I’m in the market for a NAIT XS-2. Found a new Old stock that has been sold in 2020, but serial says produced back in 2013, which means that it has been stores for a good 7 years before use.
I have seen that Naim reccomends servicing your Naim gear produced after 2000, every 12-15th year.
However, is this from the year of production, or from the day you power up the product and start using it??
And what does service in this case actually mean? I know that it can be done in Salisbury, but the prices are almost same amount that I pay for the amp, which to me, is crazy!… like almost 1000£?
If it’s just the “caps” wouldn’t my local dealer be able to fix it?
And last question; is the XS/XS-2 a reliable amp in terms of quality?
My apologies for being a Naim-Noob!
Apart from these worries I’m excited to get on the Naim Train!
The capacitors start to degrade from the time of manufacture, so you’ll need to factor that in. According to the price list, servicing is £399 at Naim. It will be cheaper at Class A in Sheffield - if your are in the U.K. - and just as good. The XS is a lovely amplifier and very reliable, so have no fear on that score.
I think that components like caps age from the day they are made - which is why they are date coded and don’t sit on the shelves for very long before they are put in the equipment.
A Boxed NOS NAIT XS2 from 2013 would obviously come with some risk, so it would have got be a very attractive price indeed. Is this a private sale or from a dealer?
As for servicing, I assume you aren’t in the UK, in which case I would ask your distributor about their servicing options and pricing.
I hardly think there is any risk involved. There are many much older working naim parts. 2013 was basically yesterday. My old naim nait xs 2 was 442*** (2017), not even nos and worked fine. When I sold it to upgrade to xs3, I got what payed for it. I would expect to pay. I more than 1000€ for this amp.
Thanks alot for all your comments! I really appreciate it.
The amp is from a private seller who is very nice and friendly! Pretty confident about him as a seller, but I’m doubting whether I would prefer a new one with warranty and a longer service perspective.
Should be much pricier new than second hand, even its basically unused (how would that prove ?)
I doubt it would need service if not used in 7 years, maybe reduce need with 50%, only guessing here.
For what’s it worth I paid less than €600 for a used XS - the first edition, splendid amp for the money.
I asked distributor for eventual service cost for this and my Unitiqute, being inside EU, having it going into Brexit and back is simply crazy and dealbreaker for me.
I’ll wait and will use German distributor as service center, not sure they are authorised yet ?
I have an old 62/180 combo which they fixed, then I know they are qualified.
Hi Richard- degradation of the capacitors appears to be inevitable- how does a capacitor which has deteriorated alter the performance of the equipment?
Depends what it is in my experience. However if it sounds a bit “off” what it used to be then it could be degraded caps. Ultimately if they fail completely or, in the worst cases leak, then you’ll need to get them seen to ASAP.
