I have finally got my system back up and running after over 18 months out of action due to building work on the house - happy days! I’ve just added a Teufel Connector as a low-cost way of streaming Spotify Connect and a small collection of FLAC files I am slowly building up on a desktop PC running as a DLNA server. Sounds great and far more convenient than connecting my iPhone via 3.5mm jack.
All is good but I am not sure of what my next step should be.
I have a quote from Darran at Class A to getting everything serviced apart from the CDX and it’s coming in at around £1000 which is more than reasonable given that my oldest piece of kit (Hi-Cap) is from 1990 and hasn’t been touched once since manufacture. Side note - isn’t it amazing that this kit is still working perfectly after 30yrs?!
For roughly the same money, I could trade in the 180 and get a 250. While the 180 has absolutely no issues driving my Neats, I’ve always been keen to see what the 250 could bring and know it’s a classic pairing with the 82.
I don’t think I have any desire to upgrade the CDX or NAC82 and the Neats work absolutely brilliantly in my room, so the question is, should I get what I have serviced OR seek out an Olive 250 now and then look to get it all serviced further down the line when funds permit?
I would without question service the XPS, Hicap and 82 as they will be sounding pretty ropey by now. As to the 180 it’s a question of whether service costs will be recovered if you later get a 250. Bear in mind that if the unserviced 180 becomes unstable there is a risk of taking the speakers with it. On balance, it’s probably best to send the whole lot to Darran now. You’ll probably be so delighted with the improvement that thoughts of the 250 move to the back burner. You can always save up and get the 250 later, and a serviced 180 will be much more attractive on the second hand market.
I agree with HH, get your gear serviced. If you’re going to get a 250 soon, you could maybe skip the 180 service, but the worst case scenario is that it takes out your speakers, so I wouldn’t leave it too long.
Prepare for the shock, my wife was in the kitchen (stop, its normally me that does the cooking) and my wife from a distance said what have you done to the hifi.
Regardless of it sounds better or not my wife would say such a thing if I swap out all my boxes, send them off to someone and receives them back a few weeks later.
But I fully agree that having everything serviced makes a good difference especially on a well balanced system.
Update: by a curious quirk of fate, I had a meeting in Chesterfield so dropped everything off at Class A at 9:30 yesterday morning. Darran somehow managed to turn it all around on the same day - that’s a NAC82, XPS, HICAP, NAP180, Headline AND 2 x NAPSC. Impressive! I was back on the road at 17:00 with a boot full of freshly-serviced kit. Aiming to get it all set up this afternoon and can’t wait to hear the results.
Absolutely fantastic service from Darran and a lovely chap too!
That’s very impressive for sure. Remember that the equipment will take a while to get back on song, though it should sound much more lively straight way. Have fun.