Naim DBL owners

Posted by: overprint on 14 April 2017

As an owner of SL2s ( which are fantastic IMHO) I was wondering if any kind DBL owners would post a few words on how DBLs sound on the end of Naim amps, something like 52/135s. I've never seen a pair for real let alone heard them. Anybody gone from SL2s to DBLs and can describe the changes?

Thanks

Posted on: 14 April 2017 by Geko

I've not gone from SL2's unfortunately. My path has been Kans, Bariks then DBL's. As an overal description I doubt there are many speakers made today that will give you the scale and dynamics of a real band. However, DBL's come very close.

They are quite hard to categorise as they are almost characterless but with a speed, accuracy and range that is astonishing - assuming you feed them a good enough signal that is. I find them very emotional speakers to listen to but this is probably because they make recorded music sound so real? They image much better than my Bariks ever did. I'm often faced with an image width that appears about 30ft wide and similar in depth with no clue as to actual speaker location. It's very seamless effect, which is almost holographic.

I have moved from 135's to a 500. The 135's were okay but the extra grip and control the 500 exhibits is hard to ignore but I could still live with 135's if I had to.

DBL's fall into that rare category of 'once heard never really forgotten'!!!

Posted on: 14 April 2017 by tonym

I went from SL2s to DBLs. Loved the SL2s but I do have a rather large room & they were a bit lost in it. Mr Geko's done an admirable job describing how they sound; I love my pair, currently driven active with 3X500DR amps. They do scale like nothing else, yet have an amazing delicacy about them. I suspect my pair will outlast me as I have no intention of replacing them.

Posted on: 14 April 2017 by Martin.L

Tony, how's your new 500s-DR?

Posted on: 14 April 2017 by tonym

Martin.L posted:
Tony, how's your new 500s-DR?

Early days Martin, but so far I'm very impressed.

Posted on: 14 April 2017 by jon h

If you are near cambridge come listen to my active dbls

Posted on: 15 April 2017 by overprint

That's a kind offer Jon but I'm not near Cambridge. Appreciate the thought though.

Posted on: 15 April 2017 by Willy

So you're interested in th edifference between this:

and this?

Unfortunately it's difficult to be precise as you may have noticed the left bass unit is in need of some tlc and there's no point doing the silicone until they're back from ATC Few other issues as well with wear and tear on the box bases (heck by the age of 24 I was showing first signs of wear and tear myself!).

However, even with these limitations, I've no hesitation in moving my SL2s on and taking my time over a meticulous restoration . If I were to put it into words there's an ease, a naturalness, to the presentation that is in a different league to SL2s, even though they were active and the dbls are (for now) passive.

Regards,

Willy.