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Naim IBL

Yes, I keep looking but never find any. They are remarkable in some respects and flawed in others.

I don't even have a need / place for them, but still I keep looking...
 
They suffer from similar limitations to Kans. As long as you don’t want to listen to large orchestral or loud, they can be very entertaining. I must say I found them very frustrating.
 
I loaned a set a year or two ago and thought they were amongst the very best speakers I've ever heard. It was a very large room and although they couldn't go terribly low or loud they were incredibly fast and enjoyable. A little like an upgraded Round Coniston if I had to name something else to compare. They were driven by a pair of EAR monos.
 
I have a pair, in black, that the Mrs says I need to move on.
No boxes, would need collecting from Macclesfield area.
Incredibly fast, and for me, preferable to Kans.
PM for details.
 
I still use mine daily. Have no idea what I would replace them with if they ever die, I'll probably be distraught. I've never heard a speaker (apart from SBL / DBL) that sounds anything like them and has so much clarity in the bass.
 
Have owned 3 pairs, in the right room they can sound devestatingly good. They were almost as good as my SL2 at a fraction of the price in the small space i was using them. They love a good Naim amp and just get better as the amps improve. In the wrong room can sound like a transistor radio.
 
As above! I like them, they are quite similar to Kans and can be very engaging and entertaining. I have had both and would have them again in the right situation but am very content with my Yamaha NS1000s which share some of their traits albeit with more scale and transparency.
 
YNWOAN said:
Oh, are you also using NS1000Ms - am loving mine :).
Click to expand...

Indeed. These are my second pair, the first were ebony I think with a bevel edge to the cabinet. My current pair which I think sound better are the black more common or garden variety.

A stunning loudspeaker.
 
I'm a great fan of this 'little speaker' and have been fortunate to have had 2 pairs, mark 1s and then mark 2s. Their midrange is hard to beat (particulalry good for acoustic music in my experience) and have fantastic transparency, but as previously mentioned, though you can certianly hear the base you can't 'feel' it (if that makes any sense!)

I have a small room which favours the IBLs (mine are the common black variety) and though I'm lucky enough to have a pair of SBLs the IBLs just suit the room better. I use them in an all Naim active system with 2 x 250s a Snaxo and a Supercap and postion the IBls right up against the wall with no toe in - works for me!

As SW quite rightly says a pair have just sold on Ebay for £300, they were mark 1s but from the photos looked to be in fine condition. So don't dispair they do come up from sale from time to time! For what it's worth I bought from this forum and Gumtree (I know!)

Hope that helps a little. Don't give up JH they will turn up ... eventually!
 
I've never heard an IBL speaker sadly but have owned 4 different Naim speakers in the past and currently using SBL.

From what I gather here they have the same qualities I love about the SBL in a smaller package.

So to that end if IBL's could not be found and speaker size was of importance I'd seriously look at the little Royd Eden instead.

I've kept a pair here and they are a dead ringer for the sound a well set up SBL produces, tight,fast, good bass and basiclly a Naim speaker in disguise. They revel in a 250 or two being put through them. Probably the most underrated speaker in the hifi world.
 
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