Help - no sound

Posted by: JosephR on 29 January 2002

I'm currently trying a NAP500 and don't get any sound, on either CD or vinyl. Nightime now, so no dealer help. So I disconnected it and put back my 135s, still no sound as well. All lights are up ... no problems with speakers as my receiver can output sound through them. All connections correct, the usual thump is heard from the speakers when turning on/off the power amps. I suspect it's the preamp now, it's like the 52/Supercap has gone mute ...Any ideas ? Is there a feature with the 52 that makes it go mute (just like pressing the mono button 4x locks the recording settings).

Posted on: 29 January 2002 by Raphael

Hi Joseph
I can only think of a few things.
1) Switch the 500 off and leave it for a few minutes. This is in case is shut down due to a short circuit somewhere. It might come good after this 'rest'. Were you by any chance messing about with connections while stuff was on?
2) Again I seem to have experienced something like this on my 52. I switched it off at the Supercap and then on again about 10 seconds later and everything then worked as it should. I guess that something may have reset in it (possibly even the processor).
Can't think of much else to try - might be worth connecting up a Headline if you have one.
Good luck
Raphael

Posted on: 29 January 2002 by JosephR

quote:
Were you by any chance messing about with connections while stuff was on?

Hi, no, everything connected first before powering on ...

quote:

2) Again I seem to have experienced something like this on my 52. I switched it off at the Supercap and then on again about 10 seconds later and everything then worked as it should. I guess that something may have reset in it (possibly even the processor).

Thanks, tried this, no luck ... normally, when I turn the volume knob to max, I could hear the thermal noise from the speakers. This time, very quiet, I have to put my ear to the driver cones to hear the thermal noise ... At first, I thought the NAP500 was extremely quiet, turned out to be something else ...

Posted on: 29 January 2002 by ken c

strange? perhaps some loose connection somewhere, dunno?

try this: switch off the whole system, disconnect everything, and start re-connecting, very slowly. start with 135's and these are your knowns...

good luck and hope you get the 500 to work and tell us about it.

enjoy(?)

ken

Posted on: 29 January 2002 by JosephR

quote:
Originally posted by ken c:
strange? perhaps some loose connection somewhere, dunno?
try this: switch off the whole system, disconnect everything, and start re-connecting, very slowly. start with 135's and these are your knowns...
good luck and hope you get the 500 to work and tell us about it.
enjoy(?)
ken

Yes, indeed, but I didn't touch the connections from the Supercap to 52, and everything above the chain. Had to take out the 135s from the rack, though, and replace with the 500 (damn heavy especially when moving in into a tight-fitting shelf) & its power supply. If there's a loose connection from 135 to Supercap, at least 1 monoblock should output something, I guess ...
Anyway, will try ...

Thanks ... was set to enjoy listening and comparing, but ended up with silence, haha. Would have been enlightening ... If all else fails, I guess I'll try another 52 to see if it works ...

Posted on: 29 January 2002 by bdnyc

In addition to the worthwhile suggestions listed above, you should also not that the output cables from the Supercap to the 500 are mono cables, and need to be sent to the appropriate channel of the 500. After turning off the 500, then the Supercap, make sure they are going to the appropriate channel- Channel 1 is left, 2 right in a Naim system. The cables should be labelled in some way on the band that would indicate the side of the cable that connects to the Supercap.

Hope this helps.

Posted on: 30 January 2002 by JosephR

Thanks for all the excellent recommendations !

It turned out to be reversed connections from Supercap to NAP500 However, I did reverse the connections in the Supercap itself to check out ... so still no explanation, maybe it needs time to recover from a wrong connection ? ...

Anyway, it's fine now ...

First impression of the 1st 15 minutes ? I don't know why there is any doubt about this amp (maybe a better source is needed - Prefix/Supercap), it's obviously very superior to the 135s, no comparison at all. The sound just opens up, dynamics are effortless, percussion is perfect, voice so palpable, etc. and there is that feeling that it has a lot more to give ... it sounds like active ! (I'm in passive mode on Proac Response 3s) ... and that's just the 1st 15 minutes ...

The only niggle right now is I now have to use the balance knob on the 52, which was untouched with the 135s. The imaging is leaning to the right ... any undocumented feature to balance out the 500s ? anyway, still too early, will report back later ...

Posted on: 30 January 2002 by JosephR

Learning something everytime ... spoke with my dealer, and it turned out I have to turn the speaker cable upside down at the right channel. Each speaker cable housing has a "POS" mark on it, and this should be to the red/positive input ... Now, no more channel imbalance ... and even better now ... piano is now rendered superbly, the most difficult instrument to reproduce !!

[This message was edited by JosephR on WEDNESDAY 30 January 2002 at 16:06.]

Posted on: 30 January 2002 by Dev B

Joseph,

You will need to reverse the pins at the amp end of ONE of your NACA5. If your NACA5 was configured for the 135's (monos) if you change nothing one of your channels will be played out of phase.

regards

Dev

Posted on: 30 January 2002 by JosephR

quote:
Originally posted by Dev B:
Joseph,
You will need to reverse the pins at the amp end of ONE of your NACA5. If your NACA5 was configured for the 135's (monos) if you change nothing one of your channels will be played out of phase.
regards
Dev

Thanks, Dev, that's what I did, although I just inserted one of the NACA5s at amp end upside down, rather than open up the housing to reverse it ... I found out something was amiss when playing the "In Polarity"/"Out Of Polarity" tracks on the Cardas record ...

Initially, my dealer had inserted it upside down (the correct way), I thought it was not intended and changed it back before switching everything on ... great dealers are definitely important ...

Posted on: 30 January 2002 by Simon Matthews

"I don't know why there is any doubt about this amp, it's obviously very superior to the 135s, no comparison at all".

Ain't that the truth.

Posted on: 30 January 2002 by ken c

piano is now rendered superbly, the most difficult instrument to reproduce !!

i couldnt agree more. when my system was underpar a few weeks ago, piano music was what alerted me to this problem. i have a LOT of piano music (jazz and classical) on CD, and its important to me that my system plays piano IN TUNE.

thanks for mentioning this... one of these days i will actually listen seriously to the 500, but i want to see whats coming out of naims new product frenzy before i become too serious.

enjoy

ken
ps: glad you have sorted out the connections -- as you recall this was my first suspicion...

Posted on: 30 January 2002 by JosephR

quote:
Originally posted by Simon Matthews:
"I don't know why there is any doubt about this amp, it's obviously very superior to the 135s, no comparison at all".
Ain't that the truth.

When I wrote that, I was thinking about an earlier thread where another member also tried it out, with non-Naimie friends tagging along. And they had a slow consensus on how good it was compared to the current system, and they even blamed the supports. One even preferred his tube amps ...

The one I'm trying now is on the floor (!!) and it is already superb. I've since moved it back into the rack, been doing this since yesterday

Well, my non-Naimie friends will be coming over soon, and I'm sure they'll agree immediately on the degree of improvement.

I also had doubts when I first heard the NAP500 when they first got displayed on demo, 3-pack to boot, and I thought my pair of 135s were better ! It just couldn't play Metallica like my 135s ... until I heard them again burned-in, and those thoughts were wiped out ...

Posted on: 30 January 2002 by JosephR

quote:
Originally posted by ken c:
_piano is now rendered superbly, the most difficult instrument to reproduce !!_
i couldnt agree more. when my system was underpar a few weeks ago, piano music was what alerted me to this problem. i have a LOT of piano music (jazz and classical) on CD, and its important to me that my system plays piano IN TUNE.
thanks for mentioning this... one of these days i will actually listen seriously to the 500, but i want to see whats coming out of naims new product frenzy before i become too serious.
enjoy
ken
ps: glad you have sorted out the connections -- as you recall this was my first suspicion...

Yes, thanks, actually it was my dealer who sorted it out ... I don't know why it didn't work when I switched the interconnects around ...

I've just been trying my cheapo Toshiba DVD player hooked up to the Naims, and I'm amazed at the control and musicality the 500 has wrought. Many so-called high-end CD players played in other systems will surely run for cover ...

You should check it out seriously alright, even just to experience it, better even if in your home system ... your piano pieces will blow you away ... On a piano test track from the Cardas record or from Tsuyoshi Yamamoto's "Midnight Sugar", it was scary ...

Posted on: 30 January 2002 by ken c

On a piano test track from the Cardas record or from Tsuyoshi Yamamoto's "Midnight Sugar", it was scary ...

i dont know this one. will add it to my list. piano now has a very special place in my collection. many thanks.

enjoy

ken

Posted on: 30 January 2002 by Derek Wright

In my humble opinion I think the 500 challenges the source first mantra, it is excellent with CDSii and 52s so do not wait for the CDSiii and the 552 or what ever they will be called. Try the 500 now

Even the TV sound via the Sky box is improved.

However ymmv

Derek