I’ve been helping a friend build a system after he was away from the hobby for 30 years. We sourced a gently used XS2, some Neat speakers and a new nd5sx2. In November he ordered a cd5si that finally arrived this week as they were on back order. Oddly it shows up with the wrong manual (one for amps) and the puck is missing. Clearly not a huge issue as it’s easily remedied but noteworthy as it points to a break down in QC. For a brand that positions itself in the market as builders of exceptional quality products I hope the QC at the build stage continues to have the same rigour that built the Naim brand. Sending the wrong manual and forgetting the puck does not hold up to the brand promise.
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That sounds disappointing.
In the old days, my dealer would always open the box and plug in the unit to make sure; A. it was working and, B. to make sure everything was as it should be.
I suppose this also meant the possibility that if my dealer forgot to repack everything correctly or mixed up manuals, I might not get the correct items in my box…
That never happened to me.
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@Blythe the dealer didn’t open the unit this was direct from the factory. The dealer will get it sorted quickly I’m sure.
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Realistically tho, the dealer shouldn’t have to re-inspect and re-QC and item from a very high end manufacturer of audio kit.
If I was managing the factory final QC inspections at Naim or another of similar quality, I would specifically demand that dealers not unpack factory sealed units for fear that the non-factory trained dealer staff could possibly leave something out or whatever.
Also, if the dealers did repack all of the factory sealed boxes, that would remove or negate any possibility of tracing just where in the process the problems/errors are occurring.
Is the Naim factory not ISO 9003 level certified? @Richard.Dane . They must be. 9003 covers design, I believe.
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I had a similar issue this past fall with a XPS DR that shipped with the wrong bundy cable.
The power supply manual is generic across several units, but the plastic pack had a npx300 burndy instead of the one for the xps. My dealer was able to correct this issue and get me the right cable pretty fast (and loan me one while it was on order to boot 
).
My issue was likely due to the product end of life transition as the new classic line was cut in and the old one phased out, but anecdotally it was a repeat/known issue.
I agree these type incidents indicate poor quality control internally.
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My experience with Naim is always having missing or faulty items. My NAC 552 is missing remote, the metal one and I think there is no that plastic remote also although when I bought my very first 552, I am provided with the metal+plastic remote.
After my 552 got faulty, it was sent back together with everything and I am returned with only the metal remote 
My 555 also faulty and got 3 replaced units.
Burndy of the 552 also caused my speaker woofer to pop unless I mute it.
The good thing throughout my ordeal is that I am patient and my dealer has a no-question-asked and replaced attitude. To them if Naim got issues, they just replaced it in a double quick manner.
Only units I have no issue is 500DR and all the power supplies so far.
Now everything is fine and I will not want to touch it anymore 
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No idea David - something best asked of Naim I feel.
One thing I learned when I worked at the factory all those years ago is that no matter how hard everybody tries, as long as human beings are involved mistakes do and will happen. What really matters is how well you respond to those mistakes.
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Too true ! Students of Human Factors Engineering will be aware that there are standard probabilities of human error for just about any task, which can be extracted from a handbook. QC actions act to reduce that probability to acceptably low levels.
Now back to Retirement after that engineering aside… !
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It’s certainly disappointing to buy a brand new product only to find something is missing, or even not working.
Regarding a dealer opening boxes and checking functionality etc as mentioned by Blythe, there are two sides to it. In favour, it is good customer service and shows the dealer cares - in the automotive industry you wouldn’t be happy if your brand new car still had plastic wrapping on/had not been valeted or not had the essential pre-delivery inspection (PDI) done.
On the other hand, though rare, the dealer does risk damaging the item or loosing something, some customers love the unboxing experience and, in this day and age of ‘open box’ if the customer backs out of the deal for whatever reason, the dealer now has an open box unit that risks having to be sold at a lower price despite the fact that it will have cost the dealer the same from Naim as any other new unit that is not graded etc.
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Humans are humans and things will sometimes go wrong. As Richard said above, it’s how things are sorted that matters. Posting about such a tiny thing does seem to be making a bit of a drama of things. We recently had a new fire installed and a little bracket was missing. I simply called the shop and they sent someone round to fit the missing part. I didn’t post on the manufacturer’s Facebook or X or whatever. It was fixed with good grace and that’s it. Think about the hard working employees at Naim packing boxes, and how it might make them feel to be accused of poor quality control by someone on the internet.
This sort of thread is really unnecessary, it just stirs up grumbliness and let’s face it, there’s more than enough of that around.
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Many times a forum is the fastest indicator on that there are issues that need to be sorted. I don’t see any issues with people raising problems here. If it’s a healthy QC department over at Naim which I do believe they will take note and improve. It’s not personal.
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Quite right!
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Naim dispatches many boxes each week; the vast majority will have the right bits in them. I have been buying Naim since the 1980s and not once has anything arrived with the wrong bits in it and I expect many people will have a similar experience. When something does go wrong with a new bit of kit as once happened to me, between Naim and my Audio-T dealer, I had a replacement with me less than 24 hours later. The fault was a bought-in component that failed halfway through the dealer setting the new bits up, it worked initially then stopped and as this fault had never occurred before was impossible to predict. I wish I had such good quality of service from other companies.
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@Richard.Dane I agree with you as long as humans are involved things will happen and the response is important. It is being reported directly to Naim and I trust will be treated as a learning opportunity for improvement which any quality brand does as part of the QC monitoring and evaluation process. And yes the after service of Naim is exceptional. I’ve had gear repaired by Naim and their after sales support has been second to none. It’s why I have Naim and no plan to leave. I mention it here as this forum should be a place for discussing all things Naim including good and the areas that might be improved.
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@Blackbird you are correct. It’s an opportunity for improvement and mentioning here as part of a full discussion of a brand we all enjoy recognizing its strengths as well as opportunities for improvement.
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@HungryHalibut I am not broadly posting about this on Facebook, X, Google reviews or other audio sites. I mention it on this forum as part of a healthy discussion about a product we all enjoy and want to succeed recognizing its strengths, but also areas for improvement. My post recognizes this is clearly not a huge issue but worthy of mention. Worthy of mention based on my experience working with companies who take these QC misses seriously as part of their monitoring as they recognize mistakes need to be minimized to maintain their brand and treat them as learning opportunities in their CI loops. I expect Naim is such a company and will do the same. I suspect they monitor this forum as part of seeking feedback, both good and not so good, from customers.
Don’t take my post as a full on attack of Naim. The brand is solid and one I have no intention on leaving any time soon because of its sound quality, build sound and equally important after service. It’s why I strongly recommended it to my friend who never heard of it until I showed it to him in my system. Naim is relatively unknown in my part of the world. But we can’t underestimate the impact of small things like this on the consumer. In this case my friend spent almost $12k on Naim products, his first buying experience with them, and in his words “expected better” for that price.
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Naim don’t monitor the Forum and therefore are unlikely to see your post. To me it’s just fuss about nothing. Puck all. If your friend wasn’t happy then he could have contacted Naim and explained what happened. Anyway, we do things in different ways, and if moaning about something makes you happier, then who am I to stand in your way.
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QC is also retrospective. It discovers repetitive faults in manufacturing, as well as repetitive faults in design.
Eg frequent returns of streamers for faulty relays. Won’t be picked up during manufacturing but will be found by monitoring the number of returns for faulty relays.
Eg frequent faults during soak testing suggesting issues with wiring perhaps an improvement in “how to wire x” that can reduce errors.
Things like missing / incorrect bits in boxes could only be caught by someone before the box gets sealed with tape. But again you only learn after the event, and then you can tighten procedures or put in training etc.
Naim employ temps as well as people who’ve been there for years, so yes qc is always important.
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That may be true, but we all expect the right parts to be fitted to an aero engine when it’s being serviced.
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