Hi, first off thanks for letting me join the forum
I have been the happy owner of a Naim Nac 112 and Nap 150 for a couple of years, but have noticed a drop in sound quality in the last few weeks.
I have indentified the problem to be with the Nap 150, as i have a diy power amp which i have used with the Nac and all seems fine.The issue is mainly with bass, its become very boomy.
I have taken the lid off and can see what i think is the problem
It’a a 220p capacitor. Caps have a certain lifespan before they need to be changed. If you don’t know what that is then you don’t have the skills to take it further yourself. It can in worst case kill you or burn down your house.
Thank you, i guess it’s best to get it serviced.I think the sound quality has been deteriorating for awile, it just lost that Naim sound It wasn’t until i tried the DIY power amp with the 112 that i relised how bad it had got.
Indeed, those capacitors will last for decades. If anything your main electrolytic reservoir caps will be the ones causing a problem through degradation.
It’s quite common to find they rattle when removed from the PCB as they have become internally dry (presumably).
I wouldn’t want to cast aspersions, but I think there may be placebos at play sometimes - if you strip your system down and dust everything and replace it exactly as it was, somehow it sounds better. I mean you put the effort in so it must do right?
But also there are rational reasons why unplugging your system and rebuilding your racks will make the supports more stable and mitigate cable interference problems and refresh the metal on metal contacts of connectors.
So the SQ really may be better after a spring clean.
And my system really is miles better than it was - not least because it’s set up very carefully now and it wasn’t then.
And because it’s got much much better components in it.
In fact the Only things that are the same now compared to 2004 are the 150x and the snaic and one old Naim power cable that I currently use on a switch.
Even the parts that make up my ears and brain have almost all been replaced.
Absolutely breaking and remaking plug and socket contacts can only be a good thing - high resistance joints is the last thing you want.
Darran is one of our trusted service engineers and no doubt he did perform some magic on your 150.