Unfortunately Naim seems like one of the last brands you would want to own if you live in NZ. Here in Sweden the closest service point is In Great Britain which isn’t optimal either. I mean sending a 500-series with airfreight to get it serviced at least I find a stretch. I don’t really understand why Naim can’t give someone with soldering skills the right to buy parts from them and do the repairs locally all over the world. Does anyone understand why they don’t do that? I hardly think Naim engineers or assembly workers are more skilled than other people with expert soldering skills. I mean what is the big deal? There should be heeps of skilled people able to do this in NZ alone right!?
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I think the Nova is a wonderful bit of kit. As you say, it is surprisingly good and I enjoy it a lot. I just needed a bit more amplifier performance to control/drive my speakers , hence the NC250.
I am thinking of replacing the Nova though with something to lift the streaming performance a bit more, as that’s my primary source these days. We will see where that leads over the next few months or so.
In a Nac 552 it’s not just to solder things together,cable dressing needs to be correct and checked by listening.
It sounds like there is some kind of magic going on in that box. If a professional just changes whatever electronics need to be changed and leaves everything as it was and then makes sure it works as it did before I don’t see the problem here. If some special parts are requested. Naim can supply them along with instruction on how to do the work.
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Agreed. I cannot see a downside of having more/better support, authorised by Naim themselves.
Not enough effort being made - or just don’t care…?
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Good Work…!!
Sometimes a weird lead is just what you need… 
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Seems like cable problem then
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A simple - and cheap - fix then…?
Could it be the SNAIC between PS & 552 - the Digital supply…? Guessing the 552 is like a 52 or 252…?
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Yes ,maybe the defect cable broke the 552 in the same way again
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Naughty 
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Yea i agree, however some things need to be protected at the customers expense!
In all seriousness id say that will happen in the near future. i’d say the old way of doing things is about to be surpassed with the new way of doing things, meaning we are no longer special privileged people and the second hand market will drop like a rock which in turn will mean cheaper new Naim boxes!!!
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I guess the 222 would be the obvious match with the NC250, they are almost half price new on-line in the NZ A2A fire-sale. Just a 1 year warranty and no back-up from Naim, so personally, I wouldn’t go there. Real Music have a nice Aurelic range with streamer/pre-amps that is very good. Some older stock on sale too.
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Yes I will definitely be talking to the RM guys. It will be fun listening to potential options - and you’re right, there would seem to be a fair bit of risk with a NSC222 right now, even though that seems like it should be the best option. We would have to hope that servicing will get sorted out eventually here in NZ though
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That may have been true in the distant past. It’s not true now. I’d suggest opening your mind a bit and listening to everything. Naim certainly isn’t running a monopoly even though they’d like you to believe they are.
Naim makes great gear even today, but the way they do things is getting old to me and clearly many others. Naim won’t even sell customers a lighted logo for OC gear which they know go bad over time. It requires no soldering whatsoever to replace, but they’d like you to believe only Focal or them personally know how to turn an allen wrench.
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i’ve been around a number of different hifi rooms, imo I find Naim to be my fix. Plus the *service, upgrades and not having to search for connection cables. Naim’s whole eco system is excellent, to boot i like the sound signature. So yes it’s hard to beat for the money imo. My ears and eyes are wide awake. it’s not the best and by far from the worst. 
*forget about that where i live.
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Hi @james_n - if I understand this, I can just modify the standard Naim DIN to XLR cable for the 300 by leaving the XLR ends as they are and removing one DIN and rewiring it into the second DIN using your wiring diagram. Is that correct?
In Europe and the UK, I believe that is required by the “Right to Repair” laws*. Not so here in the US (with the exception of a couple of states) and apparently NZ, too. I would look into this, though.
*UK Right to Repair Law: “Electronic appliance manufacturers required to be able to provide consumers with spare parts for “simple and safe” repairs and to make complex parts available to repair shops.”
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I wonder how effective that is in situations where the manufacturing is outside the country of sale?
It’s the laws in the country of sale that prevail, not the country of manufacture. If the manufacturer wants to sell in that country, they have to obey its laws.