Hello, apologies if this subject has previously been discussed, but as the display of my Uniti, purchased 2012, is fading I thought I’d seek advice on remedies. Is it another example of built-in obsolescence?
I contacted Naim, who suggest I return it to them, via a dealer, to have a service and replace the display screen, at a cost of £350 all-in. Bit soon for a service, I’d have thought?
Am I alone, or have other Uniti users had the same experience, please?
I bought the amp as a one box solution, and so far am very happy with it, it does everything I want, CDs, vinyl, radio, USB input, TV audio, bluray and Freesat audio, headphone amp, and not being into streaming, but there’s no way I could afford to upgrade to the current offering.
I’m contacting Class A as nearer, possibly quicker, alternative to Naim, and will welcome any help from the Forum.
Thanks, in advance.
This happens with the early screens unfortunately. It’s a case of replace it or live with it. It’s best to set the screen to go off as quickly as possible in order to extend its life.
OK, thanks, hungryhalibut, but it’s not the sort of failure that you’d expect from Naim, though.
They tell me that there are newer versions of the screen, a direct replacement, but can’t confirm projected life span, so I’ll just have to bite the bullet, soon. It would be good if the screen replacement could be done separately from a service, to keep costs down, I feel?
I’ll set the screen to go off after a minute, and see if it makes a difference to the new screen. It’d be nice if a service could improve the sound, too, but that’s too much to expect for my unit. but you never know. Just as long as it’s no worse.
Hi @geoff_2043
The service element/cost is perhaps a bit misleading. I had to recently return my Unitiserve to Naim under warranty, the standard charge for repair was £340, for replacing a battery which according to the worksheet took all of 45 minutes !, so translating this to your issue/repair re the screen the service cost proportion is insignificant. Although I agree frustrating.
My dealer does the battery change themselves, its quick and they do it for free, do not even charge for the battery. Good will gesture to their customers.
@Gazza, you are indeed lucky to have such a good dealer. I went through my Naim dealer who spoke to Naim and the advice was to return to Salisbury, although at that time the Unitiserve just had the dreaded flashing green light, no battery fault was mentioned, I didn’t even know there was a battery inside.
I complained to Naim about the charge, they offered me some free powerline lites, which I ungraciously declined. The fact that the Unitiserve was in year three and Naim have apparently now revised their warranty conditions. meaning if the fault happened now it would be fixed free of charge, hasn’t helped either.
My dealer discounted the repair by £100 because they felt embarrassed by what happened.
I popped in to my dealer today and we discussed this. Some of the big dealer chains just do not have the staff capable to do repairs,so it’s easy to just send off to Naim. The replace battery is a 5 minute job!
This wasn’t a big dealer chain dealer and as they first discussed it with Naim you would think/hope that recurring faults would be discussed and a dealer check would be possible.
Unfortunately for me this wasn’t the case, so not a good outcome for Naim, my dealer or me .
Hi, glassnaim, I contacted Naim, and was told that the £350 covered the cost of a full service, including replacing the display panel, so I’m mollified that I’m not being over charged just for a new screen. And I won’t have to pay P&P.
I’m sounding out a couple of well known Naim service providers, just to check alternatives, but nothing definite yet.
Naim say that improved panels have been sourced, but wouldn’t commit to projected lifespan - possibly much the same as the original, but I will see if having it switch off after a minute helps.
And, local dealers don’t have any engineering facilities; too expensive to employ? Or perhaps just opting for the easy way? Fewer complaints? A far cry from my original dealer, at Loughborough, 1980s.
I would hesitate to use the term good value, I just wanted to put into perspective the relative cost a repair and service.
My NDS display faded to near invisibility. It was a comparatively common fault of streaming products of that era. I had a factory fitted replacement. It didn’t take long.
The display can only be fitted by Naim, not even Class A can do them as I enquired when my NDX display faded.
Apparently the new display is different so it’s not a straight swap and some reprogramming has to be done.
I have one of the very first NaimUnitis let out into the wild – think it was the original review sample – and the screen is long gone. I think I’ve just got used to it, and as it’s my desk system I’m not keen to let it go away for service, as it’s in use often 15+ hours a day. I just keep an iPad to hand.
Hello, Andrew. I don’t know precisely how old my unit is, and I think it might have been a demo unit, but I think it originated around 2012, and while it’s primarily used for vinyl, cd, or TV, it would be handy to be able to read the display for USB inputs, etc. In fact, your review some years ago decided me to want one, and I snapped it up when I found it.
I’n very happy with its performance, and were I to only use one or two functions, I’d ignore the screen. I just can’t understand why other display screens last nearer to 15 - 20 years, but these don’t? I have a problem in that I like my purchases to last a similar period.
But, I love the amp, and it’s flexibiity, so will bite the bullet, and have it repaired, via my dealer, if what trickiedickie says is correct, and enjoy it for many more years.
Sorry to ramble on.
You can usually tell from the serial number - see here: www.naimaudio.com/serial-numbers
But I’m not sure my one actually has a serial number!
FWIW (not much) the OLED displays on my non Naim stuff died ages ago. My Onkyo and Yamaha gear completely faded to black eventually. So it’s not purely a Naim issue. In the case of the Yamaha, it was an expensive THX receiver.
I think given the propensity for similar displays to fail, a low cost “replacement kit” would have been good planning from day one.
My NDX and UQ2 are still bright as day one despite being 5 years old. Hopefully they stretch to recapping age in 2024 and can be replaced then when the whole system goes back to the mothership.
Thanks, feeling_zen, that makes my situation more acceptable. I’m much happier now, knowing it’s a much wider problem and not just Naim gear, and can either keep calm and carry on, until i need to use a USB stick, or listen to radio; or just have it repaired, and see how long it lasts.
The issue of recapping raises another potential problem, as if I send it for repair and service, and they decide that recapping isn’t necesssary, it may then require recapping before the display fails? I’ll have to check with them. Sorry if I’m over-complicating the issue. And, if it’s a straight forward swap, it ought to be available via authorised dealers?
Andrew, I’ve just checked my S/N, and it was manufactured in 2010, so is 9 years old, not 7, apparently. Happier now. And it’s good to know that you still have and use your Uniti.
Many thanks to everyone for your input, I’ll have it done in the near future. Well, after my JN-P200 arrives, upgrade for my MP110, anyway.
I’m not entirely convinced that Naim have really thought through this new(ish) fixed price servicing idea. It can be perceived as a serious bargain by some, and a serious rip-off by others. For an HDX, replacing a 2 Tb hard drive, a new CD mechanism, a new screen, replacing several capacitors and re-installing the software, and whatever happens to be required: £395. New BIOS battery in a Unitiserve: £340.
Just be a bit forceful. In my case, I live in a country without a Naim and sending things to the UK and back is astronomical. I bought a 250.2 vat free (great) in 2014 but by the time I got it to where I live and 18 months later shipped it to the UK (for DRing) and back and paid the custons charges again, it cost more than a NAP300.
So when I do recapping in 2024, I will demand they replace screens and anything else even if functional.
Luckily Naim do stock spare screens. It may seem expensive but I can tell you neither Yamaha or Onkyo kept any spares longer than a couple years and both, otherwise functional products, were junked.
serious rip off for me £350 to replace 1 x 10p resistor in a naits xs