NAC 552 : 2 questions

I’m very pleased to have received my new NAC 552 :grinning:

But there are 2 points I haven’t yet figured out :

1). The LED on the Balance knob :
From the R-com remote I have selected the display off option whereby all LEDs are off except when I operate the preamp, like up/down the volume, in which case all LEDs briefly illuminate and go dark again.
However, when I’m not playing any music or operating anything on the system, I noticed that at times the Balance knob LED is illuminated, while at others it’s not. And I haven’t found out why. Does anyone have a clue ?

2). The 552 was shipped together with 4 tiny rubber pads (they are approx. the size of the 552 input buttons). No idea how / where they are meant to be used

I have had 2x 552’s and have never had the balance knob light show with the rest off. I did not receive those pads/stickers either! One was a 2016 and one was 2019 if that helps.

Those pads look like Fraim Glass pads that go under the feet of the 552. I don’t know what the feet are on the 552 ( I assume hard like the NDS feet were) and the feet stop unintended slippage on glass.

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The feet are metal on the 552. Never seen those pads before on any of the metal feet Naim boxes I have owned…

The pads are stock sticky bumps for putting between equipment and glass shelves, or between the glass and a table top. There’s about 5p worth there - great bargain!

That’s weird. Perhaps they were included by Naim with my 552 by mistake ?

What bugs me the most though, is the 552 balance knob LED turning on and off by itself.

Earlier today I noticed it was illuminated and now it’s off (already off for at least 1h) and between then and now I strictly haven’t touched the system…

That sounds like a fault. The lights can be toggled off/on from the remote by pressing the pre then disp buttons. The balance control shouldn’t turn off/on by itself and not light up independently

The little rubber bump-ons can be stuck to a shelf and if you’re careful, they then should fit within the recess of each metal foot on the 552 when it’s placed on the shelf. Just be sure that none of the metal feet actually touch the rubber bump-on within.

Do you have any RC5 or Narcom remote stuck down a sofa or chair? the volume and balance knobs will illuminate if they receive any signal and it could be that. Or could be some spurious signal from elsewhere or from another remote (sky etc…) or even from low voltage lighting.

@Richard.Dane it is a bit weird that it is only the balance knob though… if it was a remote it would be all lights would it not?

Yes, it is weird, and yes, you’re right, if it was stray command the whole front would light up (mea culpa). So, after some more consideration, I’m leaning towards the possibility of a fault with the display board perhaps. Either way, it looks like something for the dealer to investigate.

Thank you All for the replies.

Just now looking again at the balance knob LED and it’s turning on and off repeatedly, stays on for half a second then off then on again for 1-2s then off for a couple of minutes and then turns on again. There is no pattern, it’s entirely unpredictable.

I’m afraid it’s a fault, indeed. I’ll report it to my dealer.

Congratulations @AhTiong. Why do you want the led lights always off?
I suspect you tried turning power supply off waiting then turning on again.

Hi @jsaudio, I’ve tried that and unfortunately it didn’t fix it.
Some may prefer to have lights off thinking it improves SQ, I’m not sure if it’s the case.
As for me, it’s more on aesthetics, I prefer to have it all dark.
What is annoying is that it’s only one LED (on the balance knob) and that it acts up, going on and off unpredictably, sometimes fixed for some time and at others like blinking… I’ll see what my dealer suggests. The unit just came in mid of last week.

The flickering light is a fault and I would get your 552 checked by your dealer with onward checks by Naim if they cannot resolve.

The sticky pads are the same that came with my NDS and are intended to be used exactly as Richard describes.

Hope your fault is swiftly rectified.

Thank you Jason.

I’ve reported the issue to my dealer and now expecting feedback from Naim.

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