Superline Service Quandary/Disappointment.😮‍💨

I have been making, designing and repairing electronics since age 13 (now 74) and over the years developed some work arounds for difficult situations. For parts that could not be safely unsoldered due to large ground planes etc. I would cut away the component but then cut the legs flush with the PCB then drill out the old legs. Very fiddly but can be done with care. However, its one thing doing this as a hobby but perhaps not viable for a commercial business.

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I hope you got more for £399 than a few tants and a logo !
My logo is also bleeding

Who knows is the answer @Dunc .
I started this thread yesterday, expecting a quick advocacy for service. By mid morning my hopes were dashed after a call to my dealer.
This is clearly not a new issue for naim, and one around the design of the pcb. A latent legacy shortfall.

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Lejonklou Slipsik.

So should we all budget on getting a Linn Urika fitted once fading capacitors start to suggest to us that a Superline is now needing an unavailable service?

More important perhaps to some, given the Naim has had to do this for a product they still sell, is there any reason not to expect the same to happen to 552/500/Core or any other legacy products?

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I don’t think that’s a conclusion we can draw from what Richard and Neil say. It sounds like a small number of products are affected for specific reasons, and isn’t the first sign of a lot more. I’m hoping that’s the case anyway. Plus the 552 has been around longer than the SL, and I suspect if serviceability was an issue that would have come to light before now?

Good point about this inability to service on an existing product.

The inability to service an SL only came to light yesterday—a £3,000, 500-series product. SL has been around since 2008, one of the newer 500-series products.

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The 552 from 2002, I was reading between a few lines in the posts from Neil and Richard, that perhaps not many Superlines had been serviced so perhaps the issue only just coming to light. The older 500 series products having been around for longer, and therefore more likely to have been serviced, and if there were issues with that we’d know by now?

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Agree. Early SLs will have been a service for a couple of years now.

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I am surprised for the Nds and Superline. Why don’t they service it anymore ?
I have a 2016 Nds and thought I will send it for service in around 3/4 years. But maybe it’s not necessary ?
As for Superline, it’s very odd.

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Do you think or know if the NDS can degrade in sound over years if not serviced?

Superline is full of electrolytic caps.

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FR, see my post here which explains the problem in more detail;

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That was my thoughts too.
When I read RD’s earlier note and explanation, my thought process went something like this…

Okay, so SL was in production from 2008.
Assuming recommended service intervals of say 12 years.
So, SL’s would start appearing into Naim service dept, at Salisbury HQ, from about 2020.

Can only guess, but sufficient cases - over 4-5 year period - for the above design issue shared by RD to become a known challenge, for the Naim service technicians. Eventually leading to the commercial decision and announcement last Thursday to dealers.

Just curious, but would be fascinated to understand total number of cases and proportion that required whole board replacing?

As others have already suggested, this news seriously curtails the product life of the SuperLine, as without that service option, it’s performance will drop off from design spec’ and degrade from about the 12 year mark.

For my part, I’m particularly frustrated by this news. Our is only 12 months old, bought new thinking it would last a life time.
Or at least go 25 years, with one service along the way, and that might do us?

Unhappy :frowning:
R

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To me it begs the question…….if it sounds off i would take to my dealer, compare to a new one. If it still sounds off, must be something wrong with it. Please get it repaired for me?

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Agreed :+1:
There has already been a few inferring a similar idea.
What constitutes an issue requiring “repair” ?

No doubt, time will tell…

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Those of us with Radikals are going to be very tempted to switch to Urika at some stage. Once the performance on my SL drops off I’m going to seriously consider it. Maybe even earlier…

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Yep. You have put it better than me.

I have just one question. As my Nds is powered by 2 555 ps, are the caps inside the Nds still useful and operational ?
Thanks in advance