Nova, big SQ jump after 9 months!

[Luc]

I’m thinking did anyone have the same experience with Naim separates? I mean random (unknown reason) sound quality fluctuation, or sound quality improvements after a year (!). I understand that minor quality fluctuations are possible because of mains, cable noises and similar reasons, but I don’t think that they are so huge like in Atom and Nova. Or they are?

I’m planning to buy bigger sound system, and in the beginning I thought that Naim separates would be the best choice for me. But after my experience with my Uniti Atom I’m really not sure… I want to turn my system on and listen to music without solving the puzzle about why SQ is bad today and how to improve it. Believe me, sometimes my Atom sounds worse than my Sony Bravia TV. Bass is so boomy and mids/highs are so unclear, that ir is not pleasant at all to listen to music.

Also I want to have answers from Naim about explanations of such SQ changes. When I noticed such SQ fluctuations I returned my Atom back to dealer for checking. They checked and said that everything is fine. I did not agree with the conclusions and asked my dealer to send the unit to Naim factory in Salisbury for more detailed checking. After several months I got my Uniti back and Naim said, that they did not find anything wrong. It was written “unable to confirm fault” in Job Sheet.

So I (and also many other Atom and Nova users) was left in fools place OR this problem is so mystical that even Naim can’t find its cause… Many of us experience drastic unknown reason SQ changes, but Naim claims that everything is allright…

[Luc]

By the way, later Naim agreed to change the unit to new one, and I really appreciate that. But unfortunately, its behavior related to SQ fluctuations remained even on a new device…

[stew1011]

I’ve had the Star but about 8 months, I listen mainly via music streamed from a zen mini mkII or Tidal Hi-Fi.

The sound has recently recently opened up and the soundstage is wider and deeper

[afgverhart]

To what extent could SQ differences be related to power grid fluctuations? We were living in an apartment building before and there was massive fluctuations in SQ. I always think that was related to others in the building putting ‘pollution’ in the building’s electrical wiring. Since we live in a new build detached home I have none of these issues anymore, with the same equipment.

[diggerbj]

I was listening to my Nova at the week-end and thought blimey this is sounding good. Then I remembered this thread. I purchased mine at the beginning of November 2018 and it’s now the end of July - 9 months!

Having mentioned that I also agree with afgverhart. I’m sure the Nova is sensitive to mains power supply activity. On Saturday afternoon not much else was going on in the house.