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Naim Audio DBL loudspeakers. Any review

Peter_Tos

pfm Member
Hello. I would like some advice about Naim DBL speakers. What are the strengths of these speakers? Do I need a full Naim system to make them sound at their best? Perhaps there are happy owners. It surprises me that the production of these speakers has been discontinued. Usually the release of something successful by a manufacturer does not just stop.
 
Well yes some things go on a while being produced, but the dbl is what 25-30 years ago now, I don't know many speakers being produced for that long regardless of popularity.

Thing is naim speakers were never particularly successful, sure, naim devotees purchased them, SBL was popular but how many however were used outside of a naim system? Not many I bet. I have NBLs, apparently they sold like 100 pairs, not a success by any metric.

They will no doubt work in the end of a supernait or what ever, but they were the flagship speakers, with the expectation of top of the range naim equipment to power them, active as well.
 
My only experience of DBLs was a pair we took in as part exchange against ATC 100s.
After some fettling, having consulted Naim whom we were not a dealer for, we set them up properly is passive form.
With ML amps they sounded very ordinary but came alive on Chord.
We never tried them actively driven but concluded that they were barely competitive in passive guise.
A rather eager Naimee was very pleased to relieve us of them and was delighted with his purchase. Whether he later went active I have no inkling.

I believe these did sell in small numbers although the SBL was rather more successful. I'm guessing rising production costs finally killed them off.
 
Thing is naim speakers were never particularly successful, sure, naim devotees purchased them, SBL was popular but how many however were used outside of a naim system? Not many I bet. I have NBLs, apparently they sold like 100 pairs, not a success by any metric.

They will no doubt work in the end of a supernait or what ever, but they were the flagship speakers, with the expectation of top of the range naim equipment to power them, active as well.
I have a pair of SBL's. I like them so much that I find it hard to replace them with anything else since replacing them would cost a fortune. I have them connected to a non Naim system & I must say it is very difficult to get them to marriage against any other equipment. I've trialled them with a fair few amps in the past & results were not good. Currently connected to a Krell KAV300. This isn't the bees knees as the amp lacks some detail compared to a few others I've tried. In many ways they are a much better match with a simple Naim Nait V1. However it's short comings are fairly obvious.
 
Hello. I would like some advice about Naim DBL speakers. What are the strengths of these speakers? Do I need a full Naim system to make them sound at their best? Perhaps there are happy owners. It surprises me that the production of these speakers has been discontinued. Usually the release of something successful by a manufacturer does not just stop.

Strengths? They are a large full range speaker with a surprisingly accurate and clear mid-range. Weaknesses? Big and ugly and in need of a lot of amplification, preferably Naim and active. Having heard 6*135 and 3*500 actively powering DBLs some 20+ years ago, I can confirm they are capable of sounding amazing. Would I bother with them in 2022? No.
 
Usually the release of something successful by a manufacturer does not just stop.

Were they ever “successful”, at least in terms of sales?
I never came across any at Naim dealers whereas SBLs were absolutely everywhere.
Heard plenty of SBLs over the years and even owned some. Never laid eyes on a DBL.
 
These are absolutely incredible speakers, most people with DBLs will look to upgrade and buy many things but speakers isn’t one of them. This translates to how often you see them up for sale
As soon as I heard mine I realised these were my last speakers
As with all Naim speakers they are designed to be driven actively, mine have 3 500DRs powering them
The last other speakers I heard were the Kudos 808’s at a very famous dealer and must say they’re nowhere near the same league as the DBLS

lyndon
 
Older Naim speakers were difficult in setting up, no dealers darling really, few sold.

They ditched them all and released Ovator series, which again soon were paused or discounted after Focal took over management.

Many good purchases today(NBL, SBL, SL2, IBL, nSats, amo..) but beware spares and units can be scarce, as with CD players - Naim didn't invest much in extra parts stock.
 
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I've never owned a pair, but I auditioned the DBLs with active filters ten years ago, and I still remember them because I had one of the best audiophile Sundays of my life! We were a group of audiophile freaks invited by a rich audiophile buddy to eat, drink a listen to music all day long! The guy lived close to Marble Arch (London, UK)... what a Sunday for an (Italian) student like me! Ok, let me finish with pure nostalgia, and let me talk about the sound of the DBL.

They produce a massive sound stage, with accurate tone, and good (but not excellent) dynamic (see below). Despite their large size, they can adapt to most rooms due to the large baffle. However, if you want highly detailed 3D imaging, you need to listen to them at a distance (not less than 4mt) which means you need a lot of power to reach truly studio-type SPL peaks.

I am not sure it makes sense to buy a pair of DBL in 2022. Their strong limit is the "true" dynamic that any statement top speaker should be able to do. The dynamic limit is not because they are bad speakers but because their drivers are now old. As for most speakers of that age, they do not come to life if not pushed hard, but if you push them hard, distortion becomes an issue. You would expect to be able to run those beasts very hot at concert levels. If you do it, you will be disappointed by the compression. I know that nobody really listen to music at concert levels at home, but I believe that a statement speaker should be able to do it. I won't pay 100K for a beautiful car that is not able to do 250Kmh although I rarely do 120Kmh. Of course, I am not talking about reproducing simple soft music like those crappy audiophile recordings played at hifi shows, I am talking about playing demanding music from large orchestras, rock, electronic, etc.

From time to time, I have the idea to clone the DBL philosophy and build a modern version. But I don't have the tech skills. That's why I spotted this post, because I google for some DBL-clone projects from time to time.

Regards
Pierre
PS: by the way, if some DBL owner read this post, can you tell me what is the vertical distance of Tweeter, Mid, and Woofer? I mean the vertical distance between the floor and the center of the driver.
 
The biggest problem with DBL's is the sheer enormity of them. They can sound fantastic if you can accommodate two small wardrobes and an amp pack the size of a double width kitchen unit in your living room!

They also cost a small fortune, particularly if you add the cost of the 6 pack required to drive them properly so they sold in relatively small numbers.
 
I have heard a couple of pairs and as stated by other posters, they are magnificent.

I would love to own a pair but as also stated, the caveats of size plus the requirement for a minimum of 3 stereo amps to drive them actively means a large investment. Spares could be a problem bearing in mind that they must be at least 20 years old.

My understanding is that a passive crossover is available but it’s nothing to get excited about. This makes sense as I would imagine that Naim preferred you to run them active.
 
Naim didn't invest much in extra parts stock.

No...of course they didn't...ohh hang on ...two spare mechanisms for ever CD555 sold...the ability to service their products right back to the late sixties...
Perhaps I'm getting them muddled up with all the others manufacturers who really don't give a shite once a product is sold;)
 


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