IBLs first at the Naim dealer house
in the year 1992 with a Nait2, and they were then great too.

When I bought the IBLs, in a large room they didn't have a bass at all, a small room made them great!

Arye

Strange isn't it.

I wonder how much this has to do with set-up and the rest of the equipment. Also my IBL's are on granite stands which improves the bass response. They are not rock the house speakers by any means, but there is plenty of slam there when playing reggae or dance music.

In fact after owning my IBL's for about 18 months it still amazes me just how much bass can come from such a small drive unit.

Simon

When I see a movie, the bass that comes from the IBLs shakes the sofa.

About the rest of the system, you are right. When I say "they were great" it compares to the systm I had then.
When I became a fan of Naim in the year 1992 I had a QED integreted amp, AR 39 speakers and a Thorens TD 166 TT.
I was sure that my system is a great one.
Because of a problem I went to Naim's dealer with the Qed. We listend to a Linn Axis, my QED and
the IBLs, then he replaced the QED with a Nait2.
I'll never forget how great was the effect of the Nait2. It astonished me - and then there was the first time to me to realy realize what is the meaning of the words Hi End system - and how far I am from the high quality of Naim.

And the IBLs were a part of this experience of mine.

Arye