Hi Chris,
I agree with you but funny, the last Naim system(s) I had were placed like Naim commands, i.e. on a lateral wall with 6 mt. of NAC A5 making a turn to the front wall and the speakers. And I always found that the only point on which NAC A was not annoying is that it turns around corners perfectly and its very stiffness keeps it in place against the skirt board…
Best,
Max
Not sure if I agree with that Bob. If you can service your boxes you are unlikely to buy new ones. However, I do agree that the upgrade path is a part of the BP designed to sell more. Naim are trying to make money of course and this should not be seen as a negative.
Who said it was a negative it’s the soul purpose and reason for Naim Audio existing,
I’ve been a small business owner most of my adult life I understand my point was aimed more at those amongst us who praise Naim as being almost altruistic in some respect when not only do they provide servicing to help shift more units but that they also make a good profit from servicing their units.
When I had to start again (after a burglary) the choice was between Arcam , Linn Quad and Naim .
I had Arcam Delta and it was good . I don’t know why I switched, they had done nothing to lose my business .
The Quad sounded anaemic, still to this day am not sure why I didn’t stay with Arcam . It came down to Linn or Naim. In a straight head to head Linn were better with my types of acoustic music.
However I had read about the rock solid Naim reliability, it’s ability to service and the clearly defined up grade path.
So I went Naim, the Nait 3 became a Nait 3 and Flatcap then a Naim NAP90 was added as well as NAT03 (still in use today) and a CD players (still upstairs)
Over 25 years I still think I made the right choice.
Ended up with 200/200/HiCap NAPSC and a Stage Line . Now have Rega Aethos a ProJect Tube box, with a CDX2 and my NAT 03 .
Oh a UnitiQute acts as DAC
If I had to start again, it would be Naim all the way with either a Nova or XS range plus I would take great care to ensure synergy between speakers and amplification.
In all these years one item has gone back for repairs
If the box count for amplification had been three and not five , I would had them serviced not looked for new.
It is interesting a lot is said about replacing capacitors in speakers (which i have done experiments with) and various electrical components in other equipment. My experience is capacitors are very good at repairing themselves when kept in constant use. But control pots need to be subject to cleaning and lubricating a smear of vasiline passes my sonic tests. I have a early 1980s N110 power amp and a NAC 32 preamp these have mostly been permanently on the mains for 35 yrs (the amps LED on has expired, preamp ok) You would think slow sonic degrading unnoticeable has maybe taken place? The only way i can judge this is by recent comparison to bottom of the range Audio Research kit and Top of the range Marantz PM10 Amplifier etc. As an aside i found Top Marantz to beat the Bottom AR product prices were the same.(I bought the PM10) Now if anything the ageing Naim with regard to detail, and transparency tended to just edge in front of these other units Bass wallop also comparable. I conclude from this any drifting from spec of the Naim has not really had much effect on its sound and i would not re cap re solder it as this would certainly alter its sound you would just have to hope you liked it when you got it back.
Hi I am another late convert to naim.
After over 40 years of toying with other products its come down to
A supernait 2 with hi cap dr.
As I am still an avid cd guy it’s coupled to rega isis.
I never thought my rack would be this empty.
But with sorted mains (seperatate circuit) and the best furutech has to offer
In the mains cable, missing link sockets, nac a5. All sat on podium reference
Rack. I am still shocked at what this little amp will do, if you put the time in
With setting up. Oh and an honerable mention for pair of neat motive sx2
Speakers. Given time to run in they are shockingly good.
These replaced what the memsab used to call the bloody wardrobes.
Hi everyone!
I am new to Naim and this forum. Seeing the praise you are giving to Naim’s service I can’t help but disagree.
I bought a Nait XS 3 and HiCap in April. Enjoyed the sound immensely (maybe because I also changed my old speakers to new Spendor D7.2).
During these three months my Nait had to be sent three times to the local service shop (in Russia, there is only one distributor and all repairs are done locally by their own service shop in Moscow). The problem was a faulty relay (left channel stopped working after a while). I read that this is a common issue recognised by Naim. After the first repair, another relay died in a few days (no left channel in the AV bypass mode). Ok, sent it back again for repairs. The serviceman told me that in order to replace these relays the entire unit has to be dissembled. Maybe because of that now the LED on the volume knob has a poor connection and goes on and off as one turns the knob. Also, there is a very loud “thump” in the left channel when muting/unmuting and switching sources.
To put it mildly I got frustrated that such expensive (by normal, not audiophile, standards) equipment gives me so much trouble (and mind you, Naim in Russia costs like 40-45% more than in the UK). The local distributor refused to replace the unit with a new one and offered yet another repair. Given the prior experience I don’t have much trust in their repairs quality.
I contacted Naim’s support to share this frustration and asking them to have the local distributor resolve this by replacing the unit (instead of repairing it again). I had much trust that such a great brand would step in and support its new customer who would become another lifetime fan making regular upgrades, spreading the word, etc. However, I got a reply (15 days after the initial request, with three subsequent reminders!), saying that I have to sort things out with the local distributor and they can’t help non-UK customers.
Sorry for such a long post but such poor customer support and lack of interest from Naim really hurts. They can’t seriously assume that this will keep their customers.
All the best,
Sergei
Sorry to hear that Sergei. I think that Naim has the duty to sort this out even if it means accepting you sending the item back to the UK for repair. Your experience certainly casts doubt over the Russian distributor.
Well, they literally said “The replacement of units and warranties is something that for units sold outside of the UK is down to your local distributor, if you have any issues with their policies you should communicate this to them.”
This basically means that they don’t care how their customers are handled and, consequently, how the brand is perceived outside of the UK… Too bad really.
Gosh, that’s pretty crappy.
What will you do then? Send it to Naim?
Crappy Russian distributor!
Sergei, sorry to hear this. I know Naim and I know that they certainly do care about their customers and their experience with the brand and products. Due to a number of factors I would imagine that this issue can only be sorted by the distributor (They would of course be supported by the manufacturer, Naim). However, I’ve flagged this for someone at Naim to look into and see if something can be resolved.
It’s not easy to send it to Naim because of customs, etc. I guess I will have to deliver it to the local service shop again… It by itself is such a pain, but moreover my brand new Nait is not that new anymore and I don’t have any confidence in its quality after all these repairs…
I understand, but don’t give up. You will not find Naim sound in other products. You are just not lucky but I am sure it will be resolved.
A lot of Nait xs 3 users here who enjoy it.
You will not find Naim sound in other products ?
A small typo perhaps
After 30 years of Naim ownership I have found them very sound
For me, but not all agree, there’s a Naim sound. So I wanted to say that the OP will not find other products which have the Naim sound.
Do you understood me?
Yes, I was being smug a pun on the multiple uses of the word sound
Yeah that is really awful. I know only too well the difficulties in using Naim overseas. I don’t even have a distributor to fall back on.
But I have had help from Naim before on some tricky issues and even 6000 miles away with no presence in country, they tried to help me. I think an issue is that they have contracts with distributors and cannot easily circumvent and undermine those. While they can’t take the support role away from the distributor, if there are enough people with bad experiences like you in Russia, they might certainly have words with the distributor. They’ve had fallings out before and changed distributors. If you are lucky, Richard flagging it will have resulted in the distributor getting an earful.
Yes, I was almost certain that they would try to help. In the past I had a few good precedents when manufacturers were really sympathetic and stepped in when they heard a customer had bad experience with local distributor. All it took from them is have a word with the local distributor and the problem was solved swiftly and painlessly. It maintains their brand image and at the same time doesn’t let the local distributor lose its focus and role as the brand’s representative in the country.
That’s why I was really upset and surprised by the short response basically saying go sort your issues with the distributor, we don’t want to help. To be honest, I can’t even blame the distributor anymore after seeing this kind of attitude from the manufacturer. The distributor at least tried to help and fix the production defects (however he could).
I have a supernait 2 as well, and I’m also amazed at what this little amp will do. I don’t even have a HiCapdr on it yet, but it’s in the plan. And focussing on the source being excellent, and maxing out all the other tweaks, I really can’t see that I will need anything better.
Just another reason why I use Naim gear. A lot of the products are very good value.
Dave