Just to revisit a little:
I’ve used Naim NBLs for several years now. Their sound optimised in my last room with the backs of the speakers 5.5cm from the (solid) wall behind them, not counting the external crossover. I could hear the difference in the level of emotion conveyed in the recording I was playing as I moved them 5mm either way of that. I this position they out imaged the pair of Thiel CS1.6s that preceded them and took up less of the room despite their considerably larger size. You won’t find a pair at all easily (230 odd were made) and they’re all getting a bit old on any case. I’ve recently moved and lost a tweeter in the process so haven’t set them up in their new room yet (I kept the Theils just in case) and am in the process of obtaining replacement tweeters. I haven’t dared look at the state of the internal foam but the driver surrounds don’t seem to perish.
Of the other boundary speakers I’ve heard the Audionote Es have impressed with their scale and general all round musicality but I’ve only heard them with Audionote UK amps except for once with a Tom Evans Linear A with the recent adjustable feedback upgrade, the combination was rather good.
Naim DBLs do scale and emotion but the pair I heard had slightly weird imaging, despite this they were very engaging. The bass driver surrounds will be breaking up by now but ACT will repair them. The internal foam is also getting brittle but is replaceable.
One that hasn’t been mentioned yet and I’ve not heard is the xulyde md1 (there’s a larger md3 as well) these appear to be made on the French/German border and look like they’re inspired by the Naim allaes,
I’d love to hear a pair of Larsen 9s some time.
