Although i am on my third ND555 my dealer and Naim have been brilliant. In your case i think your dealer is letting you down, Naim can only respond to what your dealer is feeding back to them. I would have a face to face meeting and tell them what you want done. There are many suggestions from this thread site visit to your money back, you need to decide?
FR, I don’t know - it’s really down to the dealer and of course, additionally it’s also down to the distributor.
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The problem is though that the scratch is on the underside and I didn’t notice it when I took delivery - my mistake. The dealer removed the tape and transit screws on his lap, so I only noticed it later.
I assume this is because of the problems being experienced with case quality around that time and standards were allowed to fall in order to meet deliveries. Further, given that mine was a replacement, I suspect the case was a ‘second’, which is annoying because I had still paid full price for the unit.
I must say that Stefan has in detailed explained very well the issue he has with his ND555. For sure something is not right and I would very much like to know if the Naim tech guys, the experts, could with his problem description nail the issue down to one or two causes. I think they can.
Personally I am very interested to know “what and why” as I are discussing with a dealer to buy his demo when it’s coming up for sale in August/September. And then to buy it without home demo.
You guys are amazing with trying to help me. That gives me hope. So what did I try today?
@Richard.Dane: I did unscrew the burndies by a quarter of a turn to distress them. It could have helped a little bit, but I’m not sure so far. The main problem persists.
I have a second pair of burndies I will try tonight. This are the ones that came with the ND555, so they are brand new.
@Darkebear and @Filipe: I did position the Units as you described DB and I also retorqued the SL2 driver and interface plate. This time only with 3.4nm to be sure to distress it. The sound calmed down a bit, which is a good thing. But the main problem persists. A different plugin order I will try tomorrow.
Regarding the Musicline testing. I did send them the Powersupply all cables (Burndies and Superlumia in between ND555 and 552) and the ND555. They tested the hole chain and played it in comparison to a working unit (more then one day). Then they also measured the cables and units. Result: everything is ok.
Initially listening to the ND555 sounds ok (not wow) for me, after a while it gets unpleasant. I could imagine that Musicline never got to the unpleasant part. But I’m just guessing because on the other hand I appreciated there efforts so far.
What I will do for sure tomorrow, I will get my dealer involved more.
Thanks so far and with much appreciation
Stefan
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Would it be possible for you to be there when your dealer, Musicline,tests the whole system to see if you hear the harshness etc. and whether or not they agree that its there. If they say it sounds fine ,do you agree as well.
Stefan,…I’ll take an example from a friends music-system
He has an incredible “listening-ear”.
He began to suspect that there was something wrong with his Linn Uphorik riaa-step,.to his LP12.
It did not play as engaging as previously he thought,.also a bit sharp and sterile.
I,.and most of us who listened heard nothing,but thought it played well.
But then he got to borrow a new Linn Uphorik from his dealer.
After a few days of “burn in” we compared.
Then It was heard,…there was a small difference where the “broken” played a bit more sharp and sterile.
The Difference was not big,…But still so big that the music played as I said “sharp and sterile” with the “broken”.
It turned out that the Audioboard had been exposed to Static Electricity.
When the fault was now discovered,.he got a new Uphorik of his dealer
I tell you this story because it could be something like that you suffered with your ND555.
And this is very difficult to detect,.but the error made that he used his LP12 less and less.
If there would be such an error,…then you have to borrow another ND555 for a week or so,to be able to compare in your own music-system.
This is just one of the many tips you got in this thread,…all the tips are great and we’ll hope you’ll find the error at the end
/Peder🙂
Good to check the Pre as you say as 12 years is a long time for the 552. Mine needed a Service at 10 years - and I mean needed, as it just went harsh and something had just decided to die on one of the inputs and it happened very suddenly - possibly static when I plugged-in my source and the coupling Tant caps were old and not handling the spike. I’ve experienced Tant cap couplers going harsh (from my hobby constructing days) and it was the same sound.
A friend’s 552 had very bad luck and also (I believe also after trying a new DAC) died and went harsh and needed Service in under 10 years.
In both our cases the Amp went away and was returned by Naim all serviced and updated with the little build tweaks they accumulate over the product life and it sounded better than ever - and I got to borrow a 552 Demo unit while it was away from my Dealer so it was not an ordeal.
The 552 can go 15 years or more and just gracefully get duller that you don’t notice - but it can go very harsh of a sudden and it can be an unwelcome shock.
This is for general info - yours may be absolutely fine if you have tried other sources into the same 552 inputs and they sound good.
But presuming you do get the ND555 problem resolved you perhaps could get the 552 DR-upated and Serviced as that will be good to do anyway at some point soon.
DB.
The ND555 is unequivocally better than the NDS, so there is a problem with this particular ND555. I presume that both channels are working? It took me a (very short) while to realise that the loss of sparkle in my system was due to a dead right channel. It is initially deceptive, as the right hand SL2 continues to resonate due to radiated sound from the left.
Replacement unit restored the magic. Point is, it’s something to do with the ND555 and/or it’s cabling. Speakers,Amps etc. have nothing to do with it.
HH is right if the NDS sounds fine then the problem has to be with the ND555. Any discussion about cables etc is a misnomer. The dealer should be asked to check this out. Simple.
As DB said, the nd555 pushes high frequencies more than the nds. So if the 552 became fragile and needs service, the nd555 reveals more its shortcomings than the nds.
I am not saying is that, but it may be that.
However i tend more to think as you or HH, it’s very surely a problem with the nd555.
My first reaction from here on would be to try the new Burndies.
I have read on the forum that the nds burndys are not exactly like the nd555 burndys. Someone can perhaps respond.
Stefan, did your dealer check out your ND555 with the new ND555 burndies or your old NDS burndies?
enjoy/ken
I believe the Burndys are identical.
i will open a thread on that. It’s perhaps the solution. I am quite sure having read that the burndys are not identical. But i may of course be completely wrong.
Seeing as you have to get the 12 year old 552 serviced and recapped anyway regardless of all this, I strongly recommend doing that first.
Unless taken care of, there will always be a question mark over this part of the problem.
Stefan,…To check this…
Borrow a 552 from your dealer and compare it to your 552.
Then you know at once if that’s where the fault lies.
Time passes,and you need to know where the fault lies before it’s to late.
/Peder🙂
Hold on we risk going up the wrong road here. There was nothing wrong until the ND555 was installed.
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LindsayM,…It is worth checking his 552.
The ND555 apparently plays in a bit higher frequencies than NDS.
And starting 552 need a service,so maybe it can not cope with these frequencies.
I myself have been involved in such a phenomenon.
Though it was a very long time ago (1986).
And…Is this checked,well then we know with certainty that the fault must be ND555 or Burndy cables.
/Peder🙂