500 Bloat

Posted by: J.N. on 04 December 2015

My system was sounding great last evening, and had apparently gone of the boil this evening. A bit lumpy, heavy, congested and shouty.

Is it me?

I powered down the 500 for a couple of minutes and re-started it. The magic was back. The sound opened-up, smoothed-out and wasn't fat and lumpy any more.

Gary (DB) told me about the phenomena of '500 bloat' a long time ago and I was sceptical, but it seems that a prolonged period of continuously powered-up Naim power-supplies can result in the sound going 'off'. It's probably just more noticeable with the NAP500 because of its level of resolution and chunky power-supply. Two to three months seems to be the time frame which has an audible effect on my 500.

So; if your Naim kit hasn't been powered down for a while, try a refresher folks. It only takes two minutes.

Any 'Educated Elves of the Electrical Grotto' care to offer up a for why?

John.

 

Posted on: 24 January 2016 by Harry

If it needs a service I think that's the answer. I expect you haven't needed to "reboot" it daily from the first day you had it?

Posted on: 24 January 2016 by FangfossFlyer

Definitely I agree, it is on the list at The Sound Org for return to Naim for a service as soon as they start scheduling 500 DR upgrades.

 

Posted on: 24 January 2016 by Harry

Shouldn't be too long then. Good stuff.

Posted on: 24 January 2016 by Briz Vegas

Gees, i am so glad i don't have 500 DR amplifiers, let alone having 3 in an active setup. Leave it on, switch it off.  Blimey!

But i know you guys secretly love having to nurse the optimum performance out of your amps, just as i like swapping in new tubes every couple of years and smuggling thinking about the teflon capacitors that inhabit my amplifier.  

I do leave my nDAC and XPS on however.

Posted on: 30 January 2016 by FangfossFlyer

As I said in an earlier post that I know that my NAP500 needs a service and it is booked along with a possible DR upgrade (if I like it that is) but recently since I have been switching it off after listening sessions my system seems to have reached new heights of enjoyment or maybe back to a previous high?

So much so that I have discarded all dems of SL speaker cables and ICs as the improvement I currently have is far more satisfying than any speaker or IC change I have dem’d.

So my priority is to keep enjoying my music and buying vinyl whilst I wait for that service.

Then and only then I may go back on the speaker cable and IC trail, but next time it would have to be not only Naim but also Chord , Tellurium and ??? The permutations are endless so I may remain with my NACA5, which I appreciate more and more, and existing interconnects for some time!

Richard

p.s. And my system is due for a complete rebuild if I can ever find time to stop listening to my LPs!

Posted on: 30 January 2016 by J.N.

Good stuff Richard. It pays to keep an open mind and go with what works best for the individual. I had a nice chat with our mutual friend on the subject of loudspeaker cables, only yesterday.

You should of course be getting better/more consistent performance from a permanently powered amp, so maybe a service is due. My 500 and PS are about 8½ years old, so it seemed to make sense to have the PS serviced along with the amp. 

John.

Posted on: 30 January 2016 by Gavin L
FangfossFlyer posted:

As I said in an earlier post that I know that my NAP500 needs a service and it is booked along with a possible DR upgrade (if I like it that is) but recently since I have been switching it off after listening sessions my system seems to have reached new heights of enjoyment or maybe back to a previous high?

So much so that I have discarded all dems of SL speaker cables and ICs as the improvement I currently have is far more satisfying than any speaker or IC change I have dem’d.

So my priority is to keep enjoying my music and buying vinyl whilst I wait for that service.

Then and only then I may go back on the speaker cable and IC trail, but next time it would have to be not only Naim but also Chord , Tellurium and ??? The permutations are endless so I may remain with my NACA5, which I appreciate more and more, and existing interconnects for some time!

Richard

p.s. And my system is due for a complete rebuild if I can ever find time to stop listening to my LPs!

My suggestion, pull out and refit the cables.  Don't use the lock ring on the DIN and pull the plugs out about 1mm from fully engaged.  This could be the lift you are looking for.  I did it last night and have been amazed by the result.

Posted on: 04 March 2016 by Michael_B.

I'd be curious to hear how the new 500 DR crowd are finding this bloat business - whether it happens less than on the old non-DR amps. I've been noticing it more since I got my Shahinians.

Posted on: 04 March 2016 by Michael

Early days yet Michael but I am curious to see whether this re-occurs with my DR 500. It has only been powered up for 2 days so we'll see what happens after the run in period is over.

Posted on: 04 March 2016 by Harry

Curious about that myself. I'm sure much evidence will amass over the coming months.

Posted on: 04 March 2016 by Manu
Skip posted:

If I listen everyday, how often should I turn it off?  Weekly?

My 500PS has a fiddly switch and it does not like to stay on.  It is a small issue if I leave it on.   It would be an easy trip to NANA in Chicago or Indy, but Canada is a world away with an international border.

Bloat is not our friend.  What is the maximum on-off cycle time to minimize bloat?

 

sc

 

 

Of course you can send it to AV Option in Chicago. Chris will take care of it. But to correct you, to ship it to us, there are no border, no issues. You ship it to upstate NY. We take care of the rest of the trip. And we are quite fast.

this is important you know it when you will send it for the DR upgrade....