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Naim 102 mods for beginners please?

Natara

Natara

pfm Member
I'm going to pick up a 102/180 at the weekend and am thinking of pimping it a bit I already have a spare dual Teddy Cap so can use one of it's Hicaps and it's Napsc. But what else can I have done or do to it please remember I am an absolute beginner to any of this and have never used a soldering iron let alone own one.
Cheers
 
Why not enjoy it for a bit first to see what you think it's lacking? The 102 is better than an 82, in my opinion and is one of the few Naim bits that's a real bargain.

As for the soldering, perhaps get hold of some random components and practice soldering before letting loose on your preamp. Plenty of YouTube tutorials out there on good practice. Then, once you've worked out what you want to improve on your preamp you'll be a lot more confident.
 
Take this to DIY and have a chat. I'd suggest starting with a regulated power supply for the thing. It will take yo a couple of hours to learn to solder, you could do worse than get a kit to build something that you want, like say a digital clock.
 
You could totally bodge it up.

I tried it once – not with a Naim amp I hasten to add - but with a homemade sub. Smoke, dry joints and ruination.
:)
 
The 102 is a one-board pre-amp. You're going to have to learn how to solder and desolder without damaging PCB tracks.

Your first port of call should be Martin's Acoustica pages: http://www.acoustica.org.uk/
Learn which bits of Naim amps make the signature sound, how to improve them and what makes a NAC52 better than, say, a NAC72. Then work out what you want to achieve with the 102 and how you might go about it.
 
There are soldering tutorials on youtube.

Not sure what the earthing is like in a 102 but it's an easy mod (star earth) and cleans up the sound in a 62.

Power supply is the next thing I'd attack rather than component swops. Local regulation is better than the way Naim did it - I'd try something from Avondale or Teddyregs.

Another option would be to build a preamp from scratch. The guys in the diy room will have loads of suggestions. That way you could keep your 102 as a reference to compare to and to try and beat.
 
I know my limits and I won’t be attempting any soldering.

To Mjs @ Witch hat what mods do you offer on 102.
 
We've done quad-rail conversions on the 102 to make it behave more like a NAC82 in power supply arrangement, but we'd really like a 102 to test our Superlink 10 rail conversion on. This would work with a number of rails inside a supercap but would be backwards compatible with current power supply arrangements.
 
MJS said:
The 102 is a one-board pre-amp. You're going to have to learn how to solder and desolder without damaging PCB tracks.

Your first port of call should be Martin's Acoustica pages: http://www.acoustica.org.uk/
Learn which bits of Naim amps make the signature sound, how to improve them and what makes a NAC52 better than, say, a NAC72. Then work out what you want to achieve with the 102 and how you might go about it.
Click to expand...

Notice as soon as its been modified it may loose value.
Money may be better spent elsewhere.
If DIY itch perhaps use a cheaper donor.

I had a Acoustica modded 102, realising it was better in certain areas, I never really liked it, ultimately preferred a stock 102, which in itself is no real wonder.

I would consider witchhat mods, perhaps a 82 or just get used to performance powered by your Teddy.
 
PerF said:
Notice as soon as its been modified it may loose value.
Money may be better spent elsewhere.
Click to expand...

On the used market, not from trade sellers, a 102 can be had for £350 or so. How much value can it lose? And it only loses value at resale time, and if that isn't in the foreseeable future, it really doesn't matter.

@MJS If only I had a Supercap I'd send my 102 in!
 
Natara said:
I know my limits and I won’t be attempting any soldering.

To Mjs @ Witch hat what mods do you offer on 102.
Click to expand...

MJS said:
We've done quad-rail conversions on the 102 to make it behave more like a NAC82 in power supply arrangement, but we'd really like a 102 to test our Superlink 10 rail conversion on. This would work with a number of rails inside a supercap but would be backwards compatible with current power supply arrangements.
Click to expand...

If it were my 102, it'd be straight off to Witch Hat for the mod.
 
MJS said:
We've done quad-rail conversions on the 102 to make it behave more like a NAC82 in power supply arrangement, but we'd really like a 102 to test our Superlink 10 rail conversion on. This would work with a number of rails inside a supercap but would be backwards compatible with current power supply arrangements.
Click to expand...
I would love to have you work some magic on my 102 unfortunately I don't have a Supercap I do have a do have a dual Teddycap though perhaps something could be done with that unless another Pink Fish member has a Teddy Supercap they wish to trade in against my Dual Teddycap.
 
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