NAP 135 - Versions

Hi-Fi Corner
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Hi There

I chance upon a pair of Chrome Bumper NAP 135 for sale and would like to seek advise on:

  1. The front doesn’t seem to be something I recognize as there is no logo, (attach a picture) would like to find out if there had been changes changes over the years to the front?

  2. I will definitely send them off to Naim for a full service, I understand the H&F transformer has been discontinued so a Nuvotem is preferred? but is there any thing else to take note when buying a 135?
    As I have more Olives I am alright to wait for a Olive 135 to pop out.
    Thank you

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The front panel has presumably been replaced at some point as the Naim logo is missing. That makes me wonder what else might have been replaced with non-standard parts. Does the seller have any information?

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The front panel is definitely not original. Some of them could become quite brittle and it was easy to fracture them or break edges off if you weren’t very careful sliding out the tray from the sleeve. That may have happened here and someone fashioned a replacement. The good news is that Darran at Class A received permission from Naim to have some new fascias made, so provided they aren’t all gone already (Naim had some too) then you should be able to get it restored at the same time as getting it serviced.

As Chris has mentioned though, you may want to find out whether anyone has fiddled about inside. Naim will return it to standard, but if there are any modifications then it may get costly.

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Nuvotem transformers were phased-in early 90s when H&F stock ran out.

CB and early olive 135s were pretty much identically inside.

They were my preferred amps back then, as I thought the H&F editions sounded just a little bit more natural.

I’ve had a few 250s from mid/late 90’ies - still preferred the earlier 250.

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The front fascia panels on the early Naim amps are very fragile. It’s all too easy to damage them during disassembly if you’re not aware of this. Replacements are rarely available and stupidly expensive when they are.

Don’t ask me how I know… :frowning:

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Take a look at the bottom right corner of my 135 in this photo.

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I feel your pain

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He mentioned they have been serviced by an unapproved servicer but not recapped. I will supposed the front panel were changed by them, will verify.

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Note that they aren’t an officially approved Naim servicer. Also, a service of NAP135s usually involves replacement of the capacitors.

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Managed to check again. The units came with the front panels shown from Absolute Sound (only dealer for Naim in Singapore) and their serial numbers are running 195xx - meaning that they are produced around 1994 :hushed:

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'94 seems odd. They have Chrome Bumper cases and switches. A serial number of 0195xx would be '84 - the first year of the NAP135s.

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I still have some CB replacement fascias, both sizes. If Naim have run out I can send them some more.

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apologies, yes it should be 84, wow almost 40 years old!

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Those amps are still among the very best out there if serviced and up to date.
Hardly ever decrease in value either.

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Hmmm — maybe I should invest in a few 135s in the current environment… :thinking:

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