I turned on my unit, heard a loud zap and music played out of only one speaker. I touched the unit and it was smoking hot, turned the unit off and unplugged the power from the rear of the unit and don’t know what to do now.
I don’t know what could’ve led to it getting so hot as it wasn’t on. Both the sides and top are hottest, but the entire unit is pretty toasty.
Suggestions?
Something is seriously amiss there. Contact your local Naim dealer or distributor.
This is definitely in need of TLC , switch it off, disconnect and contact your dealer
??
Was it in fact smoking?
Was it so hot it burnt you when you touched it?
Was it too hot to touch but touching didn’t burn?
Was it too hot to leave hand on for long but not too hot to touch briefly?
Was it very hot but you could still hold /keep your hand on it?
These sorts of description would give a far better idea of how hot it was.
Good questions…I mentioned ‘smoking hot’ as a phrase but it wasn’t actually smoking, just extremely hot.
It wasn’t so hot that it burnt me when I touched it.
It was too hot to touch but touching didn’t burn me.
It was too hot to leave my hand on for long but not too hot to touch briefly.
It was very hot and i could keep my hand on it but not for long - not that it would’ve burned me but it would be very uncomfortable.
Thanks for the questions as ‘smoking hot’ may have sounded a bit dramatic and wasn’t the case.
I would guess around 60deg C!
Sounds like it has gone dc. You’ll need to get the speakers checked as the voice coils may have melted.
What’s dc?
He means that the amp is putting DC current into the loudspeakers. If this happens it can destroy the loudspeaker drivers which may well cost more to repair than the amp.
If there is any possibility of this you should turn off the amp or unplug the speaker cables until you have had it checked and repaired.
What happens if the Naim is faulty and blew my speaker out? Does the warranty cover something like this too?
The warranty is underwritten by the distributor. You’d have to ask your dealer that specific question as it will vary from country to country.
I suggest not worry about worst case scenarios yet. Find out what is wrong first and test the speakers with another amp.
Local dealer told me to contact Focal Naim America as they don’t deal w repairs since I didn’t purchase it from them and the one who I did has since retired and shut.
Focal Naim America’s website is down and calling them is only in French (they’re in Quebec), but any number option you press just ends up ending the call.
I emailed Naim Uk. I’m 4 days from the end of the 2 year warranty and hope they respond so I’m still covered.
Naim UK suggested I reset the unit and see if the issue persists but with the loud zap sound, I’m not so sure that’s a good idea!
Try first to disable server mode , in the app settings.
What speakers cables are you using ?
First thing I’d do before switching on again is disconnect the speakers, and then try running it for a while, then repeat turning off and on again a couple of times, listening (to the unit) and feling its temperature.
Then, given your description, before connecting speakers, and with no music playing, connect a multimeter in DC voltage mode across each pair of speaker terminals in turn - start on a range of, say, 100V, then if nothing lower the range. As long as less than, say, 0.1V (100mV) positive or negative then no DC issue (at the time of measuring). Ideally it should be quite a bit lower. Slightly higher is not necessarily an issue, but maybe worth cnsulting Naim if it is 100mV or higher.
Then still before connecting speakers put the meter in AC voltage mode, again say 50v or so range, and measure voltage across each pair of speaker terminals with no music playing: both should be zero unless you go down to low millivolts. Then play music - if possible select mono or pick a mono recording, play at a low, then moderate, then high level. Voltage should ve variable, but higher with higher volume control settings, and if mono both channels should be much the same, if not, report to Naim.
Only if all looks good so far would I reconnect speakers, and start playing, first at a very low level.
Naim generally don’t recommend the use of Kimber Kables.
This may help, but a search on the Forum will bring up a lot of information.
DG…
These are the specs from the website regarding the Kimber 12TC speaker cable. I dont really understand the specifications, could somebody please tell me if this is acceptable for Naim power amps. I’m running the NAP 135s.
(Cp) parallel capacitance: 494 pF / meter
(Ls) series inductance: 0.09 uH / meter
(Rdc) dc loop resistance: 0.005 Ohm / meter
Specs for Naca 5:
NACA5 recommended length gives 56-320pF and 3.5-20uH. That Kimber cable is far higher capacitance, exceeding Naim’s recommended with just 1m, while the inductance would require 39m to reach the minimum. Although IIRC the more recent Naim amps are said to be more tolerant than the classics, I’d be surprised if they’re that tolerant!
Server mode has a tendency to run the Unitis hot. There were thread on that. So you should disable it.
Conclusion : your inadequate speaker cables for Naim and the server mode are probably responsible for your problem.
Try to borrow some naca 5 or chord speakers cables.
Kimber cable is a definite no-no with Naim. Even though current Naim amps (and the new Unitis) are more tolerant than earlier Naim amps, they still do without added inductance and require this from the speaker cable for stability - Naim recommends speaker cable with low capacitance and moderately high inductance (see the FAQ on here). Kimber is the complete opposite to this, being of high capacitance and very low inductance, so unsuitable.
FWIW, I once tried my Kimber 8TC (that I had been using on some big valve power amps) on my Naim NAP250.2. It sounded fairly poor and the amps got very hot - so much so that I decided to switch off before it thermally tripped to protect itself. Not an experiment I wanted to repeat in a hurry.
@parksung if what others are saying is correct and you’re using Kimber cable then you have your answer. Try using Naim’s cable or another that meets the acceptable requirements fr Naim amps. Not doing following Naim’s guidance surely places liability squarely on the individual…
