Upgrade advice 52 or 552 or Radikal 1 Urika upgrade to Lp12

Just spoke to Darran. So we are looking at servicing 12 to 15 years 52, 10 years on Supercap 2. Will get them done with XPS2 (which is cheaper to service than other units) in early September.

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Great move @Dan_M. I did the same and had all my Naim boxes serviced by Darran a couple of years ago. My CDS2 failed recently, but lucky for me Naim fixed it and serviced it while they were in there. So all my Naim boxes are early into their service windows. It a lovely place to be, knowing you have done your best to get the best out of our beloved boxes. You won’t regret this move at all.

Hope you’re enjoying the music as is, in the meanwhile.

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Hi Graeme, I previously had my 82 and 2 x 135s serviced. So getting the other 3 boxes serviced will keep things in a good place.

Although the 52 doesn’t need doing yet it will keep me going for another 10 years.

I am going up there and will take about 6 hours to complete unless there are any issues, which Darran said would be unlikely.

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Is that 12-15yrs for the 52? If so that’s great news for me, I was expecting 10yrs which gives me another 5-10yrs left on my 52. :grinning:. That means I only need to get the 52PS done in 3yrs which is not too bad. My 135s have got a good 5yrs in them yet.

Just had my 52 and SuperCap serviced by Naim and thoroughly enjoying the uplift in the quality of sound and enjoyment. Thinking now about trying out some KS1 loudspeaker cables to finesse the sound. Spoke to Wayne at Cymbiosis and am arranging a loan of a set of cables.

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No.

Here is the official Naim line (again).

YMMV… by your own choice, at your own risk.

That’s what Darran said. Different boxes need servicing at different intervals. Was told Supercap 2 is due at 10 years, but 52 is a little early at 10 years. 12 to 15 is what he said.

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Like I said it’s what I have been told by authorised Naim service agents.

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And interesting that he recommends Supercap 2 every 10 whereas Naim say 12 to 15 years.

Yes it makes sense that different types need different intervals.
Another vote for Darran :+1:

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Makes total sense to me. The big caps in power supplies and power amps get hammered whereas the preamp doesn’t have to work nearly as hard. If I were a hifi system I would be a preamp now I am retired. 2yrs ago I would have been a power amp. :blush:

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It will be interesting if the system sounds any different recapped. If the preamp is early after being serviced 10 years ago and the Supercap 2 10 years old, maybe it will be minimal.

But at least if will give peace of mind. And thwn the caps need to burn in which will take some time, so it could sound worse at times!

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I don’t think my 52/ps was serviced for 20yrs when I got them. There was a huge difference when I brought them back from Darran. But maybe that’s an extreme case. I do remember them getting even better over the following few weeks though. It feels weird waiting for stuff to run in but it helps if they sound good from the start. I currently running in the new Monacor drivers in my Keilidhs. I wasn’t sure straight after I installed them but after about 25 hours things are opening up nicely but I think I might need around 100hrs on them before they properly settle in.

Update: just got confirmation from Naim that my 52/ps has never been back to them for a service. So I can confirm that after 24yrs unserviced a 52 will most likely sound disappointing. :wink:

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From experience it will sound different. For me the unserviced equipment sounds “harsh” but the harshness obviously takes time to creep up on you so its not really something you notice until you get a freshly serviced unit back. Its quite an obvious change. I found the same sort of change for all my equipment, 52 has been serviced once and my 72 was serviced twice. I have always tried to service the equipment at the 10 year point, and all my kit has been olive until this year when I added the NDX2 and 555PS

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Nice system you have @haydj. When I got my 82 and 135s serviced it was a big improvement fresh from service and got better once burned in.

With the 52 and Supercap 2 they are borderline on whether they need servicing so will be interesting how it sounds.

Another upgrade I guess as well as speakers and the 52, which is an improvement on 82. But not as massive improvement and impact speakers have had.

Salisbury is a lot closer to you than Sheffield and someone mentioned on the thread that their dealer had told them about dropping their equipment off at Naim instead of going through a dealer.

Not sure if you’d get it done in one day but maybe if you arranged it they could do it over two, but you’re so close it wouldn’t matter.

You could drop it off and pick it up when ready.

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It’s 2 hours to Salisbury and 2 hours back. If they can’t get it done in a day then that’s 2 trips. Sheffield is 4 and half hours one way and overnight stay. Then journey back.

I thought you had to go through dealer for Naim to service. It says on Naim website that only under exceptional circumstances will they accept a product direct from a customer. I am not sure that they will accept routine service as part of that.

Having spoken to Darran, I can send units to him or go up there in person. A pretty much guaranteed one day turn around is idea beingl 99% means I won’t be without my system.

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The likelihood of Naim doing it in a day is zero. A couple of weeks maybe, with a fair wind. Darran provides great service and is both cheaper and quicker. It seems the obvious thing to do in your situation. When he did stuff for me, I sent it on a Monday and it was back by Friday. I’m not sure I’d have driven to Sheffield, but a short break is always nice.

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I just heard someone on the forum say recently that they’d been into their dealer and asked about service and the dealer had told them to take it to Naim themselves.

Which goes against everything I’ve heard in the past, then I think Richard D said he’d look into it.

When are you going to Sheffield?

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I have had my Naim boxes serviced by both Naim and by Darran.
Darran has always been able to service several of my Naim boxes on the day. His service has been consistently much quicker, less expensive and yet just as good as Naim’s own.

Best regards, BF

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