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SBL

worz

worz

pfm Member
Hi all seen some mk 1 sbl speakers at a dealer for about £375 ,dealer says v good condition barring grills. They have original drive units and 1 carfull owner ,will be replacing mk2 intros and used with a 72 hicap 250, cdx and lp12 ittok 10x5 any ideas about pitfalls of buying speakers of this age regards worz
 
I would say that the price is OK if they are in good condition.
Have a look at the gasket kit especially the alu plates ... if the spikes go through the plate in the wood they will not work correctly.
This is of paramount importance !!!!!!!!!!

I dont know if there is still the possibility to upgrade them to MK2 ... ???
 
I believe Naim still can provide gasket kit / alu pads

ok speaker for the price, wouldnt bother MKII upgrade (cost) but a pig setting up
 
Price okay?
It's a flippin' steal at that price - especially from a dealer. I would have expected £600 at least.
I have a pair of the very last ever made but if I ever needed to buy another pair I wouldn't lose any sleep about buying a pair of mkIs - the differences are minimal and certainly not worth retro-fitting if you buy these. It would be cheaper just to buy mkIIs in the first place, so I would forget it.
Gaskets are from Tom Tom, but £75, so try and check the existing and DON'T RIP THE BOXES APART AND TEAR THEM.
Aluminium pads are easy, just prise out the staples and put back in a slightly shifted position so the spike lands on a new bit. Get silicon sealant from B&Q.
They are NOT a pig to set up - they're easy. It just takes care and time. You should do it in less than an hour.
£375?
What's to think about?
 
Mark one's with mark one drivers, and presumably black makes these an OK deal nothing more.

Alu pads I believe are still available but I should imagine would be a fair percentage of the price of SBL mark ones.
 
anoethr trick with the ali pads is to plug pre-existing holes up with some "JBWeld" ... kind of liquid metal stuff. Smooth it over, let it dry for 10 mins and then bingo you have a nice flat surface again ready for spiking.
 
I've heard you can cut yourself new ali pads from a coke can - not diet of course - but pepsi max might be worth trying
 
I hate them , they are hard sounding ..thwack thwack , with no insight into the music all they do is Rythm , you might as well hit yourself over the head to the beat.:D
 
zener said:
I hate them , they are hard sounding ..thwack thwack , with no insight into the music all they do is Rythm , you might as well hit yourself over the head to the beat.:D
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don't use them with a digital source IMO and they need a smallish room that aint too live IMO

very much the rythmical aneamic ultra-prat old school of Naim but they definitely get the foot tapping and involve
 
Thanks for input lads, sounds like my cdx is a no no lp12 seems more suited for old linn and naim speakers .Might have a ride to shop as i was offered a dem by the dealer just out of curiosity you never know i might like them regards worz
 
I try to be polite to SBL users

Don't worry, they should be used to it!

A friend of mine memorably commented on hearing SBL's that what they produced was " a mess over on the wall", which I thought was quite perceptive.
 
I use SBLs with an older olive system in a largish room (33X16) and a CDS as a front end. No harshness, hardness, boom, ear-bleeding, lack of bass, mess or any of the other Internet Wisdom you read about. Just a warm, dynamic, extremely transparent and involving sound. I wonder what I'm doing wrong?
 
dave said:
I use SBLs with an older olive system in a largish room (33X16) and a CDS as a front end. No harshness, hardness, boom, ear-bleeding, lack of bass, mess or any of the other Internet Wisdom you read about. Just a warm, dynamic, extremely transparent and involving sound. I wonder what I'm doing wrong?
Click to expand...
You just made the setup correctly, that's all :)

A friend of mine memorably commented on hearing SBL's that what they produced was " a mess over on the wall",
Click to expand...
If the alu pads are pierced and the spikes enter the wood then yes you will lack bass, have shrill and harshness and you will have the impression that you cannot follow the melody !
 
I'll stick up for SBLs and say that at three hundred quid or so, they're a decent buy IF you can live with their pig-ugly looks. I took a black ash pair in part-ex when I sold a pair of (much) better speakers, and could have lived with them apart from the looks. Sonically they sound quite good when setup properly, and although they're far from the last word in bass, imaging or detail, what they do is done well enough to my ears. So, at three hundred quid, you ought to be able to try them out and make your own mind out, safe in the knowledge that you can flip them on if they don't float your boat...
 
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