@feeling_zen - This post, by @Richard.Dane -
Yup that’ll be it.
I think it was pretty clear.
No matter how much we might wish that Naim would continue to offer this, reality dictated that it had to cease.
They are Richards words, not Naims. Whether that constitutes a formal announcement by Naim is moot. I wouldn’t expect Naim to restart DR upgrades unless there is a commercial drive to do so.
It seems like you are just hunting for anything to tell me I’m wrong. I’ll make it easy for you. 2+2=5.
If you read further down
@Mario its a nice idea but I doubt Naim would offer the DR upgrade again. Things have move on with the new NC range, different implementation.
Stocks of the old DR upgrades are probably in very short supply and kept for the existing 4 years of approx new sales of the 500 though I suspect not many people are buying new 552DR or 500DR.
I see plenty of none DR NAP500 going for £4500-£5500 with no takers as the ones for sale are well over the 15 year service period, roll in the cost of the service approx £1800 probably not a good ourchase, but if Naim did decide to bring back DR just for the 500 this could offer a new lease of life for these old timers.
How do they still build DR units in new boxes.?
Apologies if thats the way I came across. I only wanted to know whether Naim had issued a statement or not.
What is said on here is not always from Naim.
I think you’re seeing the reason in action. They have parts because the upgrades were discontinued.
IIRC, the ND555 wouldn’t have been possible without the chips no longer used in the nDAC and NDS. Those chips were discontined even before those older products were released.
I get what you mean they have stock “ in the meantime “ and concentrate on original build only.
Seems like there is a forced end of production for some products then.
Seems like all previous classics are now Ltd edition with limited serviceability due to shortage of components. Mmmmm……
Sums up the Internet in so many way.
Post something. Wait to be told you are wrong. Repeat…
Mario, I’ve been told that it was an issue of supply and resource that had been problematic in maintaining the DR upgrades. Some parts have been in very short supply and because of the amount of work involved the upgrades take an abnormally large amount of service dept. resource. It had led to some rather difficult situations with customer units arriving to find that there was no critical part available for some months. Then, with some parts arrived there would need to be decision over allocation to production or service. And then of course once DR upgrades under way, other service jobs would have to be put back. In short, it was getting really tricky to the point of not really being sustainable. Last I heard was that supply for certain parts was still not what it was and so all have to be prioritised for current production.
DR upgrades had been offered for some time, and like all service upgrades and updates (of which there have been so many over the years at Naim) there sometimes comes a point where you have to draw a line, especially once you hit supply issues or demand starts to tail off.
Yes. People had half a decade to take the offer up. Hardly a fleeting moment.
I’m assuming this shortage of supply doesn’t affect the NC range? If it does, I’d wonder why they went with the same design knowing that the supply of certain components was limited.
Good question. Actually they haven’t. The Original NC thread from the launch of the 200 series has some expose on how a number of components that were designed into the product were then not available in sufficient quantity during production. For example, the main PCB has markings for the axial capacitors from one brand Naim have been known to use forever, now instead in production with a different brand and radial capacitors. I think the original stuff is likely set aside for the 500 series servicing.
There even pics of the original and the later production model PCBs in that thread that clearly show the effects of supply chain realities.
As for same design, I’m not sure what you mean. They still use DR. But it’s not like the DR modules are interchangeable. Remember, the DR upgrade for the old 250, 300, and 500 was basically a entirely new amp. The only thing that wasn’t swapped out was the case, transformer, and initial rectifiers.
I think we can be confident that DR can be implemented in a number of ways and is not specific to certain devices. Like the change in Capacitors implemented for the 200 series.
Thanks for that. Makes sense.
By design I meant using the same components for DR as previously that were known to be in short supply. I hadn’t seen the references to board changes in the NC thread, so that explains the situation (in that they changed the design to use different components / sourcing).
I’m relatively new to Naim (started in 2016 with ND5 XS and XS2) so I’m not familiar with the changes to DR.
Hi Richard, thanks for the detailed response.
I only asked because the number of “DR’able” products from the old range is now quite low so maybe the supply issues wouldn’t be as much of an issue.
With regards to how long the upgrades were offered, I do appreciate that and managed to get a 552, 300 and two 250’s done, but when one is in the middle of completing an active dbl set up there was just too much to upgrade so the 555 was left till last, then missed out. But if the answer is no, then it’s no and I just have to accept that, my 555 makes my cds3 sound wonderful, its just that it could be even better.
Regards Mario.
The gold axial Promisic caps that they swapped at the last minute had nothing to do with the DR upgrades on any products.