My NAT01 needs retuning every time I walk past it … I must be brushing against it inadvertently.
Really? My NAT02 holds the channels for months on end, as they all should.
I have hardly used my 05 tuner this summer
What a very odd statement about parking or hogging tuners! Why would you give two hoots about how many tuners I have?
Are you in an underground society charged with rooting out people secretly stockpiling audio equipment?
Do I dare admit to having a QUAD FM4 in its box somewhere in the house, or will that get me even more into your bad books?
Hi - yes these tuners use analogue discriminators with an analogue oscillator(s) [VFOs] - so they are temperature sensitive - as the oscillator components warm the frequency may well drift. The head-end will have an AFC circuit - so minor drifting should be cancelled by the oscillator locking onto the transmitted carrier frequency - so it will appear stable - but at warm up the drift may be too much for the AFC. Due to vagaries of these sorts of circuits and ageing effects of components different tuners will drift different amounts- and some may not all at from cold.
In the world of analogue radio this is quite common - and on higher end communication transceivers you have a RIT control which allows you to match your receiver VFO (variable oscillator) to a drifting transmitter frequency - but allows your transmit VFO to be relatively solid - certainly can be noticeable if you have a digital communication radio interworking with a vintage analogue one.
I get drift on my NAT03 from cold… but once warmed up in tends to be rock solid if tuned in to a station.
4 Likes
Love my NAT03, recently serviced by Naim North America. It was very good before service, even better now.
I think the US FM situation is much much different than the UK - more distant stations, more variable output, more complex topography in some situations, more stations, etc… - I think an optimal US tuner is different than an optimal UK tuner. That said, the 03 is my favorite tuner I’ve owned, including a Yamaha T-2 and Pioneer TX-8500ii. There aren’t a ton of Naim tuners in the US - if a nice NAT02 or 01 popped up for the right price, I’d probably jump on it. I do hear that the 03 reception is better than the 01 and 02…not sure if that’s true…if so in my location (the backside of a ridge in Seattle), it is possible the 03 is the best Naim tuner for us…
Listening to it right now, just very musical and life like.
In my experience I found not so hugely different…
I have previously found more programme diversity in the UK with more drama, debate, social commentary, experimental, etc… but possibly more variation of different musical genres specific stations in the US, in the UK variation is more programmed on a particular station. In the US I get the impression of higher density of commercial local stations in urban areas compared to the UK, with far higher advert air time in the US.
In the UK the national FM stations ie consistent across the UK, are BBC Radio 1, 2, 3 and 4 … as well as Classic FM commercial station… thereafter the stations are regional, local and community. On the DAB frequencies/multiplexes there are more national stations as well as local and regional stations… as well more genres specific stations.
Technically there are some differences between the US and UK on the 88 to 108 FM band; the equalisation for noise reduction (pre-emphasis) - with the UK being 50uS and the US being 75uS although probably only really noticeable on a hifi tuner, the channel spacing, and I believe the RDS protocols / implementation are different
1 Like
My Nat 05 is rock solid.
My NAT05 is nearly rock solid - a tiny bit of drift from very cold standby, certainly my '03 drifts more
My NAT05 is on all the time & I wouldn’t know how to tell if it’s drifting, the presets go to the assigned frequency.
The only minor issue is on odd occasions, maybe once a month, the preset display flashes it’s number, the display is set to off. I’ve always assumed this is a transmitter signal issue.
Interesting Mike, that’s never happened to me!
Last year my NAT01 started drifting. I found that if I turned it off for a bit then switched it on again it was OK for a few days until it started to drift again. I sent it to Salisbury for service and it has been rock solid ever since - until earlier this month when it had a couple of little shimmies, which I conclude were something to do with the signal as it has again been rock solid since.
1 Like
Hi Lindsay, yes a bit odd, apart from that the NAT is just fine.
I thought about getting it serviced, maybe some realignment & new caps, but it sounds all OK & I will be a bit miffed if this once a month problem continued after a service because it is a transmitter problem.
I’ve been waiting to catch it ‘at it’, then I will switch to another preset to see if the same problem
carries on, so far I’ve only seen it on preset ‘2’ (BBC R2).
On my Nat 05 / 03 when on frequency display, the last least significant digit can change and /or a stereo signal can become more noisy until retuned.
For me happens very rarely on my 05, my 03 more so… but if I leave them powered on and both ‘warmed’ up then they appear rock solid, at least mine do.
Mine does that when a station loses its stereo signal momentarily and then it comes back.
Thanks MichaelF, that’s reassuring, its what I assumed was happening.
I had one flashing event when the audio was obviously bad with high levels of hiss & crackle. Other times, mostly late at night, I see the number flashing once or twice, but the TV has been on, so I don’t get to hear the SQ.
My Naim-serviced 03 has zero drift.
This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.