Credo and 150 question

Posted by: cyu on 28 October 2003

hi all

I just recently acquired preowned Credo. I have never owned any Naim speakers until now. I noticed that there is this protruding metal piece from the main speaker drive, which I noticed quite common among Naim speakers.
I just found out that it is very lose and not tight fitted into the center of the main driver. I initially thought that it can be tightened by screwing it in or something, but can only be pushed into the center of the main driver. When I carefully removed the piece, I saw a plastice peg, which is inserted into the metal piece, and a trace of clear, thin layer of dry up glue of some sort on the surface of the metal piece.

I am hoping somone could tell me what it is and if it broken and how serious the problem.

Another question I have is that on the back of the Credo, someone installed crossdriver. I am not sure if the Crossover 1 or 2.
I noticed that layout markers (i.e. Red (+) and black (-))for the speaker cables on the back of the 150 power amp does not correspond to the cable layout on the crossover (black and red).
to illustrate what I trying to say

Nap 150: (left)Red Black blackRed(right)
| | ?
Credo: (left)Red Black RedBlack(right)


As you can see by the illustration, left side correspond and "fit" to designated color. But for the right side, I have to bend / move the cables to have it fit correctly and may affect the sound. I apologize if I am not being clear with my question. I am hoping that this illustration would help get my question across.
Basically, is this normal arrangment and have to rearrange the speaker cables for the right half to have it fit correctly? Or Does the crossover comes in Left and right side and I have happen to have both left or both right?
any advice would ease my mind.

thank you all in advance.
Posted on: 29 October 2003 by cyu
Hello

I am really in need of getting some advice.
I know that what I have written may be not quite clear and may not interest others, but I don't any other people to ask these concerns.
Thanks again
Posted on: 29 October 2003 by Mark Gilbert
Your description of the part on the speaker driver sounds to me like there is a problem but I've never tried to take it off so I'll leave it to others to comment on how to best resolve that one.
I wouldn't worry about the orientation of the red and black connections on the amp versus speaker crossovers. Just make sure that the connections flow red to red and black to black and you'll be ok. This may mean having to twist or turn over the speaker cable (depending upon the connectors you're using) but that's ok. Good luck.
Posted on: 29 October 2003 by garyi
Cyu. The credo utalised a superior driver to the intro. One element of this was a split plug in the centre of the speaker.

The piece that is loose is actually designed to be decoupled to a degree from the part that enters the speaker. Ideally this is lightly glued, but they can come unstuck. My advice is that because of the reasonably tight fitting centre piece this will not be an issue and is certainly nothing to worry about.

As for the speaker cable this is simply remidied.

Provided the plugs on the end are naim ones do the following:

The plug that needs to be turned upside down to fit correctly is the one to be adjusted.

Unscrew the cover of the plug. Please bare in mind which is the positive and negative.

Remove the sheath that holds the two bananas.

Bend the two bananas 180 degress to face the other way. Replace the sheath that holds the two plugs, making sure to note that the positive tag now goes the other way round.

Replace the cover and screw shut. Your positive and negative terminals should now be facing the correct way ready for insertion.

For the credoes it is best to insure the speaker falls down from the speaker so as not to foul a wall, as you want to get the credeos as close to the wall as possible.

I feel the credoes benifit from slight toeing in, and be sure as with all speakers that the spikes are as small as they can be (on a wood floor they can be right to the wire) and that there is no movement what so ever, Also in an ideal world the spikes will interface directly with the floor.

Have fun
Posted on: 29 October 2003 by cyu
Thanks Gilbert.
I just called NANA and the person I spoke on the phone indicated that it could get lose. There is normally a thin layer of adhesive tape that is sticky on the both side. He said that I could order this tape for 20 USD (b/c from UK).

maybe I should go to a hardware store and buy scotch tape.
Posted on: 29 October 2003 by David Patterson
hi cyu, the piece of tape required to fix your speaker is just like a double sided paper strengthener for use with a ring binder sticky on both sides, i guess would cost 1 cent or less. This happened to me and i was given the part foc from my dealer. 20dollars is ridiculous. Just make sure the opposite parts are spotless before pressing back together.

regards
David
Posted on: 29 October 2003 by cyu
Thanks all for your kind advice

I am much relieved to learn that it is normal to have this piece loose and not a critical issue.

Another question I do have is, do Credos need to be in a big room. The reason I am asking is, I want to hear solid 3-D and sound stage. But I am not getting any of these qualities. I was told that having them right against the wall make the sound tight and perhaps lessen the sound stage. Is this true?
My room is quite small and not enough room to move them around to experiment with. I also not have any Ps to my CD5 (only CD5, 112, 150). Would not having any power suppply affect the degree of sound stage / 3-D. I hear quite alot of boom boom bass, which I did not expect to hear from Credo or any NAIM speakers.

Again, I would appreciate any suggestion.
Thanks again David Patterson and Garyi for your time and input.
Posted on: 29 October 2003 by Chris West
David,

quote:
This happened to me and i was given the part foc from my dealer


Yes that's a nice example of the benefit that comes from having a dealer you've worked with to take care of you.

We do have a minimum charge to handle small orders and that is not an unusual practice for a distributor.

cyu,

You're best off with the original part to fix the phase plug properly. Since you don't have a dealer, please contact me at NANA, I have a suggestion.

Chris West

Naim USA.