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Naim SBL New/Rebuilt x-overs.

A

arthur

Banned
Lo.

Does anyone here know of a place that will sell me some new SBL xovers?

Or better still, rebuild mine with modern caps and all the other stuff that goes in there?

Trying to optimise my hifi so I can settle down with my music at last.

Cheers.
 
Naim does not apparently sell sbl and nbl x-overs or parts anymore....or so they told me when I asked...as I have some NBLs that I wanted some x-over parts for....
 
arthur said:
Lo.

Trying to optimise my hifi so I can settle down with my music at last.

Cheers.
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Maybe its the wrong speakers you have, looking to modify, why not find speakers which allready matches your need ?

Many SBL x-overs have issues with soldering/connectors, if so, they are faulthy - get them serviced


that apart, Avondale once told they are working on alternative SBL x-over, IIRC another alternative manufacturer is allready out there, can't recall name.
 
per flemming said:
Maybe its the wrong speakers you have, looking to modify, why not find speakers which allready matches your need ?

Many SBL x-overs have issues with soldering/connectors, if so, they are faulthy - get them serviced


that apart, Avondale once told they are working on alternative SBL x-over, IIRC another alternative manufacturer is allready out there, can't recall name.
Click to expand...

But I love them!:p

It's not to modify them but to optimise, that is to replace any possible elderly parts with shiny new ones.

As for getting Naim to do it I would prefer a third party so that more modern components may be used.
 
I enquired about X Over service and was told they would sell me a brand new pair, Don't think they service em.

What about asking Witch Hat?
 
Audio 42 came up with something but the consensus was that the option in the standard box wasn't really any better. They also make a big box option which might be slightly better.

Servicing SBL XO's in my opinion is rarely worthwhile. They have standard alcaps as caps and the other components don't wear out.

I could hear no significant difference between a pair of XO's from 1986 and another pair from 1997 when I compared them in about 2002.

If you wanted to recap them its an easy DIY job and the caps can be obtained from Wilmslow Audio or Falcon Acoustics.

The solder joints in the icoming sockets are often problematic but are usually easy to freshen up.
 
Markt of this forum used to build a crossover for SBLs . They were supposed to be very good. If you just want to rebuild what you have , open them up and replace the Capacitors like for like , no actually fit better ones , something the bean counters at Naim would not approve of:D
 
I thought under the RoHS it was permissible to service (or rebuild) lead-based products, just not to issue new ones with the old material.
 
rontoolsie said:
I thought under the RoHS it was permissible to service (or rebuild) lead-based products, just not to issue new ones with the old material.
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You could well be right Ron. I do know that a few months ago Naim could have supplied me with new IBL XO's but would not service my original ones.
 
Just to let you guys know, I haven't serviced any of these myself. I will happily resolder the inevitable dry joints on the input sockets as I had to do mine - such are the perils of using A5 cable in such a tight space. If you wanted to replace the stock capacitors I can do that for you but in situations like these I prefer the customer to specify what they'd like fitted as replacements.

Mark.
 
You could go active if you really want to optimize them :)

The main difference I remember is that bass got it's thrum, it's resonances, back. Didn't help with the treble though - that took room treatments to sort out.

I know what you mean though - there's something so beguiling about them. Maybe it's the bloody (literally in my case) struggle to set them up.
 
A friend of mine bought some 3rd party replacement SBL crossovers. They came in a lovely box and the innards looked fabulous. Unfortunately he ended up deciding he didn't like them and they were relegated to a support for the coffee table in his music room, which really made me laugh when I saw it! AFAIK, he eventually bought a new pair of original crossovers and was considering going active last time I checked.
 
It seems the xovers are not worth replacing/upgrading then. And I've just found out that they were repalced 8 years ago so they won't have declined much in any case. I thought they were much older.

As for active, it ends up being quite expensive does it not?

Would I not be better off saving the mney and selling the SBL's for a pair of SL2's?

I've always liked the look of those bad boys but they seem elusive, and in truth exceed any budget I'm likely to have any time soon.

So, a naxo it is then?
 
Arthur,
It is expensive, there's no doubt. Particularly because it's not like upgrading something, where you have the money from selling the old item to offset against the cost of the new item.

Using a naxo does mean that you don't have to buy a power supply. But of course you have to buy another power amp as identical as possible to your existing one...

I suspect that Naim speakers are developed as active speakers first and then they try to create a passive crossover after they've optimised them for active operation. LesW has a pretty poor opinion of the passive crossover as it uses some less than optimal components apparently.

You did say you wanted to optimize the SBLs, and anyway I don't want you competeing with me the next time some SL2s come up ;)
 
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