How is the quality of Naim in recent years?

I read more and more posts recently about item issues. What do you experience?

Generally, people are more likely to complain than praise on fora. Also communication is easier and more widespread than before the internet. So naturally we see many more complaints.

I reckon that quality is about the same. Sure, things go wrong but they always did. Naim seem to be good at sorting things out when a unit is faulty.

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Desmond,

I am running my Naim NAT 03, CDS1, 52, SC, NAP 135 since 25 years and never had a problem or fail. It was recapped in 2017 but that´s it.

Best regards,

Alexander

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I would say the quality over decades has been superb. My only observation is that the majority of grumbles are to do with streaming and/or the Naim app. Fortunately this is not something that effects me personally.

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I tend to agree with the view about hearing/seeing more complaints because it is easier.

However you see a fair amount of refurbished products on the bay and in dealer ads. These are mainly Uniti products, although one dealer has loads of other components.

Up until recently I’d not seen Naim refurbished products.

The fault rate may be the same as it’s always been, but they are selling more…who knows.

All good points here. I echo what @stuart.ashen said and others have mentioned before also in this forum - analog platforms are mature and seldom have any issues. Streamer however is young, much more complicated and a whole different set of challenges.

Spent a few mins trolling other forums and I made similar observations from other streamers. I wasn’t keeping any stats and I won’t name names and risk being called a fanboy. If you are keen, do a bit of digging yourself and form your own observations and conclusions, please.

With streamers, we are living on the bleeding edge with ecosystem that is steadily changing and firmware fixes and feature updates constantly being released. Some would inadvertently end up introducing bugs that wasn’t used to be there. It is something to be anticipated and the trade off for the convenience of being able to integrate with many streaming platforms and evolve with time.

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Hi all
All of my ‘kit’ is preloved, or ex dem (touching wood, delicately) I’ve never had a problem & the service Naim supply is excellent, but I do admit, even allowing for problems being ‘aired’ more than praise, some of the newer products do seem to have problems - but, again; Naim gets them sorted asap. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Naim to anyone :slight_smile:

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16 years of Naim ownership. Never a problem but for a collapsing hiline. Routine service carried out on my CDS3.

Regards,

Lindsay

Me too: hi-line, but CD5i; replacement laser - both sorted without a problem

I’ve owned quite a few boxes over the years and have literally never had a problem with any of them. That said I don’t like Naim streamers, I think they can be matched for sound and reliability cheaper elsewhere and the app is dire, but that’s just my personal view and I have friends who love them and who would never part with them

14 years and 10 components, so far so good (touch wood)

Naimuniti2 failed on/off switch and cd transport at 7 years, Repair cost £300.

I have owned Naim equipment for decades and, apart from a service, my equipment has been faultless… until I decided to dip into streaming… the screen failed on my Uniti after just over 5 years, I’m still waiting for it to return from Naim (10 weeks and counting).

Unfortunately this seems to be a common fault and many units with this screen seem to be failing, just outside of warrantee too.

Would this stop me buying Naim in the future, no, but I will not be buying anything newer than the Olive generation after my experience.

Good evening
I have had Naim Audio since 1990 and have never had any problems.
PS. they are on day and night

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they are on day and night

Hello Desmond,

I’ve never had any problems. I’ve been running my modest system - streaming via an old Sonos Bridge into xps / nDac and 152/155 for nearly 10 years. Apart from the Dac everything was bought secondhand, predominately ex-demo or part-ex but the 155 was a private sale on eBay.

Regards

Michael

Thanks for all the replies. Recently the cases I read are the faults of streamers. And also someone said they have problems with their SN3 and the like. Many of them are there is no sound in one channel and it may caused by the failure of relay. So I’m curious.

All good @Desmond, I would be very sad if and when my nova start failing on me. But I imagine if there’s no option to take firmware fixes then it would be obsolete much sooner than I would like.

As much as I love wifi, my nova is wired to give it best connectivity and reliability at that. And as much as we love smart home with Google or Amazon, it is as reliable as wifi and it is annoying when there’s network drop out especially when you have automated routines set up. Admittedly, I don’t push my naim or the technology to its limits.

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My first Naim system consisted of a used Nait 3 and CD5. I owned for around 10 years and other than a puck, never needed anything.

My replacement (used) Uniti MK1 was solid overall
for 7 years except for a replacement LCD screen. Otherwise it’s still fine.

I bought virtually new Nova and it’s fantastic but have had a few software glitches. Nothing that an on/off or restart hasn’t solved but is software I guess. Time will tell but it’s nice to have a 5 year warranty.

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I’ve owned Naim gear for of 25 years and apart from the current software problems (which hasn’t stopped them playing music) they’re been rock solid not one problem nothing returned under warranty. I only wished my cars and kids were as reliable.

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