yea its possible, im not that technical. i just noticed they are a different size etc
Well we differ there. Iād be pissed off and I purchased and then it didnāt sound as good as I expected irrespective of the parts.
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And a NAC52!
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Is that a NAC552 or 52?
Itās a real photo. I saw it from a Hongkong megazine.
It is from a magazine in Hongkong called Hifirev!ew
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It seems thereās a supply issue on the yellow 47uF caps and while supply and Naimās stocks should be OK for existing products, the numbers needed for the NC kit now and going forwards was a problem. So R&D undertook a testing and listening program to find an alternative - many were tried and auditioned and these little blue ones were found to sound really good and luckily they could be supplied in the numbers required.
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52
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Is this an official reply from the R&D department? But on the other hand, it is understandable
The blue ones look like the ones used in 202ā¦ and I checked that seems the yellow ones are still under manufacture
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Yes, still made but not in quantities required by Naim without crazily long lead times.
Is this an official reply from the R&D department?
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I donāt know what you mean here by āofficial replyā.
I asked the question of the R&D team at Naim and thatās the answer I received - straight from the āhorses mouthā, so to speak. If you are looking for more than that then I would suggest you send an email to Naim support.
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I think you have to understand that nothing goes into a Naim component without it being approved. As I posted before, every change due to availability etc goes through a change request system and doesnāt proceed unless itās signed off by multiple people; including r&d saying it sounds the same or better. If itās worse it doesnāt get used. Nothing is replaced for the sake of it. I think asking for an official statement from r&d is a bit much to expect.
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This is what I want to know
I understand no company will tell the changes in components, design, etc. But itās sad to notice that the boardās design was obviously for the yellow capacitors, but now they are no longer there. Weirdly, the yellow capacitors still need to be filled in the first batches 332. Then why is the board designed for that? Were the components supplement issues not considered during the design?
I was the person who originally drew attention to the fact that they kept the Promisic caps in the new 332 preamp design. I was surprised to see it, so now Iām surprised to see them removed and replaced so early on in production. These caps have been used in the 282, 252, 552, Statement, and also kept on hand for service.
There are a few things I find extremely odd about this.
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Itās odd that Naim canāt get Sic Safeco to make them in quantities high enough to satisfy demand when considering the 282 and 252 have been discontinued and I can only imagine 552s arenāt flying off the shelves right now. Theyāve been purchasing them for the past 20+ years.
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Itās odd that Naim designed the 332 PCBs to accommodate the physically larger Promisic caps, and have stated they were chosen for their larger physical size so they clearly find value in that, but are now stating (through Richard) that those tiny blue caps sound just as good. Iām assuming those caps are the same tiny blue Samwha caps that they use selectively in other products. They are extremely affordable compared to the larger Promisics. Vishay makes a cap nearly identical in physical build to the Promisic caps. Were those tested? Was Naim resting on their laurels? Did they not test other more modern caps in those locations previous to this claimed supplier issue?
If these tiny more affordable blue caps actually perform the same or better then I would assume Statement should now be using them and any product released that replaces the 552 should also now use them. Otherwise, the Promisics are clearly superior. Actions will speak loudly.
Iām with the OP on this. It would be nice to hear right from the design team on the process that led to these new tiny caps being deemed acceptable. While theyāre at it it would be nice to hear an explanation as to why the Well Shin 14ga power cables which they swore by for decades have gone away and been replaced with some other no name 18ga power cable.
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I think the whole issue is moot. You canāt choose the caps. You get what Naim give you. You can however decide whether you think the new products sound better or worse than what you are upgrading from and better or worse than other things in the same price range.
Ultimately, thatās the only degree of control and choice you have. Pondering over the change in caps and whether itās a valid design decision or bait and switch (Iāve only met three people who make buying decisions based on caps and they have bonkers weird sounding systems, so I donāt think Naim are being shifty to appeal to those niche customers) really seems like a foolās errand.
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He is a legend!
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This is exactly the same what I have thought