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Anyone heard Naim NAC 42.5 or 62 Chrome Bumper?

I very much earlier was thinking that the 110 had some kind of techo advantage re servicing. Certainly all mine seemed pretty good.

I didn't comment cos I don't know if or why this might be. This is where the man or others with a clue might be able to comment.

Brian, we have crossed wires I'm not sure where so my apologies .
 
MVV said:
I very much earlier was thinking that the 110 had some kind of techo advantage re servicing. Certainly all mine seemed pretty good.

I didn't comment cos I don't know if or why this might be. This is where the man might be able to comment.

Brian, we have crossed wires I'm not sure where so my apologies .
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No need to apologise. I frankly don't have a clue what the problem is in this thread. It seems to me like a lot of replies made in good faith and that's all.

Sorry if I posted something that's annoyed, it wasn't the intent.
 
docstocker said:
May I declare an interest as I have bought Gaius' 110

At £245 plus £179 for a service at class A I have a power amp back in the pink of health
Amortised over ten years and allowing a bit here and there for postage etc that works out at less than a pound aweek
Probably in ten years there will still be a market for this piece of equipment
In which case I will be quids in!
If this initial price is too much, then there are other favoured amplifiers that can be bought for not much money. I also have a big Old Yamaha receiver in perfect nick bought for less than £30
Or I did until my eldest decided his need was greater than mine!
I like CB naim. This is partly nOstalgia and partly because they offer great value for money
John
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The voice of reason.
 
Not really. In 6 months he'll be on the upgrade path and we can buy it for £300 all in!
How's that for thread crapping.

On a more serious note, please advise... I run unserviced naim gear and just look to see if there are bulges in the caps occasionally. Is there anything else I should be checking?
 
clamnell said:
Is there anything else I should be checking?
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If it bursts into flames you might have a problem, otherwise, as funds permit send it in to an authorized service every ten to fifteen years for a check under the hood.

(Alternatively, be a slacker such as myself and send it in every seventeen years.)

That's it - job done - use it without worry.
 
A Naim amp bursts into flames and we approach tentatively in seriously biblical footwear. And then a mysterious voice declares "I am who I am".

but why send it in every 10 to 15 years. If disaster strikes unexpectedly, fair enough. Or are there warning signs? In which case, can't we be preventative?? Its a reasonable question.

Gradual sound degradation isn't really an issue unless there's something one misses... these old amps are magic and what the pfm guru (s?) adds to them is sublime.
 
Perfectly reasonable question Clamnell...

Parts and performance drifts overtime due to parts aging just like in humans, however, unlike humans, much can be restored in the mechanical world.

Here's an example of what goes on during a once-a-decade service we call a "recap" at the repair shop I use:

http://avoptions.com/service/recap

P.S. You're right about not noticing gradual deterioration. Even JV didn't think it worthwhile to return his decades-old 135s for a check 'til a friend of mine kept bugging him. You can guess the rest after they benched 'em and did a full recap..he became a believer ;-)
 
Thanks for that. I routinely play an onix oa21 from 85, an a&r a60 from the late 70s, a 160 with 1983 caps - with no issues. Am I just lucky? I get that disaster can strike. I understand that exploding caps can ruin an interior. I can see that this can strike whatever the brand. But no one seems to worry beyond naim? beyond the 10 year service thing? and caps don't just explode presumably - there are indicators.

Marketing ploy? serious issue? - to me the magic of the hobby lies in buying a system from years ago and building something that competes with new gear at a fraction of the cost.

And the only exploding amp I've ever suffered (acrid smoke etc with a small child involved, was from a newly serviced amp that had been wrongly wired in the service, at a factory near stonehenge...).

Anyway, old naim gear is a bargain and a joy in my book.
 
I don't think it's a marketing ploy if it can be audibly demonstrated that a piece can have its performance restored (meeting factory specs) after x amount of time.

My question would be how many pieces of gear out there could be improved (or restored to original specs more accurately)?

The answer would be "we won't ever know will we?" since few offer this service.

PS: if you own your system long enough - when the sound doesn't seem quite right (distortion where there wasn't previously) and the usual connector cleaning, system rebuild and factors like worn cartridges, worn records, etc are ruled out it might be time to have the repair shop look at it especially if it's decades old.

P.P.S. I had a HiCap and 250 rebuilt at ten years of age and noticed very little difference if any with the sound. I then had a CDPS (CDS power supply) rebuilt at seventeen years of age and was floored at the improvement to say the least.
 
They don't offer the service because they're negligent. Or because they haven't created the myth that it needs to happen?

I'm really not bashing a brand here.

I just think that when I play highway 61 through my unmodded unserviced knackered old a60 I'm closest to what Dylan was expecting his album to sound like.

And that non one has ever looked at my oa21 and cried "UNSERVICED"... but next to the naim authorised serviced naim 1... it weren't half bad.
 
You know, there's nothing I can say (or should) to convince you. As I said (and gave an example of), it's a gamble which may or may not pay off.
 
Nor am I interested in convincing you to spend a dime for anything including a service.

Just relaying my experiences....

best,

dave
 
dave said:
Here's an example of what goes on during a once-a-decade service we call a "recap" at the repair shop I use:

http://avoptions.com/service/recap

P.S. You're right about not noticing gradual deterioration. Even JV didn't think it worthwhile to return his decades-old 135s for a check 'til a friend of mine kept bugging him. You can guess the rest after they benched 'em and did a full recap..he became a believer ;-)
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I thought JV ran a 160 by choice. ;)

That is an interesting link Dave and would seem a great place for the Naim Pose in the good ol' US of A to send their kit to.

Ever heard the sound of a HiCap break down? The noise through the speakers is quite frightening and very strange, woke me up at 3AM a couple of years back...
 
Regarding servicing: 250s and 135s need regular servicing, sometimes after as little as 6 years when run hot. The caps on the power supply board degrade and whole thing turns into a big oscillator. There's a pic of a 2.5MHz NAP250 RF oscillator on my website: http://www.witchhataudio.co.uk/?page_id=10

The other amps don't have these power supply boards and will last a lot longer. But the caps still degrade over time. The best analogy is that of a car's suspension. It's a very gradual decline and you don't notice until you drive a new model or get them serviced. Suddenly you're aware of how badly you were bouncing along the road or failing to go round corners. With serviced amps you're getting definition and drive back. The amp feels 'bigger' in power capacity.

I've not heard a hicap dying. If it's not the rail that powers the relay board then I can imagine all sorts of thumps in the night.

Mark.
 
Recapping at regular intervals definite pays dividends. I had one doubting friend of mine here in the San Francisco Bay Area provide a classic example. He had been in denial and refused to believe that getting his Supercap serviced - it powered his 82 - until it shut down. An aforementioned repair shop here in the US quoted him close to $1,000 for a full service.

I agreed to repair it for him, servicing only the 4 boards used to power the 82 plus the reservoir caps (replaced with genuine Naim Service stock CO39s). So for the cost of 2 CO39s, 8 tants, one replacement LM317 and a bottle of wine, all was restored to normal function in less than 2 hours.

48 hours later I received a phone call - said friend couldn't believe how much better everything was and couldn't believe why he had waited so long - he's now a convert to regular maintenance.
 
dave said:
If it bursts into flames you might have a problem, otherwise, as funds permit send it in to an authorized service every ten to fifteen years for a check under the hood.

(Alternatively, be a slacker such as myself and send it in every seventeen years.)

That's it - job done - use it without worry.
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Dave,

The above illustrates my point very well. On the one hand it's 10 years then it's as long as 17 years. How about "when required" rather than some arbitrary time period that encourages people to spend money they may not need to spend?

MJS said:
Regarding servicing: 250s and 135s need regular servicing, sometimes after as little as 6 years when run hot. The caps on the power supply board degrade and whole thing turns into a big oscillator. There's a pic of a 2.5MHz NAP250 RF oscillator on my website: http://www.witchhataudio.co.uk/?page_id=10

The other amps don't have these power supply boards and will last a lot longer. But the caps still degrade over time. The best analogy is that of a car's suspension. It's a very gradual decline and you don't notice until you drive a new model or get them serviced. Suddenly you're aware of how badly you were bouncing along the road or failing to go round corners. With serviced amps you're getting definition and drive back. The amp feels 'bigger' in power capacity.

I've not heard a hicap dying. If it's not the rail that powers the relay board then I can imagine all sorts of thumps in the night.

Mark.
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Mark,

So the NAP250 and 135's need what amounts to a major overhaul every 6 years? Maybe there are some out there but I can't think of another domestic amplifier that needs such expensive work so regularly.

neiljadman said:
Recapping at regular intervals definite pays dividends. I had one doubting friend of mine here in the San Francisco Bay Area provide a classic example. He had been in denial and refused to believe that getting his Supercap serviced - it powered his 82 - until it shut down. An aforementioned repair shop here in the US quoted him close to $1,000 for a full service.

I agreed to repair it for him, servicing only the 4 boards used to power the 82 plus the reservoir caps (replaced with genuine Naim Service stock CO39s). So for the cost of 2 CO39s, 8 tants, one replacement LM317 and a bottle of wine, all was restored to normal function in less than 2 hours.

48 hours later I received a phone call - said friend couldn't believe how much better everything was and couldn't believe why he had waited so long - he's now a convert to regular maintenance.
Click to expand...
Neil,

My anecdote is I had a 32.5/snaps/160 serviced when they reached 'x' age but when they were returned there wasn't a scrap of difference in how they sounded. Not a scrap. There was certainly no more drive and a feeling of a bigger power capacity as suggested above by Mark.

What it comes down to for me is whether anyone can define objectively how to identify when a naim amplifier requires a service. Is it 10 years, 15 years, 17 years or something else? For example, "as required"?

So what exactly should people be looking for that shows a naim amplifier is in need of a service? Might this be where the ability to take some measurements comes into play?
 
Brian said:
Mark,

So the NAP250 and 135's need what amounts to a major overhaul every 6 years? Maybe there are some out there but I can't think of another domestic amplifier that needs such expensive worth so regularly.


Neil,

My anecdote is I had a 32.5/snaps/160 serviced when they reached 'x' age but when they were returned there wasn't a scrap of difference in how they sounded. Not a scrap. There was certainly no more drive and a feeling of a bigger power capacity as suggested above by Mark.

What it comes down to for me is whether anyone can define objectively how to identify when a naim amplifier requires a service. Is it 10 years, 15 years, 17 years or something else? For example, "as required"?

So what exactly should people be looking for that shows a naim amplifier is in need of a service? Might this be where the ability to take some measurements comes into play?
Click to expand...

I'm just saying that I had a 250 in for service that had pretty useless main caps and they were date coded 6 years previously. It depends on how hard they're driven. Like a car I suppose, you can't say it will definitely need XYZ after 6 years or so but you do know that a cambelt change is a good idea and not to drive round at 6000 RPM all the time. I've seen 250s 25 years old that are still behaving.
 
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