How much would SL2s cost if still marketed?

£7000 - £7950 depending  on configuration and finish. 

Looks good

Last price list/listing looks to be 2008 @ £6150...(std finish)

assume 2% inflation p.a. = £7065 today

(Allaes were £2450)

have a good weekend

But if you apply Naim inflation and the alleged fact that little money was being made on them when they were stopped....

ameden posted:

Looks good

Last price list/listing looks to be 2008 @ £6150...(std finish)

assume 2% inflation p.a. = £7065 today

 

(Allaes were £2450)

 

 

have a good weekend

Allaes poor man SL2 and still a fantastic speaker, owned my cherry pair since new think I paid £2100 at the time but it was 12-13 years ago, how time passes.

HH, your right, with Naimflation they could easily be £8250+

HFMan, I also have Allaes, and SL2s, and n-Sats (were £785)....all very good speakers in their own right...and still not easy to beat...

Have a good weekend

This thread reminds me...  I recall being told of a story involving a friend of David Brown, the owner of Aston Martin.  I cannot remember the exact details but it went something along the lines of the friend, who was interested in buying an aston Martin, asking David Brown whether he could but one at cost.  DB replied that he delighted to do so and that would be an extra £1000 above the retail price.

I think if they were still being produced, New Naim would have near doubled the last retail price... So over 10.

Wow, thats more than Naimflation, thats more like Aston Martinflation...

they are very good speakers though....

Have a good weekend

Good comparison.......also the current S600 range is around £7.25K to £7.95K......

Have a good weekend

Not so sure. As has been suggested several times by a few in the know, they were almost sold on a loss, unlike the amps. Also manufacturing costs of speakers, made of wood, has rocketed. For them not to have been made more cheaply, and to be continued, i sense they would have seen a price hike far and above the normal Naim inflation. As an example, Shahinian prices have almost doubled in the last 5-6 years.

All not particularly relevant now of course, as SL2 are indeed part if history.

The good news is, that for us lucky SL2 owners, second hand values/prices should be strong.......however, not for sale !!

Have a good weekend

The SL2 includes some rather complex engineering, such as the metal interface plates between the boxes, the suspension and the tweeter assembly, not to mention the curved front and top, all of which are hard to make and therefore expensive. They are not just a wooden box with a few off the peg drivers bunged in, which is all most modern speakers seem to be. If around today, and were sold to properly cover costs, they'd very likely be around the £10k mark. 

And of course, next to bigger, blingier offerings such as the Sopra 2, who would buy then, and what dealer is going to spend an hour setting them up each time they are moved?

They may be history, but they are a very nice part of history. 

Indeed Nigel. It's a shame more people haven't had the opportunity to hear them on song.

gary yeowell posted:

Not so sure. As has been suggested several times by a few in the know, they were almost sold on a loss, unlike the amps. Also manufacturing costs of speakers, made of wood, has rocketed. For them not to have been made more cheaply, and to be continued, i sense they would have seen a price hike far and above the normal Naim inflation. As an example, Shahinian prices have almost doubled in the last 5-6 years.

All not particularly relevant now of course, as SL2 are indeed part if history.

Well, you beat me to it, my exact thoughts.

I guess it's a sign of the times, it appears more time is invested in the paint job , vs hands on quality and worksmanship.

Never heard DBL's or SBL's, but I've seen some recent close-ups on System Picks, that Type of Worksmanship is a thing of the past.

I will never forget my first aquaintance withThe Isobarik's, Love at first sight.

A $7K pair of Speakers being driven by a 30 Watt Naim, Wow!!!!

That's nearly 3 decades ago, when the USD

was Very Strong!

But, to the point, I agree speakers of this magnitude, if built in the same manor would easily double in value!

JMHO

 The Armchair QB!!!

Just curious if anyone has any pictures of an SL2 frame. I can see the tweeter is not attached to the front baffle but is supported from behind. Is this decoupled in some way from the frame ? Nigel mentions suspension but where is this incorporated ?

There is a metal frame at the bottom, to which the tweeter suspension is attached. The cabinet then oscillates on the base - if you push it, it rocks back and forth, while the tweeter stays still. Setting them up so that everything moves properly is a pain, but when set right is incredibly effective. The tweeter sits in what is effectively an open box, so it's not in a sealed cabinet at all. Perhaps that's why the treble is so airy and open. 

Ah ok - thanks Nigel - i didn't realise the main cabinet was decoupled too - very neat. 

You can see in this picture - the bright ring around the tweeter is the wall behind.

HH: Tweeter unit nicely concentric, accepting photographic abberation because of picture angle...

enjoy

ken

ps: i guess the general view is that the SL2s were underpriced when there we still available...?

I am pleased i own this rather unique speaker... although i have noticed SL cables challenge its bass output somewhat, not a problem for me...

Ken - what do you mean by 'challenge its bass output'?  Mine sound ok, and the bass is far better than with A5. 

Hungryhalibut posted:

You can see in this picture - the bright ring around the tweeter is the wall behind.

Neat - Some clever thinking went into the older speakers (as it does in the Ovators, it's just hidden). I suspect dealers certainly earned their commission with these. Not the easiest to demo as i suppose you can't just pull them out of the stock room and plonk them down and they perform at their best. Same with installation. At least positioning seems to be the easier bit. If only more speakers were designed for boundary placement...

James the back of the base holds the tweeter arm.  The front is rigidly spiked and the rear is very cleverly sprung (under 10hz so doesn't get upset by the speaker output) so the tweeter is fixed rigidly in position yet won't interact with the mid/bass vibrations.

The interface plates are two very serious (and very expensive) pieces of aluminium - perfectly even and flat all round, which is very difficult to achieve. The defined gap is such that to the mid/bass driver it acts like a sealed chamber. 

The inside walls of the cabinet are veneered for added stiffness.  They also have damped weights attached in various places to counter any unwanted resonances in the cabinet.  

The wadding is fine, long goat hair.  

It is shaved from Nepalse goats that only live above 14,000 feet.  This way their hair grows thick and luxuriant.  It is cut by the village maidens who must be remain virgins in order to give the goat hair its magical musical properties.

OK, one of these statements is a lie, but you get the gist...

If you'd have said 10,000 feet then i'd have believed you... 

Thanks for the info Richard - there's a serious bit of engineering in those speakers, so SQ aside i can understand why they are held in such high esteem. 

James

Speakers are very personal, if one likes the sound of their speakers, it doesn't matter when they were manufactured.  Just curious about the design of the crossover in the SBL's, wondering if they're similar to the design of the Briks.

I'm not ready for The SL upgrades at this point, because unlike you guy's I haven't reached my desired System yet! But once I'm Active I would love to toy around with some type of Full Loom be-it Chord or Naim!  

However, with my crossover design, in Passive mode, one would think SL speaker cable would be defeated if it weren't connected throughout the Speakers system.  This is one of the reasons I decided to stick with Nac A4/Linn K 20 vs Nac A5. 

Speaker cable matched throughout the System! 

Of Course, in Active Mode the XO is not in Play! 

Would this be a problem with SBL's in Passive mode where the XO is in Play?

Hungryhalibut posted:

Ken - what do you mean by 'challenge its bass output'?  Mine sound ok, and the bass is far better than with A5. 

dont worry about this Nigel... my system sounds great and so does yours and that all that matters...

enjoy

ken