My ND555 developed a fault with the left channel recently and it was sent in to the local Naim dealer for repairs. Upon return of the unit, only 2 of the transport screws were secured loosely and the other 2 were totally off. The 2 screws that were loosely on are the 2 screws near the left edge of the unit.
FWIW, I’ve aired my utmost displeasure to the dealership as it has severely dampened my confidence in their technical abilities.
I understand that Naim mentions in the manual that all transport screws must be screwed on tightly during transportation. What is the possibility that the internal suspension is damaged due to this? Is there anyway to check if the suspension is damaged?
I don’t get it, who didn’t secure them? Did Naim send the parcel to the dealer and the dealer sent it on to you? Why would the dealer open it and unscrew the bolts before sending it on?
It’s possible for vibration in transit to loosen off the transport bolts on the kit with mass loaded suspension. IIRC Naim have in the past applied tape to them to try to prevent this.
Oh i didn’t make it really clear in my first post, the unit was repaired locally by the dealer. It wasn’t sent back to Naim. The dealer is also really nearby - 15 minutes from my place. So there isn’t multiple handling points during freight which could be serious enough for the bolts to drop off on their own. It’s likely the boot weren’t secured after the local repairs, before packing it up for transport.
I think that all of my new-in-box items from Naim that had transport screws had them tight and with electrical tape over them as well. NDS, ND555, NAC552.
Make sure you keep the transit screws safe as they will need to be replaced if the player is to be carried any distance, packed or shipped in the future.
As does the full manual for every other suspended unit, e.g. CD555:
Seven transit screws must be removed from the underside of the CD 555 before use and be replaced if the player is to be carried any distance, packed or shipped.
The easiest think to do is send it to naim to check, but that means you will be without it for a while.
Or you could just take a look yourself inside if you’re competent to do that? As I don’t think personally that any harm will have come to it from what you have explained, I take it works OK.
Leaving aside the incorrect handling of your ND555 and what you may want to do about that - to check the unit:
1. Does it still work? 2. Is it fairly quiet when you lightly nudge it on a flat level surface?
Assuming it works then only the second item above will be of concern - if the springs have lost their centering then it will make more noise and some clank sounds - it should make a little noise if the springs are working - a light ‘tinkling’ sound but no clunks.
If it works and the suspension sounds like it is working - a quiet sound of things re-settling when the unit slightly disturbed - and you think it still sounds good, then it is fine IMO and leave it alone.
Complain certainly - it should have been done better.
In those situations there is a chance the unit could be mishandled.
If the OP has collected the unit himself from the dealer and didn’t drive over half a dozen speed bumps at 70mph, etc. on the way home, he has no reason to be worried.
If a white van man dropped it off and threw it into his hallway he should be worried
We don’t know any details about the journey and the number of speed bumps or missteps, and during my time on the forum I read more than one post about CDS3 trays becoming dislodged for less. Nor do we know for sure that it’s working at its best.
In any case, it’s @nautilus’s choice, but it’s a 15K machine and the dealer made quite a mistake (@nautilus could just as well have turned it upside down), I don’t know why he should live with the doubt at the back of his mind. As the dealer could repair the left channel (the reason for bringing it to the dealer), they are probably able to check the suspension without sending it to Naim HQ.
You have sent an item for repair, it came back faulty. The bolts which are supposed to be secured were not. I can only shake my head at such carelessness from the dealer.
The unit was transported by the dealer to my place hence I’m not sure whether it was thrown around during transit. It was transported in the original box and packaging which hopefully helped to cushion some impact.
I’ve powered it up and there’s sound coming out of both channels. However when I was carrying it and putting it on the Fraim, I could feel the suspension wobbling and making a slight squeaking sound. Not sure if this is normal.
The dealer told me they will get back to me tomorrow on follow up actions. It’s really disappointing if the unit has to be sent back to Naim as it will take a few months. Then again, I wouldn’t trust the dealer to inspect the suspension after this episode.
The CDS3 tray suspention isn’t the same as PCB suspension.
3 cups sit on a suspension arm, 3 pins on the CD mech are located in the cups. Inserting the transit screws lifts the mech and pins out of the cups, removing the transit screws allows the pins to drop into the cups. Only once did I have a problem with the a pin not being located in a cup on my CDS2, that happened when I was removing the transit screws and lowering mech.
From DB’s decription of the sound the springs makes, the ND555 PCB suspension must be coil springs.
You have about a 10mm thick brass plate, this has the circuit board mounted on top off it and under it on each corner is a small spring.
This allows the brass plate to move in all directions a few mm, damage would occur if the springs have been over stretched, but as 2 screws are still in place, all be it lose, then I guess all that has happened is one side of the plate will have bumped about a bit on the base of the unit, as the transit screws, screw the brass plate down to the base
