Used NAC 552

4-6 months to run cables in? Really? :thinking:

This kind of talk is laughable. IMO and experience of course.

2 Likes

I think we have the answer as to why the 552 is sounding off.

Surprised nobody else has spotted it. :smiley:

Sorry @mij29 - just a bit of fun.

Hope you get it all sorted. It’s huge investment so you need to happy with it all.

Cheers, Rack.

:+1:t5:

1 Like

.

1 Like

4-6 years. Minimum.

2 Likes

They start to burn out shortly after this

3 Likes

Can you get the Naim power supplies on the lower right side of the cabinet and then move the three stacked ones (top left) to the three bottom left shelves with the 552 on the top of the bottom shelves? I’d start with that and see if there is an improvement.

Good luck.

I think the OP is going to pull all the kit out of the corner cabinet and try dedicated brawn/brains stacks (using Quadrapire Cherry wood racks) in free space. If I have understood this correctly, this is definitely the way to go and will allow proper cable dressing, and Burndies to be hanging free and clear of walls and other cables.

This should make a significant difference, because, as you go up the Naim heirachy (particularly going from 282 to 552), the more attention you need to give to set up.

3 Likes

In my experience 552 has to be at the top of the stack if you want optimum sound quality.

@Richard.Dane are you suggesting the burndy maybe better if not tightened to the point it clicks into place? The burndys are sort of in or out but here is space to back off the burndy to before the click I guess. You can’t tighten past the click unless you have Hands with a vice like grip I guess.

1 Like

No I’m not. The connector should be done up all the way. I’m referring to the strain relief. This should not be either overly tight or overly loose.

1 Like

I can’t explain it, Richard how happy I am to see you here… ha ha

I already feel in trouble…

Not clear on what’s “overly loose”, Sir.

“Overly tight” to mean the Burndy is not stretched out till it’s too tight between head unit and PS and therefore there’s no strain over the length of the lead? - kindly correct me if wrong.

The Burndy connector head usually just snaps and clicks in once it is anchored into place.

Am sorry not clear what you meant.

The Burndy lead wire as I understand it is left to “hang loose” in free space.

He’s referring to this part that I marked in green:

It’s a black plastic ring with a tightening screw. It connects the black plastic part of the plug to the cable and its outer sheath, thus avoiding stress on the soldered joints inside the plug. Hence “strain relief”.
This tightening screw must be tight enough to avoid the cable sliding out (so that you can see the wires), but not overly tight and compressed.

The silver metal connectors that go into the sockets must be fully locked. Do NOT use them unlocked, Bad Things happen if they slide out while powered.

4 Likes

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh Thank you.

I never touch this portion of the Burndies. Just the connector end which has to be locked in place.

1 Like

I’ve said before and I’ll say it again, how on earth do you measure burning in over 6 – 9– 12 months on a cable or amp? Do you listen to the same pieces of music on a regular basis and keep copious notes of each time you listen. Ridiculous!

4 Likes

Phil, I’m referring to the strain relief collar on the connector. Below I’ve borrowed MichaelF’s photo of his NAC552 Burndy - at the back of the connector you can see the strain relief collar. This should be tight enough to hold the cable sheathing securely but not so tight that you can’t get a bit of movement between plug and cable when you do the “de-stressing” with a connector in each hand and the cable looped between. Naim are good at getting it just about right but every now and then you come across one that’s just a bit too tight or too loose (If the latter then usually the sheathing eventually parts from the connector), or one where someone has overtightened it or overly loosened it themselves…

3 Likes

Thank you.

Cheers

FWIW, at least with a cable it would be feasible to switch between an old one and a new one. But yeah, all kinds of pitfalls.

Yes you could do that. However, I’m more inclined just to play loads of music. And as for pitfalls if you’re doing it with vinyl over a 12 month period you’ll equally have to factor in stylus wear.

Sure, same here. I can’t even bring myself to plugging in two network cable to test whether the EE8 really makes a difference over the cheap TP-Link :slight_smile:
Just commenting on the feasibility if one is so inclined. Certainly, leaving the same old cable plugged in for 6 months is not a way that would allow this conclusion!

It must be very frustrating, but I’d also be tempted to give some more time. When I got my 52 3 years ago it took 3-4 weeks to come on song. I was very surprised given it hadn’t been serviced etc. And I couldn’t explain why, it was powered by a supercap that just been powering the 82 it replaced. I can only guess that unit may not have been used for a while, or something to do with transit. Once it did though, there was no going back and the 82 which was soon wrapped up and sent to its next lucky keeper (in Russia I think).

1 Like

I was wondering if anyone realised where the turning point was actually factoring in ups and downs…and there must be a few of those.
Maybe some Frankie goes to Hollywood would get those burndies in a sufficiently relaxed state for optimal performance
I think mine must be totally relaxed judging how Lontano sounds at the moment.
The transformers are quiet as well. What a delight.

And yes some time after a service is noticeable as is the time for the amps to stabilize after power up.