Hello, all. I’m a long-time Marantz Reference owner and I recently decided to scale down in size (and reportedly UP in performance) with a Uniti Nova. The first unit I received from an authorized and highly regarded retailer here in the United States was defective. Upon removing the Nova from packaging, I could immediately hear a piece of metal rattling and rolling around inside. I didn’t bother to plug it in and boxed it back up immediately.
I returned the defective Nova and received a replacement today. To my surprise, it suffers from precisely the same issue. I lifted it out of packaging and immediately heard metal rattling around inside. This time, however, I was able to see a screw through a gap in the casing. So, clearly both units - which I’ve confirmed are in fact NOT the same unit - suffer from a manufacturing problem. I’m at a bit of a loss. I was very excited to join the Naim community, but I’m second guessing my decision.
Is Naim known for quality control/manufacturing issues? Is reliability a concern? Any suggestions on how to proceed? I have of course contacted the retailer and expect to hear back from them shortly. Unfortunately, I fear I’m now going to encounter an inventory problem (the retailer replaced the first defective Nova with the model featuring a tuner due to inventory constraints).
No, not the norm at all, and I would think that Naim would be very keen to know what exactly the issue is here so it can be identified and if need be, fixed.
I have heard of a couple of occasions where a small piece of solder has managed to get lodged under the transformer (one disadvantage of having such large transformers) only to work itself loose when shaken, rattled and rolled during the shipping process, but this is pretty rare, and of course, easily fixed.
Your dealer should work with the distributor here to make things good for you.
“Is Naim known for quality control/manufacturing issues? Is reliability a concern?” Nope, Nope & Nope, you are one unlucky so and so, get a Nova, you won’t be disappointed, once you get passed this situation that is, it does seem very odd though!
Welcome, it sounds like sabotage to me, possibly from a rogue hegel technician. I bought an atom last year to run my 705s and its “da nutz” bloody awesome. My wife even likes it.
I appreciate the positive perspectives, everyone. Thank you. I’m now in contact with Naim and they’re being very supportive (and appropriately apologetic). Both the team at Naim and my dealer are moving swiftly to resolve. I’m hoping to join the System Pics 2022 thread as soon as possible!
For those interested, I can confirm that the loose piece of metal rattling around inside the unit was a screw. I was able to see it through a gap in the casing. I can’t say with 100% certainty that this was the issue with the first defective unit, but it’s highly likely given that the rattling noise was identical.