I need some alternative suggestions for great sounding speakers to use with my CDS, 4x NAP 135 and 52 which currently drive active SBL's. The problem I have is that I have a large protruding central fireplace which 'cloaks' the SBL's if I place them against the wall. I need some speakers that are comfortable away from the wall. All (polite)suggestions welcome preferably with an indication of whether I should continue to use the NACS A5 speaker wire or something different. The room is 27' by 18'. Thanks in eager anticipation.

Graham M

At the risk of sounding aevangelical over these things (second Shahinian recommendation today, I am just an enthusiastic user ... honest ... damn sounding like a Mana loony ;-> ) I would suggest flogging the active crossover and one pair of 135's and buying a pair of Shahinian Obelisks, (~£2800) superb natural, musical, full range loudspeakers that are really easy to position.

Cheers

Jason

Graham,

Don't give up on your SBLs just yet. I asked my dealer about real world SBL installations given that most people are unlikely to have the long ideal flat wall free from obstacles. His view is that SBLs are far more tolerant of less than ideal positioning than many people assume. In many of the installations he has done the SBLs are optimally placed but still perform significantly better than the alternatives (assuming you like SBLs, naturally).

With regard to the common 'either side of a fireplace problem'. He said that in his expereience its more important to have the front plane of the speakers in front of the fireplace than to get the SBLs as close to the rear wall as possible. You will of course lose some bass reinforcement but i may well be wirth a try. Obviously if you have the sort of fireplace used to roast whole pigs in medieval castles and your speakers end up 2ft from the rear wall then you may be out of luck.

As for alternatives. Given that you probably be trading/selling a couple of 135s, a SNAXO, a HiCap and a pair of SBLs you should have plenty of cash to find alternative. There are plenty of alternatives -- B&Ws, JM Labs, Epos, Shannian (?sp), ATCs, etc. -- the biggest problem is going to be finding a good dealer who can do the appropriate dems. Presumably whatever your dealer stocks would be a good starting point.

Alternatively you could stick with Naim and see if NBLs cope better with your room than SBLs (even if you have to go passive).

As for A5 - most people think it sounds the best with Naim amps and it voids your warranty if you use anything else so you'll almost certainly want to stick with it. If your dealer recommends a speaker that he insists needs a different cable then I would get him to personally guarantee that he will pay for any damaged amps or speakers.

Hope this helps,

Matthew

Graham

Difficult one, this. For starters, consider getting your CDS upgraded to a CDS1.5. This will give you worthwhile benefits in terms of resolution and detail. Secondly, NACA5 is generally the best speaker cable available for Naim systems. Ensure it's at least 3.5 metres per run, preferably longer.

Have you played around with the active crossover? Are you sure you can't set it up to overcome the problem of the room placement? If you pull out the SBLs from the wall, you would have to raise the bass profile somewhat to take that into account.

If you really have tried everything, then you may have to consider changing them. Given your outlay, it seems churlish to ask you to 'lose' a pair of 135s, as so many posters would have you do. Your other option is to find suitable biamp-able speakers and there are quite a few around. The question is whether you wish to upgrade or whether you were quite happy with what you had with the active SBL's?

An upgrade would include speakers like the NBL, DBL (YES!), JM Labs Mezzo Utopia, Wilson benesch, Ruark Excalibur and Shahinian Diapasons.

Regards,
Frank.

Joining Jason as another Shahinian evangelist..... If you want to spend a little bit more, keep your 135's and buy a pair of Shahinian Hawks, and use the four 135's to biamp the Hawks. I guarantee that you will be amazed at how good this will sound. As Jason says, Shahinian speakers produce a very big, very musical and natural sound. I ran exactly this combination until recently when I exchanged the four 135's for a pair of 500's with a staggering result (on the wallet just as much as the music but truly worth it). Shahinian speakers are relatively insensitive to positioning - in fact they need to be somewhat away from walls for best results and so should be a good fit bearing in mind your specific problem

Cut a whole in the lower chamber and turn the SBL into a vented design ...

... only kidding.

OTOH: The driver used in the original SBL was manufactured by Mordount Short (then significantly modified by Naim) and works very, very well in vented desings of compareable size ...

You can't escape spam ... but (at) <---> @ might require a bigger tin opener ...

Having read the thread I agree with Frank and Tony, it is daft to lose alot of gear you already have so a pair of Shahinian Hawks may be the perfect answer with all 4 135's. Of course the active crossover will help fund the speaker change!

Cheers

Jason

On a similar vein, what is the recommended spacing for SBL's or doesn't it matter. I'm reconfiguring (child-proofing) my room, and I have the choice of 6ft or 8ft apart..however I'm pushing the ability to be more than 7ft from the speakers.