I was considering the DR upgrade. Naim should just off load the repairs to franchises and restore the floor sweepers chance to stay in the game 
I can only afford the cast off’s
I thought DR upgrades were no longer available, not that I have anything that could be upgraded.
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What are you asking/saying?
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Correct. There are no more DR upgrades to be had. It’s over.
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I have never understood why Naim chose to do this.
If my (over 30 year old) NAP135s could be ‘upgraded’ with Naim’s DR technology, I would take that opportunity.
Was there ever a formal announcement from Naim giving a reason?
Excellent question, Naim, Richard, or both had mentioned that DR “kits” were no longer made and that they had used them all. Any kits remaining with distributors were available for use but that was long ago.
Whether there was a post giving more details as to why, who knows. In the case of amps though, it was more than swapping out a component, it was a whole new redesigned board. A 250.2 and a 250dr share only three things in common: a big transformer, a case, the name NAP250. It’s fundamentally not the same amplifier and isn’t voiced similarly either.
If you want dates on when this happened, a search might help but probably just easier to put your hand up and ask Richard.
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It was late in Covid, maybe 2022? The reason given was that Naim had real difficulty getting the parts for DR and wanted to use what they could get for building new production units, not for upgrading old ones. Naim said they would honour existing bookings for DR upgrades but that was it. It was presented at the time as a permanent change, not a pause.
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Haha. And I can’t remember what I had for breakfast this morning. Impressive.
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Thanks for that, FZ.
I won’t bother Richard, as he (unlike Harry Potter) doesn’t have a magic wand that would upgrade my amps for me!
Don’t worry, DR upgrade was never offered anyway for olive units.
I find the whole DR thing confusing. If it produced a performance upgrade, why was it not offered across the range, and why was it stopped?
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Because it was a redesign of main boards. Like I said, a 250.2 and a 250dr share nothing in common beyond the power supply and case. If you look at pictures of the inside you see that dr isn’t a tweaked bit, it’s a new amp
To do a 135dr they’d have to go back and design a new monoblock called a 135. It would be a 135 in name only.
Which is basically what a new NAP350 is; a monoblock with dr technology.
As mentiontion, parts availability was slim and new amps took priority. Worth noting that the new NC range uses significantly different parts than the OC range because some things like the type of capacitors used up to now have just become unavailable in sufficient quantity
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Here’s a thread all about the cessation of DR upgrades to compatible boxes.
Richard quoted the following from the dealer communication
Our acclaimed Discrete Regulator Technology was first introduced in 2012, and features across a range of products from power supplies and amplifiers, up to our flagship Statement system.
Since its introduction, and in keeping with an ongoing commitment to the sustainability of Naim hi-fi, we have offered upgrades to the DR spec, from previous, non-DR versions of Classic and 500 series products.
Due to ongoing supply chain challenges, and significant shortages of key components, we have taken the decision to discontinue this service, both in the form of in-house Naim Service performed DR upgrade and DR upgrade kits which can be purchased and installed by our partner service centres.
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So much for always going forward, always improving!
You’re just an old curmudgeon who complains about everything even when you’ve been given clear and adequate answers.
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The last price to DR a Hicap was £1000, which made it cheaper to sell the old one and buy a new HicapDR. There would likely be further costs to DR older (olive and chrome bumper) units where different components were mounted in different cases. That makes it pretty pointless to my mind, plus you are altering a piece of vintage kit which some prefer to Classic equivalents. Newer doesn’t automatically mean better.
The upgrade scheme was also unpopular with dealers as it was twice as much work as a new sale to ship a box to Naim as well as receiving it, and they made no profit from it.
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And you are thoroughly unpleasant!
The bear that you show is well-matched to your disposition.
Your posts suggest that I am right and sometimes the truth can sting…
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There’s something in the water today. Why is no one getting along?
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January blues probably. 