ND555 Impressions

Judging by the number of people on the forum buying the ND555 they are probably just trying to keep up with demand, at the same time as they build the first NDX2 batches.

We're not bothered by lead times. What we have works well, we still love listening to it and the money is still in the bank. I would rather there were no delays of course, but I would also rather they did it right than rushed it through. It's an aspect of things which are custom built to order. You have to factor it in. 

My car is off the road because a part is on backorder from Germany. It might take months.  I could be very upset about this. Some of my friends appear to want to be very upset on my behalf. What would it achieve? 

Harry posted:

I would also rather they did it right than rushed it through.

Absolutely agreed. 

I would imagine the 1st batch of ND555's were like a toe in the water ........ ensuring production protocols are smooth - I am sure they will do the same for NDX2. Also I recon it will allow them to understand how long they take to build and the demand.....so that scheduled builds can be established.

As most Naim is built to order obviously depending on orders or parts supply lead times will vary when I purchased my Olive system in the early nineties I waited up to twelve weeks for some of the Olive boxes likewise I waited over twelve weeks for my 250 dr a couple of years ago, so it's a thing you get accustomed to when purchasing Naim boxes.

The good thing is that they are worth waiting for.

At the risk of contradicting myself I'm going to say that's excessive. Did you get caught in a price rise?

Richard Sellicks posted:

rjstaines posted:

Just getting back to ND555s for a minute... has anyone else heard the latest reason / explanation / excuse for a delay in shipping ND555s ?

OK, we've had  'run out of burndies', then we heard a rumour 'change to firmware'... and today's reason ?   You won't believe it... run out of 500 style cases !   

Even I was aware that these lovely smoothe cases are a low-yield product on the production front,  but hey, the production management team must be tearing their hair out by now; of all the things rto run out of !    Dare I speculate on the next problem area... cardboard box inserts perhaps?

I want it understood that I'm not complaining, I'm staying 'cool', and I'm fully appreciative of the vagaries that surround delivery of a brand new, advanced technology, £13,000 product... 

Hands up anyone waiting for their ND555 who doesn't mind it packaged in the classic powder coated sleeve....   No, I didn't think there'd be many.

 

PS - I just realised, this could all be Fake News, of course.

This is what I have been told by Signals, now expected mid September! I would be happy with the power coated finish 

AFAIK the 500 series anodised finish has always presented a challenge and, if this is indeed the reason for a delay, then this is far from the first time that delays have resulted as a result - it happened a number of times even back in my days at the factory. The problem is down to two factors; first being the process by which the extruded sleeves are made, the second being that Naim are perfectionists so nothing less than the best will do here (quite right too - that's what you pay for). As for the process, making an extrusion such as this is extremely difficult.  Making an extrusion such as this to such fine tolerances and to such a perfect finish is tougher still. It's one reason why it's done in Switzerland as the company who do the extrusions are the only ones upon to the job.  500 series cases are selected as the best of the batch, however, there's a problem; Some flaws in the finish can be spotted in the raw, others can only be seen once the extrusion has been (expensively) anodised. The anodising is done elsewhere and here more pitfalls await.  Firstly doing black anodising well is tricky.  Get it wrong and "roseing" or worse can be the result.  One thing that can only be seen after anodising is a kind of faint stitching pattern in the brushed finish.  It's quite hard to spot with the untrained eye, but once you see it you won't miss it.  The other is a kind of ghost mark where the rollers have left a faint mark in the hot extrusion. If either of these are very obviously apparent then the sleeve is a reject - that's the big pile of reject sleeves you'll see at the factory, what dear departed Shirley Clarke used to term "Bish stock". Thankfully, while a fair bit was scrapped, some could be used for staff builds (best of the B stock), and others of these could be sent for powder coating, so losses could be somewhat ameliorated, but it means that every now and then anodised sleeve supply can become problematic.

Harry, I think the delay of the 250dr was due to  a transformer quality issue the main delay of the Olive boxes if my memory serves me correctly was the CDI and 82 as when they were released demand went through the roof being Naim's first CD player and remote control pre amp.

Never been caught in the price rise trap, Andrew at Audience honoured the order price of my Core even though it had been subject to a price increase 

Harry posted:

We're not bothered by lead times. What we have works well, we still love listening to it and the money is still in the bank. I would rather there were no delays of course, but I would also rather they did it right than rushed it through. It's an aspect of things which are custom built to order. You have to factor it in. 

My car is off the road because a part is on backorder from Germany. It might take months.  I could be very upset about this. Some of my friends appear to want to be very upset on my behalf. What would it achieve? 

A few years ago a kid adjusting his car music system drove very fast into the left back corner of my stationary BMW and the ensuing accident damaged the back, both sides and the front of my car, which was off the road for 3 months being repaired by our BMW dealer. A good chunk of the delay was that various minor but necessary parts were "back-ordered in Germany", with no estimate of delivery available.

Thus "back ordered in Germany" became family speak for any unreasonable delay, whatever it concerned. And we still use the expression today. 

Best

David

I had to call Signals about a little silly thing I had done on my Nova. Anyway soon got onto ND555.....yes the sleeves seem to be the latest problem. As mentioned by Richard, mid September is the new timing.

Pcd posted:

Never been caught in the price rise trap, Andrew at Audience honoured the order price of my Core even though it had been subject to a price increase 

Good stuff. Peter once pre ordered a 282/Hi/250 because we had it on audition and he didn't want us to get ambushed when we came back to order them. It was that time of year. Very professional. Very considerate. We didn't place the order in the end.

David. This is the pain we are now feeling. It's never happened in 25 years of driving a certain brand of car. Two months to fix the car after I dropped it off a jack. Had it back for a day. Discovered the steering wheel buttons didn't work. Defective part identified and notin stock. None in the UK dealer network has one. Might be a month, might be the rest of the year. Can't drive it because the defective part might foul the steering wheel. It brings home how frivolous and inessential my aspirational toys are. I can get by just fine in the very basic loan car they gave me. Still not even close to "making do with" the superb NDS while the ND555 is extruded, hammered out and built. We don't feel hard done by on either count.

Harry it's a bit off topic, so sorry folks, but I also had a loan car (technically a hire car) for three months, but then the other guy's insurance company refused to pay the hire car bill. The hire car company had to take legal action on my behalf to recover the bill and it was finally settled the day before the court hearing. It was a highly stressful time,

best

David

I wanted to tell everyone on here , my wife agreed to let me purchase an ND555

And what will you do for her?

Please don,t tell......it’s a slippery slope for the rest of us????

Dave J posted:

And what will you do for her?

he will let her play with the remote 

Many things Dave J.  Agreed to Tai Chi classes with her .  Take a few trips that she wants .  

musicfan51 posted:

Many things Dave J.  Agreed to Tai Chi classes with her .  Take a few trips that she wants .  

Good stuff!

musicfan51 posted:

I wanted to tell everyone on here , my wife agreed to let me purchase an ND555

Well done. I strategically upgraded wifey’s car before upgrading my system.

Tai Chi sounds less expensive, but perhaps more physical, bit of a conundrum.

Cost me a new kitchen!

Richard Sellicks posted:

Cost me a new kitchen!

Wow! 

Is the height of the ND555 the same as NDS? 

Overall physical dimensions the same On NDS to ND555. 

I've just read some of the recent posts on here to my nearest and dearest who's assured me that she doesn't particularly wish to take tai chi classes.

Result!