Naim Servicing and Repairs | Witch Hat Audio

How It Works

Call Us Cartoon

GIVE US A CALL

We’ll answer any questions and help you find the best option for your unique situation.

Ship It Cartoon

SHIP IT

Then we’ll organise a collection from your home, office or one of 1,000s of drop-off points across the country.

Engineer Cartoon

LET US GET TO WORK

Once we’ve got your amp, you’ll receive regular updates, so you don’t have to worry.

Listening Cartoon

RELAX AND LISTEN

Then all that’s left to do is to sit back, relax and listen… You’ll wonder why you didn’t do this sooner!

Our Promise

We’ll Keep The Naim Note… Or Improve It

Components are rarely what they say they are, which is why the manufacturer gives them +/- values. These differences can have a huge impact on the sound which is why our engineers test and adjust every capacitor to keep Naim’s signature sound. However, if you’re the adventurous type we also have a range of upgrades.

They’ll Be Thoroughly Tested

Our engineers have created an extensive testing procedure based on the one they were taught by Naim themselves. This expertise gives us the freedom and confidence to fix even the strangest of problems. You can trust us to look after your amplifier, give it proper factory service and not panic when something goes wrong.

It Won’t Hurt The Resale Value

In the HiFi world people regularly buy and sell their equipment until they find a sound they love, so you’re rightl cautious about any work you have done. We provide a 3 year warranty, full service records and have a great reputation among Naimiacs, so you can rest easy knowing this service won’t affect the resale price.

Our Promise

We’ll Keep The Naim Note… Or Improve It

They’ll Be Thoroughly Tested

It Won’t Hurt The Resale Value

Here’s What Our Customers Are Saying

“Thanks Mark and all at Witch Hat Audio…Just plugged the little Nait 1 into my system after having it serviced with yourselves….sounds blinding….gave it a little time to warm up….much more detail and dynamic..with almost holographic vocals…..Nothing ragged all lovely and smooth”

Greg Mathews

“Impressive, very impressive I’m amazed quite how different it sounds.It seems to have tightened everything, whilst provided a more open sound.Bass seems better controlled and far less volume dependant.”

Robert Hickling

“My Naim 72, Hi-Cap, 135’s were making horrible humming / crackling noises. Mark serviced them and returned 23 year old equipment to ‘as new’ condition. This was all done with a friendly and patient manner and at a very reasonable cost. Mark was very accommodating and a pleasure to deal with. I would have no hesitation in recommending his services.”

Bob Edmonson

“Cracking job. No hum and the involvement is back by the bucket load andI wish I had done this so much sooner!”

Tom Dixson

“Many thanks for returning the Amp. I have set back up this evening and it sounds wonderful; better than I have ever heard it, so thank you.”

Mark Stevens

“I’ve just had my 62/hicap/250 serviced/serviced/mended by Mark from WitchHatAudio just down the road from me at a very reasonable cost. Sounds superb into my ES14s even with a cheapo Philips 692 CD player.”

Hugh MacDonald

“[I] have given the 250 a quick listen, it’s like a new amp! Power down pops are now on both channels. Pleased I decided to have it serviced, the results are great, I particularly like the way it now takes plenty of gain with my Sara 9’s (a heavenly match) without shouting and is definitely smoother yet more dynamic from both LP12 & CD sources.”

Derek M.

“Mark clearly knows his stuff, there can’t be many like him – with direct experience of working at Naim. Friendly, easy going and clearly an excellent electrical/audio engineer.
A great service that I would highly recommend.”

Peter Pen

“I would just like to say many thanks for servicing my 2 NAP250 power amps.
Both are now back installed in my all Naim system and are sounding great. As you know one of the amps had a fault with overheating which proved difficult to sort, but you were up to the challenge and got it sorted at a very fair price.”

Aaron Ramsey

Interested In Finding Out More?

We offer a variety of mods and upgrades to help you achieve your ideal sound, so it’s seems silly to set out this ever growing price list. Instead if you’d like to leave a message below and one of our customer support staff will contact you to talk through the options and prices.

Or call us on

0330 660 0402

We’re open between

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

9:30am – 6pm

9:30am – 12pm

Frequently Asked Questions

What units can we repair and service?

We specialise in Naim’s Olive and Chrome bumper ranges purely because those were the models our engineers were trained to build and test when they worked at Naim. We can do some newer models but we avoid anything that is surfaced mounted. For a full list see below.

CD Players

CDI, CDS, CD2, CD3, CD3.5*, CD5*, CDX*

* No lasers are available for these models so we will only be able to service the boards

Pre Amps

NAC12, NAC22, NAC32, NAC42, NAC52, NAC62, NAC72, NAC82, NAC92, NAC102, NAC202

Power Amps

NAP90, NAP110, NAP120, NAP135, NAP140, NAP160, NAP180, NAP200, NAP250, NAP250.2, NAP300/PS

Intergrated Amplifers

NAIT1, NAIT2, NAIT3

Power Supplies

Flatcap1, Flatcap2, SNAPS, Hicap, Supercap, 52PS, XPS, CDPS

Tuners

NAT101, NAT01, NAT02, NAT03

Why choose us over the competition?

Choosing who should service your amplifier is like choosing which school to send your child too; you’d love to be able to send him to the best private school (Naim), but you can’t or don’t necessarily want to spend the money. Now the local school (hobbyists) might be easier but they don’t always do the best job. What you need is a happy middle ground.

This is exactly what we provide. All our engineers have spent several years working in Naim’s factory, two of them having formerly holding the position of Senior Test Engineer. This allows us to offer a factory service, following all the same guidelines that we learned working there whilst keeping the costs down by avoiding the Naim Authorised route.

It also allows us to modify, upgrade and even to fix unique problems.

How does it work?

You can use the contact form above to leave us a message and one of us will give you a call as soon as possible. We’ll talk through your system and the problem you are having and try and diagnose any issues over the phone.

Once you’ve decided what you want to have done, be it servicing or upgrades and you’ve paid your deposit (50% of initial order value), you can drop off the units or let us organise couriers for you.

Once it’s in our hands our servicing engineer will strip all the caps and replace them with Kendiels. We go above most agents by doing the electrolytics, tantalums and reservoir – most just do the the reservoir caps.

Then we send it off to one of our test engineers who give it a once over providing some much needed tlc (replacing feet, cleaning the pots, upgrading the plug to a higher safety rating), before it goes into two phases of testing. The first, a electrostability test makes sure the amp is working soundly. The second, a SOAK test makes sure it sounds acoustically as it should, tweaking the caps until you we get the Naim note.

Once it’s you’ve paid the remainder, we’ll produce a formal service record and ship it back to you, ready for you to enjoy.

What upgrades and mods do we offer?

We fit a range of upgrades and modifications, far too many to mention here, which is why, we prefer to talk about this over the phone. As a general overview, we fit Avondale’s NCC200 and TPR4 boards and we also have range of mods that our engineers do such as additional rails, standoff upgrades and other things to improve the sound.

Why you can trust us?

There are a lot of hobbyists servicing audio equipment because when everything goes to plan it’s not that hard. But, when your dealing with an uncommon issue or making sure you keep the Naim note, this is when an expert is required. We are the only independent service agent to use only ex-Naim engineers and this detailed knowledge of circuitry and factory process enables us to provide a service well above our competitors.

Currently we have 3 engineers, 2 of which worked as Senior Test Engineers at Naim. They diagnose problems, test the equipment and service the difficult units like CD players. Our 3rd engineer worked as a Service Engineer at Naim. She builds are cables and does all of the standard service work before they goes up to one of the other engineers for testing. In addition, we also have 2 full time support staff to answer any questions you have.

How do you know when it needs a service?

This is a very tricky question as all amps have a steady decline in audio quality from the moment they are built. This happens over a such a long time that you’ll never notice it until you’ve had a unit serviced. We recommend you adhere to Naim’s recommendations of 12 years on preamps, 7 years on power amps and 12-15 years on everything else.

If you’ve gone past this time and you’re starting to hear crackles, hisses, pops or you’re missing a channel, it means they are well over due. This is because the capacitors in the unit have deteriorated to such a degree that they can no longer power the system efficiently. This may only happen occasionally but over time it will become more and more apparent until your amp will get very hot and the capacitors will explode in the amp rendering it unsavagable.

Please note: If your amp does ever get hot, turn it off, unplug it and send it in to be serviced asap.

Why you shouldn’t service it yourself?

I’m sure some of the more handy of you have thought about recapping your amp yourself, after all it’s a fraction of what we charge. We warn you against this, Naim Amplifers hold their value very well which is why using a reputable service agent counts towards the resale value.

Even if you don’t ever dream of selling it, you risk ruining your amp because you’re not paying us to simply to recap it, you’re paying us to know what to do when it goes wrong, to make sure it’s safe to use and that it keeps Naim’s iconic sound.

Do we provide a warranty?

Yes, we provide a 3 year warranty on all the work we do on your amp or CD player over and above your standard statutory rights.

The Peace of Mind Of A Factory Service Without The Extortionate Cost

You don’t have to worry about us bodging your amplifier because all of our engineers have previously worked at Naim for several years.

How It Works

GIVE US A CALL

SHIP IT

LET US GET TO WORK

RELAX AND LISTEN

Our Promise

We’ll Keep The Naim Note… Or Improve It

They’ll Be Thoroughly Tested

It Won’t Hurt The Resale Value

The Peace of Mind Of A Factory Service Without The Extortionate Cost

You don’t have to worry about us bodging your amplifier because all of our engineers have previously worked at Naim for several years.

How It Works

GIVE US A CALL

SHIP IT

LET US GET TO WORK

RELAX AND LISTEN

Our Promise

We’ll Keep The Naim Note… Or Improve It

They’ll Be Thoroughly Tested

It Won’t Hurt The Resale Value

Our Promise

We’ll Keep The Naim Note… Or Improve It

They’ll Be Thoroughly Tested

It Won’t Hurt The Resale Value

Here’s What Our Customers Are Saying

Interested In Finding Out More?

We offer a variety of mods and upgrades to help you achieve your ideal sound, so it’s seems silly to set out this ever growing price list. Instead if you’d like to leave a message below and one of our customer support staff will contact you to talk through the options and prices.

0330 660 0402

Frequently Asked Questions

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