Old Naim 135s
Posted by: Stuart Frazer on 14 June 2002
I'm in the process of aquiring some old 135s; 2 pairs date back to 1986 and 1 pair to 1984. None have been serviced, so this will be needed (ive checked with Naim). Seller informs me that they easily outperformed a recent 250. Apperently they have newer grey locking SNAICs
Question is, is there anything I should look for inparticular prior to purchasing. I can demo, but may just meet up and exchange due to the travel distances (He will meet half way). Would it be OK to use them at this age in regard to the caps? (I may get them serviced at a later date). What happens when the caps eventually go?
Any advice forthcoming would be much appreciated.
Posted on: 14 June 2002 by Mike Hanson
The caps never really "go", per se. They just start sounding rather spitty. A regular service should fix this and many other potential problems (like dirty contacts, etc.)
-=> Mike Hanson <=-
Posted on: 14 June 2002 by J.N.
If you can afford it; get them serviced a.s.a.p.
Well worth it on anything with a power supply 8 to 10 years old. My 135's were about £125 each to service a couple of years back and came back with a sonic kick up the arse.
Original ones from 1984/1986; if never serviced WILL sound very tired by comparison.
Posted on: 14 June 2002 by Graeme Cree
Just endorsing sentiments above re recap / service.
My '94 135s came back from servicing a couple of weeks ago and the difference is clearly audible - more punch, clarity, bite, control, etc.
Well worth it at less than £300 the pair.
Almost mandatory at the age you're looking at.
Good luck.
Graeme
Posted on: 14 June 2002 by Neil Bennett
Better act quickly, due to inflation! Naim have just quoted me £170 each for 2 135's: a considerable increase vs Graeme's recent cost!
Posted on: 18 June 2002 by greeny
quote:
It sounded as though my left tweeter had gone bad.
this is exactily the problem I had with my 135's. A service cured this completely. I also paid £175 per 135. Was quoted £130-180, depends what they end up doing.
If you are planning a service I wouldn't worry too much about hearing them first, but you could take them appart just to check everything looks OK inside.
If they sound Ok you could run them for a while without a service, they may not have had much use, but listen carefully for any hi frequency distortion and if present get serviced.
135's don't come with snaic's. They have a connector to go to a hicap/supercap/snaps, but the power supply comes with the snaic-5 (or -4 in the case of a snaps).
You do know you can't power your pre-amp from them I assume!
Posted on: 21 June 2002 by Stuart Frazer
Thanks for the replies.
I have now purchased the 135s and will be trying them out once I sort my pre-amp out (downside). Will try them out as they are at present then look to get them serviced later on.
Old style will hopefully grow on me. Can anybody comment on the illuminated switches, how does it look? The mains leads dont look like the original Naim ones so I'll replace those I think. The Cannons look quite new, together with the replacement boxes.
Posted on: 21 June 2002 by JosephR
I opened my 10-year old 135s, and everything is still laid out nicely, but the wires do look old. Do they change these wires too when they service 135s ? How would one know if they have been recapped recently ?
