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Naim NAP 90 serviceability

B

booja30

pfm Member
I've been looking around for a small Naim olive era system, and I'm thinking of a 62/90 combo. I know a lot of people will suggest the 110 or 140 instead of the 90, but I want to keep the price down and can probably get a 62+90 for under £350.

The problem is I've read some comments about the 90 not being serviceable, but I don't think I've found anything specific. What is it about this model that makes it difficult to work on? Lack of parts? And if that's the case, are there no workarounds?

Thanks in advance for any info!
 
I've not heard anything about it not being serviceable and can't see why it shouldn't be. In fact, I'm pretty sure Naim, or one of their service agents, or any of the independent service agents, could service it quite easily.

(I would get a Nap140 instead though - and a 72)
 
It’s the slippery slope, you know.

You start off with two boxes and end up with a roomful of active DBLs driven by a six pack of 135s.

You have been warned.
 
Unless the NAP90 has fried its circuit board - and a few of them did over the years, there's nothing in them that can't be serviced. If you do get it serviced, ask the technician to perform the bias transistor thermal stability fix.

The amp boards can't be upgraded though. They're a one piece circuit board. Having said that we can fit a better pre-amp power supply regulator in the box with it.
 
stevec67 said:
I suspect that the main obstacle to servicing a NAP 90 is that the service cost may well exceed its value.
Click to expand...

That's a valid point. However, it might be a plus for me since it probably drives the cost down (generally less than half of a 140) and maybe I can mess around with it myself without risking a big loss. And worst case if I bought one for £150 and it kicked the bucket, I could probably sell the sleeve and sled for £80, the faceplate for £30, and maybe the guts for another £30.
 
MJS said:
Unless the NAP90 has fried its circuit board - and a few of them did over the years, there's nothing in them that can't be serviced. If you do get it serviced, ask the technician to perform the bias transistor thermal stability fix.

The amp boards can't be upgraded though. They're a one piece circuit board. Having said that we can fit a better pre-amp power supply regulator in the box with it.
Click to expand...

That's an interesting idea about the regulator. Can you sell the regulator for DIY or do you only do it in house? The reason I ask is I'm in Spain and the shipping to/from here is pretty high for a ~10 kg package.
 
If yuo are DIY savvy there is a load of stuff on DIY for DIY construction of an LM317 based regulator for naim (and other) gear. It's not complicated. It will take a long time, longer than you think, but it will cost pennies (or centimes/centavos/cientimas wherever you may be in Euroland).
 
One more question... NAC 62s and NAP 90s regularly sell for under £200, while NAC 72s and NAP 140s sell for closer to £450.

If I was going to splurge on the preamp or the amp (not both), which would you say is more important? 62->72 or 90->140? If I had piles of cash I'd go for a 72/HiCap/140 but this is really just meant to be a second system. BTW, speakers (for now) are Epos ES11, and I don't care about phono these days.
 
I believe that 62s and 72s are on a par ( I believe Julian Vereker said as much in a magazine interview ) so I'd think 140 & 62 better than 90 & 72.
 
The 72 significantly better than the 62, likewise with the 140 and 90. I'd splurge on the pre-amp as it has a huge amount of upgrade potential. If you don't need tape outputs or phono inputs you can pull cards and give the power supply an easier time and that makes it sound even better.
 
I'm going the controversial route and say all the pre's chosen will sound pretty much the same off a single rail from a power amp.

The benefit from a 72 (32) is you can remove unwanted cards (tape buffer/phono cards )and try 3rd party cards. I prefer Avondale 821 but there are NJ and RSL cards, the RSL's even have a remote volume facility.

If your really on a budget, consider a Nait 3. If your DIY inclined you can split the pre/power and add a separate (Hicap style) power supply.
 
It is such old tech it is eminently serviceable. Just flog it and as the dog says get a Nait 3 which is wonderfully unfashionable and great VFM.
 
The nap 90 is easy enough to service and recap, and I have done many over the years.

All good old fashioned discrete components that are easy to source and access on the PCB.

As others have said, the nap 90 was the entry level baby of the range designed to hook you into upgraditus.

Early ones were olive shoebox design, later ones were slimline casework.

Many however have suffered from damaged and burnt circuit boards as this particular design suffered more burn outs than other Naim nap amps.

If you are looking for a basic amp set up, consider the nait3 - highly unfashionable yes, but is basically a nap 90 and nac92 in same case.

Avoid the nait2 shoebox version - although very fashionable and desirable, it's current cost (almost twice that of a nait3) gives you very little if anything more than the nait3.
 
Thanks for the suggestions! I do really love the shoebox form factor, which is why I'm tempted by the 62/90 combo, but I'll think more about the slimline options.
 
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