Naim Speakers

My exposure to Naim speakers is limited; S-400's, S-600's, and Sneaky's Credos. In each case the same qualities were evident; Naim speakers are accurate, tonally balanced, and (correctly positioned) present clean and clear bass throughout a range of listening volumes. I think this is quite a difficult feat for loudspeakers to achieve. My Totem Staffs have a definite sweetspot for volume in my room, and it tends towards the louder side.

I once heard a fully active DBL system. It must have been 20 years ago but I've never forgotten how much I enjoyed the sound. Massively entertaining.

I bought my Credo speakers in 1997 and have never looked back.

I think all Naim speakers are superb and are up there with their amps in terms of musicality and quality of design.

I just can't bring myself to let them go unless of course a lovely pair of Allaes were to come up.

In a nutshell - Naim know how and do build loudspeakers that are absolutely superb and they do BASS properly regardless of model.

I tend to think that the problem is not the speakers themselves but their installation. I am now on my 3rd pair of IBLs. I tried SBLs but the room was far too small.  I love kans but Ibbles give a more "rounded" presentation. 

DBLs are simply wonderful. Possibly the best speaker I have ever heard. If only the room was big enough.....

Ovators don't really seem like an improvement over the L series; perhaps it's my hearing.

Which brings me back to the SBL.  I have listened to many pairs over the last 25 years and all of them left me thinking that something was not quite right until a couple of years ago when I heard a pair that were the owners pride and joy. To cut a long story short, this was by far the best pair of SBLs that I have ever heard and made me realise that they do share a lot of the DNA of the other 2 speakers. An absolutely stunning pair of speakers. The secret must be to set them up properly. I keep wondering if I should replace I with S since the I is in a larger room that the S inhabited.

Clearly a person with immaculate taste on the upgrade path 

+1 - very happy with my Allaes ...... Tho may be tempted by SL2s!

my first naim speakers were Credos with a 122/150. I then got the SBls recomended by chris dolan. Then went to 202/200. Its all really happy together. I saw a pair of Sl2s up for sale last month for just over 2K, they went in days.

I'm afraid I'm not independent minded enough to appreciate Ovator speakers. I've really tried. I've spent hours at the dealers listening to the S400 and S600s (a massive step up from their younger sibling). I don't consider I've jumped on a Naim speaker put-down box, I just don't understand their sound (and it is a very distinctive presentation). I'm very happy that others enjoy their sound and appreciate what a sad world this would be if everyone had similar taste to me. I like the look of them and the fact that they come out from the wall suits my system, but I can't get immersed into the music when they are in the system. There is a disconnect there for me that makes my mind wander. To my ears they sound very dry and hard compared to the presentation I'm used to with my own Harbeth SHL5 speakers. While I think most of what Alan Shaw the Harbeth designer says about vinyl and amplifiers is complete nonsense, I love the sound his speakers make.

I have been a lover of Naim gear since I got my first Nait 2 with LP12 around 26 years ago. I'm not into bagging Naim as they have brought me more recorded musical enjoyment than any other company and I hope they continue to be very successful. I just don't get where they are going with the Ovators. Naim has always been about musical involvement above all else, but it's missing for me with the BMR drivers. They have plenty of admirers and their fantastic speed would be an area that other speakers struggle to keep up with, but they are just not for me. 

I've really enjoyed the SL2s whenever I've heard them would love to have taken them home if I could have afforded them at the time they were released (I'm not familiar enough with the DBL and NBL speakers unfortunately, but imagine I would probably enjoy them also if I could hear them now). 

When I got back to Naim ten years ago after a somehow disorderly hiatus, I sold my wonderful Marten Design Miles II to a (happy) friend and started looking for the next ones. Then a friend suggested me why not look for an old pair of SBLs?

I had never bought them when in production - too expensive. But I discovered that I could now buy a pair for £500, which was different. I bought my first pair, and before I had had the time to fully understand them, I also bought a pair of N-Sats for surround duties.

Then followed a somehow restless period of changes and experiments, but to cut a long story short, I had four pairs of N-Sats, two of SBLs (my current speakers), one pair of Arivas, one of S-400s. I also tried Allaes at home, and had a pair of Credos for a few days on loan.

In the uncertain moments between a Naim and another, I tried rega RS7s, PMC Twenty 24s, even an old pair of Acoustic Research 4x; lately I have bought another pair of Martens, the older Monks, that although beautiful are now the property of another (very happy) friend.

I always tend to go back to Naim speakers; they are not perfect, and in each - to paraphrase Adam - I have found some marginal or evident demerit; but in each of them I found something that I cannot, however hard I try to convince myself, find elsewhere. The S-400s went because they showed too much lower range body in my room, but they are great speakers, curiously snubbed by some Naim die-hards and loved by audiophiles who don't generally love Naim; it's hard for me to define what I find so irreplaceable in Naim designs, but here I am, with my second pair of SBLs and an occasional urge to buy the fifth Sats - the prettiest speakers ever made.

The DBLs are something else - what's really scary is what they do with a Statement driving them, even passively. We installed a Statement onto a set of DBLs for a customer not too long ago and I really didn't want to leave!

 

Phil

(Fingers in ears...) Lalalalala....

Nice one Max. I'm the same with Naim's electronics - I always come back...

If they were the ones at Cymbiosis, they are now in my house. 

No Naim loudspeaker model has ever sold that well in the grand scheme of things, so I think Naim are wise to stick to what they do well; appealing to a relatively broad customer base.

The new Focal Sopra 1 and 2 models show great promise from my limited exposure to them. A more affordable (Half-Sop? - 'Point Five' is so yesterday) model would make a really nice range of loudspeakers to complement all Naim electronics.

John.

Am very happy with my matched 6pack of 135s driving my DBLs. 

The SL2s are brilliant speakers and maple is my preferred colour - I hankered after a pair for a long time when I had my SBLs 

I think you made the right choice in the end Chris. 

I'm exceptionally pleased with my choice Steve - and ironically if I had not already made the decision then I'm pretty sure that I would have sneaked in ahead of HH for what are now his SL2s 

I am quite new to naim (6 years only) and it was a stroke of good luck I got to hear Naim intros driven off a superuniti.

Very nice, very enjoyable. Loved it. 

But I had already purchased my brand new Dynaudios, which to my ears can do everything the intros did. The Midrange of intros was more emphasized, whereas the Dyns are completely neutral. Both are very fast speakers.

Can Naim go back to making some speakers like Intros...?

Originally Posted by Phil Harris:

The DBLs are something else - what's really scary is what they do with a Statement driving them, even passively. We installed a Statement onto a set of DBLs for a customer not too long ago and I really didn't want to leave!

 

Phil

(Fingers in ears...) Lalalalala....

...*chuckle*

I loved it when we were running through a few tracks to 'warm it up' and he turned to ask how loud could he go before he risked killing the DBLs and then realised that he couldn't hear himself speak.

I love systems that go loud cleanly - I used to get a very clean 137db on Pink Floyds "Pulse" on one of my old in car systems back in the days.

Phil

My first experience of Naim speakers was with the IBL in the early 90's. Up until then I'd tried a range of speakers but had always become disappointed eventually. The little IBLs had such incredible clarity... I can still hear the lifelike drumbeats at the start of 'Graceland' which virtually sold them to me. Unfortunately I soon realised they didn't have a great deal of bass! Onto SBLs, which were excellent, and stayed with me for many years while I gradually upgraded the electronics and now SL2s which I've had for four years. Absolutely love them. Driven actively by 500 series kit. They won't be leaving.

Was very happy with my Allaes too - lovely looking as well as a great sound. If you spot a pair of SL2s, for them. I did! 

yep thats the boys, you didnt hang around.

Most of the discussion here has been about Naim's past speakers. I'd be interested to see what Naim/Focal could do with a system built around active speakers like the XD line from Dynaudio, Meridian's DSP range and the Exakt from Linn.

Historically active systems have been dismissed by audiophiles for a number of reasons, but as digital sources increasingly become become the norm it might be time to look again.

I can't help but feel that with the collective experience of Naim and Focal the result could be wonderfully musical.