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Naim UnitiQute 2 display

al2002

pfm Member
A friend’s Naim non Bluetooth UQ2 display has gone dark. Knowing my interest in electronics he has asked me for help. Anyone know the make/ model of the display screen? Would like to have a go at repairing it.

Thanks in advance.
 
I have asked a number of Naim and non Naim Hi-Fi repairers with no joy. I have had to send mine back to Naim (2 months ago). I was told £330 plus VAT.
 
I have asked a number of Naim and non Naim Hi-Fi repairers with no joy. I have had to send mine back to Naim (2 months ago). I was told £330 plus VAT.
Sounds like a bargain. I thought they were built to last? The older stuff appears more reliable.
 
Sounds like a bargain. I thought they were built to last? The older stuff appears more reliable.
I am with you on this, it is the only new piece I have and the only one which has needed a repair. I am considering taking some legal advice, as this seems to be a manufacturers fault but want to get it back working first.
 
Scandalous, easily half its secondhand value.
Yes, but my choices are limited as only Naim will repair it and it is worth more than £400 to me. It was £2600 new in 2012, one owner and used as recommended. It can be used without the screen, using the app, but there are some features which you can’t access.
I have to admit that apart from the screen failure, the Uniti is an amazingly accomplished piece of Hi-Fi and I have missed its abilities over the past 2 months.
 
There is apparently a problem with screen fade with the uniti vintage Naims. The recommendation is to set the display screen to switch off after a short period - which can be done in the settings menu. This preserves the life of the screen.
Not much consolation to someone where the fault has already manifested however.
 
Yes, but my choices are limited as only Naim will repair it and it is worth more than £400 to me. It was £2600 new in 2012, one owner and used as recommended. It can be used without the screen, using the app, but there are some features which you can’t access.
I have to admit that apart from the screen failure, the Uniti is an amazingly accomplished piece of Hi-Fi and I have missed its abilities over the past 2 months.

The Uniti are very good pieces, I still have my Uniti1 and love it. I often wondered why I bothered to take things further, it is such a great single box solution. No fuss, just keeps on making great tunes.
 
The Uniti are very good pieces, I still have my Uniti1 and love it. I often wondered why I bothered to take things further, it is such a great single box solution. No fuss, just keeps on making great tunes.
+1 for the Uniti1, in use for me as a pre amp.
 
+1 for the Uniti1, in use for me as a pre amp.
I will be using mine as a source for my 160/HC/62 when it comes back. Hopefully this will give me volume control. With some speakers it outperforms the 160/HC/62, not with the SBLs though. The Uniti is incredible IMO.
 
Yes, but my choices are limited as only Naim will repair it and it is worth more than £400 to me. It was £2600 new in 2012, one owner and used as recommended. It can be used without the screen, using the app, but there are some features which you can’t access.
I have to admit that apart from the screen failure, the Uniti is an amazingly accomplished piece of Hi-Fi and I have missed its abilities over the past 2 months.

Ok I see your point, but how long will the new screen last? Will the replacement be free of this fault.
Are you going to sell it once the screen is replaced.
 
Those green displays were a contributory factor in me moving on from Naim. I had one die on an nVi and the replacement cost an arm and a leg. Why they persisted with that technology on newer boxes just amazes me. They must have had so many returns/repairs, so they must have known there was a design/supply issue. It could simply have been designed out. I recently sold my UQ2 (very capable device) mainly because I didn't feel confident the display would not fail at some point in the near future, and I simply didn't want to keep throwing money at it just to keep the display working.
 
Ok I see your point, but how long will the new screen last? Will the replacement be free of this fault.
Are you going to sell it once the screen is replaced.
I will be asking Naim once it is back.
Now I am aware that the screen is an issue, I won’t leave it on, it really isn’t needed for normal use, the app is quite good in my eyes.

I left mine on 24/7 for 6 years before I noticed anything, it started with slight dimming and then a few pixels died.

I just feel that it should be a free fix to customers, they obviously know there is a fault now. There is a 5 year parts warrantee, and this started at 6 years so they are covered legally I think. It should be about reputation and good customer service. I certainly won’t buy a new piece of Naim again and wouldn’t recommend anyone to buy any. That is coming from a big Naim fan owning Nait1, Nait2, 160/HC/62 and SBLs, all of which are great. I am hoping to move to 135s and 32.5 as soon as I get enough money together.

I’m not anti Naim, just poor customer service and possibly dishonesty (if they knew there was an issue with this particular screen that is both).
 
The OLEDs in the early models faded over time. The display appears to have been a special order, because although replacements can be found with the same mounting from the same manufacturer, the wiring is different and the display is reversed. It would require redesigning the PCB it sits on or hacking the firmware to account for this. They're better off sent to Naim I'm afraid.

I really don't think they'd have purposefully used a screen they knew would fade so much.
 
Now I am aware that the screen is an issue, I won’t leave it on, it really isn’t needed for normal use, the app is quite good in my eyes.

I left mine on 24/7 for 6 years before I noticed anything, it started with slight dimming and then a few pixels died.

I am not entirely sure it is related to the screen being left on. I used to switch the screen of the nVi off as much as possible, but had the Naim habit of leaving everything powered up 24/7, but it still failed in surprisingly short order, and as I bought it second hand, the 5 year warranty wasn't transferable.

I really don't think they'd have purposefully used a screen they knew would fade so much.
Maybe originally, but I bet there were a lot of returns/repairs, so why persist?
 
I will be asking Naim once it is back.
Now I am aware that the screen is an issue, I won’t leave it on, it really isn’t needed for normal use, the app is quite good in my eyes.

I left mine on 24/7 for 6 years before I noticed anything, it started with slight dimming and then a few pixels died.

I just feel that it should be a free fix to customers, they obviously know there is a fault now. There is a 5 year parts warrantee, and this started at 6 years so they are covered legally I think. It should be about reputation and good customer service. I certainly won’t buy a new piece of Naim again and wouldn’t recommend anyone to buy any. That is coming from a big Naim fan owning Nait1, Nait2, 160/HC/62 and SBLs, all of which are great. I am hoping to move to 135s and 32.5 as soon as I get enough money together.

I’m not anti Naim, just poor customer service and possibly dishonesty (if they knew there was an issue with this particular screen that is both).
They should replace for free. Other companies would. Poor really especially for something they consider and advertise as prestige equipment.
 
Thank you, All, for your responses.

Looks like others have had faded displays too, so not an uncommon problem. That doesn’t make this particular failure any easier to accept as the repair estimate is several hundred dollars plus round trip shipping from the US to Canada. TTBOMK, there are no local service centers.

Shame they won’t release the service manual.
 
Whether they should replace these for free is a question that could be argued for or against. For me, what isn’t at issue is that they should not be profiting from replacing these. There’s no way Naim are charging this ‘at cost’ and that is a disgrace.
 
I also wish that I was just able to buy a spare display board to keep back, as the rest of the Uniti will outlast it. I always had my display set to turn off on the quickest setting, a few seconds or so, and also had the unit set in a free space environment, so no heat. Mine failed after about four years, and had it replaced via warranty at the time. Still hanging in there after about six years. Will see! Really, I don’t have much to complain about....
 
A bit of a side track question, what will Brexit do for the price of repairs of naim equipment sent back to the uk from Europe.

I asked something similar on the naim forum and it was quickly removed and now my posts have to be pre approved by a mod.
 


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