New vs serviced 252

Just had mt 2003 252 serviced last year. It had new caps, vol pot and a software update. Sounds great. I think I would struggle to tell the difference between it and a new one personally. I would happily buy second hand but would prefer to pay a little more to buy from a dealer for added confidence.

Stu

Naim kit is built to last, but you need to factor in the costs for servicing an older 252. After the service, it will sound like new. 

Great thanks Stu! What was the cost of the service? And was it noticeably better than pre-service?

Stuart bet me. 

Re cost, drop Class A in Sheffield a line. Apparently they are cheaper than Naim, but still highly praised here. 

I think the service from Naim was about £350. My volume pot had become very noisy but was replaced as part of the service which also included a new box and a printout of all of the work carried out.

Did it sound better? Yes it did, but given all the variables involved it’s very hard to quantify.

Stu

Great thanks guys.

Timo posted:

Re cost, drop Class A in Sheffield a line. Apparently they are cheaper than Naim, but still highly praised here. 

Darran at Class A did my olives last year, and did a superb job. If you look at the Naim section of his website you'll see his price for a 252 service.

Well worth getting the Supercap Dr'd too although I'm not sure if this is a Naim factory job given that it involves fitting their proprietory DR modules..

If you want a relaible source Tom Tom in St Albans is well worth checking out. I've bought new and used Naim from James over the years and have always been delighted.

Paul Graville posted:

Hi all. I am thinking of upgrading my N272 to a 252 + SC. But the price is a bit punchy so am looking at second hand. I think I can distil it down to this simple question:

Is a serviced 252 as good as a new one, no matter how old it is?

Another way of asking it is would you buy a 15 year old one for £2,800 or a 5 year old one for £4,000?

 

for sure 2800 for a 15 year old one.

Ravenswood10 posted:

Well worth getting the Supercap Dr'd too although I'm not sure if this is a Naim factory job given that it involves fitting their proprietory DR modules..

If you want a relaible source Tom Tom in St Albans is well worth checking out. I've bought new and used Naim from James over the years and have always been delighted.

I'll second that. After a lengthy home demo, I traded in my 282 and bought a pre loved 252 from James at Tom Tom and it sounds wonderful. I have bought other black boxes and cables from James, new, ex dem and pre loved. Certainly would not have been able financially to build up to my current system without access to quality pre loved kit. I do agree that it is safer to rely on a dealer if you are buying second hand Naim gear though.

Is there a guide, when to do the recapp for the different units?

A new 252 I assume would include a new SC dr which a used might or might not depending on age and/or upgrades. Apart from that I believe a serviced unit will be hard to tell from a new.

Joppe posted:

A new 252 I assume would include a new SC dr which a used might or might not depending on age and/or upgrades. Apart from that I believe a serviced unit will be hard to tell from a new.

No, the 252 and SuperCapDR are sold separately.

Naim recommend servicing every 12 years for the Black series, 8-10 for the Olive and older as far as I know

nigelb posted:

Joppe posted:

A new 252 I assume would include a new SC dr which a used might or might not depending on age and/or upgrades. Apart from that I believe a serviced unit will be hard to tell from a new.

No, the 252 and SuperCapDR are sold separately.

Sorry you are obviously correct, they are sold separately. I had the OP’s situation in mind, coming from a 272 to a new 252 that also would imply bying a new SCdr power supply for it. And in my opinion the dr version “sound” slightly different to the older SC2.

Joppe posted:

nigelb posted:

Joppe posted:

A new 252 I assume would include a new SC dr which a used might or might not depending on age and/or upgrades. Apart from that I believe a serviced unit will be hard to tell from a new.

No, the 252 and SuperCapDR are sold separately.

Sorry you are obviously correct, they are sold separately. I had the OP’s situation in mind, coming from a 272 to a new 252 that also would imply bying a new SCdr power supply for it. And in my opinion the dr version “sound” slightly different to the older SC2.

Ah, OK.

I have never compared SC to SCDR but have been impressed with what DRing has done on other components. Frankly, if affordable, going for the DR option is a no brainer IMHO, be it on a power supply or a power amp.