Naim Repair?

Author
Discussion

Sideways Tim

Original Poster:

940 posts

193 months

Friday 26th July
quotequote all
Does anyone have experience of Naim repairing equipment? Specifically I have a 2017 Muso Qb that no longer functions. All the internal circuitry is potted, so can't even test it, let alone repair it myself, hence wondering if anyone has any experience of Naim fixing older stuff?

5pen

1,956 posts

213 months

Friday 26th July
quotequote all
No personal experience, but I’d be amazed if they didn’t offer some sort of support for a product from 2017.

https://www.naimaudio.com/assistance

I recently returned a much older product to Cyrus and they replaced a failed power supply.

Whether it’s economically viable is another question of course.

rednotdead

1,224 posts

233 months

Friday 26th July
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It used to be the case that all repairs had to be instigated and shipped via your local friendly naim dealer. I'd be amazed if they can't repair your muso. My uniti took about 3 weeks to come back to me. Think it's a flat repair fee too and they'll fix/ replace wherever needs doing.

Riff Raff

5,258 posts

202 months

Friday 26th July
quotequote all
There are independents with good reps out there. Witch Hat spring to mind. There are boxes that they won’t touch though. Dunno whether yours is one of those.

In the past I used Naim, but back in those days I lived round the corner from a dealer, so the logistics worked. I’m now 50 miles from a dealer so it’ll be an independent. I need a SuperCap re-capping.

castex

4,980 posts

280 months

Friday 26th July
quotequote all
Riff Raff said:
There are independents with good reps out there. Witch Hat spring to mind.
Witch Hat ceased trading. Former WH guy JJ can be found here.

Paule2359

68 posts

87 months

Friday 26th July
quotequote all
I could be wrong, but I believe a lot of the newer stuff like steamers etc need to go back to Naim.
I looked around as my streamer needs a new screen, there are a few people who can do this but are not able to repair the main circuit board.
I got in touch with a Naim dealer and they told me that they get in touch with Naim, give them your serial number and what repair is needed and then the dealer will get back to you to tell you when to take it in to them ( the dealer).
You can’t go straight to Naim and have to go through a dealer.
I believe there is a set price for different units no matter what is wrong with it, except for screen replacement.
You may be able to find out more on the Naim forum.
There was some talk about a dealer in Sheffield who did some of the newer stuff but can’t remember there name sorry.

Tony1963

5,325 posts

169 months

Saturday 27th July
quotequote all
If a Muso goes back to Naim, AND they can repair it, count on £3-400.

Edited by Tony1963 on Saturday 27th July 10:53







Edited by Tony1963 on Saturday 27th July 11:03

Sideways Tim

Original Poster:

940 posts

193 months

Saturday 27th July
quotequote all
Thanks all. I'll give them a shout directly and see where we get to.

Tony1963

5,325 posts

169 months

Saturday 27th July
quotequote all
Sideways Tim said:
Thanks all. I'll give them a shout directly and see where we get to.
If you contact them directly, they’ll tell you to go to your dealer, and there’s no deviation. Used to be able to, but it no longer suits them.

Chilly for June

335 posts

82 months

Monday 29th July
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As someone who would love to take a step up into "high end hi-fi" this thread worries me slightly.

I have owned lots of Sony and Pioneer stuff and in my opinion they have been given a really hard time (especially on the CD front). Nothing has ever gone wrong.

More recently Sonos which I know has it's haters due to the app updates blocking older equipment etc but again I have had no issues.

Is it to be expected that the "high end brands" will need repairs/servicing every few years?


M11rph

703 posts

28 months

Monday 29th July
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5 years ago I had all the capacitors replaced in my 20 year old Naim Power Amp by Class A in Sheffield.

http://hifi-repairs.com/

I took it there myself as I lived an hour away, repair took an hour and a half, so I had a wander around nearby Rich Tone music and had a go on some guitars.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Chesterfield+R...

He's been doing Naim gear for years and is Naim Authorised so might be worth a shout. The price was about half of sending it to Naim themselves back then.

Tony1963

5,325 posts

169 months

Monday 29th July
quotequote all
M11rph said:
5 years ago I had all the capacitors replaced in my 20 year old Naim Power Amp by Class A in Sheffield.

http://hifi-repairs.com/

I took it there myself as I lived an hour away, repair took an hour and a half, so I had a wander around nearby Rich Tone music and had a go on some guitars.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Chesterfield+R...

He's been doing Naim gear for years and is Naim Authorised so might be worth a shout. The price was about half of sending it to Naim themselves back then.
No. Darran won’t touch the Muso stuff.

Tony1963

5,325 posts

169 months

Monday 29th July
quotequote all
Chilly for June said:
As someone who would love to take a step up into "high end hi-fi" this thread worries me slightly.

I have owned lots of Sony and Pioneer stuff and in my opinion they have been given a really hard time (especially on the CD front). Nothing has ever gone wrong.

More recently Sonos which I know has it's haters due to the app updates blocking older equipment etc but again I have had no issues.

Is it to be expected that the "high end brands" will need repairs/servicing every few years?
You can’t generalise.

Some expensive brands aren’t interested in long term customer support. At all.
Naim’s pre and power amps, integrated amps, and power supplies can all be returned to Salisbury for service/repair. The factory recommend servicing (capacitors anre the main service item) every 10 to 20 years depending on exactly what the component is.

And then digital happened. Screens die, CD transport supplies dry up, and surface mount devices happen. Some expensive boxes from Naim are becoming expensive door stops.

You can buy the amps and PSUs without worry but, for example, when my 1998 Naim CD player (CDX) dies, I’ll probably buy a Rega.

Sounds bad, but believe me, some far more expensive brands are far worse. You buy them, and after the warranty expires, you’re on your own.

Mahalo

593 posts

186 months

Saturday 3rd August
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I have a lot of Naim Classic gear and (touchwood) all of it has been reliable. On the otherhand the digital Naim gear I have has required trips back to Naim for repair. My HDX is currently on it's third visit to Naim for repair whilst I also had an NDX which required updating by Naim. The issue with the digital equipment is that the components/software are no longer available or supported which means for certain faults the unit becomes unrepairable. NAim are not the only ones to suffer from this problem - I have a Meridian 208 CD pre-amp which suffered the same problem due to NLA components.
In essence all digital Hifi gear whether low or high end is subject to this problem.

Slowboathome

4,460 posts

51 months

Saturday 3rd August
quotequote all
Mahalo said:
I have a lot of Naim Classic gear and (touchwood) all of it has been reliable. On the otherhand the digital Naim gear I have has required trips back to Naim for repair. My HDX is currently on it's third visit to Naim for repair whilst I also had an NDX which required updating by Naim. The issue with the digital equipment is that the components/software are no longer available or supported which means for certain faults the unit becomes unrepairable. NAim are not the only ones to suffer from this problem - I have a Meridian 208 CD pre-amp which suffered the same problem due to NLA components.
In essence all digital Hifi gear whether low or high end is subject to this problem.
The CD transport on my Unitilite has been woeful from the start. Been back twice for repair/replacement. Apparently the noise it makes is 'normal'.

Just use it as a streamer and for internet radio now.

Riff Raff

5,258 posts

202 months

Saturday 3rd August
quotequote all
Mahalo said:
I have a lot of Naim Classic gear and (touchwood) all of it has been reliable. On the otherhand the digital Naim gear I have has required trips back to Naim for repair. My HDX is currently on it's third visit to Naim for repair whilst I also had an NDX which required updating by Naim. The issue with the digital equipment is that the components/software are no longer available or supported which means for certain faults the unit becomes unrepairable. NAim are not the only ones to suffer from this problem - I have a Meridian 208 CD pre-amp which suffered the same problem due to NLA components.
In essence all digital Hifi gear whether low or high end is subject to this problem.
I 'retired' my HDX and replaced it with an Innuos Zen Mk3. I bought the HDX in 2009 or so, and it was pretty much outdated technology in a posh frock back then. I didn't know anything about streaming though, so I didn't know any better.

I've had the Innuos for quite a few years now - I can't recall exactly when I bought it - it stopped booting last month and was fixed inside a day by an Innuos techie who accesed the box directly via my MacBook. It's basically just a Linux server.

The HDX went back to Naim a few times for upgrades, but was always away for weeks and weeks at a time. I'm happier with the Innuos.

Mahalo

593 posts

186 months

Saturday 3rd August
quotequote all
Yep the HDX was probably out of date when it came out. It uses an embedded version of Windows XP which was not a great decision. Naim would have been better going with Linux. The TFT screen was not great and often fails, the CD mechanism often fails - mine has just beer replaced. The way it rips CDs to Wav and then uses a non standard naming system causes interoperation issues with systems which use the correct way of naming CD rips. It originally cam out as hard drive version and then an SSD version was produced. Mine was upgraded to the SSD version but now these SSDs that it uses are NLA so if the SSD goes it is unrepairable.
I find the sound it produces to be very good - and it does have some nice features like being able to produce an MP3 parallel library for downloading to mobile devices. It can also transcode on the fly which the newer UnitiCore cannot.

Tony1963

5,325 posts

169 months

Saturday 3rd August
quotequote all
A depressing video if you’re, for example, a Naim ‘Olive’ owner and if you’ve 20 minutes spare

https://youtu.be/JneFhyeTVpw?si=0zJdUBboB34oeie1

clockworks

6,126 posts

152 months

Saturday 3rd August
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I've got a Naim 110 power amp that I bought in 1984 or 85, so around 40years old.

Originally it was used as the power amp in my stereo setup.
Latterly, used to biamp the centre channel in my AV system.

Still working fine, only opened once (by me) to replace the red power LED with a green one to match my Linn amps.

Old Naim gear was built to last.

Tony1963

5,325 posts

169 months

Saturday 12th October
quotequote all
OP,

Any luck?