RE: Recapping a 500.... is a recap based on age of unit? or the units amount of use?

Age of the unit. IIRC the 500 service interval is 12-15 years. Of course, if sounding below par then it could benefit from a service regardless of age.

Hello Richard. Could you please elaborate why just because of the age ? I got offered a box, which has been laying unused for 8 years ( actually offered by some naim sellers, which have overseen the box in their storage ) , so i really need to recap it after 2 years ? 

Well you would really want to be DR'ing anyway... so... :-)

Most probable John, but if it is offered for 25% of the original price it would be worth to play for some years first ? I just wanted to know like A.N., if it depends just on the age and not the use and why actually ?

If something, especially an amp, has been sitting unused for eight years, I think a going over by the manufacturer is a good idea.

In my case it is a supercap. 

Cos 500dr is *light years* better than a plain 500?

arguably comparable to statement power amp?

and on an "improvement for your pound spent" few things come close?

Sorry.I get you John, but the discussion is about reaping not the DR upgrade. The Question is simple: "Does the decision of a recap depends on the usage or the age of the unit ?" Does a unite, which has been used little in the periode of 10 years, need a recap ? Maybe even been powered down most of the time.

And my answer again is that given how extraordinary a 500dr is, you would be daft keeping it as a plain 500. And the whole dr shift gives you a full service. So I think your question is somewhat moot

Yes and it will happen with mine when the funds allow. But i ask about the need of recaping a supercap now.  

I would wait recapping a supercap until you can dr it, assuming that it can be dr'ed and it is working ok at the moment

if it is not working well (crackles buzzes etc) then a service or check is wise. The 10year thing is a variable not a hard thing and is s minimum really. Compare against similar at your dealer. 

Thank you John. I guess listening is always the best advise to do and i understand now that the 10 year periode is a variable. I will not have the possibility to test and listen since the seller is not in my area, but for that price might just give it a try.

I'd be interesred in how you rate the Schroder, I have a Reference on the way on an Atremis SA-1 with a fallback that if it doesn't beat my Rock Aro combo I don't have to buy it. I can't help on the supercap I'm afraid as I bought mine DR from new but it does do wonders for the superline.

Hey Yeti. I have my superline attached to the 552 dr and thought  to put the supercap on the superline. That´s why i asked. I don t have the funds to buy anew supercap now.  I had an Aro on my phonosophie p3 before. I then bought the dps. First with the original modified mega arm and then bought the Schroeder. The schroeder is in a totally different class. I rewired and serviced the arm last year at Frank Schroeder´s to the newest specs. It was very interesting to speak to Frank Schroeder and hear his opinions on reproduction of music. He had different kind of own modified players with different arms.  It was definitely a different experience compared to a hifi shop His views are not dogmatic and it is not always about hifi attributes, but rather about personal and authenticities of listening to music. There are many very good record players and arm combinations on the world marked. I decided for the DPS since it is so simple constructed and can be maintained by myself. I somehow feel it fits the naim way to present music and is rather a neutral source. The Artemis looks great as well and it will certainly be an interesting experience. I guess it will not be so much about hifi attributes again, but about the colour and finesse in rendering of the music. I feel i unfortunately don t have the abilities to describe music reproduction in words so precise as many others are able to here on the forum.  

I ask the question from an evaluation perspective, I have active with 2 500's have a 3rd 500 and debate selling it or doing the whole recap and DR and keeping it as a third amp...  So Im trying to come up with a fair value of it.

Thanks for the help guys.

I bought a 2000 vintage 500 recently from a dealer with I think a 3 month warranty for £6000, I'm not certain about the lenght of the warranty as I immediately booked it in for DRing but I wouldn't feel confident buying something of that value from the auction site for instance. I didn't successfully optimise my setup with the 500 until after it came back from Naim so comparison is difficult.

The SupercapDR compared to the 552 aux2 made the sound more substantial by quite some margin, its important to use the output next to the Burndy socket for best results.

The Schroder arm is due early next year, Frank knows what I'm using it on and with but otherwise it's down to him. The Artemis was his own demo unit. I might need to feed the system pics thread when it arrives.

pylod posted:

Hello Richard. Could you please elaborate why just because of the age ? I got offered a box, which has been laying unused for 8 years ( actually offered by some naim sellers, which have overseen the box in their storage ) , so i really need to recap it after 2 years ? 

Pylod, I'm afraid it would take someone with more electronics knowledge than I to explain adequately here. If you're worried then you can ask Naim to check them out.

Thank you Richard, i think i just go for it. Have a listen and and take it from there. 

Thank you Yeti for the comment on the supercap and the superline. i hope that by time i can archive that combination in my set up.

I guess i have then heard the same Artemis, when i visited his place in Berlin this year in spring. Beautiful player I hope it works out for you. All i can say is just that it was a special experience. It made me think different how we listen to music.  The most of his set up ( electronics and speakers) were build by himself. A really authentic place regarding craftmenship Reminded me of  a master working with watches and time. Very inspiring. 

I expect the stuff inside the capacitors chemically breaks down with time, irrespective of whether it has a current going through it. Huge, Mike-B or S-in-S will know. Others too.

C.

That is an interesting aspect Christopher. That is something i was wondering about as well. 

Yes. I reckon it might be a bit like engine oil. One of my brothers services classic Ferraris, Maseratis etc. Some of the cars are so valuable they are not driven. But still oils and seals are regularly replaced. So, maybe it is similar for caps.....

C.

Do a search for "reforming capacitors"   If unused for 8 years I would certainly recommend getting any unit checked before powering up.

The electrolytic capacitor is a critical part of both old and modern electronic equipment and it must be  used correctly in order to get the longest and safest operational life and is particularly important with high voltage versions of these components. Electrolytic capacitors rely on a chemical process to provide the insulator between the two metal plates and this process can degrade over a period of years if the capacitor has not had power applied. The result is that the working voltage of any electrolytic capacitors in equipment gradually falls. If full power is applied to long unused equipment then the electrolytic capacitors can pass excessive amounts of current that could cause failure to the entire equipment.

Thank you Darran, that was a very useful information.