NDS Service >> Have You Done One?

While I understand your post is a joke, please don’t anybody purposely damage their Naim kit. All I think it means is that there’s no “set service routine” where a whole load of certain components are changed out no matter what, only the ones needing replacement in order for the unit to perform as it should do.

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:+1:

See post 52.

This has been answered several times already in this thread. Naim will repair the NDS and change anything they need to get it back to full performance, but they won’t service it in the old sense, ie they won’t change all the capacitors just because of age, because it has proved to be impossible to do so without causing damage elsewhere.

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And Post 44 for a copy of a detailed email from Naim service dept answering this very question.

Bruce

Post 52 begins:
“Mmm… I’m really confused and concerned having read the other replies in this thread!”

Read No 44 then!

Thank you for posting that link, Eoin.

I hadn’t fully taken in that post of Richard’s when I originally read it on that other thread because then my NDS screen still worked fine so there was no cause to do anything to it.

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That tends to suggest that Naim may never have habitually changed all the caps when servicing the NDS (perhaps unsurprisingly as even the oldest are scarcely old), so few will have gone specifically for service (as opposed to repair).

That thread has quite a lot of information, and it seems Naim did a few services, but this post seems to suggest they didn’t do too many.

That’s not 52

Thanks Robert.

I didn’t originally click on those links because I’d already read most of that thread - before my screen went dim.

I just read every post in it that mentions the NDS.

So my digging for cases of a service are pointless because the situation has changed and the caps cannot be changed - but my screen will be repaired free under dealer warranty and the dealer is now arranging an MRA and courier pick up.

My NDS sounds great anyway, so doesn’t need a service.

It was made in 2015 and had a new streaming card installed in Oct 2023.

[I’ve therefore deleted my post making a request to NeilS].

I spoke to Henry at Tom Tom and he confirmed that Naim do not service the NDS

Thanks, Mano.

I’ve now removed the NDS from my system and boxed it up, and the dealer that sold it to me has sent me an RMA.

So the wheels are in motion for the repair of the screen and nothing else.

I’m very happy with that.

It’s very interesting listening to the system without the NDS and the 555DR - just my ND5XS2 and Qobuz as source.

It sounds very different: thinner, and quieter, still surprisingly good with some rap music I happen to play last night, but nowhere near as good on jazz music I know really well.

I don’t know quite why I played the rap music as I hardly ever do that normally.

IMG_2056

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After many years being obsessed with Ducati’s one marvelled at the worry and paranoid chatter of fellow enthusiasts surrounding the bikes’ timing belts- who how and when they should changed and what might happen should a belt be used beyond its folk lore invented work life. Go to Rimini race circuit for the bi annual World Ducati Week and see/hear literally thousands of Ducati’s being revved for minutes at the engine’s Rev ceiling (no idea what pleasure owners derive from this activity- holding throttle open with engine revving at the level the bike’s Rev limiter cuts in)… as far as I know no timing belts failed - belt failure is so rare yet one may believe it a huge risk factor in ducati ownership if u only listen to the enthusiasts. Then I got into Naim, learnt about more enthusiasts obsessing over their kit. I have never ever had hi fi serviced, only ever had speaker drivers fail, never lost an amp or deck fail. Now im told im daft if I don’t pay a significant percentage of the kit’s original purchase price to get it serviced otherwise sound will degrade or even that a component can fail, leak and ruin the device. Since my first naim in 2004 I have bought a lot of naim and had a couple out of box fails and one screen go. Never had a service or apart from the screen required a repair. I understand that some types of caps (associated with ps) can or maybe will leak over time but this must be a small risk and has never happened to me. I won’t be spending grands ££ on what I see as unnecessary work to my kit. If or when it fails I will make a consideration. As for the ‘night and day’ improvement in sq after a service I am so skeptical about audiophiles ability to discern differences in sq when making various changes to their hi fi I must treat such claims with the same pinch of salt I used when told about the latest fail safe method of tensioning the aforementioned ducati timing belts. I know the nds has no ps but to hear it suddenly does not need servicing after being lead to believe it once did rather underlines my opinion… we are after all talking about devices designed to play music, not mission dependent products that must never fail…

So no point in servicing or changing the belt on a Ducati? Just wait 'til it stops?

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I have not suggested that there is no point in servicing a Ducati, that would be foolish and result in an early engine failure or at best excessive wear. However certainly never changing the belts on a Ducati is now one school of thought amongst the more experienced owners who will periodically give the belts only a visual check - the belts are now kevlar reinforced so resist degradation and most Ducati riders do very few miles, however following Ducati’s actual guide lines would be sensible and would make the bike easier to sell it having an up to date manufacturer’s recommended service history - rather than changing the belts every three minutes and ceaselessly worrying about whether their tension is correct… however with hi fi equipment I would go with your proposition (if you meant it) that there being “no point in changing the belt (in fact there are two belts) 'til it stops”, if we remember Naim is a product that makes music rather than offering something we rely on (if it stops working you are likely to be no worse position than when you sent it away for its £600 service)… for certain NDS owners who have already paid for a (seemingly now un necessary) service have perhaps wished they hadn’t… And I have never let the lack of a service stop me buying any of the used Naim I have purchased, including my NDS!!

The tolerances on (some) Naim equipment are so fine that “bits” can drift; even by small amount, the golden ears at Naim (Gary Crocker these days) can hear it. Hence the amps can benefit from servicing. Other components don’t appear to be so impacted. The nds apparently being one of them.

In general not servicing Naim kit is not likely to be catastrophic possibly with the exception of the regulated power amps that could take out a speaker, or two.

Rather than the belt its probably better to use oil, spark plugs etc as the analogy. On a non-desmo bike valve clearances are an important service item and often not done due to cost or lack of knowledge. The signs of clearances closing up start to mskes themselves know long before the bike wont run.
Servicing keeps things running well and when I did the valve clearances on my ZX-7R it was miles better :grinning:

Do desmos need clearances doing?

I agree Kevlar belts are better long term and a YB0200 belt is nearly 160 quid just for the belt!