Hello, i own a Naim Uniti Nova, which i bought in the UK on July 2019, and a pair of Focal Kanta Nº2, bought at the same time, but in France. Up until this point, i really liked the system and had no major complaints.
However, last week (10th April) while i was listening to music, my right channel stopped working all of a sudden. I tried restarting the amplifier and when i did, a buzzing sound was noticeable on the right channel, so i immediately shut down the uniti nova and cables, however i started smelling burnt. Thought that was coming out of the amplifier, however, after about 20 seconds, i looked up to my right focal kanta, and there was a lot of smoke coming out of the front and back ports of the cabinet. I was left in disbelief while that was happening, and just sat there while that was happening. This was very serious up to a point where i thought it would cause a fire in my attic. It stayed like that for about 15 minutes. After the initial shock i even got a small video showing some of the smoke coming out of the back port, but that was almost in the end.
https://www.veed.io/view/677c794f-208b-4de4-9174-61096e3aeff0/5186709d-8541-48c1-a32b-60c06f88820c
I have no idea what was burnt in the Kanta, and how something like that was even possible, so, after a couple of hours, i turned on the Naim Uniti Nova, to see if it was still working, and it appeared to be working normally, so i tried plugging another speaker to the right channel of the uniti nova (yeah, i know, this was probably not a good idea), in this case a focal aria 906, and immediately when i plugged the cable onto the speaker, it made a huge spark and i got an electric shock. I immediately put down the cable, and thought the aria 906 would get damaged as well, but fortunately enough, as this happened in a couple of seconds, the aria is still working fine. On the Uniti Nova side though, it was like it was nothing, the amplifier continued to be turned on like nothing had happened. So basically what we have here is a faulty Uniti Nova which is now damaging speakers when connected to the right channel.
It’s completely unnaceptable that in hi-end gear like this, something like this can even happen, even more when all of these devices are supposed to have surge protection and other safety mecanisms.
I always used Naim/Focal gear in the past, to put it in perspective i also have 2 pairs of focal aria 906, a pair of aria 926 and a aria center channel, besides having used several naim gear up until i purchased the Uniti Nova. Had 0 complaints and really like the sound signature of both brands.
Now at this point i don’t know what to do and would appreciate your assistance. I basically have a faulty uniti nova and one of the focal kantas Nº2 completely damaged, cause by something that should never happened in the first place, and both the Naim and the Kanta are out of the regular warranty. I do not have the financial means to simply act like if nothing had ever happened and by other equipments, and in something as serious like this, doesn’t Naim has to be held responsible?
To be honest, up until this happened, i never even considered the possibility of something like this could ever happen. I was prepared for the possibility of in the future, for an amplifier to be a lot more likely to fail than speakers, but i never thought it possible, that an amplifier could damage speakers and make it catch fire.
Now, i’ve tried contacting both focal/naim and the distributor in my country, and a week has gone by and i still haven’t gotten any answer whatsoever. If Focal/Naim doesn’t come through and provide assistance, what are my options here?
Besides this i also have a question regarding health concerns, as we know, the Focal Kanta has a beryllium tweeter that is a serious health concern if it’s damaged for some reason. How well is the beryllium tweeter protected on the back? I ask this, because i obviously inhalled a lot of smoke, and have absolutely no idea what was damaged in the Kanta to have all that smoke come out of it, so i’m worried that the tweeter was somehow damaged. On the outside part of the tweeter, it’s obviously fine, but on the inside of the cabinet, i have no way of knowing.
Thank you.