300dr problem

Hi-Fi Corner
1

Hello, any advice would be gladly welcome.
I’m on an idiosyncratic upgrade path led by value in principle and as a waypoint I’ve just bought a brand new 300dr to upgrade my SN3 which I’m using momentarily as a pre. Fed in turn by a hicap Dr. All is plugged into a chord m6 and driving Focal Kanta 3’s via chord epic x. SN3 has driven these really well previous to the 300 upgrade. I connected the 300Dr up on Friday evening and gave them a few hours of moderate volume play, naturally gobsmacked by the sound. All good. Saturday morning, left them playing a low volume for a few hours and when I came back it was playing nasty bursts of static and the amp unit was really warm. I left it all day today then tried again and got only one channel playing. Again the amp got warm quickly but the fan hadn’t activated. I powered everything down and unplugged/plugged, powered up and I have both channels again.

I’ve contacted the dealer but won’t get a response til after the bank holiday. Any ideas what’s going on here? Should the amp run that warm at low volume? (SN3 never got that warm even after a good deal of effort) Am I safe to assume this performance isn’t to be expected?

Thanks and I promise I’m not competing for the longest newcomer post :1st_place_medal:ever

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2

No, the 300 should not be warm. Are you wired up correctly, Snaic 5 from SN3 to Hicap socket 4, and sockets 2 and 3 to 300? No Snaic 4 back from Hicap to SN3.

3

I am unsure what you mean by that…? Can you explain more…?

4

Unplug the amp, and don’t turn it on until you’ve had it checked out. Without a firm diagnosis it’s possible that the amp has a fault which is causing it to dump DC current into the speakers which can destroy the drivers. That’s going to make for an expensive repair.

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5

I’ve had my 300DR for several years now and it never gets warm, no matter what I throw at it. Something is amiss with your amp, your setup, or both.

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6

I recommend you turn all of your system off. Wait 2 minutes and then rewire the system with just your SN3 and the Hi-Cap in the system. If you have an inexpensive pair of back up speakers, use them to avoid any risk of damage to your main speakers. Double check your wiring paths. Consult the Naim owner’s manual for your equipment. Play the system without the NAP 300 being in the signal path to re-establish a baseline. It is possible that your Hi-Cap is introducing a problem that the 300 is simply passing along to your speakers. If you do want to try your NAP 300 again, make sure the power supply is separated from the amp chassis. If you have stacked your electronics, this may have contributed to the amp heating up. The most common wiring mistake customers make with a NAP 300 is to get the channels wrong on the 4 PIN DIN > XLR interconnects, but you would not have heard any output from the amp in this scenario. The use of Chord Company speaker cables should not stress a Naim amp, but you should check that none of your cable’s interior conductors are exposed. The jackets on your cables should be unbroken. Finally, I do recommend you speak to your dealer. This is, as was pointed out above, highly unusual for a Naim NAP 300 amp. Good luck,

Bruce

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7

:white_check_mark: all connected up as you describe.

8

Playing low volume music so distorted it sounds like static.

9

Take it back to the dealer. Did they install it for you (if it’s brand new)? It should not sound like that if installed properly

11

Thanks for the detailed advice. All connections are correct, the speaker cables are 6 months old and in excellent condition. The hicap was running perfectly fine through the supernait when isolated from the power amp as well. Everything seems to be operating normally now although the amp still gets warm after a short amount of play. I’ll speak to the dealer on Tuesday and see what they suggest. Naturally I’m nervous about holding onto a rather expensive product that appears to have failed out of the box. Thanks to everyone for their helpful words of advice. :+1:t2:

12

Update. Head unit replaced by Naim in 32 hrs from my call to them. :saluting_face:🫵🏻. Audio T home delivered and installed replacement to ensure A-OK :medal_military:a happy ending…now to enjoy :notes:

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13

I had a similar issue with my first 300DR. But Channel 1 failed after 30 minutes! Couldn’t believe it was the Naim equipment and assumed I was the problem in not connecting it all up correctly. So unplugged it, decabled everything and left for an hour. I recabled it (correctly as per Naim diagrams) and re-plugged it but alas, same problem. Used a knackered pair of linn nexus to try it with volume cranked up): nasty static like sound channel 1 still. Really disappointed. But contacted Naim who told me to send it back to them as undoubtedly a stuck relay! Also Phoned Pete at the brilliant Acoustica Chester. I took it back in and they exchanged it for new factory delivered Naim 300DR that had just come in that morning! Fantastic service. That one has gone back to Naim.

Interestingly, one of the burndy leads in the brand new sealed box was the wrong type. (2 green bands not just the one) No wonder I couldn’t get it to fit! Someone at the factory must have accidentally put it in! So Pete came from Chester with the correct one and fitted it for me. Again, incredible service. All works beautifully now. (Upgraded from the enigmatic 250DR which I loved. What a difference in sound presentation though. Very happy :blush:).

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14

Doesn’t Naim do such a thing like quality control?

Many people on the forum cover for this because the love of the brand, but if you ask me, this is sub-standard and should not be possible when buying something new…

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15

Having had my SN3, NDX2 and 300 all fail and need repair in the last 3 months (as well as my hiline- but I understand that’s par for the course) I might tend to agree. I assume my situation falls outside of the normal range and am very unlucky, statistically speaking. That said, I accept that things go wrong and measure quality by the standard of care as well as reliability of product, in that regard they’ve been great. I genuinely hope my spell of misfortune is behind me and I can now anticipate a better experience for a very long time. Having to pay the dealer £20 for shipping on every occasion does feel a bit cheap given the cost of the product though.

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16

It worked in my favour once, getting a posh ND555 remote boxed in with my then NDX2. It was almost a year before I became aware of my luck, assuming it was the standard NDX2 remote.

G

17

Here we go again. So having had my initial 300dr replaced within days of delivery a few months back I’ve started to experience another somewhat similar issue. On 2 occasions in the last week I’ve lost right channel sound after a short period of low volume listening. On inspection the amp unit has felt warmer than usual to the touch, measured at 39ish degrees c. Power down and unplug/power back up after a few minutes resolves the issue. I’ll speak to my dealer and Naim to see if they can tell me what’s going on but I thought I’d post on here to see if anyone else has experienced anything like it with theirs. Thanks for any ideas shared.

18

Nothing to add but gutted for your disappointment.
Hope the support still continues for the now old and mostly discontinued Classic series. :triumph:

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19

Not good. I had mine serviced about a year ago and haven’t used it since. I assumed it would be fully tested prior to return but it looks like I shouldn’t rely on that and need to put it back in the system for a few days, just to be sure. How long are repairs/upgrades normally warrantied for?

20

Not sure about Naim but many manufacturers only offer a 90 day warranty on repairs for devices unless they’re still within their original coverage period. Mine still has nearly 5 years of cover which is reassuring in this case.

21

My laser replacement on my CDS3 has 12 months warranty. So assuming all Naim repairs outside the original warranty have 12 months.

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