The SBLs have landed...(Part 2)

Posted by: Matt Gear on 08 December 2003

All

Having taken delivery of my new (2nd hand) SBLs about 2 weeks ago, I finally got round to setting them up properly on the weekend.

I had initially plonked them in my room as they were without having redone the seal, as this appeared to be intact after I had picked them up from the previous owner. I posted here about how chuffed I was with them and suprised at how good they sounded without having had to remake the seal, but the overwhelming response to the thread was that I should definitely take them apart and rebuild them.

I must admit, initially I wasn't over-enamoured with the idea. For a start they sounded pretty bloody good, and for another I couldn't be arsed to do all that faffing around with gaskets and silicon gel.

However, having received plenty of pointers from the members of the forum (thanks to all!) I picked up a gasket kit on Saturday afternoon, and set aside all of Sunday afternoon to go to work on the speakers.

I was rather nervous to start off with I must admit, but the instructions I had received and downloaded were very easy to follow, and once the boxes came apart it was really pretty easy to see what needed to be done.

I removed the old silicon gel which remains stuck to the middle box, and then cleaned and fairy-liquid-ed it. Then pealed off the gasket from the bottom boxes and cleared all the debris away.

Having taken them apart gave me the opportunity to position them a little better in the room too, as the instructions advise you to position the bottom unit exactly where you want it, and them build them in situ.

Putting the new gasket on is simplicity itself, as the bottom has a peal-off sticky side. The silicon gel went on very easily and apart from alightly misaligning the box on one side and having to redo it, the whole installation of the speakers took a little over an hour. Not bad!

Time well spent it was too. As I've already said, I was very impressed with the sound already, and somewhat dubious about how much improvement would be reaped by redoing the seals. I can say though without a doubt that the improvement was VERY significant. Without going into reams of hifi waffle the sound was even tighter and better defined than before, and more transparent too. I did a before and after test with the same track and really couldn't believe the improvement to the overall presentation. I guess the best word would be "cohesiveness". Everything just sounded more together.

So...I'm now an even more happy chap, and will be spending many happy hours rediscovering my CD collection through these wonderful speakers. Hard to believe that they're over 10 years old.

Cheers

Matt

Posted on: 08 December 2003 by silklee

I am jealous.

Posted on: 08 December 2003 by Rich Jerskey

Matt,

Hi, what made you suspect that you needed to change the gaskets in the first place? Was it just basically preventative maintenance that turned out needed after all? I've had my SBL's for 3 years and wonder if they automatically should be re-gasketed after a certain time interval (I'm original owner). They sound pretty darned good as it is.

Rich

Posted on: 08 December 2003 by Matt Gear

Rich

Initially I wasn't going to bother redoing the gaskets. When I picked up the speakers, the treble units were removed, but the mid unit was left in place, stuck to the bottom unit, so when i got them home, i just plonked them down, screwed the treble unit back on, and put some music on. They sounded so much better than my old speakers that I thought I could get away with not having to redo the seal.

However, when I posted here about my new aquisitions (see thread: The SBLs have landed) I was advised by members of the forum to take them apart, and redo the seal.

Whether I needed to take of the gasket itself as well as redoing the seal I'm not sure, but as I had the neccessary bits and bobs, and had the speakers apart, I thought I might as well do the whole thing.

The old gaskets weren't in bad shape at all, but I wasn't sure how old they were, and had read that over time they can become compressed.

As for redoing them after a period of time, I'm not sure, but certain there are others here in a position to comment. As I understand it, you only really need to redo them if you move them about. I've now got peace of mind though, as in addition to them sounding better, I know that I've done them myself, and if there is anything wrong with them, I've only got myself to blame!

Silklee, why are you jealous. You have SBLs too, don't you?

Cheers

Matt

Posted on: 08 December 2003 by Rich Jerskey

Heck, might as well redo them. Sounds like good preventative maintenance that just might have a little immediate gratification thrown in to boot! Thanks.

Posted on: 08 December 2003 by greeny

You shouldn't need to redo the gaskets periodically as long as you've left them alone.

In fact I moved mine CAREFULLY a couple of times about a year ago, I did reseal them once I had settled on a new location but they didn't need it, the pad's and seal were all fine.

So if you are careful you can move them.

Posted on: 08 December 2003 by graphoman

Ghunter says:
“There's another standard opinion that the SBL's should be placed as close as possible to the rear wall. Now, it's probably just due to my abnormally shaped large, tall room, but the optimal positioning for me is about six inches from the rear wall.”

Probably just due to the similarly abnormal conditions of my room optimal positioning is the same six inches. (Drivers all recently updated.)

Problem sources: overdamped room with bookcases around, sbls standing some 20 cm from the corners and last but not least a 10 cm-broad border strip of the suspended floor around the room. If the Fraimchip-like metals under the sbls are touching that border, sound quality goes blooey. I think this border gives a close mechanical contact to the wall.

graphoman