Bright to ear bleeding.....

Providing it is setup correctly, surely you first have to eliminate if the 552 is defective or not. No amount of speaking positioning or tweaking is going to fix that...

552 isn't going to cause painful highs unless it is in need of a repair

could be a burndy issue. Remove it, do a gentle massage and put it back, maybe and hopefully that's all that's required

otherwise it needs to go back to Salisbury for a repair

its not a speaker issue as these speakers with fine with 252

Thanks for all of your advise, much appreciated. I'll do some experimenting and do a system rebuild with some burndy massaging to see if that helps.

The speaker position advise, whilst probably not the root cause of my issues, has given me something to think about once I have isolated the real issue.

Amyone have any ideas why all the lights on the input buttons (both rows) would come on? 

Gary

Gary, static can do this. Or may indicate something else. A floating source such as a tv might cause this. Otherwise you could ask Naim's service dept.

My whole system (S400) sounded dull with a 252, adding the 552 gave it brightness. 

Maybe if I had Fact 8s I would have liked the 252. Who knows.....

When's the dealer coming round?

I think you are right .. speaker setup and preference (as well as system synergy) is so important. I have heard a few 552 based systems ... some even with earlier Naim speakers.. that have sounded far to bright and aggressive for my tastes, yet other systems using the 552 have sounded really enjoyable.... 

Audition is is so important... at the very least you should know what a known /validated component will sound like in your system... in my experience you can't assume a 552 will match in your setup.. despite the hyperbole on the forum which I can't help feeling just may lead to false expectations...

I hope  the OP resolves it, and if they can somehome manage it, they want to compare at home with other known 552.... must be very frustrating... but I do think there is something not quite right here with the display issues etc

Is it possible that the 252 you had was dull sounding for some reason and that's why you got the Fact 8s, to balance a duller sounding 252?

Some reviewers claim that the 252 is the most 'neutral' of the Naim pre-amplifiers so despite the additional detail etc. of the 552, perhaps it simply does 'gel' with the other components in your particular room setting. There is an easy resolution ... switch back to the 252 and buy alot more music instead (otherwise you may find yourself changing other components such as the speakers to try to return back towards the sound you originally liked so much). I'm not a fan of the 'more money always means better' argument. It will definitely mean 'different' but perhaps you don't need 'different'...

The Strat (Fender) posted:

But everything was fine with this guys speakers until the 552 arrived?

The first paragraph qualifies the new 552....there's no point trying to optimise anything around a faulty component. If the 552 sounds bad when substituted into the dealer's installation, then it requires repair. If it sounds perfect you're left with the rest of the system. Putting the OP's amp into a system of known integrity is the only way you'll definitively and quickly qualify it's sonic performance.

It's not unusual for a system to sound worse when a more resolving, more frequency extended component is introduced, WHEN there's a problem with the rest of the system. If the speakers are sitting in a bass null, adding a more extended upper frequency will make an already mediocre system sound terrible. 

I agree it's somewhat unlikely to be speaker positioning alone, hence my suggestion to first check the 552, but you can be sure that installing a Naim hi-if system without fully optimising speaker position is like wearing a Brooks Brother suit with a C&A shirt and tie and cheap plastic shoes.   Instead of beautiful space, detail, transparency and sound stage, you get a bit of a homogenised mess.

A square room like the OP's is a bit of a nightmare when it comes to optimising bass. The problem that the OP describes may well be caused by an anomaly with the treble, but a problem with too little mid bass will leave a system sounding exactly like the OP describes.  Thin, screechy and ear bleeding.

How do you massage a burndy cable or any other cables.

Thanks

Blackmorec posted:

The Strat (Fender) posted:

But everything was fine with this guys speakers until the 552 arrived?

The first paragraph qualifies the new 552....there's no point trying to optimise anything around a faulty component. If the 552 sounds bad when substituted into the dealer's installation, then it requires repair. If it sounds perfect you're left with the rest of the system. Putting the OP's amp into a system of known integrity is the only way you'll definitively and quickly qualify it's sonic performance.......

There you go again!

Stop it, both of you! LOL....

Agreed, 110%!

Allante93!

When I was auditioning speakers last year in one dealer we had a Roksan TT/NDS/250 into Kudos S20s and because there was no 282 available a 552.   It was dynamic, rich, textured but never aggressive or bright.   

With regard to the Burndy are we seriously suggesting that this could cause the System to in effect become unlistenable?

Regards,

Lindsay

There's not a product in the Naim line-up that sounds as the OP describes. To sound so horrendous, it requires either a technical fault or a combination of set up errors like really poor earthing, very dirty connectors, highly resonant support structures, poorly positioned speakers, very polluted mains, low quality mains power block, very poor room acoustics (lots of reflecting surfaces like tiles, glass and smooth plaster), faulty speakers etc. Given that the problem only started with the introduction of the 552, a seriously good amp, that limits the possibilities to a few, namely the 552 itself and anything affected by extending the frequency extremes.

Having all the indicator lamps light up certainly does indicate some sort of electrical or earthing problem. If all the indicators didn't light up with the 252 it more than likely related to the 552

FIrst step, check the amp in a system known to be working well then go from there. 

Richard Dane posted:

Gary, static can do this. Or may indicate something else. A floating source such as a tv might cause this. Otherwise you could ask Naim's service dept.

Yes indeed; as Richard says Gary. A tiny burst of static electricity from a finger has done that to my 552 on a couple of occasions. No harm done, apparently!

John. 

The Strat (Fender) posted:

With regard to the Burndy are we seriously suggesting that this could cause the System to in effect become unlistenable?

Regards,

Lindsay

Hi Lindsay,

It happened to Ken C with a 300. That's why I was hoping he'd chip in here. 

John. 

Thanks John and all, applying logic I.e. Everything was good before I swapped out the 252 for the 552, I think the 552 must have an issue. It didn't sound great when I got it which I put down to be 14 years old so had it serviced. It still didn't sound great post service but I put that down to burn in. 

Next step has to be a visit to the gents at Basically Sound to get to root cause with the 552. 

Thank you to all that have provided good advice, much appreciated.

Gary

I think its the room, to much hifi per sqm...

In a way we listen our rooms aş well..

Hi Gary,

Bringing your pre-amp to your dealer's is undoubtedly a good idea, even if it is more work than you might prefer.    Hopefully they will be able to help you get to the bottom of this.     It may or may not be possible for them to play you a similar system in their store to the one you own, but it would be a good idea to hear a Naim system like yours on a modern PMC speaker, if possible, so you can begin to build a data bank in your mind of what the system sounds like in a different, and possibly better room than your room at home.

Good luck,

Bruce

Gary, see if Basically Sound can bring a 552 to you, so you hear it in your room with your speakers. It will be far more informative than you taking yours to them. 

So long no as sad dealer is prepared for you to hold onto it for a couple of months!

Hungryhalibut posted:

Gary, see if Basically Sound can bring a 552 to you, so you hear it in your room with your speakers. It will be far more informative than you taking yours to them. 

This is def the best option.   

Been in touch with Tony today, help is on it's way!

Thanks all

Gary

Hungryhalibut posted:

Gary, see if Basically Sound can bring a 552 to you, so you hear it in your room with your speakers. It will be far more informative than you taking yours to them. 

Yes indeed Nigel. That's the answer. My dealer 'Signals' brought their dem 552 and 500 to my place when I was experiencing a problem similar to Gary's.

In went their dem 552, and whoa, Nelly! - culprit immediately identified and sent off to Salisbury for surgery.

Good luck, Gary.

John.

If the 552 was serviced the fault should have been discovered then on a soak test.

Hi I recently changed to a 552 from a 272. I use a 500dr and nds ....I was also initially surprised at the treble ..... which has allot more resolution and bite. I changed the hi line from nds to 552 for a super lumina and it was transformational the sound relaxed got sweeter and was far more detailed. I think the 552 tends to let allot more treble information through ... it is in effect more information if you listen carefully. The hi line in my case did the system no favours .... try a std din to din ... as a trial or breath deep and test drive a super lumina. Keep us posted good luck.