IMO, that is the best response you could have hoped for.
Well done - Naim & Audio T - 
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Oh, well. Naim have washed their hands of this and Iām not sure where to take it next, they said that:
āthey noted no issue when it came in the first time for the initial service, so itās possible that being jolted around in transit may well have instigated the issue - certainly nothing they wouldāve done as a part of the service would or could have directly caused the transformer to become noisyā
If I was told that by sending my amp away it could sound worse, I never would have done it. I am really disappointed with Naim and their service.
I asked the question:
āIf a customer with a newer Naim Amp had had the same damage done, would Naim have just refunded their service?ā
They did not reply to this email or question.
Audio T have yet to come back to me regarding their courier.
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Naim need to rethink their service strategy, if they had taken a couple of pics when unboxing your item, and then when they ship it out, the damage scenario would fall squarely on the courier, not Naim. Whereas you are left wondering who was the guilty party. Not a good place to beā¦ā¦.sorry to hear itās not sorted yet.
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A little disappointing than Naim have stonewalled on this issue. Other members of the forum may well feel the same. They should be asking themselves, is losing customer goodwill worth Ā£330. Others with old equipment will now be thinking twice before sending items to Salisbury for a service and considering alternatives, with loss of business worth many times Ā£330. Bit of an own goal I think.
I think someone at Naim needs to read this thread ā¦
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Thatās a pretty poor response from Naim Audio, in my view. They picked up the ball again - only to drop it or even loose it. What happened to the customer always being rightā¦? Ohā¦ rightā¦ not these daysā¦ hmmm.
If I can work out how to fix this - how come Naim cannotā¦? The damage is very fixable - given the will to do so. The Transformer also, given the will to find the right one. Problem is - lack of will.
Poor. Sorry that Naim have let you down.
And - as @Inmynaim has observed - would I now send my much loved bit of older Naim hardware to Salisbury, if this is their attitudeā¦? Thereās a big - huge - loss there. Jeezā¦
I donāt hold out much hope either. This is Naim second chance and they blew it - IMO (YMMV, etc). Third timeā¦? Rightā¦
Crumbs - for - @Richard.Dane & @Naim.Marketing
Hope - springs eternalā¦
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What a nightmare. The issue seems to be that there is nothing in the service that could cause the hum, which leaves you a bit stuck. I wonder if the bolt that attaches the transformer could be tweaked to see if this helps? If it hums the same in other houses, and didnāt hum before the service, perhaps itās worth it going back to Naim?
As to the ding, Naim say it was there when the amp arrived with them. If there is no damage to the box, which is well padded, itās all a bit of a mystery.
With these issues they can expand to dominate your thinking and cause a lot of upset. Maybe the best thing is to find a local repairer or a crafts person who āfixes thingsā and get it banged back and touched up. Otherwise youāll be looking at it forever and feeling upset.
I was wondering while reading this, did you enclose the power cord for the BD250, i know it uses an older connection method and you may have included to aid powering the unit up. If it was enclosed was it secure. I know from experience that you only have to look at the paintwork on an old smooth finish naim pre or power for it to chip. Plug treminals would easily mark it if not secure. Im sure as you treasure your equipment you did,ā¦ But ive forgotten how many items over years have arrived with floating leads remotes interconnects etc.
Firstly, itās always awful when vintage kit suffers any damage ā not just because itās a cherished thing, but because itās been out of production for decades, so thereās no simple refurbishment route.
We understand that fully here at Naim ā our service team treat every product (old or new) that arrives here in Salisbury with the utmost care.
Two of our longest-serving employees ā with 30+ years of experience each, including longstanding expertise with our legacy products ā handled this service, as they do all Chrome Bumper products (and more).
No damage was done to your product here in Salisbury; anything must have occurred elsewhere. If we had spares, we would of course offer to repair the casing, but we have none here.
I know the service team has already been in touch to refund the full cost of the service, as a gesture of goodwill, and to discuss ways to address the hum. As noted in those conversations, the transformer will be no noisier than it was originally ā this was never a low-noise design! ā but servicing the other elements, making them ācleanerā may have made any transformer hum more noticeable.
If there is anything else we can do to help, please let us know.
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This is the Naim that we know and respect, and the reaction members of the forum would expect.
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Missing the main point, here, I think. There is more that could be done - if Naim chose to. It doesnāt matter who did the damage. Its broken - and it says Naim Audio on the front. And the Naim customer is very unhappy.
The Casing damage is fixable - by repair, not replacement, IMO. It would require going outside of Naimās Salisbury site, though. To an appropriate specialist. Not a big repair, either.
Same with the Transformer. Two options exist here, IMO. Look for a potentially ābetterā, period replacement, from a similar era donor 250 (looking initially at what some Naim dealers may have, to hand - then beyond) - which might be ādeadā for other reasons. Or - get the existing Transformer repaired (assuming that it is actually damaged in some way - which is not clear, now). Again , by an appropriate specialist.
If I can think & write this, then so could Naim.
The damage is being done, repeatedly, every time Naim say - Sorry, we cannot (or will not) help.
Again - I must ask - Would you send you much loved Naim unit to Salisbury, after reading thisā¦?
Thank you. It was well packed with no other items in the box. The box had no damage at all.
Thatās why the Casing damage makes no sense at all. Yet Naim say they didnāt see - or cause - thisā¦?
Iām not sure Naim can be 100% certain this did not happen at Naim. Iām not 100% certain when or where it happened myself. I just know it happened after it was left at Audio T, I carefully delivered it by hand. I noticed it when I listened to it in Audio T on its return from Naim and I saw it instantly, as with the chip out of the other side panel. I made Audio T aware of it and said I would take this up with Naim, which I did.
As I said before, a refund on the service is a good will gesture, however, the amp condition was worth a lot more than Ā£330 to me and I paid more for the amp due to its condition.
The transformer issue is a mystery too, all I know is that the amp did not buzz/hum loudly before it was sent away. I own a number of Naim amps and regularly listen to a variety of systems. This amp was suffering from a L/R channel imbalance, which the service has fixed.
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I think the Jury is still out on this. I can follow the argument from Naim (@Naim.Marketing above), that changing other components may have affected the Transformers operation, such that some noise is more evident.
To be clear - is this (in your view) audio noise, via the speakers - or mechanical, from the casingā¦?
The noise is from the Transformer (from the case, not the speakers). Naim said that they had isolated all other components and come to this conclusion, and with no more available, this was not repairable. If a service causes additional noise, or sending an amp via courier could cause these issues, why not say this before the service and I would never have sent it away. I would have just asked my local engineer to repair the balance issue. I thought I was doing the best thing for the amp.
I have a damaged amp with a louder hum, my only compensation has been the refund of the service.
If my car was damaged when going in for a service and came back with a noise that was not there before I would not be happy with a refund on the service (I know there are more parties involved here).
OK, now its clear. Well, you could try looking for another similar age 250, to swap its transformer overā¦? Using an appropriate Naim approved repairer, of course.
Unfortunately, noisy (mechanical) transformers is a Naim thing. But I thought they either did this or notā¦? Unless you are having dirty mains, nowā¦? (and did not before)
Fully sympathise, re all this. All my Naim stuff goes to Class A, in my car - and back again. Risk averse. And your experience tells me to continue this.
I think at this point, I would get the Casing repaired myself and then go Transformer hunting.
I asked this before - are you sure itās the same amp?
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Itās clear to see Clare has looked into this, I sincerely cannot see the damage was done at Naim.
Think you should be taking a long look at your dealer or the Courier company. Naim gave you a refund in good faith which unfortunately consolidates your suspicions. That was a mistake on Naims part imo, which just goes to show they are human. Iām sorry but itās time to build a bridge as this thread is going nowhere other than defaming hard working people.
Like I said I feel for you but those chaps that have been doing the job for more than 30 years have kudos, they have said it wasnāt done at Naim so thatās that.
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The serial numbers are the same and the small scratch on top is the same, so, yes, Iām pretty sure it is the same amp.
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Out of interest what is actually to go wrong with a transformer by itself, they seem pretty non destructive?