Suffolk Tony
Aim low, achieve your goals, avoid disappointment.
Always welcome old boy!
Naim Audio DBL loudspeakers. Any review
- Thread starter Peter_Tos
- Start date
Thats great service if the CEO and founder of the company comes around to your house to set up the speakers!
Colin L
High-tech low-life
Never really got on with Naim speakers despite having their black boxes for many years (driving active Sara's).
After I moved on I heard active DBLs's driven by 3 x 500's. Exactly like a big PA and definitely not for me.
Suffolk Tony
Aim low, achieve your goals, avoid disappointment.
Funny folk should mention the criticism “They sound just like a big PA”. Wasn't it Hi-Fi News that came up with that one way back when?
James
Lord of the Erg\o/s
Maybe it was the amp I had then (Musical Fidelity A-100) but the Nexus sounded decidedly snoozeworthy even with an LP12 at the front. I didn't much rate ES14s either. That was around the time I realised I did not like the sound of bass reflex loudspeakers.
hammeredklavier
owner of two very cheap hi-fis
Dunno, but to my ears, that's exactly how they sounded.Funny folk should mention the criticism “They sound just like a big PA”. Wasn't it Hi-Fi News that came up with that one way back when?
Each to their own and all that!
Is it always a criticism? I've often described my system as sounding like a very good PA, because that's the kind of sound I want. It's a little less like that these days but the point is that we all have different tastes and are looking for different things.
That whole series of speakers were boring as heck. There was zero continuity, even the designer was a different guy and they bore no sonic resemblance to the previews speakers. OK, the Tukans could sound decent but still not as good as the Kans. Just a lot easier to deal with.
JezmondTutu
pfm Member
Ion Obelisk 3x/Xpak1. Should have kept that amp!
My ‘spare’ speakers are ES14’s, in the right system/room, they are amazing.
JezmondTutu
pfm Member
Lol - different Julian. Although I did meet Paul Stephenson one day as he popped into a dealers I was helping out at when the owner was on holiday. Nice chap.
Suffolk Tony
Aim low, achieve your goals, avoid disappointment.
Forgive me, it was just my cynical old self thinking people were trotting out something they'd read, rather than their own experience. Silly of me I know… Anyway, I'm not sure what a PA sounds like. Are they all the same? Even the great big ones vs. the tiny little ones?
JezmondTutu
pfm Member
I’d say definitely not. Much like not all studio monitors sound the same.
hammeredklavier
owner of two very cheap hi-fis
I think it means the sound is sort of hard, loud, and shouty. Lacking refinement.
Maybe to some degree psychological, given the DBL's appearance!
Exactly. A good PA sounds great and a poor one can be the worst thing you've ever heard in your life. For some reason, most of them can't get the bass right at all.
Suffolk Tony
Aim low, achieve your goals, avoid disappointment.
You must have been one of the poor souls at the local church fete's “Most hideous dog” competition.
Whaleblue
Southbound
Interesting. I had SBLs when a pair of ex-demo NBLs became available for such a great price I jumped having never heard them.
For me a big mistake. They did not work in the room we had at that time probably because the left speaker was only around 2 foot from the end wall (though opening to a bay window and firing across a 6x4m appx room). Bass boom was horrendous and it all sounded a buggers muddle.
Fortunately I managed to trade them in for what they’d cost me - and got some SL2s. No lack of bass, I’d simply describe them as grown-up SBLs. SL2s remain a pair of speakers I still hold in high regard.
With that said, if your NBLs work for you in your room, then excellent!
Fuller
pfm Member
Only time I heard DBL’s was at the Bristol HiFi Show probably about 20 years ago, on the end of a full, top of the range at the time, Naim set up. Pretty sure some Paul Weller was playing. Certainly gave the impression of being in the studio or on stage, quite impressive but ultimately fatiguing, as was so often the case when I’ve listened to Naim gear.
Referring to SBL’s, they were often in competition with the similarly priced Linn Kabers, which I preferred and still use to this day with Linn amplification.
My dealer back then, Audio Excellence in Gloucester, called the Naim speakers Ibbles, Sybils, Nibbles and Dibbles
Referring to SBL’s, they were often in competition with the similarly priced Linn Kabers, which I preferred and still use to this day with Linn amplification.
My dealer back then, Audio Excellence in Gloucester, called the Naim speakers Ibbles, Sybils, Nibbles and Dibbles
JezmondTutu
pfm Member
Funny old world as in my view Kabers were absolutely dreadful and truly appalling compared to SBL’s. We always joked about tossing them away.
Ptah
pfm Member
More like 30, around 1992 I reckon. I was in the room when Mr Vereker was operating the Naim-up LP12 with the six-pack. Played Stevie Ray Vaughan, sounded crystal. It wasn't the bass that impressed, just the clarity of individual parts. The DBLs raised a lot of eyebrows at the show.
tpetsch
...The rhythm has Control
We used to Lovingly call the IBL the "Infinitely Boring Loudspeaker". Mainly because of the lack of grunt, but at low volumes they were very nice & tuneful.
That's my experience too, set up a dozen or so SBL's back in the day and they were very room dependent IMO, some sounded fantastic while others were disappointing, in fact they didn't even work all that great in the single dem room at our shop at the time..
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