Private equity destroys everything it touches. It capitalises on the established reputations of companies like Naim and drains every drop of value & goodwill from them until nothing is left.
Now that is very true. Rather like locust, don't you think? Now they are buying up farmland. The biggest one in the States is Bill Gates, Bezos, and it's quite a list. I think Blackrock investment group has been pouring millions into it. Like these guys know which end of a cow craps.
@@audibleeleganceincThey may own it on paper but watch what happens when they deny people the food they want to eat for the sake of the social experiments these power crazy clowns want to implement. It’s gonna get nasty.
They do the same everywhere and with any kind of established business. Have you heard? Recaro Automotive, the vehicle seats manufacturer with a tradition of over 100 years, recently filed for bankruptcy. Why? Because shady investors ruined it, in this case Raven Acquisition LLC, who managed to ruin within 4 years what was a profitable business since 1906. These people add nothing to the world, and only take away from it for profit.
@@audibleeleganceinc It's a difference scene over in Huawei. You are only allowed to own shares if you work for the firm, so if you quit, you have to sell them. This way the firm's owners do know which end of a cow craps if they make the cow.
@@Andrew-rc3vh What a wonderful response and thank you for both my morning education and laugh. I do hope you find my channel interesting and I have done 175 other videos with many more planned. Sometimes they just come right out of the air with what somebody says or posts. Well, let others know about this channel if you think it worthy. Thank you, again.
Here in New Zealand Naim has been gone now for I would guess around 3 years. Prior to that I believe that we had some of the highest per capita sales in the world. We also had world class servicing and service from the importer. There was an extremely enthusiastic and well linked group of Naim enthusiasts and sellers all over the country. It was the most amazing decades old network of audio and music fans. All destroyed by the current regime at Naim. That’s why you don’t get investment for that sort of company from low life venture capitalists, whose enthusiasm in life comes from a balance sheet.
That is truly unfortunate but, as I have been reading now, no longer a surprise. I spent a lot of hours wondering what I had done wrong but now I am beginning to understand the whole picture. Thank you very kindly for this information and insight as to what is going on. If you find my channel interesting, please do subscribe and tell others about it as well.
@@audibleeleganceinc no problem! As a true enthusiast yourself I know that it must feel awful for you. But no, I don’t believe that this is unusual, I have heard stories from all over the globe. The grim irony is that in their efforts to ‘go large’ and make more money, that they have been hacking away at their grass roots and reputation with an axe. Thankyou for your excellent informative video!
unfortunately Naim seem to be focusing on the high end Asian markets for the uber rich asians where they are more concerned with the looks and prestige than sound. I recently listened to a top of the range Naim/Focal system probably worth over $500k here in Australia- meh. The sales people really didn’t have much of an idea either. Very disappointing. I’m sticking with my LP12 / active Naim / Isobariks
@@TheBjp0001 looks like they have weeded out all of the enthusiasts from the supply chain and replaced them with importers, distributors and sales people who don’t have the passion. It won’t work out long term. I wonder if it can ever be saved? They have effectively given the middle finger to 95% of their enthusiast followers, most people are not in the 5%!
@@TheBjp0001 Bingo! What a wonderful comment and I have seen numerous manufacturers chase that market. I think it's kind of a McIntosh/Sonus Faber clone but French style. I am so glad that folks like yourself have made so many observations that really pointed out that my fate was sealed a long time ago and what I struggled over was something that was already done.
Greetings from Finland, not a Naim story but here's my Focal experience regarding spare parts. In the spring of 2022 one of my three year old Utopia Diablos developed a slight buzz which came from the woofer. It was not loud so the speaker worked but clearly not as intended and it needed to be repaired. I contacted my dealer and after troubleshooting they ordered a new woofer. After couple of months of not hearing back from them I asked what's the matter, what's the hold up? Dealer contacted Focal and long story short finally it took 13 months of back and forth for them to finally ship that replacement woofer for me. I was just glad that finally I got my speakers working as intended as they are truly magical. Just one thing... My original woofers frame was black colored. What I got back was sort of speckled black, not the same. When the new woofer was ordered I delivered the serial number so they would know what specifications would be regarding type, colour etc. Not big deal for someone but these are not a budget speakers so I expect everything to be perfect. Probably I could get the woofer changed again but it could take another year for things to happen so I decided to sell my pair away, I was somewhat annoyed. Dont blame my dealer, they asked for parts many times during the process and as I work at electronics retail I know sometimes things don't go as expected. This was during the covid so business for new speakers was going gangbusters for Focal, just no time to take care of one existing customer from a tiny market. I was a "fan" of Focal so I had researched their ownership history so I also knew about the double investment company shenanigans so I even expected this. And as a European person I'm glad that they employ people in France, not China. Not all manufacturing should be moved there. In everything, balance. And even now I miss my Diablo's, might even get a second hand pair sometime in the future, Stockholm syndrome much? Best of luck to you.
I know that during that time there were problems with suppliers for cabinets for the Kanta series. The real story I never got to know. Yes, dealers are quite at the whim of that organization, if you want to call it that. We know of so many people who left the Canadian operation that I am uncertain how much knowledge and talent remains. Let's just say they have been very busy building an alumni association.
Julian Veriker used to be a friend of mine. I hung out with him in England several times. My company sold software he used. I rode with him in his Jaguar which he flogged hard. I was very sad when he died. Very smart and nice guy.
Oh, thank you so kindly for adding yet another little bit about Julian. Oh, yes, he was quite unique making what he did all the more interesting. You wanted to be around him in conversation just to hear how he would carefully dissect a question and respond with a logical answer. And while you might not like the answer, the conclusion he stated was simply true.
I never knew Julian but many years ago I was introduced to his sister Deirdre by her neighbour. She was living in North London at the time. I was doing some IT work for him and he recommended me to her. She was a lovely lady. Very friendly and kind. I kind of lost touch with them both because I stopped doing freelance IT work. If anyone knows how she's doing now please let me know.
Sorry to hear this Lou. SO many fine audio companies have gone this route. I'm old enough to remember the good 'ol days. When any company loses its soul the end is near. Best of luck moving forward.
Hello and thank you for your comment. The most dramatic example I witnessed was when Jim Thiel died and a company bought Thiel Audio. They rapidly moved away from the brilliant designs of Jim and within a couple of years they were gone. Some do better than others like when Paul Klipsch died. His nephew, I believe, nearly tanked the company, particularly when he bought Pyle who made car stereo and started to put their drivers into Klipsch speakers. Eventually someone else bought them and has made a reasonable attempt of things but more importantly revived the old speakers as Heritage. Please do subscribe and tell others about my work. I am sure there is something useful in the 175 videos and there are so many more to come.
@@audibleeleganceincThe Thiel 3.7 was one of the finest speakers I ever heard. I have the Klipsch Heresy IV in my secondary system and they are excellent ( main system system has Egglestonworks Andra II).
@@TheBTG88 Thank you for taking the time to contribute to the channel. I, myself, have a particular fondness for the 1.6s with outriggers. Truly a spectacular design.
I have been an "audiophile" for 55 years. There was a short-lived company in Sarasota, FL from 1977 through early 1984 when they shut their doors. They sold Linn and Naim and boy, was it great sounding gear. The company folded not due to bad product but some real bad shenanigans by the owner. That's a sordid tale for another day. Even his employees were blindsided when the store abruptly closed its doors. I bought my Linn Sondek LP12 from one of the former employees in 1992 when he fell on hard times. Nowadays, if a product sounds halfway decent, I use it until it simply becomes cost prohibitive to keep it going. There is no more "absolute sound" for me anymore. I won't buy crap and so long as it sounds decent, is dependable, it stays in my system. Great presentation of a story that I only knew bits and pieces of.
Thank you for taking the time to comment and contribute to the channel. It is most appreciated. Please tell others about my work and the 175 videos currently available. We have many, many more planned. If you have not subscribed, please do.
Years ago, I bought one of those expensive separate power supplies for my olive NAIM CD player playing through an olive NAIT and couldn't hear any difference. Sold it a month later. Currently streaming 32bit FLACS off of a USB drive on a SuperUniti into a pair of Totem Forest Signatures. Very compact system and sounds fantastic
Well, interesting. One of the elements of the hi-fi hierarchy, which you seemingly followed, is that while technical improvements are made in the front end, it's appearance at the speakers is not necessarily guaranteed.
Sad to hear about this. I am in the headphone/personal audio space, which includes Focal, and I find some of these old companies a pain to deal with now. As the companies get sold off to bigger conglomerates and eventually fall apart as the new owners try and make money from them, I focus on the new companies, the kind where you can email the owner, and product engineer directly, who also takes direct care of customers, regardless of how big they grow.
Thank you for your comment and I pretty much have done the same over the years. It has become difficult to deal with some companies and, like yourself, find that the customer is getting poor treatment. This, however, has been the case for us for many many years. Please do enjoy some of my other 175 videos. I am sure you will find something interesting in them. Make sure you tell others about this channel too.
30 year Naim customer here, I own several systems including a 500 setup as my main listening rig. The slow death of customer service in the USA started when Naim USA was disbanded. It was replaced by several different distributors culminating with Focal/Naim outfit in Montreal where customer service is truly awful. The Naim USA folks were uniquely dedicated to the brand, making sure every dealer and customer was making the best sound. Product showcases at dealers were huge events, often with lines out the door of customers waiting to hear a new CD player or amplifier. This sort of customer centered service made the Naim ownership experience special. Sadly this is gone and I know of several dealers who are also seriously considering dropping the brand as it's just not worth the trouble. As someone who has been so dedicated to the brand (and the amazing sound) I will probably never buy another new Naim product. My last purchase was the Solstice Turntable, which sounds great but was delivered with many defects. Julian built a great company and sadly without his leadership Naim has been a company without direction.
Thank you for contributing to this channel with insightful information and, without question, very accurate. There are many testimonials to your points world-wide. I think this reflects how much people enjoyed and loved what Julian created and it stands as a testament to his work. We are amongst those and can understand the painful decision that had to be made. Reading the responses world-wide, it would appear that I did not make any decision at all but that it was made for me. All I had to do was acknowledge it which I now have. And as to your point about service, that's why we had to make the decision to simply cut that off as well. Completely contrary to who we are and what we do I had to cut off servicing the product as I cannot to allow them to undermine our reputation. A quick stab is better than a slow cut when it comes to pain. Please do tell others about my channel as there are over 175 videos up with more to come. Thank you, again.
I knew when Focal acquired Naim that it was the end for Naim. The only hope is that if focal sold Naim back to Naim or a company that believed in Naim.
You are absolutely right.Earlier equipment ,for its faults had a life to its sound,unlike their current anodyne one.I had a CD5i years ago.The loading door was not aligned properly from new,and would scrape when you opened it.I took the lid off and rectified it myself perfectly.When the laser later failed,they first quoted me nearly £400 to replace it!,then refused to supply the part,as i had removed the lid,even though I didn't touch anything else.Was so disgusted,I replaced with a Rega Apollo,which sounds much more involving,and rhythmical,and at less than half the price
And there you go. Better music for less money. That's exactly our goal. Thank you for taking the time to contribute to the channel and please do enjoy my other 175 videos. We have many, many more planned. Please tell others about my channel and maybe they will subscribe which allows me to do better videos.
It’s a sad story. I was never a Naim fan, even after hearing their top end systems, but always understood they had a methodology and stuck to it in that stubborn way UK Hifi manufactures did. They’re an ever decreasing number as the people behind them are doing the inevitable, dying. There are a few left. Tom Evans is still rocking and rolling in his own unique way.
As I commented to another, our industry was once a combination of equipment and personalities. Those personalities added variety to the industry. But much like the auto industry, personality has become secondary resulting in everything looking pretty much the same making electronic marketing by review the path to sales. Sadly, no body has given any attention to the death of shopping malls which all became the same thing just in a different location. There was little reason to go to a different one.
I am from the UK and own some Naim gear. I was very suspicious about the deal with Focal. Big shame they decided to do that deal. Was never going to be free of side effects
It may have started with the most sincerest ideals but after having been sold twice, who remembers the first promises? And, there we have it. Thank you for taking the time to comment and please let others know about this channel. There are 175 other videos posted with many more to come. I am sure there is something for everyone in them.
That's one of a sad story .......... The world went from the genius creativity of a human ...........to a corporated world and this happened not only in audio . Similar happened with other great names .............Saul , Peter and so on ...... We once experienced also a rather asthonishing musical result when one speaker sounded rather like an electrostatic , speed , ease and transparant as well as the open soundstage with almost no box coloration ........then the speaker was build by Focal and the magic was GONE . Thanks for sharing
It is my opinion that if Shakespeare were to re-write King Henry VI, Part II, he would change "let's kill all the lawyers" to "let's kill all the accountants." To me, turning over your management responsibilities to an accountant is like loaning your car to your friend but they can only use the rear view mirror. They can tell you where you have been but have no idea how to drive to the future.
@@grumpy9478 Oh, thank you for your bit of insightful and painful humor. Much appreciated. I do hope you are enjoying my channel with 175 other videos and so many more planned. Please tell others about us.
The record industry didn't help either. The CD quality has flaws, but they sat on any better format while everyone switched to MP3s, which due to the poor mastering (loudness war) didn't sound much different. Meanwhile the industry switched to manufactured boy and girl bands, and now autotun is an industry standard, even on live recordings. So the money switched to surround sound home cinema, but now even their films are hopeless.
It's too bad that many great names in audio from the past seem to be departing one by one. I'm a big Vandersteen fan and have enjoyed their speakers for well over 30 years. Richard is still the head honcho and runs all the R&D and is passionate about what he does, but he has been at it for well over 40 years and one fears for what the company may be after he's gone. My hope is that his legacy and his philosophy lives on...
Well, Vandersteen is a bit of a family company and it might do well. Seems the son has managed to keep things together over at Wilson. So, there is hope for the future.
Thanks for posting you're journey with Naim through the year's! Was fortunate as a youngster in 83 to walk into a superb audio shop that knew their product. Walked out with an amp and pre, nakamichi deck, thorens turntable, and castle speakers. Sure enjoyed that system for years! Time stops for no one though! It's gotta hurt for you, sorry to hear bud!
@@grumpy9478 Yes, indeed it would. However, legacy partners are often used as kindling to start the larger fire. A bridge, so to speak. The other thing they use is the reputation we have built for the product line and they simply cash in on that and the following dealers do the same. It is an old movie and repeated over and over. It isn't to years later people begin to say "remember when......." and by then we are often long gone having suffered the consequences of our loyalty. It is, in my honest opinion, no wonder at all why employees do not look to their employers as lifelong partners and the work product reflects that completely. In any event, thank you for taking the time to comment and please do subscribe and tell others about my work. I have 175 videos up with so many more planned. Thank you, again.
Hello Mr Hamilton, I am lucky that i found this detailed information about naim. Thanks a lot. I am wondering if I should exchange my SBL with that Thiel loudspeaker. Which Model causes this Goose bumps? Or which Thiel Modells do you recommend. Thera are only a few used ones available here in Germany. Actually I use a Naim Olive CDX, NAC82,NAP250, 2 x Hi CAP, NAT2 system. I am not very lucky listening Rock Musik with it. Bass ist too low.
First off, active Naim SBLs are simply wonderful and will clearly outperform the Thiel 1.6s. I am of the sort where I would prefer a well organized speaker with a little less bass than a speaker that is disorganized with bass. Honestly, if you can find a way to make those SBLs active, it's worth it.
I have begun to sell Naim at my store in Québec City, Canada in 1976 and lived with the ups and downs issues of Naim vs the importers (some were exceptionnals, some were a total misery) BUT as stated by Audible Elegance, Naim products were delivering. My store closed in 2017 and kept Naim for that long ; 5 of the owners and employes were getting to 65 and nobody wanted to continue because of all the changes in the industry.... and we were looking at HIFI like a worst case scenario situation. Met so great names (Ivor, Julian, Willam Z. Johnson, Saul Marantz, Roy Gandy, Nelson Pass, James Winey & Wendell Diller and a lot more for all those years) in the the industry that it is a little sad to see what is happening
Thank you so kindly for adding your observations to this video and the channel. It is most appreciated particularly one who spent years in the trenches, as I call it. Yes, the industry has changed markedly yet there are still seeds of the old sprouting. But it has also become more savage by both consumers as well as manufacturers. Glad to see you met so many of the old guard or prior old guard before their passing. Passion was what drove them. Passion still drives some today.
Ive been using Naim since '95. Naim USA really went to hell when Focal took over. It went high end and like most brands today is for witless billionnaires only. We need someone with deep pockets to buy it back and get back to high value 2 channel. I am lucky to have a 2017 CD5XS and a 2019 XS2.
@@rd264 As a dealer, we watched this change in horror and it moved the company from those who loved music to those who loved to show off possessions like the Kings New Clothes. But, to be honest, they seem to be making a lot of money with this move so there we are. We got priced out of many demo models.
My Naim system back in the 90's included a NAP 250 driving Thiel CS2.2 speakers. I also met Julian Vereker at a dealer event in Brooklyn. He was a genuine person and if I had to guess would not be happy about what the company he created turned into.
As a Brit Oluve/chrome bumper Naim amp owner and user, I am saddened by this. I feared that after Julian's passing, his unique insight and knowledge that created such outstanding products would leave a gaping hole in the heart of the company and it's products. As a pro musician, those 80"x & 90's Vereker era products are simply unmatched in terms of delivering the pace, timing, impact and spirit of the music. Domestic hifi (I also used to work in retail of high-end specialist audio), so often sounds just like what it is - domesticated, but Julian's products really grappled with and got to the heart of the music. I've worked in some of the world's most famous recording studios, and my humble serviced NAC 32.5/HI-CAP/NAP 140 really does deliver despite the vintage. It's all in storage currently, but when it comes out, I hope to treat myself and my LP12/Epos ES14"S to a pair of NAP 135's. For me personally, one doesn't need anything more than that. What an unflappable, musical set up that will be!
Thank you for your contribution to the video and to my channel. There are many who are in your camp when it comes to performance and I just had a viewer from New Zealand who is struggling with keep Naim or switching over to the newest active materials from Linn. The one thing that caught my attention was his comment that he found it very detailed but fatiguing. That is a serious warning sign that the detail is a false god and that the timing may be off. It never ceases to amaze me how many people insist upon perfecting the unverifiables which I consider the path to eternal frustration. Well, please tell others about this channel and my 175 other videos. I am sure there is something there for everyone. Subscribers are always welcome.
One thing to note, when Naim changed from 3-5 series, I know a few Independent Naim dealers in England that threw out the account, as it'd lost its musicality and dynamics...one was Phil March who owned a shop called Phography, Naim was his biggest account ❤️
The passing of any founder can have dramatic effects on the course of any business. It is an old but sad story repeated time and time again. Sometimes even the children of the founder manage to screw things up very quickly.
It's very sad knowing what Julian stood for. I went back into Hi-Fi back in 2017, I helped a friend run a shop in Glasgow (Scotland). I thought Rega with Auralic was a better proposition than Naim, Rega still owned by Roy and built in Essex, England.
Sorry to hear that - I guess I'll have to strike Naim from my "grail" list. It's great to hear these anecdotes. In the end, the world is very small and depends on personalities with vision who have a larger than life impact on the rest of us. I run a 38 year old Pre/Power Amp by Exposure who were ex-Naim people. I'm still impressed by the musicality after all this time. It shows the Naim connection in its separate power supply for the preamp, use of DIN connectors for DC power and stipulation at the time of twin speaker cables for stability of the power amplifier. Wishing you all the best, Rob in Switzerland.
Rob, I know of Exposure quite well as they had a good representative in the States at the time you bought yours. As for the current state of affairs of Naim audio performance, well, I cannot speak to that as I couldn't order any. As to the business nature of Naim Audio itself, my posting was, I thought, about my situation and that it was only fair to advise my customers that we had parted. What started out as merely a singular observation blossomed into a more worldly view and I would take the time to read through many of the comments. It would appear that mine was not an isolated case at all. As for what you purchase going forward, that is always a personal decision with the goal of achieving maximum musical enjoyment for the least amount of money spent. Like many others, however, Naim has exponentially increased in price and, as noted, I have no idea if it is worth it or not. So, there we are. Thank you for taking the time to add to the channel with your comment and please feel free to look through my other 175 videos. There are many more coming. Subscribe if you wish and tell others about my work. Happy listening.
So sad to hear that you are no longer able to represent Naim Audio. This was memory lane for me. In the 1980's, leafy Oxford, England, I was on the short path to hi-fi excellence. Nearby an audio shop, Westwood and Mason, stocked a variety of equipment, including Linn's LP12. The staff doted over it, begging me to buy, but it didn't grab me. I bought a Roksan Xerxes from elsewhere and loved it. The Linn / Naim dynamic you mention was amazing - the two firms' products were marketed as one package, but what I remember was their superb advertising campaign. To this day, I can see the awkward expression on the bloke's face, 'Sorry, I didn't catch your Naim', and a power amplifier half buried in the floor boards. Genius
And we still have that poster! It will be sold now, as times have changed. I particularly loved the Linn with the chimp looking skyward with the caption "Deliver Us from Evil" in referring to CD. Yes, the advertising was brilliant. Thank you for contributing to the video with your personal recollections. It is all part of what makes us a community. Please share this channel with others and please subscribe.
I was thinking about that very same advert as well, just after the video ended. It was wonderfully stupid, just like the products. DIN connectors are AWFUL & Lo-Fi, & it made sense that cheap & miserable little British cottage industry audio outfits loved this kind of 💩. QUAD (Acoustical...) used them as well. At least Peter Walker never pretended that they "sounded better" than RCA's or any stupid crap like that! He used them, as did all the little cheapskate 💩-ass British companies, because they saved MONEY, saved real estate, doing double-duty so you only needed one in place of every 2 RCA's, plus saved labour costs because there was one less hole to drill (3 if the RCA's fastened with screws...😏). That also explains the stupidity of using them for power supply duty, something THAT THEY WERE NEVER DESIGNED OR INTENDED FOR. Much less running power supply DC tightly in parallel with your audio signal over significant distances just to save 50¢!!!🤪🤤🤤🤤🤦🤮🙄 Glad to see the nostalgia for Naim's mean old casework; and I mean "mean" in the very English sense of the word. I remember being astonished at how something as cheap & crappy on the outside actually had half-decent parts & (apparent) build quality inside. I don't understand what all the fuss was outside of the UK, though; the stuff was built to a price & was very competitive compared to imported products over there, but the tables are turned 180° once these tinny little shoeboxes with their crappy plastic knobs & external power supplies (to hide the fact that without them, Naim junk was nothing more than a line of 2-box integrated amplifiers cynically priced as separates!🤨) end up over here, competing with the likes of North American brands like Bryston, McIntosh, Mark Levinson, Harman-Kardon, Adcom, PS Audio, Klyne... I would describe the sound of Naim as being "OK" at best & "Etch-a-Sketch" at worst. Pace, timing, borderline listening fatigue (the REAL listening fatigue came later, ESPECIALLY with the Seedy players🙉🙉🙉🤮🤮🤮), & zero tone colour. NONE. It sounded OK when it first appeared over here around just prior to 1980 or so, & the valve "revival" hadn't taken hold yet, as well as the generally miserable sound of trans-zipster please-saw-my-legs-off amplification in general. But even by the early to mid-80's its sound was becoming badly outclassed by any number of substantially less expensive Harman-Kardon, Luxman, Denon, & Sansui receivers(!) & integrated amplifiers including Musical Fidelity's remarkable Tim de Paravicini designed A-1. Was NAIM better than NAD? Well, at least it had no problem trouncing that RUBBISH!🤗 Then again, all the excitement about NAD, especially the godawful 3020 (dis)integrated amplifier, was because the British🤥 audio🤥 press🤥, a bunch of complete 🐂💩ers to the last, raved about it because it was BRITISH🧐 & almost most importantly, VERY CHEAPLY PRICED🧑🎄 in the UK!🙄 Pity it took you the better part of 40 years to stop drinking the lemon kool-aid, & then only because you were forced to. Some of us, the ones with ears to hear & who didn't have any desire to emulate the practices of Mahatma Gandhi, knew it was just urine from Day #1!
Thank you for the history lesson. I really enjoy that. I am sorry to hear about dropping naim. I have never been a fan of naim. There are plenty of other great companies out there to support. I truly do appreciate your honesty. That’s rare today. Keep up the good work.
Tell me more. I sold the aro, prefix and such. They were not much fans of the Cirkus bearing as I recall. The SBLs were one of the most amazing speakers we sold and active only. It was a stunning speaker but not for everyone. It was a time when selling Naim and much audio was simply a blast. So much fun. Audio systems were like car shows. You would dream about them for weeks scheming all along trying to figure out how to get one.
Glad to see you're still in business! I used to come to your store when I was a student at UC in the late 90's. I wish we had a comparable dealer here in Sacramento.
Well, if we can ever be of assistance, you can always reach out to us. Sorry about the state of affairs in Sacramento, though. Nice to hear from original customers knowing the experience was pleasing.
I had pre power Naim amplifiers in the early 90's and yes it was fantastic. But today after trying many brands I went to Rega and the same quality is there.
We intend to build out several lines now, one being Rega. Thank you for taking the time to comment and please tell others about my channel and the other 175 videos. Perhaps they will subscribe which allows me to make better videos.
@@audibleeleganceinc Hi from the UK again.. Just thought of a slight caveat regarding Rega. If you want to stream, you can't as Rega don't make one and if you're still into CD's there's little choice. Of course if you don't mind buying different brands there's no problem, but it would be better if the options were available. Shaun.
@@shaunjp2211 Thank you for your further thoughts. We have alternatives in streaming that suffice for the moment. As it was, with the change of distribution practices here in the States, we would do the demos and take the time to explain it all and then the customer would go on line and buy it from a mail order house. So, we were not getting Naim streamer sales anyway.
And yet, it is also the consumer who is more than willing to use the small businesses for advice and knowledge while losing no chance to mail order it from a monopolist for a lower price with no service. There are two sides in the equation and when the consumer votes the way they do, the companies support it. It is simply a matter of fact.
I'm so glad that my colleague found your story here on RUclips. The 'Young Lady', to whom you refer, stayed with my wife and I at our home in Bristol (UK) for nearly a week to help her get an idea of the UK market and how we (UK Naim dealers) dealt with demonstrating, selling and the installation of Naim Audio systems. She would then take this model back to her business partner in the US and, hopefully, enable them to add some of our ideas to theirs to take them forward with the distribution of Naim products in the USA. My wife and I enjoyed her company a great deal....and introduced her to the, at the time, hugely successful tv series 'Edge of Darkness' which she really enjoyed. Very sad though to hear of her passing. I considered myself to be a friend of Julian's, and have many stories to tell. Naim now, ironically, is very sadly just a 'name'! (and in that lies a story).
I was able to confirm with whom I was referring, her name was Alexis. She was the first to set up NANA. After her death, Jan Donaldson took over and for some, that is who they are thinking. Jan as know to also be with Alex who was quite a powerful individual. Yes, there are many stories about the early days of an independent Naim Audio in the states. Chris West, who worked with her, was kind enough to send me a set of pictures from that time including those of Julian. Thank you for taking the time to comment to the video and the channel For those who have a long history with Naim, it meant something. To those looking for a 5 minute sound bite, not so much. But us old guard remember the old ways and it was not about how much you had in your pocket.
It's not just the USA that's had problems with the new Naim. Several former dealers have said the same thing in the UK. I still have my 82/Supercap/2 x 135s but haven't used them for years. Not all Naim units are made in Salisbury these days, the lifestyle stuff is made in China. All Naim speakers were discontinued and replaced by Focal which is a pity - the Ovator sounded really good at the Bristol show. Now all Naim dems are done with Focal speakers but sometimes they don't sound as though they are made for each other. Just my opinion.
Hello from the UK. Yes I remember hearing the 72 pre-amp which replaced the 32.5 I had at the time and not liking it but on hearing the 82 I thought it was a really nice pre. Years later I heard a Naim system partnered with some large Focal speakers. Oh dear, as a Brit you might think I'd be supporting Naim but that would be dishonest. I couldn't live with a Naim/Focal system IMO it's very fatiguing to listen too.
0:52 @@audibleeleganceinc had a trade in pair of mid priced large bookshelf/stand focals that were so bad that I thought I would never get rid of them...one day thought got nothing to lose so removed drivers...took half of the ridiculous overstuffed with cotton waste damping out and hardwired the drivers rather then those made for mass assembly push on tabs...HUGE improvement... Is this the problem with companies this structured... Losing the finer points due to no individual responsibility or ownership of products? It becomes walk out at 5pm.. paycheck..who cares less...
I run a Supernait3 and Hi-cap DR. Still delights like the first time I heard Naim. Shit tons of fun and enjoyment. Sad to see this, but Naim is still around for now. Check it out if you can.
@@audibleeleganceinc I am truly sorry things with Naim are disinitegrating. No fault of any of us fanboys, of course. They make something very special and sadly they are underappreciated. All things must pass.
@@tonyjedioftheforest1364 Well, Rega yes, Linn no. We parted ways with Linn years ago after some miserable experiences with them. My friend who had been with them for over 30 years just got tossed in favor of someone who offered a bigger check. World of Linn didn't change..
@@audibleeleganceinc I love my 3 Linn turntables so I am not going to knock them but I am also a big fan of Rega. I met Ivor in the late 70’s and after he demonstrated how the source was the most important thing I was converted. I also have several Rega items and can’t fault them. My next major purchase will be a Rega amp and hopefully CD player but I also fancy Audiolabs cd transports. All depends on which amp and what I can then afford.
This is so sad - I'm in England and Naim is still in all the hifi dealers and also Focal but I did notice the change in Naim from the olive electronics they became more middle of the road the only equipment I buy new are streamers and dacs the rest - pre monos speakers are all 20yrs plus now
Yes, I think so too. We really tried here in the states but their vision does not include specialty retailers as they did once. Its primary focus is how many units sold. How and to whom really doesn't matter. And, there we are.
Very interesting indeed. I have a British perspective on all this, and I've owned Linn equipment, but not Naim. Can I just suggest, if you want to replace Naim with another British company, of long standing good repute, maybe Exposure Electronics is worth investigating for you. Cheers from London.
@@audibleeleganceinc thanks, also Exposure is at a considerably lower price point than Linn or Naim, so that maybe helpful to some of your customers...Exposure is certainly thought of by uk press as providing excellent performance for a moderate cost. And it might still be a 'family business', though I don't know for sure. Cheers!
I'm England too, relatives have owned Linn and I liked the sound. The Naim's I heard always sounded fine, but non interesting, but perhaps it needed different speakers. At hiFi shows I noticed zero correlation between price and sound quality, and that continues today - nicely designed stuff always sounds good, as long as they use mostly reasonable parts :D
@@audibleeleganceinc Dalston vinyl beat me to it by suggesting ExposureThey still retain a similar exciting sound to the one tat so impressed me back in 1987 when hearing their 7/8 pre/power fed by original Roksan Xerxes into Epos es 14 speakers at The sound Organisation shop by London Bridge.Can still remember how good it was!
@@Baldieman1... coincidentally the turntable I now use is a mark 1 Xerxes, factory serviced and working to spec. with a Rega/Origin Live arm. I think it sounds exceptional still. Cheers
I own two Supernaits and fear for what will become of them when at last they need to be serviced. Experiencing true synergy with hifi is rare and Naim was at the heart of many of those experiences for me, making me a Naim customer for many years now without any desire to keep looking. It's a shame.
It is not a new business model but one that is spreading like a disease amongst many. I can only speak to what is happening in the states. Yes, it is a shame.
Hello from the UK. Sorry to hear about all the trouble you had with Linn/Naim but entirely surprised. I sold my last LP12 turntable early noughties because they thought it would be ok to charge north of £2k for a sub-chassis upgrade called the Keel. I think today it's well over £3000!! I sold my Naim amps which consisted of a 32.5/140/hicap (big mistake) and bought a Linn Wakonda pre partnered with an LK140. It was ok but never really had the magic of my old Naim amps. I have heard the latest Naim amps with Focal speakers and find that combination really tiring to listen too. I suspect Naim have tuned their amps to partner better the Focals and IMO it doesn't gel. I've also heard speakers which I do like driven with Naim amplifiers and that doesn't gel either. Mmm just my opinion though but a Naim/Focal system; not for me.
Thank you for taking the time to comment and you are not the first to make this observation. We resigned Focal, a video that we posted, for fundamentally the same reasons as Naim. I would not be surprised if in this combination, Naim amps were tuned to Focal but that is only a guess. The nature of the combination is similar to that which occurred in the States with McIntosh/Sonus Faber, another consolidated audio group. Oh, I agree with you big mistake comment. Similarly, a few have posted the same observation you made about the Naim/Focal combination. I can "see" that. Please enjoy my other 175 videos and let others know about this channel. I am sure some will find useful things. We plan many many more videos so stay tuned and, perhaps, subscribe.
@@grahamf695 They can sound harsh, yes, they need a good tube amp to settle them down. It always amazes me the Linn LP12, all we really need is a solid bar between the spindle and arm base, that's suspended. How difficult and expensive could it be? Add a rim belt drive and a lightish damped platter and it's mission accomplished. The average cheap bicycle has more engineering.
Thank you for your, as always, open-hearted discussion of these difficult topics, your channel is really worth watching. Naim is dead. I have a lot of their equipment here in front of me but these are probably the last ones that I bought from them. They are harming the customer with the current policy of suppressing small, independent retailers and supporting mass sellers on the internet at the same time. The customer used to need expert advice from Naim and/or dealers. Currently Naim is one supplier of many others with no identity. This is quite simply a betrayal of Julien Vereker and the values they have worked so hard to build up. They forget that the small, loyal dealers have made Naim what it was when they were bought by these French money sharks. My dealer here in Germany is also affected and many of their customers are leaving Naim forever. Linn has found a way to keep and win customers, but at extremely high prices, some of which are hardly justified in my opinion. The tonearms below the Ekos SE in particular are simply too expensive and too poor.
Thank you for your honest and open observations and stories about Naim Audio. I struggled with the decision but it is becoming increasingly clear that it just wasn't me. There are too many responses already from different parts of the world that are too similar. I too believe that this "cashing in" on past reputation will ultimately prove destructive. It may take time but what damage that will be done will take years to repair. I do also concur with your observations of Linn and they too are starting down the same path but well behind Naim. My good friend, a long and loyal dealer of Linn products was just eliminated in favor of an audio whorehouse with a big checkbook. Nuff said. Please do tell others about my work and encourage others to subscribe. We have many more videos planned.
Gary Warzin's passing was devastating for all of us who repped for Audiophile Systems. Brilliant, fast thinking, and always coming up with something weird. His straight jacket escapes were epic, but he exuded magic. He loved audio, but more than that, he loved people, and getting the audio message out. When he was gone, the guiding light was as well.
I had the honor of having Gary at my store in Cincinnati and to the customers attending, I simply stated that Gary was the reason for my success. I owed it all to him. An amazing person and only now I am I fully understanding some of his lessons. My son and I attended his funeral and while there half of us were wondering if Gary would suddenly leap up to catch us all again with his antics. Alas, it was not to be. One of the few people I truly miss. Thank you for adding your comment.
I went through this at Advent in the mid 1970's. Once Henry Kloss lost control of the company, changes were immediate and for the worse. The new majority shareholder's management team had no understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the firm.
I had experienced this with a company that I worked for as well. It is painful. The entire Naim situation was made even more difficult because of the amount of complete disorganization that was so apparent on so many levels. But we have moved on and are enjoying our growing relationships with Rogue, Bel Canto, Totem, Aerial, Bryston, and likely Ayre. But I hear the company is making a lot of money but that will only last so long and they will sell it to some other group at a premium and it will tank. I simply did not want to be a part of that future and they didn't want me either.
Well, as noted, we were trying to continue to sell it but they have other visions as to who they believe they are and how they intend to sell the product. That said, the "Anniversary Naim Nait" is now about half off at any mail order house. That tells you quite a bit about the marketing vision. The Nait was the introductory product from Naim. A gateway to the rest of the line. People had to hear it to believe it. That was not how it was marketed but rather as some sort of elder Naim owners taking a re-trip down memory lane. Its original price was anything but introductory. Those unfamiliar with the brand would certainly question why this when I could buy a NAD at half the price with more features. The new 3 piece series at $30,000, which is not their best by the way, is illusionary and trading on the name (no pun intended) built by brick and mortar dealers. Our work is being cashed while we are also being denied the fruits of our work. I do not see the long term prognosis as being favorable.
In my opinion Naim seem to be spending a lot of time removing negative feedback about them, including taking down references to this video. Probably best to avoid a company that's doing its best to remove negative comments and feedback, seem to be trying to present a heavily censored view of themselves
We might have had the same experience when I resigned Focal. I don't know and honestly, I really don't have time to worry. My wife is in the Cleveland Clinic Cardiac Intensive Care Unit in hopes of receiving a 2nd heart transplant after 3 very tough years with the first. It has come down to she gets a new heart and returns home or returns home as ashes after they are finished with her donated body for medical science. In the meanwhile, I have an obligation to my customers to explain what I am doing and why I am doing it. It's that simple. It was not an easy decision as you can see by my efforts to resolve it. But other comments here about my experience have proven enlightening.
No, that wasn't the point of the video. I was still trying to sell it, it's just that they didn't want me selling it. A small brick and mortar store. They went mail order and houses that can do that. Gone are the days of personal care and now Naim as a company looks upon their goods like toothbrushes and peanuts. It is simply goods to move. The results are not their problem. Whatever Naim is today is not the Naim of yesteryear so don't confuse the reputation of then with the reputation of today. They are different and that's that.
@@audibleeleganceinc As I value professional care, that's the point for ME. So, Never buy Naim and trash talk Naim at all appropriate occasions is MY answer
Fortunately, there is a good supply of early NAIM equipment available. I recently acquired a very early NAC42 for about £150.00, complete with MM phono cards. I love the sound - the power amplifier is a NAP 90/3 bought for a similar price. Fortunately, I am able to repair my equipment myself. However, even for those who need to have their equipment repaired professionally, this early NAIM equipment still represents excellent value.
Thank you for taking the time to write and contribute to this video and my channel. Much appreciated. I will always remember one of my first Naim pieces at the store, the Naim Nait. It was a wonderful piece that Julian rated as having "sufficient power." Please let others know about this channel and the 175 other videos already posted. We have many more planned. Subscribe if you wish.
Thank you for taking the time to comment and glad you enjoyed the analogy. It is clear from all of the comments that have come in from around the world that all of the good will and work the original dealership base provided will now be used in ways that make it difficult for them. I honestly don't recognize the company anymore after this makeover. In any event, please do enjoy my other 175 videos and tell others about the channel. Perhaps I will get more subscribers which allows me to do things to improve the quality of the videos.
curious what folks think of the new philips laser blocks calibrated for naim players with wiring harness that are sold on ebay. I own 2 in fact one from a german seller one from a seller in Malaysia, I bought them as spares. i have not tried to install them. I dont know if they are in fact calibrated properly as claimed by the sellers. after years of using many speakers with Naim, I finally discovered Neat. And Kudos.
Oh, I agree about the CS3.5s and it was dramatically worse with the 3.6s. Frankly those ate everything. But if you look at the CS1.6 and 2 series, it worked perfectly.
Clearly the investment group model changes both priorities and values of electronic products in ways that seem to often result in products being hollowed out shadows of their former selves. It is sad to watch.
Well, since I have not been able to get any of the new equipment, I can render no opinion on that. Have I seen it happen in the past, yes. Thank you for taking the time to comment and add to both the video and my channel. Please take the time to look at my other 175 videos and tell others about the site. Perhaps I will get more subscribers that will allow me to make better videos!
Interesting the audiophile industries current fashionable focus on PSUs and toroidal transformers, maybe ILP and Gardners Transformers were right after all !?
Glad you enjoyed the history. I am thinking about doing others about it without the unfortunate ending. Writers for movies have given me so many lines that it is impossible to use them all! Please enjoy our 175 other videos and please do tell others about this channel. We have so many more videos planned for the future.
Naim was exceptional at that time. The first to use toroidal transformers, matched transistors, you "naim" it. Yes, they were definitely on their game at that time. Naim was deep into the study of microphonics on solid state at the time of Julians death. In any event, that's all past now. I do thank you for contributing to the video and channel. Please enjoy the other 228 videos we have done and do subscribe if you want to see what is coming next from us.
You just got locked out of the website and they cut you off from ordering for no reason at all? It would be interesting to hear what you guys did to make that happen.
Well, I suspect, and only suspect, that my decision to stop selling Focal was the nail in the coffin. We no longer fit into the image they are seeking. We could see with the change in distribution practices and offering special closeout prices on very short notice only fed the mail order houses to our disadvantage. Those prices were below our costs and it simply made it impossible to handle. That and a minimum quarterly sales requirement that really is not obtainable by small dealers. If you want to wean an animal off, simply sour the milk. Those practices have spread to the Naim line now and there really was no place for us. In any event, we move forward. Please take the time to check out my other 175 videos and tell others about them too. Perhaps I will get a few more subscribers which helps improve the quality of the videos. The early ones were rather crude. We have many more videos planned and hopefully not like this one. But, after 39 years, I have to inform my customers of what was going down.
How sad to learn Naim, an outstanding manufacturer of amplifiers, cd players, and power supplies has been sacrificed in the belief their new owners " No better " despite all their years of producing some of the finest audio equipment 😢
It's not the first company I have seen go down this path and I am sure it is not the last either. In any event, they want a different team selling their products in a different way. That's all that needs to be said.
I worked in high end hi-fi, when Julian sadly passed, naim was handed over to other directors. They developed the 5 series, it was awful compared to the 3 series..I remember clients ordering 5 series, then returning it for the 3 series.
Oh, so thank you for adding to the channel with an insightful piece of the puzzle. I do sincerely appreciate the effort. Each of us holds a piece of the Audio History Puzzle. Please do tell others about my channel and perhaps they will subscribe to it. I have many many more videos to come on top of the 175 already posted.
My personal take on the 5 series as a salesperson was it was more comprehensive then the 3 series. The first cd player was maybe not as good as the earlier 3 entry player but it did undercut by a decent amount and made it more accessible to more consumers. The upgraded 5 units with the power supply etc were truly fabulous for their price point and was no disgrace at all .raised the bar if you asked me and became more wife acceptance as well so all things considered they adapted to the new world. I do agree that I do mourn however their old approach has been altered... unfortunately those that don't adapt fall by the way...
Thank you for the compliment and I try to be honest and open. Please enjoy the rest of the channel with the 177 videos. We have many many more planned.
Linn and Naim have been guilty of overpricing their equipment for years now. One other thing I have seen was that as soon as the investors walks in through the front door, the talented engineers walks out of the back door.
l certainly think that is the case with Naim now as in the States they turn over their older inventory to mail order houses that blow it out at 40% off.
Yes, it is. Usually the difficult thing to do turns out to be the right thing to do. Thank you for your comment to the video and please do enjoy some of my other 175 videos.
Was auditioning speakers and the Naim Unity Nova heavily over the last 6 months, the thing that keeps coming up time and again in relation to Naim is service and service issues, the amount of threads on their community around repairs to units that are less than 12 months old means I have no confidence in this brand. On the other hand I've had products from Cyrus for 15 years which have never had an issue. What is going on at Naim? These were always premium products but it looks like the only thing that is premium now is the price.
I truly cannot speak to others experience but I too have noted the number of comments to my channel on this subject. The affirmation of a decision is always accepted but rarely is the cause. It is what it is in your country.
it's the "financialization" of everything... humans are mere transfer functions inside clever biz models. the cleverness is sold to the investment class as a magic bullet or "we're just smarter than everyone else & can eek out a few more % margin". they also tout "breaking into untapped markets". pump it up & get out at the top. no "there" there. no long range plan (much less, coherent vision... well, there's a spreadsheet touting huge scale & margins in 3-5 yrs).
Had a Unitilite, that had to be repaired 3 times (same fault - cd mechanism). Informed by retailer that NAIM use cheap Chinese parts that are inherently faulty. Eventually gave it away for parts, would never return to this brand.
A lot of people did not realize that the home entertainment in a box part of Naim Audio was made in China. Now, it's not that Chinese goods are bad but that they are not necessarily the same quality as the brand name placed upon them. We too experienced some rather expensive repairs for that line of product, particularly the early series. As it suddenly became available by mail order, our experiences were greatly reduced as were our sales. So, we have no real clear picture of what continued to happen.
I have 3 Naim systems, all ''low end'' starting with an original Nait mk1, green led, which I bought new in the 1980s, still have my Linn Axis turntable that went with it. I have no plans to buy any new Naim eqpt now since the failure of my HDX. The writing was on the wall when they started to get into the digital and '' lifestyle'' market. Just seen a thread on FB, which I would guess was about this video, that was immediately shut down by the admins. Ce La Vie as they say...all things must pass. I am going with an Eversolo DMP8. I live in Bulgaria so service of any kind is a no no.
Thank you for contributing to the channel and taking the time to do so. Interesting that a thread was shut down but not surprised unless it contained some sort of unacceptable behavior. Please enjoy my other 175 videos and we have so many others planned. Subscribe if you wish but please do tell others about my work. They might find something useful.
@@owenoneill5955 Interesting that you used the expression "quarters" as here in the States, certain areas of Louisiana (a French Territory at one time) are referred to as Quarters in New Orleans. And for those who think I am picking on the French, I am not. I do remember the Battle of New Orleans as well as the French Navy bottling up Cornwallis. No, it is the manner of business practices which know no boundaries at all. American companies are just as capable of these types of decisions.
@@audibleeleganceinc Funnily enough I did hesitate for a second before using the term quarters. I could also have used circles. Language is a funny old thing... Did you know the alphabet we use is actually the Latin alphabet? After brexit, when the authorities here in Bulgaria issued statements saying it was ok to use the Latin alphabet instead of the Cyrillic alphabet when filling in documents, it completely threw the English speaking expat community into turmoil 😄😄😄😄
@@owenoneill5955 That's equally funny. You see, I am a trained as a lawyer so the use of words, their sequence, commas, all play a part of understanding. Then, enter the bureaucrats. We once had a part of our Internal Revenue Code declared unconstitutional as it had, in one sentence, 527 words. 3 different agents for the IRS came up with 3 different interpretations. As such, the Judge declared it unconstitutional because if the IRS did not understand its meaning, then the taxpayer could not either.
I am a long time Naim customer and was genuinely shocked to watch this video. It does not match my experience. For example a few years ago my olive era equipment was due for a recap. I beought it to my dealer, he sent it to Naim, and it came back refurbished and sounding great about a month later. No problem. Naim has always in my experience put the customer first. I sure hope this isn’t changing and that what you describe is just growing pains. They are a large company now.
I suppose it depends upon where you live, country wise. In the States, that series of equipment is referred to Chris West up in Chicago, Illinois. He was one of their service technicians for years and is intimately familiar with the olive series. I can not speak as to what happens in other countries where things could be quite different. Certainly there have been a number of other posts you should look at which parallel my experience. I do thank you for taking the time to comment and contribute to the channel. I am sure some will enjoy what you had to say and it's quite fair to include it for all to read. Please do subscribe and tell others about this channel and the other 175 videos. I am sure there is something there for everyone. Many more videos are planned.
@@audibleeleganceinc Thanks for the mention Lou … and indeed my Naim journey started from being the Test Engineer for Naim UK back in 1982, followed by my transfer to Naim USA in 1986 and beyond. I’m the service Manager for (and a founding partner of) AV Options now, and we’ve had an authorized Naim Service Center for the USA just north of Chicago since 2011. We service Chrome Bumper Naim gear as well as the Olive series, and those ranges are actually also serviced by Focal-Naim America. We’re well known for restoring vintage Naim gear to its full glory. We also offer service for Classic and Reference range components, with much of it being more than 10 years old these days since the classic range came out in 2002! Our focus is on amps, preamps, and power supplies. We don’t service CD players, mainly due to the unavailability of CD mechs like you were saying. Also, for technical reasons we have to refer servicing of all the streaming, server, and DAC products to Focal-Naim America. --- By the way, we build many accessory products of our own that are oriented towards getting the best performance from Naim gear - but also great for other brands. We make AV Options AC power accessories, speaker cables, and Interconnects. There's more details about our Naim servicing and what we do are here: www.avoptions.com … Cheers, Chris
@@christopherwest8103 Chris, in doing this video and answering questions, I believe I remembered the name of the gal who was first in rescuing Naim after the split at Audiophiles. Alexis, I believe it was. She was a good person to me and her husband was a rather humble man in my presence. It was unfortunate that she fell to cancer, as I recall. I am happy to refer customers to you and, as you can tell, that will now be 100% of what you can work on. As for the rest, well, good luck because we were strung out for a long, long time. There is no trust left
@@christopherwest8103 Chris, Philips VAM1202/12 transports with the wiring harness calibrated for my CD5XS (2019) are sold on ebay. Are you able to install them?
It’s becoming vital that the equipment you buy today comes from a reliable company. American works best, in my experience. Rogue Audio is wonderful about service and they make hi power valve amps that will do triode mode. I don’t understand why this is unusual, but it is a shame.
Well, funny you mention that as we too have found Rogue Audio to be delightful to have as a supplier. I often refer them here for value when people are spending stupid money on used gear from the 70s.
I won't touch Chinese tube amps because they're usually poorly designed, poorly built, and they have no service after the sale. I'd rather pay more for an amp designed and built in a developed country with better business ethics.
@@1mctous We tried Prima Luna once and while I don't recall any problems with them the importer was an entirely different matter. We are much happier with both the performance and company in Rogue Audio. Wonderful people. Thank you for taking the time to comment and please check out our other 175 videos. Please tell others about our work.
@@1mctous that’s not always a guarantee either. I recently tried to get a replacement part for my older Roksan turntable. After more than a year and half a dozen contacts, I finally got the part. It turned out to be such poor quality that I refurbished the old part and I’m using it again.
It just goes to show how companies falter once the personality cult surrounding their originators fails when he dies. As a big rega fan I can only imagine what will happen once Roy Gandy passes away, he's getting up there in age and just makes you wonder you know what I mean.
Thank you for contributing to the video and the channel. Well, I don't think we will see a direct drive Rega table with bluetooth and a headphone jack anytime soon. Regardless, your point is well made. Please feel free to subscribe and please tell others about my work.
@@audibleeleganceinc well for me it isn't a matter of features or adding products that they traditionally didn't make. Actually truthfully I'm all for progression and innovation and taking something like Bluetooth for example and optimizing it into their products in a unique way. What I worry about though is once he goes the whole company philosophy and the way their products are built and designed to produce a certain sound, which I absolutely adore, will change. Take Arcam for example, their '90s amplifiers and products had a wonderful rich sound with great tonality and speed and definition, but now having listened to their latest offerings, it doesn't have any personality and character, it just sounds bland and ultimately boring. That's one of the things I love about Rega is the fact that their products have character and the sound that they produce has character, whether that be an amplifier or of course a turntable or a CD player or a tuner even down to the speaker cables and RCA cables, all of the products that they make have character. That character though is a unifying force and comes through when listening as a singular experience. Just like Naim I fear that's what will happen when he goes, in an attempt to cut corners or cost they will start making their products more cookie cutter and lose the personality. It will probably go good for a few years before they really tear it apart but I imagine eventually we will lose the beauty of rega and on that day I will probably sell my Hi-Fi system and get out of the hobby.
Greetings from Serbia. Sales problems aside, it is my impression that with Julian's death company lost it's way and it's identity. It's not the same sound anymore. The old NAIM sound is and always will be preamplifiers with singleton input stage and quasi power amp with diff input stage modified for best subjective results, not best measurements. Today all of these ideas are gone forever. Now NAIM electronics is very conventional topologies optimized for lab results (which are very good indeed) but the magic of it's sound in nowhere to be found. It's another company altogether. My friend was Serbian distributor some years ago and we were completely surprised how different modern NAIM sound is from the old sound. We much preferred old sound.
Thank you for your contribution to my channel. The international response has been most interesting and I am glad I am now learning that I was not alone.....just forgotten.
Ive owned alot of naim since '95 and the sound has changed but only slightly. Most of the change is due to power output. The chrome and olive 250, and the less powerful XS2 for example sound quite similar. People exaggerate.
Thank you for this contribution as it really adds to the channel. A solid explanation. Please feel free to subscribe and tell others about my work. We have 180 videos with more planned.
Tough decision. Much smaller range, but look at Norma Audio from Italy. Brought into the US by Audiothesis. Driven by the single-mided vision of Dr. Enrico Rossi. Hidden gems. From a company small enough to know what customer service is. And why it matters.
Terrible shame, my system has had 5 different pre-amp,Pwr-Amp combinations over the 37 years that i have been involved in this fantastic hobby. Always an LP-12 front end, but even here in Canada the new stuff is so expensive and lord help if any of my stuff,needs repair,because that won’t happen anymore.
Thank you for taking the time to comment. Yes, it has been quite a journey and it was equally expensive for the dealers plus the burden of having to sell so much of it a quarter. It was insane when they introduced the Naim Nait again for $3,000 when that was meant to be an introductory piece to the line. Well, if that's the first step, it's not for many. Please tell others about my channel and the other 177 videos. Perhaps they will enjoy them too and subscribe.
@@audibleeleganceinc I agree the new Nait is way too high priced. I dont care for Nait 1 look - the cosmetics are brutally ugly. Im an olive fan myself. I told Tivoli that they should offer a olive style Model One radio. They responded that it wasnt in their plans.
I was in Audio back in the '70's when each and every name was an actual company that made their own stuff. I moved into Video, CGI and IT after that. And now returning, most of the big names are still there, but all are owned by 2 or 3 holding companies which play marketing games to keep each line from competing.
@@audibleeleganceinc Like a private party at the LA Mansion with Hugh as a Superscope (Sony/ Marantz) rep because Joe Tushinsky (Pres Superscope) was his friend? Stories I could tell...
@@glenncurry3041 And, I am going to tell stories about some of the most wonderful people I have met in the industry. We, the old guard, are fading away. Like Fahrenheit 451, we have the responsibility to pass on the book we know to a younger generation.
Thank you so kindly for your comment and contribution to both the video and channel. No, it was not. But, as I have come to learn from all of the international comments, neither was it unique. Your support is deeply appreciated. It was made more painful at my end as it affected my business at a time when my wife has been in the Cleveland Clinic Cardiac ICU for 100 days now hoping for a second heart transplant after 3 difficult years with the first. I neither needed this distraction nor the loss of revenue which was the only thing they managed to deliver. But, we must move forward and I hope you enjoy some of my other 175 videos. Please tell others about the site as I am sure there is something there for everyone.
@audibleeleganceinc God bless you both 🙏 If I lived in your region and not merry old England, I would make it my business to frequent yours because I very much admire your philosophy and personal touch... 🫡
A polite suggestion: could the answer to the title question be answered at the very beginning, and launch into the history afterwards for those who are interested? It was over 13 minutes (into a 19-minute video) before the answer to the question was clearly given. Private equity takeover, poor dealer relationship, no order fulfillment. Got it.
I don't like starting out videos whining and certainly not inclined to make my views dehumanized. Small businesses are just that, humans. In this case, and I did not get into it, those lost sales are hurting me right now as I have my wife in the Cleveland Clinic Cardiac Intensive Care Unit hoping for a heart transplant and a second one at that after 3 years of difficulty with the first one. It is a costly experience both medically and in support. That said, I have heard that other forums have asked for a Reader's Digest Condensed version of anything I do. So, your comment is consistent with some requests but it is not a path I wish to take. The world has too many sound bites already and they are filled with such inaccuracies as to make them untrustworthy. And trust is a major part of the opening of this video.
@@highfell1 Thank you for your comment. Some do enjoy the history of things and even I have searched into the history of other industry leaders learning who they were, what they did, and how they did it. It may not always apply to what I do and sometimes, it really does.
This type of kicking dealers to the curb is one of the worst things the public is unaware of. I have sold footwear for over four decades as my family business has done since 1946 long before my birth. Even in my line of retailing we've been abandoned by brands we sold, often first in our city, for years because of the focus on large retailers. Yes, it hurts me personally, as well as financially, but it really is an assault on free trade and the customer. The customer is being manipulated in a very greedy manner and if anyone wonders why the mom and pops of retailing are dying this is one of the biggest reasons. I've been buying hi-fi gear since the age of 13 when I got my first rig. I've never purchased Naim but always respected the brand. Now at a time when I could afford almost whatever brand of interest (within reason) I can tell you I will never buy Naim due to the dirty way they treated you. New owners and management change almost every year bringing new plans on how to market the gear. They try something for a while then they change again when that either doesn't work or some idiot in charge at that moment institutes his way of selling. None of these folks last and something that was once stable is chaotic and it usually goes hand in hand with a dip in the quality of the brand. For instance, I would bet you could call Naim America and not a soul working there has been there remotely as long as you've sold their wares. Worse you know more about the broader line than anyone you can usually get on the phone. They don''t have the loyalty at all and could care less. These kind of business practices disgust me.
I think your general observations about business practices is correct but the consumer, in the ever present hunt for the lowest prices anywhere at anytime is also an element of this. This may be a bit of what is happening in terms of the average persons buying power which has most certainly declined over the last 30 years. Then, there is this "need" to show sales growth annually and now that has spread to profits. When it runs its full course, you can see what happened to Stellantis (Ram trucks, Jeep & More) which is about to tank. Even Volkswagen just stiffed their dealers with their new electric vehicle and direct sales bypassing dealerships. As for knowledge, oh geez, don't get me started there. That whole cycle started with mega stores whose business practices I refer to as "chicken marketing." Customers are to come in and hunt and peck with little guidance, support, or knowledge. But, we will give you a refund if you return it in its original packing which is a business practice then jammed down the throats of mom & pops. For years we had to eat sales tax because Amazon was tax free. Now that they collect taxes having multiple warehouses in every state, that has finally ceased. But over the years, that hit us to the tune of about a half million dollars. Now it's free shipping on everything. So, yeah, I fully understand your observations and feelings. Thank you for adding your family experience as, ironically, I was an attorney for one of those shoe companies and I can tell you they didn't give a rat's ass care about independents and, in fact, would use them as token sacrifices to get better locations in shopping malls for themselves.
Feeling the necessity to drop Naim after decades of [presumably] mutual advantage reflects rather badly on... the other guy. The illusion of manufacturer, dealer, customer loyalty is exposed, yet again, as everything is subborned upon the alter of profit, profit, profit. Nevertheless, I found your piece to be a very inciteful and interesting glimpse into the machinations of the corporate world. Although I do take issue with is the use of DIN connectors. I hate the damn things with a passion. The worst thing to come out of Germany since the VW beetle... maybe. Remember, the only constant is change! All the best for the future.
Thank you for taking the time to comment. I understand folks feelings about din connectors but embrace balanced cables which are, essentially din designs. As I tried to explain to folks, RCA connectors are over 100 years old and frankly many people don't even comply with the specs which is why you have all sorts of fitting problems. Regardless, within the Naim structure, the din connector offered superior connection and simplicity. It only became a mess when you tried to hybrid brands of products.
@@audibleeleganceinc Your point is well made. I am indeed one of those people who embraces the use of XLR balanced cables. I am found out! Hahaha. I use balanced XLR cables not because of the inherent advantage of common mode rejection - not really an issue in my short runs, domestic situation - but because of the doubling of the voltages from the standard 2 volts for RCA to a much more utilitarian 4 volts standard for XLR. This allows me to adjust the internal gain stage of my amp [a Purifi Eigentakt] to it's minimum 13 db setting which makes for the best SINAD figure whilst still allowing me to drive my admittedly efficient speakers to more than adequate SPL's. However, apologies. I find I have gone off topic... again. My previous closing remarks remain in force. Regards.
I was a true Flat Earth believer in the 80s. I had a Sondek for over 30 years. I started with a 42/110, got a 160, and had a couple of SuperNaits. It was special; it is no longer. Nice presentation.
Thank you for adding both your comment and compliments. Please do enjoy some of my other 175 videos that are up and there will be many, many more. Right now I am focused more on my wife's situation as she is in the Cleveland Clinic Cardiac ICU hoping for a 2nd heart transplant after 3 difficult years with the first. We shall see what gifts medicine can provide.
@@rd264 It is my 66th trip to the Cleveland Clinic and her 2nd heart transplant done 3 days ago has not gone well. She will be in ICU for weeks if not months. In some ways it is nerve wracking but with all my experience now, you know to focus on success and all the elements supporting it. Worrying adds nothing. Thank you, kindly, for your thoughts.
I agree; for me the writing on the wall for Naim became obvious when they started fitting RCA sockets and abandoning their "DIN connectors are more robust and sound better; take it or leave it" policy. Integrity is, unfortunately, a rare and declining attribute in this world
Thank you for taking the time to comment and contribute to my channel. Folks such as yourself likely found meaning in the video and others, looking for a 5 minute sound bite, did not. In that era we were more interested in getting people into music than us getting into their pockets. While the world has changed in amazing ways (my wife in currently in the Cleveland Clinic Cardiac ICU unit awaiting a 2nd heart transplant after 3 difficult years with the first. 75 years ago we didn't even have penicillin) in other ways it has digressed or, at least wandered off in directions some of us choose not to follow. Please feel free to subscribe to the channel and tell others about it as well.
@@audibleeleganceinc Just subscribed; thank you. May I give my very best wishes to your good lady and hope she has a speedy and full recovery. Maybe this time for longevity they'll be using locking connectors to the heart valves rather than RCA jacks! Take care of each other and good luck for the future
@@russputin6294 Thank you kindly. We are also very mindful of the fact, as before, if we get to celebrate joy that another family is suffering pain. We are always grateful that the individual or family chose to give the gift of life to another. To give you a little laugh about it all, I had a friend that needed a kidney transplant and I offered to get tested. They said that because of my age, that being 70, that I was no longer a viable doner for others. My thought was that a bald tire was better than a flat one. But, the organs have to survive the transplant and drugs and statistics are clear about it.
Ive tried to detect a difference listening between the DIN vs the rca and havent found any. Taken the XS2 case off and could not see how they are wired to the circuits. The RCA ground and the DIN ground are both "common" but the rca design has of course 2 common grounds, one per cable R+ L, whereas the DIN has only one ground. I go with the stock Din5 180 gray ic. because Naim recommends it. But its hard to detect a difference.
@@rd264 There are practical mechanical advantages to DIN connectors over RCA phono plugs. A DIN plug connects earth before the signal pins so acts as a safety default; if a plug becomes loose or is accidentally inserted with the power on there are no potentially speaker damaging buzzes or cracks. Phono plugs do the opposite of this and make the hot connection well before the earth collar engages. Another clever element of the design is the sockets contain mechanical wipers (scrapers) so every time a din plug is removed and reinserted the contacts are automatically cleaned. The locking plugs Naim used ensure the connection is as mechanically secure as it can be and made sure a connection could not be accidentally disturbed when dusting or whatever. They also used to say the pins were a better impedance match for signal cabling than the much thicker phono plugs but I'll have to take their word for that. With a DIN plug (assuming it's correctly wired inside, of course) there's no chance of a consumer erroneously mixing up left / right or in / outs. Downsides, of course; they're a pain in the *ss to solder and there's always the chance of an internal short if your soldering technique's a bit iffy and, of course, you need adapters (or better still dedicated leads) if you're partnering with "normal" equipment. I think that, in purely practical, real-world terms, the main benefits for sound quality accrue long-term from a clean, tight DIN connector rather than a potentially loose and oxidised RCA. And, in the interest of full disclosure, have you ever seen a DIN loudspeaker plug? Absolutely hopeless so the German's didn't always get it right!! Naim never used them but I remember Nytech did for a while; these don't have any place on any piece of kit aspiring to any sort of quality. Hope this is of interest; have a great evening, my friend
My tale could be spoken in many industries. It's just that so few have the resources to let the audience know. I am most fortunate in that sense. In the end, few realize how "human" dealers really are.
@@audibleeleganceinc Hopefully we are close to dawn, and better times will lie ahead, everything goes in cycles.. We were lucky to experience the real music and Hifi. From the artistry inside a Sansui 1000a to running out and buying 'the Wall' at the newsagent, the amazing Kef scene of the 1970s etc. Now I look for small singer songwriters, Amanda Rogers, Eisley, Amelia K Spicer etc, for talent, and DIY a lot of stuff :)
I would not be surprised as many things are becoming homogenized and nearly indistinguishable from one another. Thank you for taking the time to comment and please do enjoy my other 175 videos. We have many, many more planned and I hope not like this one.
Seems like a trend in various industries, the move from firms driven by engineering/marketing to being managed by accountants. I’ve seen this process in many firms at totally different industrial fields, the western countries are after the quick bucks but we can always blame the Chinese for the collapse of certain industries 😢
Thank you for taking the time to comment. As wealth has become more centralized in fewer hands, the need to accumulate from different sources has grown into different industries like an invasive vine to a garden. In short, everything is now becoming a commodity. Even farm land here in the States is being snatched up by very wealthy people or by investment groups. I doubt they know very much about agriculture but if they can profit by it, who cares?
People need to understand *Private Equity. When a buyout happens, the first two things to go are employees and quality.* That's why now I won't touch Naim, Totem, Mark Levinson, Dynaudio and many other brands that have been bought out. Look at Pioneer. They used to be at the top of their game when it came to DJ equipment. Now it's just cheap build quality, Usually plastic instead of metal) and a higher price tag.
@@audibleeleganceinc I did a dive on it and found some info about some kind of investment deal. I might be going mad, but I'm sure I saw a video on YT with Vince at a show (recently) and halfway through the new investor chimes in. Either way, it smacks of Private Equity, which for me is a no no … and I won't be buying in the future. Naim ... is a heartbreak for me, because I enjoyed their product. Not that I bought any of it, 'cause after 2 failures from Cryus, 2 failed amps from Arcam, and a failed amp from Audiolab I stopped buying British gear. But I tested some Naim gear against Linn (not a big fan of Linn) and I liked it. Focal, unfortunately, I got into their car audio gear which is complete garbage. My speaker popped in a short amount f time, and although I never bought them, I've seen two of their amps catch on fire! Focal subs are 'meh' at best. It's not cheap gear, but after 4 blown speakers in under 3 months, I was done! Switched to Morel and over 12 years later, they're still kicking. If I find the video, i'll get back to you ... but I just remember thinking that I'd strike Totem off my recommendation list. But as I've been designing and building 1/4 wave transmission lines exclusively since '91 (see my channel) … I have no need for commercial speakers!
@@audibleeleganceinc There must be some cases where private equity / buyouts come from a group of one or more wealthy enthusiasts with a desire to support a brand that they respect? I guess the answer comes from the reason for the investment: Is it an enthusiast looking to do something "interesting" with their money? Or an investor looking for a good return? I assume most are the latter? Once you get into the realms of these big investment groups you have to wonder if any of them really care much about anything beyond the numbers on a balance sheet? I guess at best they might be concerned about long term returns, which should at least give them an incentive to try to maintain some kind of quality of product and service...
@@audibleeleganceinc There is a video, I'm sure it's Vince at a show, where a woman comes in and talks. Investment, management company ... whatever it is. But what I do remember is that, to me, it smelt fishy. I wish Vince all the best, because being a DIY're with 35 years behind me, I can say that if I were to go back to commercial speakers (and let's hope that day never comes) Totem would be my first choice ... and I'm talking above and beyond near million or half million dollar exotica.
@@juststuff5216 Depending upon how the investors behave, their additional cash can allow a designer to reach further than their resources permit. I know of several great designers who didn't make it because they are great designers but poor at managing their company. They are two different talents. It's when management decides that they are designers too where the trouble begins. See the video by Frank Zappa where he talks about cigar chomping management of record labels and when the new managers took over. Quite interesting.
Thank you for taking the time to comment and add to the channel. Most appreciated. While I don't think your observation is correctly accurate 100% of the time, both you and I have witnessed when greed overtakes joy. If you don't like the business you are in, you should get out. Music is about passion. Passionless people don't belong in the trade. Please do tell others about my channel. We have 175 other videos already up with so many more planned. Perhaps they will subscribe which allows me to improve the quality of what we are doing here.
Whats in a Naim? Reputation is everything. You cant buy it. It has to be earned! Sad story. Lessons learned. How is Bryston doing since the founder passed away.?
Bryston is actually a very interesting case. Yes, the one brother died, the other cashed out and the third, and a friend of mine, was pushed out by the two brothers. That said, the company is fundamentally run by one of their chief engineers of many years. He is a delightful person to meet and when I learned he was taking over the steering of the company, I was most pleased. James is a good man and now he has managed to move the company forward with speakers as well. Bryston is continuing to find its way having not abandoned its customers by creating equipment only the far east can afford but it has risen beyond the fledgling audiophile. They are sorting that out. Thank you for your taking the time to contribute to this video and my channel. Please tell others about it and the 175 videos already posted. Perhaps they will like it so much they will subscribe. That helps me build a better channel with better sound and video.
@@audibleeleganceinc Thanks for that update. I believe James helped me out when I needed a new reed switch for my 3B SST. They seemed kind of disorganized at the time, but it was in the middle of covid-19. Everyone was having trouble back then😕 I was happy to hear about their upgrade program for older components.... When my amp hits the end of it's two decade warranty I'll have them work it over 😀
@@carlitomelon4610 James is a good man who still thinks in the old school way but with modern twists. All good. Covid 19 screwed everything up and far beyond the supply lines.
Thank you for taking the time to express you feelings about this matter. It appears from all of the comments I have received that my experience is not unique.
Interesting that you mention Creek. We sold their goods in the 80s. I have not seen Mike in years. Hope he is doing well. Thank you for taking the time to comment and please do enjoy our other 175 videos. We have many more planned. Please let other folks know about our work. They may find some useful things as well.
Ivor’s and Julien’s aches, and pains they had for each other are theirs. My money pays only for my satisfaction. And as far as that worst product nomination going to the Kremlin is concerned, I’m here to state for a VERY CLEAR RECORD of direct testimony, my 1994 Dallas, TEXAS Audio Concepts experience of said Kremlin FM Tuner. A WRR 101.1 classical music broadcast nearly had me body-slammed to the GD floor! So powerfully jarring was that FULL QUIETING 50 dB modulation, it was as CD black, it was “Silent Hill” creepy, as all out Hell! This singularity of a performance was courtesy of a FULLY grounded, roof mounted, dedicated FM aerial. Even 30 YEARS HENCE, in this age of subscription streaming services, terrestrial FM’s 30 to 15,000 Hz frequency window is still appreciated by folks who still use high-power compression tweeter horns, and equalizers in active bi-amplification systems. It is of marked sadness, many of the detrimental compromises from founding fathers fall wayside to consortium greed, and avarice. Good morning.🌹
As for the Award Ceremony, I had no hand in it and it is simply fact. By the way, it was named Kremlin after they were able to receive signals from, I guess you would call it Radio Free Moscow. Thus, Kremlin was a natural name for it.
Thank you for taking the time to comment. For the moment, we plan to increase our displays of Rega first. From there, well, we have had some nice suggestions including yours. Please tell others about my channel and the 175 videos currently up. We plan many many more.
I cannot speak at to the motivations of people and sometimes there are very unfortunate circumstances behind the scenes that are never part of the public domain. I know of one manufacturer that started to do things out of what they normally would have done with the key person of the company dying 2 years later of cancer. All I can speak to is what I now see happening and we are simply not part of that plan. We once left a well known company that quite frankly, screwed us over. 4 years later they visited us asking "what would it take for you to become a dealer of ours, again?" My store manager simply responded "Start with getting your head out of your ass." He could not have said it better. 25 years later they royally screwed over a fellow dealer with whom we had a very long history. They hadn't changed one bit.
In my opinion Linn and Naim have been in decline for decades. I'm a Brit living in the United States since 1990. I own nothing from either of these manufacturers.
@@audibleeleganceincIt was the be all and end all when I was growing up in the UK prior to 1990. I think all of the British manufacturers have been in decline for a long time. I bought a pair of B&W 801-D4 earlier this year and I can tell you I am disappointed to say the least. I'm going to Wilsons next. Have to support local manufacturers and growers wherever possible.
I don't see there is a problem in servicing this equipment. Even if you can't get the parts from them, you can find higher quality substitutes. I've fixed thousands of hifi components. I don't think i ever turned a customer down unless it was a case of a uneconomic repair where I would make my recommendation. On every occasion though, I've always tried to act as if I were in the customer's shoes and do what I would do if it were my own equipment. This is why my customers came back time and time again. The customer is king - always.
We once had a service department but many people did not want to pay the costs of repair, it is as simple as that. So, we relied on the sources of the manufacturer or distributor. With Naim, many of the parts are not even available or it's completely uneconomical. We just had a case where a customer with a Nait 2 (Olive Series) had a bad selector and it had never been re-capped. The authorized service center in the States wanted a flat $1500 to service it. Needless to say, that didn't make much sense and the local shop wants a minimum of $300 just to look at it. So, let me know where you are and perhaps we can send some trade your way.
@@audibleeleganceinc It was a business I ran years ago. I never charged those sorts of rates. I used to do free estimates, but under the agreement that if the estimate was under a certain price that I would fix it for that. This made a neat compromise where we shared the risk, and it meant the customer can be reassured he could turn down an expensive repair whilst not wasting my time getting numerous free estimates from companies. One point about capacitors though was back in those days they were mainly Japanese and they were far more reliable. The most common trouble was blown output transistors and their drivers.
@@Andrew-rc3vh well, things have changed dramatically, even from the 80s and 90s. There was a time when you truly had a working relationship with a customer. With the advent of the internet, that is pretty much gone and here in the States customers will choose price over service nearly 9 out of 10 times. Some don't hesitate to have salespeople do demonstrations for hours only to then purchase it on the web. Oh, yes, times have really changed. With loyal customers we do our best to take care of them but when manufacturers or distributors choose actions making that support impossible, there's not much we can do. The day of component repair is gone. It's now all boards and once those boards are used up, well, that's it. So, yes, times have really changed.
@@audibleeleganceinc Yes I understand that. Once we went to large surface mount and custom chips things got far more difficult and one relied on the manufacturer to source the part. It got to the point with me when servicing computers that it became uneconomic. I packed up before losing what I had made.
Well, it depends upon your intention. I have known some companies that intentionally pump up sales and destroy their dealership base because their true intent is to sell it to the next person based on yesterday's numbers. They had no concern about their existing dealers because they were working on walking out the door. I think of Equity, the former operator of B&W, Rotel, and Classe as an example in the States.
@@audibleeleganceinc have you considered writing an article or book about your experiences? I think it would be very cool to hear all about them and there must be a huge audience for such a history.
@@rd264 Actually, I have a more important book to write about being a caretaker to a heart transplant recipient. Right now, I am sitting in the Cleveland Clinic ICU where my wife is having a very difficult time with a second heart transplant after 4 years of very tough years with the first one. It's a lovely idea but my attention belongs on a higher plane.
I simply wanted to give my fond nod to Julian and what he believed to be right. It is, sadly, not uncommon that the vision of the founder is lost upon their death and sometimes transforms into the antithesis of that vision. And so it is with Naim.
I stand corrected, sir. I just found an outstanding video on the history of Cambridge Audio. Their use of toroidal predates Naim Audio by about 5 years. Fascinating video to watch as part of the birth of British Hi-Fi. So, Naim was not the first but rather an early adopter of them.
Thank you for your contribution to the channel. There are a few of us left who still have bits and pieces of various timelines of audio. I still meet some of my colleagues here and there and we do share some of the funniest stories about the characters who have walked through the history of audio. Oh, there are, as Gollum would say, "Nasties" but those usually come out as we each try to figure out what happened here or there. Our industry had been not only a combination of products but also of personalities. We have lost much of the latter. There are a few still around, but corporately muted. Please do tell others about my channel as we plan so many more videos in addition to the 175 already up.
@audibleeleganceinc I will share it on Reddit on budget audio, but it's not budget. I've been looking into Niam 150 power. Is there any good? Thanks for the reply :)
@@itisjustacomment my experience with the NAP 150 is that it was a unique amplifier capable of driving difficult loads with ease. Now, it is an older amplifier and, if true to Naim, it would be suggested to have it re-capped. If you are in the States, I can recommend a place to send it run by a former technician from Naim. Otherwise, ask around about doing that first before making a purchase.
At a hifi show a couple of years ago, representatives from the Naim factory were proudly showing their latest amps and power supplies, and with the covers removed. One word: shoddy. They were a very poor example of what electronics can look like, and to me they say more about the company now than anything else. I'll be sticking with my 1990s olive gear for as long as I can, but won't go anywhere near the hollowed out shell that remains of this once brilliant company. I just can't trust them to do the right thing anymore: all that happens is they are repeatedly being sold on to yet more money-takers with absolutely no interest in what JV created. Sad sad sad. I’m even removing my posts on the forum. Just not interested in the company anymore. Over 25 years of standing by them, gone.
Thank you for taking the time to contribute to the video and channel. It is most appreciated. I have been, honestly, overwhelmed by the responses. Each has added pieces to the puzzle that made it clear that I really did not make a decision to leave; it was made for me. Other stories, like yours, are sad comments about what has become of Naim Audio while the prices have soared. I never could get the latest goods and now it appears I was fortunate.
I have the Uniti Atom and I love it... don't give a ha- penny tuppance who owns it or where its made as long its a quality product and sounds good..adapt and survive or wither away has always been this way since the dawn of time..
And that's perfectly fine. I made no comment about the quality or performance of Naim products. I clearly stated, however, that I was unable to deliver goods to my customers and had a hard time getting back service pieces. Clearly I was trying to sell it and they frustrated that for a different means of distribution. I simply was no longer part of their vision, whatever that may be. So, enjoy what you have and that's it.
So how is Naim worse? Does it not sound as good? Is it less reliable? Is serviceing poor? I'm still not quite sure what you are getting at. I heard a demo at a Toronto Audio show with Naim amps driving Flagship Focal speakers. The sound was exemplary... probably the best at the show. But insanely expensive.
I don't believe you will find me commenting about the current performance of Naim Audio although there are plenty of comments for you to look through. We were still trying to sell Naim when it became obvious we were not in their future vision. My point is that the care and precision of dealerships and how things were installed and handled simple ceased to be a reality. A click of a button, a box, and Fedex were good enough. Selling discontinued items through jobbers is not the way to uphold the reputation of any company. Might as well sell it all to Ollies. Oh, yes, their service was a nightmare and I did talk about that and have now refused to take on any Naim product we sold for service through them as I can no guarantee that it will come back. Without question, we too saw prices on most nearly all products simply go beyond reasonable and the use of price was used to convince others it was that good. Heck, even the Anniversary Naim Nait, which they wanted us to buy and sell at $3500 (which I thought was completely absurd) is now being peddled for 1950 all over the web and maybe less. A professional dealer simply cannot afford to remain static while such behavior is going on. All of our work over the years is now being cashed. Nuff said.
Not all demonstrations at shows are good. I have heard some real crap out of what should have been good companies. Not all companies are good at set-ups and so they typically blame the rooms. Naim Focal would be a challenge as the Focals are very extended on the top frequencies and any error in front of them could be brutal.
The question on top of that, however, is product support and repair. I simply have to wonder how well they will do that once the model is discontinued. Will it simply be a throwaway? I have to order parts for Cambridge from the UK as they are not here in the States. Thank you for your comment and addition to the video and channel. Please share our site with others and consider subscribing.
@@audibleeleganceinc This "take, make and throw away" model has to be overturned at some point. We can't keep buying new and throwing the old into landfill indefinitely without consequences.
Private equity destroys everything it touches. It capitalises on the established reputations of companies like Naim and drains every drop of value & goodwill from them until nothing is left.
Now that is very true. Rather like locust, don't you think? Now they are buying up farmland. The biggest one in the States is Bill Gates, Bezos, and it's quite a list. I think Blackrock investment group has been pouring millions into it. Like these guys know which end of a cow craps.
@@audibleeleganceincThey may own it on paper but watch what happens when they deny people the food they want to eat for the sake of the social experiments these power crazy clowns want to implement. It’s gonna get nasty.
They do the same everywhere and with any kind of established business. Have you heard? Recaro Automotive, the vehicle seats manufacturer with a tradition of over 100 years, recently filed for bankruptcy. Why? Because shady investors ruined it, in this case Raven Acquisition LLC, who managed to ruin within 4 years what was a profitable business since 1906.
These people add nothing to the world, and only take away from it for profit.
@@audibleeleganceinc It's a difference scene over in Huawei. You are only allowed to own shares if you work for the firm, so if you quit, you have to sell them. This way the firm's owners do know which end of a cow craps if they make the cow.
@@Andrew-rc3vh What a wonderful response and thank you for both my morning education and laugh.
I do hope you find my channel interesting and I have done 175 other videos with many more planned. Sometimes they just come right out of the air with what somebody says or posts. Well, let others know about this channel if you think it worthy. Thank you, again.
Here in New Zealand Naim has been gone now for I would guess around 3 years. Prior to that I believe that we had some of the highest per capita sales in the world. We also had world class servicing and service from the importer. There was an extremely enthusiastic and well linked group of Naim enthusiasts and sellers all over the country. It was the most amazing decades old network of audio and music fans. All destroyed by the current regime at Naim. That’s why you don’t get investment for that sort of company from low life venture capitalists, whose enthusiasm in life comes from a balance sheet.
That is truly unfortunate but, as I have been reading now, no longer a surprise. I spent a lot of hours wondering what I had done wrong but now I am beginning to understand the whole picture.
Thank you very kindly for this information and insight as to what is going on. If you find my channel interesting, please do subscribe and tell others about it as well.
@@audibleeleganceinc no problem! As a true enthusiast yourself I know that it must feel awful for you. But no, I don’t believe that this is unusual, I have heard stories from all over the globe. The grim irony is that in their efforts to ‘go large’ and make more money, that they have been hacking away at their grass roots and reputation with an axe. Thankyou for your excellent informative video!
unfortunately Naim seem to be focusing on the high end Asian markets for the uber rich asians where they are more concerned with the looks and prestige than sound.
I recently listened to a top of the range Naim/Focal system probably worth over $500k here in Australia- meh. The sales people really didn’t have much of an idea either. Very disappointing. I’m sticking with my LP12 / active Naim / Isobariks
@@TheBjp0001 looks like they have weeded out all of the enthusiasts from the supply chain and replaced them with importers, distributors and sales people who don’t have the passion. It won’t work out long term. I wonder if it can ever be saved? They have effectively given the middle finger to 95% of their enthusiast followers, most people are not in the 5%!
@@TheBjp0001 Bingo! What a wonderful comment and I have seen numerous manufacturers chase that market. I think it's kind of a McIntosh/Sonus Faber clone but French style.
I am so glad that folks like yourself have made so many observations that really pointed out that my fate was sealed a long time ago and what I struggled over was something that was already done.
Greetings from Finland, not a Naim story but here's my Focal experience regarding spare parts. In the spring of 2022 one of my three year old Utopia Diablos developed a slight buzz which came from the woofer. It was not loud so the speaker worked but clearly not as intended and it needed to be repaired. I contacted my dealer and after troubleshooting they ordered a new woofer. After couple of months of not hearing back from them I asked what's the matter, what's the hold up? Dealer contacted Focal and long story short finally it took 13 months of back and forth for them to finally ship that replacement woofer for me. I was just glad that finally I got my speakers working as intended as they are truly magical. Just one thing... My original woofers frame was black colored. What I got back was sort of speckled black, not the same. When the new woofer was ordered I delivered the serial number so they would know what specifications would be regarding type, colour etc. Not big deal for someone but these are not a budget speakers so I expect everything to be perfect. Probably I could get the woofer changed again but it could take another year for things to happen so I decided to sell my pair away, I was somewhat annoyed. Dont blame my dealer, they asked for parts many times during the process and as I work at electronics retail I know sometimes things don't go as expected. This was during the covid so business for new speakers was going gangbusters for Focal, just no time to take care of one existing customer from a tiny market. I was a "fan" of Focal so I had researched their ownership history so I also knew about the double investment company shenanigans so I even expected this. And as a European person I'm glad that they employ people in France, not China. Not all manufacturing should be moved there. In everything, balance. And even now I miss my Diablo's, might even get a second hand pair sometime in the future, Stockholm syndrome much? Best of luck to you.
I know that during that time there were problems with suppliers for cabinets for the Kanta series. The real story I never got to know. Yes, dealers are quite at the whim of that organization, if you want to call it that. We know of so many people who left the Canadian operation that I am uncertain how much knowledge and talent remains. Let's just say they have been very busy building an alumni association.
Julian Veriker used to be a friend of mine. I hung out with him in England several times. My company sold software he used. I rode with him in his Jaguar which he flogged hard. I was very sad when he died. Very smart and nice guy.
Oh, thank you so kindly for adding yet another little bit about Julian. Oh, yes, he was quite unique making what he did all the more interesting. You wanted to be around him in conversation just to hear how he would carefully dissect a question and respond with a logical answer. And while you might not like the answer, the conclusion he stated was simply true.
@@softwarephil1709 Julian did like his Jags!
I never knew Julian but many years ago I was introduced to his sister Deirdre by her neighbour. She was living in North London at the time. I was doing some IT work for him and he recommended me to her. She was a lovely lady. Very friendly and kind. I kind of lost touch with them both because I stopped doing freelance IT work. If anyone knows how she's doing now please let me know.
Sorry to hear this Lou. SO many fine audio companies have gone this route. I'm old enough to remember the good 'ol days. When any company loses its soul the end is near. Best of luck moving forward.
Hello and thank you for your comment. The most dramatic example I witnessed was when Jim Thiel died and a company bought Thiel Audio. They rapidly moved away from the brilliant designs of Jim and within a couple of years they were gone. Some do better than others like when Paul Klipsch died. His nephew, I believe, nearly tanked the company, particularly when he bought Pyle who made car stereo and started to put their drivers into Klipsch speakers. Eventually someone else bought them and has made a reasonable attempt of things but more importantly revived the old speakers as Heritage.
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@@audibleeleganceincThe Thiel 3.7 was one of the finest speakers I ever heard. I have the Klipsch Heresy IV in my secondary system and they are excellent ( main system system has Egglestonworks Andra II).
@@TheBTG88 Thank you for taking the time to contribute to the channel. I, myself, have a particular fondness for the 1.6s with outriggers. Truly a spectacular design.
I have been an "audiophile" for 55 years. There was a short-lived company in Sarasota, FL from 1977 through early 1984 when they shut their doors. They sold Linn and Naim and boy, was it great sounding gear. The company folded not due to bad product but some real bad shenanigans by the owner. That's a sordid tale for another day. Even his employees were blindsided when the store abruptly closed its doors. I bought my Linn Sondek LP12 from one of the former employees in 1992 when he fell on hard times. Nowadays, if a product sounds halfway decent, I use it until it simply becomes cost prohibitive to keep it going. There is no more "absolute sound" for me anymore. I won't buy crap and so long as it sounds decent, is dependable, it stays in my system. Great presentation of a story that I only knew bits and pieces of.
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Years ago, I bought one of those expensive separate power supplies for my olive NAIM CD player playing through an olive NAIT and couldn't hear any difference. Sold it a month later. Currently streaming 32bit FLACS off of a USB drive on a SuperUniti into a pair of Totem Forest Signatures. Very compact system and sounds fantastic
Well, interesting. One of the elements of the hi-fi hierarchy, which you seemingly followed, is that while technical improvements are made in the front end, it's appearance at the speakers is not necessarily guaranteed.
Sad to hear about this. I am in the headphone/personal audio space, which includes Focal, and I find some of these old companies a pain to deal with now. As the companies get sold off to bigger conglomerates and eventually fall apart as the new owners try and make money from them, I focus on the new companies, the kind where you can email the owner, and product engineer directly, who also takes direct care of customers, regardless of how big they grow.
Thank you for your comment and I pretty much have done the same over the years. It has become difficult to deal with some companies and, like yourself, find that the customer is getting poor treatment. This, however, has been the case for us for many many years.
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30 year Naim customer here, I own several systems including a 500 setup as my main listening rig. The slow death of customer service in the USA started when Naim USA was disbanded. It was replaced by several different distributors culminating with Focal/Naim outfit in Montreal where customer service is truly awful. The Naim USA folks were uniquely dedicated to the brand, making sure every dealer and customer was making the best sound. Product showcases at dealers were huge events, often with lines out the door of customers waiting to hear a new CD player or amplifier. This sort of customer centered service made the Naim ownership experience special. Sadly this is gone and I know of several dealers who are also seriously considering dropping the brand as it's just not worth the trouble. As someone who has been so dedicated to the brand (and the amazing sound) I will probably never buy another new Naim product. My last purchase was the Solstice Turntable, which sounds great but was delivered with many defects. Julian built a great company and sadly without his leadership Naim has been a company without direction.
Thank you for contributing to this channel with insightful information and, without question, very accurate. There are many testimonials to your points world-wide. I think this reflects how much people enjoyed and loved what Julian created and it stands as a testament to his work. We are amongst those and can understand the painful decision that had to be made. Reading the responses world-wide, it would appear that I did not make any decision at all but that it was made for me. All I had to do was acknowledge it which I now have. And as to your point about service, that's why we had to make the decision to simply cut that off as well. Completely contrary to who we are and what we do I had to cut off servicing the product as I cannot to allow them to undermine our reputation. A quick stab is better than a slow cut when it comes to pain.
Please do tell others about my channel as there are over 175 videos up with more to come. Thank you, again.
I knew when Focal acquired Naim that it was the end for Naim. The only hope is that if focal sold Naim back to Naim or a company that believed in Naim.
Keep your Julian creations.
You are absolutely right.Earlier equipment ,for its faults had a life to its sound,unlike their current anodyne one.I had a CD5i years ago.The loading door was not aligned properly from new,and would scrape when you opened it.I took the lid off and rectified it myself perfectly.When the laser later failed,they first quoted me nearly £400 to replace it!,then refused to supply the part,as i had removed the lid,even though I didn't touch anything else.Was so disgusted,I replaced with a Rega Apollo,which sounds much more involving,and rhythmical,and at less than half the price
And there you go. Better music for less money. That's exactly our goal.
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It’s a sad story. I was never a Naim fan, even after hearing their top end systems, but always understood they had a methodology and stuck to it in that stubborn way UK Hifi manufactures did.
They’re an ever decreasing number as the people behind them are doing the inevitable, dying.
There are a few left. Tom Evans is still rocking and rolling in his own unique way.
As I commented to another, our industry was once a combination of equipment and personalities. Those personalities added variety to the industry. But much like the auto industry, personality has become secondary resulting in everything looking pretty much the same making electronic marketing by review the path to sales.
Sadly, no body has given any attention to the death of shopping malls which all became the same thing just in a different location. There was little reason to go to a different one.
I am from the UK and own some Naim gear. I was very suspicious about the deal with Focal. Big shame they decided to do that deal. Was never going to be free of side effects
It may have started with the most sincerest ideals but after having been sold twice, who remembers the first promises? And, there we have it.
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Just like the Boeing and McDonnell Douglas merger. The 737 MAXX disaster is just the most visible fallout....!
Well stated Lou. Love your honesty and your desire to share your information with all of us. Thanks!
You're welcome.
That's one of a sad story ..........
The world went from the genius creativity of a human ...........to a corporated world and this happened not only in audio .
Similar happened with other great names .............Saul , Peter and so on ......
We once experienced also a rather asthonishing musical result when one speaker sounded rather like an electrostatic , speed , ease and transparant as well as the open soundstage with almost no box coloration ........then the speaker was build by Focal and the magic was GONE .
Thanks for sharing
It is my opinion that if Shakespeare were to re-write King Henry VI, Part II, he would change "let's kill all the lawyers" to "let's kill all the accountants."
To me, turning over your management responsibilities to an accountant is like loaning your car to your friend but they can only use the rear view mirror. They can tell you where you have been but have no idea how to drive to the future.
@@audibleeleganceinc That's what I see and fear the most ............
They have NO idea...
Have a nice day sir.
@@audibleeleganceinc add MBAs to the hit list. "they know not fidelity / thence play process / till empty finality"
@@grumpy9478 Oh, thank you for your bit of insightful and painful humor. Much appreciated.
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The record industry didn't help either. The CD quality has flaws, but they sat on any better format while everyone switched to MP3s, which due to the poor mastering (loudness war) didn't sound much different.
Meanwhile the industry switched to manufactured boy and girl bands, and now autotun is an industry standard, even on live recordings.
So the money switched to surround sound home cinema, but now even their films are hopeless.
It's too bad that many great names in audio from the past seem to be departing one by one. I'm a big Vandersteen fan and have enjoyed their speakers for well over 30 years. Richard is still the head honcho and runs all the R&D and is passionate about what he does, but he has been at it for well over 40 years and one fears for what the company may be after he's gone. My hope is that his legacy and his philosophy lives on...
Well, Vandersteen is a bit of a family company and it might do well. Seems the son has managed to keep things together over at Wilson. So, there is hope for the future.
Thanks for posting you're journey with Naim through the year's!
Was fortunate as a youngster in 83 to walk into a superb audio shop that knew their product. Walked out with an amp and pre, nakamichi deck, thorens turntable, and castle speakers.
Sure enjoyed that system for years! Time stops for no one though! It's gotta hurt for you, sorry to hear bud!
Indeed, things change. I just took me a bit to recognize that I was no longer needed. Time to move on. Thank you for your thoughts.
@@audibleeleganceinc would be nice if new overlords had the manners (or act-together) to disclose their path & likely consequences to legacy partners.
@@grumpy9478 Yes, indeed it would. However, legacy partners are often used as kindling to start the larger fire. A bridge, so to speak. The other thing they use is the reputation we have built for the product line and they simply cash in on that and the following dealers do the same. It is an old movie and repeated over and over. It isn't to years later people begin to say "remember when......." and by then we are often long gone having suffered the consequences of our loyalty. It is, in my honest opinion, no wonder at all why employees do not look to their employers as lifelong partners and the work product reflects that completely.
In any event, thank you for taking the time to comment and please do subscribe and tell others about my work. I have 175 videos up with so many more planned. Thank you, again.
Hello Mr Hamilton, I am lucky that i found this detailed information about naim. Thanks a lot.
I am wondering if I should exchange my SBL with that Thiel loudspeaker. Which Model causes this Goose bumps? Or which Thiel Modells do you recommend.
Thera are only a few used ones available here in Germany.
Actually I use a Naim Olive CDX, NAC82,NAP250, 2 x Hi CAP, NAT2 system.
I am not very lucky listening Rock Musik with it. Bass ist too low.
First off, active Naim SBLs are simply wonderful and will clearly outperform the Thiel 1.6s. I am of the sort where I would prefer a well organized speaker with a little less bass than a speaker that is disorganized with bass. Honestly, if you can find a way to make those SBLs active, it's worth it.
I have begun to sell Naim at my store in Québec City, Canada in 1976 and lived with the ups and downs issues of Naim vs the importers (some were exceptionnals, some were a total misery) BUT as stated by Audible Elegance, Naim products were delivering. My store closed in 2017 and kept Naim for that long ; 5 of the owners and employes were getting to 65 and nobody wanted to continue because of all the changes in the industry.... and we were looking at HIFI like a worst case scenario situation. Met so great names (Ivor, Julian, Willam Z. Johnson, Saul Marantz, Roy Gandy, Nelson Pass, James Winey & Wendell Diller and a lot more for all those years) in the the industry that it is a little sad to see what is happening
Thank you so kindly for adding your observations to this video and the channel. It is most appreciated particularly one who spent years in the trenches, as I call it. Yes, the industry has changed markedly yet there are still seeds of the old sprouting. But it has also become more savage by both consumers as well as manufacturers. Glad to see you met so many of the old guard or prior old guard before their passing. Passion was what drove them. Passion still drives some today.
By the way, I honeymooned in Montreal and Quebec in 1977. Lovely areas and the trains were great.
Ive been using Naim since '95. Naim USA really went to hell when Focal took over. It went high end and like most brands today is for witless billionnaires only. We need someone with deep pockets to buy it back and get back to high value 2 channel. I am lucky to have a 2017 CD5XS and a 2019 XS2.
@@rd264 As a dealer, we watched this change in horror and it moved the company from those who loved music to those who loved to show off possessions like the Kings New Clothes. But, to be honest, they seem to be making a lot of money with this move so there we are.
We got priced out of many demo models.
My Naim system back in the 90's included a NAP 250 driving Thiel CS2.2 speakers. I also met Julian Vereker at a dealer event in Brooklyn. He was a genuine person and if I had to guess would not be happy about what the company he created turned into.
Take the time to read my blog on our webpage. There are some more details there to complete the picture.
As a Brit Oluve/chrome bumper Naim amp owner and user, I am saddened by this. I feared that after Julian's passing, his unique insight and knowledge that created such outstanding products would leave a gaping hole in the heart of the company and it's products. As a pro musician, those 80"x & 90's Vereker era products are simply unmatched in terms of delivering the pace, timing, impact and spirit of the music. Domestic hifi (I also used to work in retail of high-end specialist audio), so often sounds just like what it is - domesticated, but Julian's products really grappled with and got to the heart of the music. I've worked in some of the world's most famous recording studios, and my humble serviced NAC 32.5/HI-CAP/NAP 140 really does deliver despite the vintage. It's all in storage currently, but when it comes out, I hope to treat myself and my LP12/Epos ES14"S to a pair of NAP 135's. For me personally, one doesn't need anything more than that. What an unflappable, musical set up that will be!
Thank you for your contribution to the video and to my channel. There are many who are in your camp when it comes to performance and I just had a viewer from New Zealand who is struggling with keep Naim or switching over to the newest active materials from Linn. The one thing that caught my attention was his comment that he found it very detailed but fatiguing. That is a serious warning sign that the detail is a false god and that the timing may be off. It never ceases to amaze me how many people insist upon perfecting the unverifiables which I consider the path to eternal frustration.
Well, please tell others about this channel and my 175 other videos. I am sure there is something there for everyone. Subscribers are always welcome.
One thing to note, when Naim changed from 3-5 series, I know a few Independent Naim dealers in England that threw out the account, as it'd lost its musicality and dynamics...one was Phil March who owned a shop called Phography, Naim was his biggest account ❤️
The passing of any founder can have dramatic effects on the course of any business. It is an old but sad story repeated time and time again. Sometimes even the children of the founder manage to screw things up very quickly.
It's very sad knowing what Julian stood for. I went back into Hi-Fi back in 2017, I helped a friend run a shop in Glasgow (Scotland). I thought Rega with Auralic was a better proposition than Naim, Rega still owned by Roy and built in Essex, England.
@@IAmMeIAmFree Roy is one of the old guard. Smart and armed with years of insight and experience.
Sorry to hear that - I guess I'll have to strike Naim from my "grail" list. It's great to hear these anecdotes. In the end, the world is very small and depends on personalities with vision who have a larger than life impact on the rest of us.
I run a 38 year old Pre/Power Amp by Exposure who were ex-Naim people. I'm still impressed by the musicality after all this time. It shows the Naim connection in its separate power supply for the preamp, use of DIN connectors for DC power and stipulation at the time of twin speaker cables for stability of the power amplifier. Wishing you all the best, Rob in Switzerland.
Rob, I know of Exposure quite well as they had a good representative in the States at the time you bought yours. As for the current state of affairs of Naim audio performance, well, I cannot speak to that as I couldn't order any.
As to the business nature of Naim Audio itself, my posting was, I thought, about my situation and that it was only fair to advise my customers that we had parted. What started out as merely a singular observation blossomed into a more worldly view and I would take the time to read through many of the comments. It would appear that mine was not an isolated case at all.
As for what you purchase going forward, that is always a personal decision with the goal of achieving maximum musical enjoyment for the least amount of money spent. Like many others, however, Naim has exponentially increased in price and, as noted, I have no idea if it is worth it or not. So, there we are.
Thank you for taking the time to add to the channel with your comment and please feel free to look through my other 175 videos. There are many more coming. Subscribe if you wish and tell others about my work. Happy listening.
So sad to hear that you are no longer able to represent Naim Audio. This was memory lane for me. In the 1980's, leafy Oxford, England, I was on the short path to hi-fi excellence. Nearby an audio shop, Westwood and Mason, stocked a variety of equipment, including Linn's LP12. The staff doted over it, begging me to buy, but it didn't grab me. I bought a Roksan Xerxes from elsewhere and loved it. The Linn / Naim dynamic you mention was amazing - the two firms' products were marketed as one package, but what I remember was their superb advertising campaign. To this day, I can see the awkward expression on the bloke's face, 'Sorry, I didn't catch your Naim', and a power amplifier half buried in the floor boards. Genius
And we still have that poster! It will be sold now, as times have changed. I particularly loved the Linn with the chimp looking skyward with the caption "Deliver Us from Evil" in referring to CD. Yes, the advertising was brilliant.
Thank you for contributing to the video with your personal recollections. It is all part of what makes us a community. Please share this channel with others and please subscribe.
I was thinking about that very same advert as well, just after the video ended. It was wonderfully stupid, just like the products. DIN connectors are AWFUL & Lo-Fi, & it made sense that cheap & miserable little British cottage industry audio outfits loved this kind of 💩. QUAD (Acoustical...) used them as well. At least Peter Walker never pretended that they "sounded better" than RCA's or any stupid crap like that! He used them, as did all the little cheapskate 💩-ass British companies, because they saved MONEY, saved real estate, doing double-duty so you only needed one in place of every 2 RCA's, plus saved labour costs because there was one less hole to drill (3 if the RCA's fastened with screws...😏). That also explains the stupidity of using them for power supply duty, something THAT THEY WERE NEVER DESIGNED OR INTENDED FOR. Much less running power supply DC tightly in parallel with your audio signal over significant distances just to save 50¢!!!🤪🤤🤤🤤🤦🤮🙄
Glad to see the nostalgia for Naim's mean old casework; and I mean "mean" in the very English sense of the word. I remember being astonished at how something as cheap & crappy on the outside actually had half-decent parts & (apparent) build quality inside. I don't understand what all the fuss was outside of the UK, though; the stuff was built to a price & was very competitive compared to imported products over there, but the tables are turned 180° once these tinny little shoeboxes with their crappy plastic knobs & external power supplies (to hide the fact that without them, Naim junk was nothing more than a line of 2-box integrated amplifiers cynically priced as separates!🤨) end up over here, competing with the likes of North American brands like Bryston, McIntosh, Mark Levinson, Harman-Kardon, Adcom, PS Audio, Klyne...
I would describe the sound of Naim as being "OK" at best & "Etch-a-Sketch" at worst. Pace, timing, borderline listening fatigue (the REAL listening fatigue came later, ESPECIALLY with the Seedy players🙉🙉🙉🤮🤮🤮), & zero tone colour. NONE.
It sounded OK when it first appeared over here around just prior to 1980 or so, & the valve "revival" hadn't taken hold yet, as well as the generally miserable sound of trans-zipster please-saw-my-legs-off amplification in general. But even by the early to mid-80's its sound was becoming badly outclassed by any number of substantially less expensive Harman-Kardon, Luxman, Denon, & Sansui receivers(!) & integrated amplifiers including Musical Fidelity's remarkable Tim de Paravicini designed A-1. Was NAIM better than NAD? Well, at least it had no problem trouncing that RUBBISH!🤗
Then again, all the excitement about NAD, especially the godawful 3020 (dis)integrated amplifier, was because the British🤥 audio🤥 press🤥, a bunch of complete 🐂💩ers to the last, raved about it because it was BRITISH🧐 & almost most importantly, VERY CHEAPLY PRICED🧑🎄 in the UK!🙄
Pity it took you the better part of 40 years to stop drinking the lemon kool-aid, & then only because you were forced to. Some of us, the ones with ears to hear & who didn't have any desire to emulate the practices of Mahatma Gandhi, knew it was just urine from Day #1!
Thank you for the history lesson. I really enjoy that. I am sorry to hear about dropping naim. I have never been a fan of naim. There are plenty of other great companies out there to support. I truly do appreciate your honesty. That’s rare today. Keep up the good work.
Thank you kindly for your observations and support. Please tell others about my channel and I certainly encourage subscribers.
Liked naim around the naim aro time just wish they had released the electrostatic speaker and some of the other ideas of that time.
Tell me more. I sold the aro, prefix and such. They were not much fans of the Cirkus bearing as I recall. The SBLs were one of the most amazing speakers we sold and active only. It was a stunning speaker but not for everyone. It was a time when selling Naim and much audio was simply a blast. So much fun. Audio systems were like car shows. You would dream about them for weeks scheming all along trying to figure out how to get one.
Glad to see you're still in business! I used to come to your store when I was a student at UC in the late 90's. I wish we had a comparable dealer here in Sacramento.
Well, if we can ever be of assistance, you can always reach out to us. Sorry about the state of affairs in Sacramento, though.
Nice to hear from original customers knowing the experience was pleasing.
I had pre power Naim amplifiers in the early 90's and yes it was fantastic.
But today after trying many brands I went to Rega and the same quality is there.
We intend to build out several lines now, one being Rega. Thank you for taking the time to comment and please tell others about my channel and the other 175 videos. Perhaps they will subscribe which allows me to make better videos.
@@audibleeleganceinc Hi from the UK again..
Just thought of a slight caveat regarding Rega. If you want to stream, you can't as Rega don't make one and if you're still into CD's there's little choice.
Of course if you don't mind buying different brands there's no problem, but it would be better if the options were available.
Shaun.
@@shaunjp2211 Thank you for your further thoughts. We have alternatives in streaming that suffice for the moment. As it was, with the change of distribution practices here in the States, we would do the demos and take the time to explain it all and then the customer would go on line and buy it from a mail order house. So, we were not getting Naim streamer sales anyway.
This is the way all industries go nowadays: centralization. Destruction of small and medium sized businesses. Survival of the monopolists.
And yet, it is also the consumer who is more than willing to use the small businesses for advice and knowledge while losing no chance to mail order it from a monopolist for a lower price with no service. There are two sides in the equation and when the consumer votes the way they do, the companies support it.
It is simply a matter of fact.
I'm so glad that my colleague found your story here on RUclips.
The 'Young Lady', to whom you refer, stayed with my wife and I at our home in Bristol (UK) for nearly a week to help her get an idea of the UK market and how we (UK Naim dealers) dealt with demonstrating, selling and the installation of Naim Audio systems. She would then take this model back to her business partner in the US and, hopefully, enable them to add some of our ideas to theirs to take them forward with the distribution of Naim products in the USA.
My wife and I enjoyed her company a great deal....and introduced her to the, at the time, hugely successful tv series 'Edge of Darkness' which she really enjoyed.
Very sad though to hear of her passing.
I considered myself to be a friend of Julian's, and have many stories to tell.
Naim now, ironically, is very sadly just a 'name'! (and in that lies a story).
I was able to confirm with whom I was referring, her name was Alexis. She was the first to set up NANA. After her death, Jan Donaldson took over and for some, that is who they are thinking. Jan as know to also be with Alex who was quite a powerful individual. Yes, there are many stories about the early days of an independent Naim Audio in the states. Chris West, who worked with her, was kind enough to send me a set of pictures from that time including those of Julian.
Thank you for taking the time to comment to the video and the channel For those who have a long history with Naim, it meant something. To those looking for a 5 minute sound bite, not so much. But us old guard remember the old ways and it was not about how much you had in your pocket.
@@audibleeleganceinc Yes, I think that you might be right. Her name does ring a bell.
It's not just the USA that's had problems with the new Naim. Several former dealers have said the same thing in the UK. I still have my 82/Supercap/2 x 135s but haven't used them for years. Not all Naim units are made in Salisbury these days, the lifestyle stuff is made in China. All Naim speakers were discontinued and replaced by Focal which is a pity - the Ovator sounded really good at the Bristol show. Now all Naim dems are done with Focal speakers but sometimes they don't sound as though they are made for each other. Just my opinion.
As I noted, the remnants of the Old Republic are being swept away. So, I am not surprised about it occurring in the UK either.
my opinion too
Hello from the UK. Yes I remember hearing the 72 pre-amp which replaced the 32.5 I had at the time and not liking it but on hearing the 82 I thought it was a really nice pre. Years later I heard a Naim system partnered with some large Focal speakers. Oh dear, as a Brit you might think I'd be supporting Naim but that would be dishonest. I couldn't live with a Naim/Focal system IMO it's very fatiguing to listen too.
@@secretsquirel5306 An observation what has been repeated on this video more than once.
0:52 @@audibleeleganceinc had a trade in pair of mid priced large bookshelf/stand focals that were so bad that I thought I would never get rid of them...one day thought got nothing to lose so removed drivers...took half of the ridiculous overstuffed with cotton waste damping out and hardwired the drivers rather then those made for mass assembly push on tabs...HUGE improvement... Is this the problem with companies this structured... Losing the finer points due to no individual responsibility or ownership of products? It becomes walk out at 5pm.. paycheck..who cares less...
I run a Supernait3 and Hi-cap DR. Still delights like the first time I heard Naim. Shit tons of fun and enjoyment. Sad to see this, but Naim is still around for now. Check it out if you can.
As we have been unable to get product in nearly a year despite all attempts, we are simply moving on.
@@audibleeleganceinc I am truly sorry things with Naim are disinitegrating. No fault of any of us fanboys, of course. They make something very special and sadly they are underappreciated. All things must pass.
@@ericr385 The very title to George Harrison's Album.
@@audibleeleganceinc I am aware and that was my prayer. Who will step up a fill the hole?
@@ericr385 The very title to George Harrison's Album. Yes, indeed.
A very informative and interesting video, I have learned much from it. Thank you for sharing.
It was a wonderful journey for a long time.
@@audibleeleganceinc all things come to pass. At least you still have the outstanding Rega brand and I presume the brilliant Linn.
@@tonyjedioftheforest1364 Well, Rega yes, Linn no. We parted ways with Linn years ago after some miserable experiences with them. My friend who had been with them for over 30 years just got tossed in favor of someone who offered a bigger check. World of Linn didn't change..
@@audibleeleganceinc I love my 3 Linn turntables so I am not going to knock them but I am also a big fan of Rega. I met Ivor in the late 70’s and after he demonstrated how the source was the most important thing I was converted. I also have several Rega items and can’t fault them. My next major purchase will be a Rega amp and hopefully CD player but I also fancy Audiolabs cd transports. All depends on which amp and what I can then afford.
@@tonyjedioftheforest1364 As long as you seeking truly musical equipment, I am happy any way you find to get to your goal.
Reminds me of my own country. Not the same anymore 😢
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I'm so sorry it has come to this. Thank you for your service to all audiophiles for sharing this video.
Thank you for your comment and addition to this video. Please enjoy my other 175 videos which try to provide more personal help to the hobby.
This is so sad - I'm in England and Naim is still in all the hifi dealers and also Focal but I did notice the change in Naim from the olive electronics they became more middle of the road the only equipment I buy new are streamers and dacs the rest - pre monos speakers are all 20yrs plus now
Yes, I think so too. We really tried here in the states but their vision does not include specialty retailers as they did once. Its primary focus is how many units sold. How and to whom really doesn't matter. And, there we are.
a very interesting & informative vid about the audio industry...I look forward to your vid on Bose acquiring McIntosh & SF ...
In fact, I am doing that one today and it is going to be a surprise to most people.
Very interesting indeed. I have a British perspective on all this, and I've owned Linn equipment, but not Naim. Can I just suggest, if you want to replace Naim with another British company, of long standing good repute, maybe Exposure Electronics is worth investigating for you. Cheers from London.
You certainly tickled a thought about them. They too have been around for some time. Thank you for your thoughts on the matter.
@@audibleeleganceinc thanks, also Exposure is at a considerably lower price point than Linn or Naim, so that maybe helpful to some of your customers...Exposure is certainly thought of by uk press as providing excellent performance for a moderate cost. And it might still be a 'family business', though I don't know for sure. Cheers!
I'm England too, relatives have owned Linn and I liked the sound. The Naim's I heard always sounded fine, but non interesting, but perhaps it needed different speakers.
At hiFi shows I noticed zero correlation between price and sound quality, and that continues today - nicely designed stuff always sounds good, as long as they use mostly reasonable parts :D
@@audibleeleganceinc Dalston vinyl beat me to it by suggesting ExposureThey still retain a similar exciting sound to the one tat so impressed me back in 1987 when hearing their 7/8 pre/power fed by original Roksan Xerxes into Epos es 14 speakers at The sound Organisation shop by London Bridge.Can still remember how good it was!
@@Baldieman1... coincidentally the turntable I now use is a mark 1 Xerxes, factory serviced and working to spec. with a Rega/Origin Live arm. I think it sounds exceptional still. Cheers
I own two Supernaits and fear for what will become of them when at last they need to be serviced. Experiencing true synergy with hifi is rare and Naim was at the heart of many of those experiences for me, making me a Naim customer for many years now without any desire to keep looking. It's a shame.
It is not a new business model but one that is spreading like a disease amongst many. I can only speak to what is happening in the states. Yes, it is a shame.
Hello from the UK. Sorry to hear about all the trouble you had with Linn/Naim but entirely surprised. I sold my last LP12 turntable early noughties because they thought it would be ok to charge north of £2k for a sub-chassis upgrade called the Keel. I think today it's well over £3000!! I sold my Naim amps which consisted of a 32.5/140/hicap (big mistake) and bought a Linn Wakonda pre partnered with an LK140. It was ok but never really had the magic of my old Naim amps. I have heard the latest Naim amps with Focal speakers and find that combination really tiring to listen too. I suspect Naim have tuned their amps to partner better the Focals and IMO it doesn't gel. I've also heard speakers which I do like driven with Naim amplifiers and that doesn't gel either. Mmm just my opinion though but a Naim/Focal system; not for me.
Sorry, sausage fingers syndrome. Second sentence should read - not entirely surprised
Thank you for taking the time to comment and you are not the first to make this observation. We resigned Focal, a video that we posted, for fundamentally the same reasons as Naim. I would not be surprised if in this combination, Naim amps were tuned to Focal but that is only a guess. The nature of the combination is similar to that which occurred in the States with McIntosh/Sonus Faber, another consolidated audio group. Oh, I agree with you big mistake comment. Similarly, a few have posted the same observation you made about the Naim/Focal combination. I can "see" that.
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I'm. not surprised Naim + Focal was very harsh. The focals would probably sound good with a decent tube amp, even a cheap one like the Yaqins etc.
@@G-ra-ha-m I really don't like Focal speakers at all.
@@grahamf695 They can sound harsh, yes, they need a good tube amp to settle them down.
It always amazes me the Linn LP12, all we really need is a solid bar between the spindle and arm base, that's suspended. How difficult and expensive could it be?
Add a rim belt drive and a lightish damped platter and it's mission accomplished. The average cheap bicycle has more engineering.
Thank you for your, as always, open-hearted discussion of these difficult topics, your channel is really worth watching.
Naim is dead. I have a lot of their equipment here in front of me but these are probably the last ones that I bought from them. They are harming the customer with the current policy of suppressing small, independent retailers and supporting mass sellers on the internet at the same time. The customer used to need expert advice from Naim and/or dealers. Currently Naim is one supplier of many others with no identity. This is quite simply a betrayal of Julien Vereker and the values they have worked so hard to build up. They forget that the small, loyal dealers have made Naim what it was when they were bought by these French money sharks. My dealer here in Germany is also affected and many of their customers are leaving Naim forever.
Linn has found a way to keep and win customers, but at extremely high prices, some of which are hardly justified in my opinion. The tonearms below the Ekos SE in particular are simply too expensive and too poor.
Thank you for your honest and open observations and stories about Naim Audio. I struggled with the decision but it is becoming increasingly clear that it just wasn't me. There are too many responses already from different parts of the world that are too similar.
I too believe that this "cashing in" on past reputation will ultimately prove destructive. It may take time but what damage that will be done will take years to repair. I do also concur with your observations of Linn and they too are starting down the same path but well behind Naim. My good friend, a long and loyal dealer of Linn products was just eliminated in favor of an audio whorehouse with a big checkbook. Nuff said.
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Gary Warzin's passing was devastating for all of us who repped for Audiophile Systems. Brilliant, fast thinking, and always coming up with something weird. His straight jacket escapes were epic, but he exuded magic. He loved audio, but more than that, he loved people, and getting the audio message out. When he was gone, the guiding light was as well.
I had the honor of having Gary at my store in Cincinnati and to the customers attending, I simply stated that Gary was the reason for my success. I owed it all to him. An amazing person and only now I am I fully understanding some of his lessons.
My son and I attended his funeral and while there half of us were wondering if Gary would suddenly leap up to catch us all again with his antics. Alas, it was not to be. One of the few people I truly miss.
Thank you for adding your comment.
I went through this at Advent in the mid 1970's. Once Henry Kloss lost control of the company, changes were immediate and for the worse. The new majority shareholder's management team had no understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the firm.
I had experienced this with a company that I worked for as well. It is painful.
The entire Naim situation was made even more difficult because of the amount of complete disorganization that was so apparent on so many levels. But we have moved on and are enjoying our growing relationships with Rogue, Bel Canto, Totem, Aerial, Bryston, and likely Ayre. But I hear the company is making a lot of money but that will only last so long and they will sell it to some other group at a premium and it will tank. I simply did not want to be a part of that future and they didn't want me either.
So sad, I've had various iterations of NAIM gear for 20 years and absolutely love the product.
Well, as noted, we were trying to continue to sell it but they have other visions as to who they believe they are and how they intend to sell the product.
That said, the "Anniversary Naim Nait" is now about half off at any mail order house. That tells you quite a bit about the marketing vision. The Nait was the introductory product from Naim. A gateway to the rest of the line. People had to hear it to believe it. That was not how it was marketed but rather as some sort of elder Naim owners taking a re-trip down memory lane. Its original price was anything but introductory. Those unfamiliar with the brand would certainly question why this when I could buy a NAD at half the price with more features. The new 3 piece series at $30,000, which is not their best by the way, is illusionary and trading on the name (no pun intended) built by brick and mortar dealers. Our work is being cashed while we are also being denied the fruits of our work. I do not see the long term prognosis as being favorable.
In my opinion Naim seem to be spending a lot of time removing negative feedback about them, including taking down references to this video. Probably best to avoid a company that's doing its best to remove negative comments and feedback, seem to be trying to present a heavily censored view of themselves
We might have had the same experience when I resigned Focal. I don't know and honestly, I really don't have time to worry. My wife is in the Cleveland Clinic Cardiac Intensive Care Unit in hopes of receiving a 2nd heart transplant after 3 very tough years with the first. It has come down to she gets a new heart and returns home or returns home as ashes after they are finished with her donated body for medical science.
In the meanwhile, I have an obligation to my customers to explain what I am doing and why I am doing it. It's that simple. It was not an easy decision as you can see by my efforts to resolve it. But other comments here about my experience have proven enlightening.
I'm sure many of those in this discussion will join with me in prayer that GOD's healing, saving, delivering grace will be on you and your dear wife.
@@paulharmon557 Thank you, kindly for you thoughts.
Thank you for the information. Never buy Naim and trash talk Naim at all appropriate occasions is the answer
No, that wasn't the point of the video. I was still trying to sell it, it's just that they didn't want me selling it. A small brick and mortar store. They went mail order and houses that can do that. Gone are the days of personal care and now Naim as a company looks upon their goods like toothbrushes and peanuts. It is simply goods to move. The results are not their problem.
Whatever Naim is today is not the Naim of yesteryear so don't confuse the reputation of then with the reputation of today. They are different and that's that.
@@audibleeleganceinc As I value professional care, that's the point for ME. So, Never buy Naim and trash talk Naim at all appropriate occasions is MY answer
@@michaelgothenburg364 Fair enough. I too look for professional care and found one for my car. It's a delight.
Fortunately, there is a good supply of early NAIM equipment available. I recently acquired a very early NAC42 for about £150.00, complete with MM phono cards. I love the sound - the power amplifier is a NAP 90/3 bought for a similar price. Fortunately, I am able to repair my equipment myself. However, even for those who need to have their equipment repaired professionally, this early NAIM equipment still represents excellent value.
Thank you for taking the time to write and contribute to this video and my channel. Much appreciated. I will always remember one of my first Naim pieces at the store, the Naim Nait. It was a wonderful piece that Julian rated as having "sufficient power."
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Yeah......second hand maybe
The Star Wars analogy is a good one, then Vs now, not even in the same stratosphere...
Thank you for taking the time to comment and glad you enjoyed the analogy. It is clear from all of the comments that have come in from around the world that all of the good will and work the original dealership base provided will now be used in ways that make it difficult for them. I honestly don't recognize the company anymore after this makeover.
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curious what folks think of the new philips laser blocks calibrated for naim players with wiring harness that are sold on ebay. I own 2 in fact one from a german seller one from a seller in Malaysia, I bought them as spares. i have not tried to install them. I dont know if they are in fact calibrated properly as claimed by the sellers.
after years of using many speakers with Naim, I finally discovered Neat. And Kudos.
Oh, I agree about the CS3.5s and it was dramatically worse with the 3.6s. Frankly those ate everything. But if you look at the CS1.6 and 2 series, it worked perfectly.
Clearly the investment group model changes both priorities and values of electronic products in ways that seem to often result in products being hollowed out shadows of their former selves. It is sad to watch.
Well, since I have not been able to get any of the new equipment, I can render no opinion on that. Have I seen it happen in the past, yes.
Thank you for taking the time to comment and add to both the video and my channel. Please take the time to look at my other 175 videos and tell others about the site. Perhaps I will get more subscribers that will allow me to make better videos!
Interesting the audiophile industries current fashionable focus on PSUs and toroidal transformers, maybe ILP and Gardners Transformers were right after all !?
Actually, toroidal transformer design dates back
to 1885. They made a fine business of it.
Sad to hear this but I do love the history of NAIM and the Star Wars quote.
Glad you enjoyed the history. I am thinking about doing others about it without the unfortunate ending. Writers for movies have given me so many lines that it is impossible to use them all!
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Interesting, my reference books about audio electronics have several examples of electronics circuits designed by Linn and Naim, most are from 80's.
Naim was exceptional at that time. The first to use toroidal transformers, matched transistors, you "naim" it. Yes, they were definitely on their game at that time. Naim was deep into the study of microphonics on solid state at the time of Julians death.
In any event, that's all past now. I do thank you for contributing to the video and channel. Please enjoy the other 228 videos we have done and do subscribe if you want to see what is coming next from us.
You just got locked out of the website and they cut you off from ordering for no reason at all? It would be interesting to hear what you guys did to make that happen.
Well, I suspect, and only suspect, that my decision to stop selling Focal was the nail in the coffin. We no longer fit into the image they are seeking. We could see with the change in distribution practices and offering special closeout prices on very short notice only fed the mail order houses to our disadvantage. Those prices were below our costs and it simply made it impossible to handle. That and a minimum quarterly sales requirement that really is not obtainable by small dealers. If you want to wean an animal off, simply sour the milk. Those practices have spread to the Naim line now and there really was no place for us.
In any event, we move forward. Please take the time to check out my other 175 videos and tell others about them too. Perhaps I will get a few more subscribers which helps improve the quality of the videos. The early ones were rather crude. We have many more videos planned and hopefully not like this one. But, after 39 years, I have to inform my customers of what was going down.
@@audibleeleganceinc Thanks for the clarification and I'll check out the other videos.
How sad to learn Naim, an outstanding manufacturer of amplifiers, cd players, and power supplies has been sacrificed in the belief their new owners " No better " despite all their years of producing some of the finest audio equipment 😢
It's not the first company I have seen go down this path and I am sure it is not the last either. In any event, they want a different team selling their products in a different way. That's all that needs to be said.
I worked in high end hi-fi, when Julian sadly passed, naim was handed over to other directors. They developed the 5 series, it was awful compared to the 3 series..I remember clients ordering 5 series, then returning it for the 3 series.
Oh, so thank you for adding to the channel with an insightful piece of the puzzle. I do sincerely appreciate the effort. Each of us holds a piece of the Audio History Puzzle.
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My personal take on the 5 series as a salesperson was it was more comprehensive then the 3 series. The first cd player was maybe not as good as the earlier 3 entry player but it did undercut by a decent amount and made it more accessible to more consumers. The upgraded 5 units with the power supply etc were truly fabulous for their price point and was no disgrace at all .raised the bar if you asked me and became more wife acceptance as well so all things considered they adapted to the new world. I do agree that I do mourn however their old approach has been altered... unfortunately those that don't adapt fall by the way...
I thank you for saving this fledgling audiophile a good amount of his hard earned cash. Subscribed. Thanks for your honesty and business integrity.
Thank you for the compliment and I try to be honest and open. Please enjoy the rest of the channel with the 177 videos. We have many many more planned.
Linn and Naim have been guilty of overpricing their equipment for years now. One other thing I have seen was that as soon as the investors walks in through the front door, the talented engineers walks out of the back door.
l certainly think that is the case with Naim now as in the States they turn over their older inventory to mail order houses that blow it out at 40% off.
Sometimes doing the right thing is painful. But you are on the moral high ground with respect to your customers.
Yes, it is. Usually the difficult thing to do turns out to be the right thing to do.
Thank you for your comment to the video and please do enjoy some of my other 175 videos.
Was auditioning speakers and the Naim Unity Nova heavily over the last 6 months, the thing that keeps coming up time and again in relation to Naim is service and service issues, the amount of threads on their community around repairs to units that are less than 12 months old means I have no confidence in this brand. On the other hand I've had products from Cyrus for 15 years which have never had an issue. What is going on at Naim? These were always premium products but it looks like the only thing that is premium now is the price.
I truly cannot speak to others experience but I too have noted the number of comments to my channel on this subject. The affirmation of a decision is always accepted but rarely is the cause. It is what it is in your country.
It’s always the bottom line that screws everyone.
it's the "financialization" of everything... humans are mere transfer functions inside clever biz models. the cleverness is sold to the investment class as a magic bullet or "we're just smarter than everyone else & can eek out a few more % margin". they also tout "breaking into untapped markets". pump it up & get out at the top. no "there" there. no long range plan (much less, coherent vision... well, there's a spreadsheet touting huge scale & margins in 3-5 yrs).
Except those at the top and their multi-million dollar salaries.
FINALLY, I have learnt how to properly pronounce the name of the company ("NAME").
Well, at least the American way of saying it. Thank you for commenting.
Had a Unitilite, that had to be repaired 3 times (same fault - cd mechanism). Informed by retailer that NAIM use cheap Chinese parts that are inherently faulty. Eventually gave it away for parts, would never return to this brand.
A lot of people did not realize that the home entertainment in a box part of Naim Audio was made in China. Now, it's not that Chinese goods are bad but that they are not necessarily the same quality as the brand name placed upon them. We too experienced some rather expensive repairs for that line of product, particularly the early series. As it suddenly became available by mail order, our experiences were greatly reduced as were our sales. So, we have no real clear picture of what continued to happen.
I have 3 Naim systems, all ''low end'' starting with an original Nait mk1, green led, which I bought new in the 1980s, still have my Linn Axis turntable that went with it. I have no plans to buy any new Naim eqpt now since the failure of my HDX.
The writing was on the wall when they started to get into the digital and '' lifestyle'' market.
Just seen a thread on FB, which I would guess was about this video, that was immediately shut down by the admins. Ce La Vie as they say...all things must pass.
I am going with an Eversolo DMP8. I live in Bulgaria so service of any kind is a no no.
Thank you for contributing to the channel and taking the time to do so. Interesting that a thread was shut down but not surprised unless it contained some sort of unacceptable behavior.
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@@audibleeleganceinc Even hinting that everything with Naim is not perfect is considered ''unacceptable behaviour'' in some quarters 😄
@@owenoneill5955 Interesting that you used the expression "quarters" as here in the States, certain areas of Louisiana (a French Territory at one time) are referred to as Quarters in New Orleans. And for those who think I am picking on the French, I am not. I do remember the Battle of New Orleans as well as the French Navy bottling up Cornwallis. No, it is the manner of business practices which know no boundaries at all. American companies are just as capable of these types of decisions.
@@audibleeleganceinc Funnily enough I did hesitate for a second before using the term quarters. I could also have used circles.
Language is a funny old thing...
Did you know the alphabet we use is actually the Latin alphabet? After brexit, when the authorities here in Bulgaria issued statements saying it was ok to use the Latin alphabet instead of the Cyrillic alphabet when filling in documents, it completely threw the English speaking expat community into turmoil 😄😄😄😄
@@owenoneill5955 That's equally funny. You see, I am a trained as a lawyer so the use of words, their sequence, commas, all play a part of understanding. Then, enter the bureaucrats. We once had a part of our Internal Revenue Code declared unconstitutional as it had, in one sentence, 527 words. 3 different agents for the IRS came up with 3 different interpretations. As such, the Judge declared it unconstitutional because if the IRS did not understand its meaning, then the taxpayer could not either.
I am a long time Naim customer and was genuinely shocked to watch this video. It does not match my experience. For example a few years ago my olive era equipment was due for a recap. I beought it to my dealer, he sent it to Naim, and it came back refurbished and sounding great about a month later. No problem. Naim has always in my experience put the customer first. I sure hope this isn’t changing and that what you describe is just growing pains. They are a large company now.
I suppose it depends upon where you live, country wise. In the States, that series of equipment is referred to Chris West up in Chicago, Illinois. He was one of their service technicians for years and is intimately familiar with the olive series. I can not speak as to what happens in other countries where things could be quite different. Certainly there have been a number of other posts you should look at which parallel my experience.
I do thank you for taking the time to comment and contribute to the channel. I am sure some will enjoy what you had to say and it's quite fair to include it for all to read. Please do subscribe and tell others about this channel and the other 175 videos. I am sure there is something there for everyone. Many more videos are planned.
@@audibleeleganceinc Thanks for the mention Lou … and indeed my Naim journey started from being the Test Engineer for Naim UK back in 1982, followed by my transfer to Naim USA in 1986 and beyond. I’m the service Manager for (and a founding partner of) AV Options now, and we’ve had an authorized Naim Service Center for the USA just north of Chicago since 2011. We service Chrome Bumper Naim gear as well as the Olive series, and those ranges are actually also serviced by Focal-Naim America. We’re well known for restoring vintage Naim gear to its full glory. We also offer service for Classic and Reference range components, with much of it being more than 10 years old these days since the classic range came out in 2002! Our focus is on amps, preamps, and power supplies. We don’t service CD players, mainly due to the unavailability of CD mechs like you were saying. Also, for technical reasons we have to refer servicing of all the streaming, server, and DAC products to Focal-Naim America. --- By the way, we build many accessory products of our own that are oriented towards getting the best performance from Naim gear - but also great for other brands. We make AV Options AC power accessories, speaker cables, and Interconnects. There's more details about our Naim servicing and what we do are here: www.avoptions.com … Cheers, Chris
@@christopherwest8103 Chris, in doing this video and answering questions, I believe I remembered the name of the gal who was first in rescuing Naim after the split at Audiophiles. Alexis, I believe it was. She was a good person to me and her husband was a rather humble man in my presence. It was unfortunate that she fell to cancer, as I recall. I am happy to refer customers to you and, as you can tell, that will now be 100% of what you can work on. As for the rest, well, good luck because we were strung out for a long, long time. There is no trust left
@@christopherwest8103 Chris, Philips VAM1202/12 transports with the wiring harness calibrated for my CD5XS (2019) are sold on ebay. Are you able to install them?
It’s becoming vital that the equipment you buy today comes from a reliable company. American works best, in my experience. Rogue Audio is wonderful about service and they make hi power valve amps that will do triode mode. I don’t understand why this is unusual, but it is a shame.
Well, funny you mention that as we too have found Rogue Audio to be delightful to have as a supplier. I often refer them here for value when people are spending stupid money on used gear from the 70s.
I won't touch Chinese tube amps because they're usually poorly designed, poorly built, and they have no service after the sale. I'd rather pay more for an amp designed and built in a developed country with better business ethics.
@@1mctous We tried Prima Luna once and while I don't recall any problems with them the importer was an entirely different matter. We are much happier with both the performance and company in Rogue Audio. Wonderful people.
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@@1mctous that’s not always a guarantee either. I recently tried to get a replacement part for my older Roksan turntable. After more than a year and half a dozen contacts, I finally got the part. It turned out to be such poor quality that I refurbished the old part and I’m using it again.
It just goes to show how companies falter once the personality cult surrounding their originators fails when he dies. As a big rega fan I can only imagine what will happen once Roy Gandy passes away, he's getting up there in age and just makes you wonder you know what I mean.
Thank you for contributing to the video and the channel. Well, I don't think we will see a direct drive Rega table with bluetooth and a headphone jack anytime soon. Regardless, your point is well made.
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@@audibleeleganceinc well for me it isn't a matter of features or adding products that they traditionally didn't make. Actually truthfully I'm all for progression and innovation and taking something like Bluetooth for example and optimizing it into their products in a unique way.
What I worry about though is once he goes the whole company philosophy and the way their products are built and designed to produce a certain sound, which I absolutely adore, will change.
Take Arcam for example, their '90s amplifiers and products had a wonderful rich sound with great tonality and speed and definition, but now having listened to their latest offerings, it doesn't have any personality and character, it just sounds bland and ultimately boring.
That's one of the things I love about Rega is the fact that their products have character and the sound that they produce has character, whether that be an amplifier or of course a turntable or a CD player or a tuner even down to the speaker cables and RCA cables, all of the products that they make have character. That character though is a unifying force and comes through when listening as a singular experience.
Just like Naim I fear that's what will happen when he goes, in an attempt to cut corners or cost they will start making their products more cookie cutter and lose the personality. It will probably go good for a few years before they really tear it apart but I imagine eventually we will lose the beauty of rega and on that day I will probably sell my Hi-Fi system and get out of the hobby.
Greetings from Serbia. Sales problems aside, it is my impression that with Julian's death company lost it's way and it's identity. It's not the same sound anymore. The old NAIM sound is and always will be preamplifiers with singleton input stage and quasi power amp with diff input stage modified for best subjective results, not best measurements. Today all of these ideas are gone forever. Now NAIM electronics is very conventional topologies optimized for lab results (which are very good indeed) but the magic of it's sound in nowhere to be found. It's another company altogether. My friend was Serbian distributor some years ago and we were completely surprised how different modern NAIM sound is from the old sound. We much preferred old sound.
Thank you for your contribution to my channel. The international response has been most interesting and I am glad I am now learning that I was not alone.....just forgotten.
Ive owned alot of naim since '95 and the sound has changed but only slightly. Most of the change is due to power output. The chrome and olive 250, and the less powerful XS2 for example sound quite similar. People exaggerate.
Thank you for this contribution as it really adds to the channel. A solid explanation. Please feel free to subscribe and tell others about my work. We have 180 videos with more planned.
Tough decision. Much smaller range, but look at Norma Audio from Italy. Brought into the US by Audiothesis. Driven by the single-mided vision of Dr. Enrico Rossi. Hidden gems. From a company small enough to know what customer service is. And why it matters.
Thank you for the recommendation. We are following up on a number of tips.
Terrible shame, my system has had 5 different pre-amp,Pwr-Amp combinations over the 37 years that i have been involved in this fantastic hobby. Always an LP-12 front end, but even here in Canada the new stuff is so expensive and lord help if any of my stuff,needs repair,because that won’t happen anymore.
Thank you for taking the time to comment. Yes, it has been quite a journey and it was equally expensive for the dealers plus the burden of having to sell so much of it a quarter. It was insane when they introduced the Naim Nait again for $3,000 when that was meant to be an introductory piece to the line. Well, if that's the first step, it's not for many.
Please tell others about my channel and the other 177 videos. Perhaps they will enjoy them too and subscribe.
@@audibleeleganceinc I agree the new Nait is way too high priced. I dont care for Nait 1 look - the cosmetics are brutally ugly. Im an olive fan myself.
I told Tivoli that they should offer a olive style Model One radio. They responded that it wasnt in their plans.
I was in Audio back in the '70's when each and every name was an actual company that made their own stuff. I moved into Video, CGI and IT after that. And now returning, most of the big names are still there, but all are owned by 2 or 3 holding companies which play marketing games to keep each line from competing.
Oh, do I have tales about that pile of shenanigans.
@@audibleeleganceinc Like a private party at the LA Mansion with Hugh as a Superscope (Sony/ Marantz) rep because Joe Tushinsky (Pres Superscope) was his friend? Stories I could tell...
@@glenncurry3041 And, I am going to tell stories about some of the most wonderful people I have met in the industry. We, the old guard, are fading away. Like Fahrenheit 451, we have the responsibility to pass on the book we know to a younger generation.
@@audibleeleganceinc Worked with some wonderful and very dedicated people. Had some great times! Played with some nice toys.
That can't have been an easy video to make. I applaud both your honesty and integrity, sir... 👏👏👏
Thank you so kindly for your comment and contribution to both the video and channel. No, it was not. But, as I have come to learn from all of the international comments, neither was it unique. Your support is deeply appreciated.
It was made more painful at my end as it affected my business at a time when my wife has been in the Cleveland Clinic Cardiac ICU for 100 days now hoping for a second heart transplant after 3 difficult years with the first. I neither needed this distraction nor the loss of revenue which was the only thing they managed to deliver.
But, we must move forward and I hope you enjoy some of my other 175 videos. Please tell others about the site as I am sure there is something there for everyone.
@audibleeleganceinc God bless you both 🙏
If I lived in your region and not merry old England, I would make it my business to frequent yours because I very much admire your philosophy and personal touch... 🫡
@@sgtgrash Thank you yet for your thoughts and find a good dealer across the pond, as they would say.
Love LINN, incredible turntables & I still listen to my LINN KAN Mk.1 stand mounts as my near-field monitors!
And I still enjoy working on LP12s unless they are real old. Thus my video, the LP12 from Hell. Yes, you have a lovely combination.
A polite suggestion: could the answer to the title question be answered at the very beginning, and launch into the history afterwards for those who are interested? It was over 13 minutes (into a 19-minute video) before the answer to the question was clearly given. Private equity takeover, poor dealer relationship, no order fulfillment. Got it.
I don't like starting out videos whining and certainly not inclined to make my views dehumanized. Small businesses are just that, humans. In this case, and I did not get into it, those lost sales are hurting me right now as I have my wife in the Cleveland Clinic Cardiac Intensive Care Unit hoping for a heart transplant and a second one at that after 3 years of difficulty with the first one. It is a costly experience both medically and in support.
That said, I have heard that other forums have asked for a Reader's Digest Condensed version of anything I do. So, your comment is consistent with some requests but it is not a path I wish to take. The world has too many sound bites already and they are filled with such inaccuracies as to make them untrustworthy. And trust is a major part of the opening of this video.
For me no complaints , I found the history fascinating and I live in the UK with no chance ever of buying anything from this dealer.
@@highfell1 Thank you for your comment. Some do enjoy the history of things and even I have searched into the history of other industry leaders learning who they were, what they did, and how they did it. It may not always apply to what I do and sometimes, it really does.
This type of kicking dealers to the curb is one of the worst things the public is unaware of. I have sold footwear for over four decades as my family business has done since 1946 long before my birth. Even in my line of retailing we've been abandoned by brands we sold, often first in our city, for years because of the focus on large retailers. Yes, it hurts me personally, as well as financially, but it really is an assault on free trade and the customer. The customer is being manipulated in a very greedy manner and if anyone wonders why the mom and pops of retailing are dying this is one of the biggest reasons. I've been buying hi-fi gear since the age of 13 when I got my first rig. I've never purchased Naim but always respected the brand. Now at a time when I could afford almost whatever brand of interest (within reason) I can tell you I will never buy Naim due to the dirty way they treated you. New owners and management change almost every year bringing new plans on how to market the gear. They try something for a while then they change again when that either doesn't work or some idiot in charge at that moment institutes his way of selling. None of these folks last and something that was once stable is chaotic and it usually goes hand in hand with a dip in the quality of the brand. For instance, I would bet you could call Naim America and not a soul working there has been there remotely as long as you've sold their wares. Worse you know more about the broader line than anyone you can usually get on the phone. They don''t have the loyalty at all and could care less. These kind of business practices disgust me.
I think your general observations about business practices is correct but the consumer, in the ever present hunt for the lowest prices anywhere at anytime is also an element of this. This may be a bit of what is happening in terms of the average persons buying power which has most certainly declined over the last 30 years.
Then, there is this "need" to show sales growth annually and now that has spread to profits. When it runs its full course, you can see what happened to Stellantis (Ram trucks, Jeep & More) which is about to tank. Even Volkswagen just stiffed their dealers with their new electric vehicle and direct sales bypassing dealerships.
As for knowledge, oh geez, don't get me started there. That whole cycle started with mega stores whose business practices I refer to as "chicken marketing." Customers are to come in and hunt and peck with little guidance, support, or knowledge. But, we will give you a refund if you return it in its original packing which is a business practice then jammed down the throats of mom & pops. For years we had to eat sales tax because Amazon was tax free. Now that they collect taxes having multiple warehouses in every state, that has finally ceased. But over the years, that hit us to the tune of about a half million dollars. Now it's free shipping on everything.
So, yeah, I fully understand your observations and feelings. Thank you for adding your family experience as, ironically, I was an attorney for one of those shoe companies and I can tell you they didn't give a rat's ass care about independents and, in fact, would use them as token sacrifices to get better locations in shopping malls for themselves.
Feeling the necessity to drop Naim after decades of [presumably] mutual advantage reflects rather badly on... the other guy.
The illusion of manufacturer, dealer, customer loyalty is exposed, yet again, as everything is subborned upon the alter of profit, profit, profit.
Nevertheless, I found your piece to be a very inciteful and interesting glimpse into the machinations of the corporate world.
Although I do take issue with is the use of DIN connectors. I hate the damn things with a passion. The worst thing to come out of Germany since the VW beetle... maybe.
Remember, the only constant is change!
All the best for the future.
Thank you for taking the time to comment. I understand folks feelings about din connectors but embrace balanced cables which are, essentially din designs. As I tried to explain to folks, RCA connectors are over 100 years old and frankly many people don't even comply with the specs which is why you have all sorts of fitting problems.
Regardless, within the Naim structure, the din connector offered superior connection and simplicity. It only became a mess when you tried to hybrid brands of products.
@@audibleeleganceinc
Your point is well made. I am indeed one of those people who embraces the use of XLR balanced cables. I am found out! Hahaha.
I use balanced XLR cables not because of the inherent advantage of common mode rejection - not really an issue in my short runs, domestic situation - but because of the doubling of the voltages from the standard 2 volts for RCA to a much more utilitarian 4 volts standard for XLR. This allows me to adjust the internal gain stage of my amp [a Purifi Eigentakt] to it's minimum 13 db setting which makes for the best SINAD figure whilst still allowing me to drive my admittedly efficient speakers to more than adequate SPL's.
However, apologies. I find I have gone off topic... again.
My previous closing remarks remain in force.
Regards.
I was a true Flat Earth believer in the 80s. I had a Sondek for over 30 years. I started with a 42/110, got a 160, and had a couple of SuperNaits. It was special; it is no longer. Nice presentation.
Thank you for adding both your comment and compliments. Please do enjoy some of my other 175 videos that are up and there will be many, many more.
Right now I am focused more on my wife's situation as she is in the Cleveland Clinic Cardiac ICU hoping for a 2nd heart transplant after 3 difficult years with the first. We shall see what gifts medicine can provide.
@@audibleeleganceinc heart transplants? that must be nerve wracking. Im sorry to hear that.
@@rd264 It is my 66th trip to the Cleveland Clinic and her 2nd heart transplant done 3 days ago has not gone well. She will be in ICU for weeks if not months. In some ways it is nerve wracking but with all my experience now, you know to focus on success and all the elements supporting it. Worrying adds nothing. Thank you, kindly, for your thoughts.
I agree; for me the writing on the wall for Naim became obvious when they started fitting RCA sockets and abandoning their "DIN connectors are more robust and sound better; take it or leave it" policy. Integrity is, unfortunately, a rare and declining attribute in this world
Thank you for taking the time to comment and contribute to my channel. Folks such as yourself likely found meaning in the video and others, looking for a 5 minute sound bite, did not. In that era we were more interested in getting people into music than us getting into their pockets. While the world has changed in amazing ways (my wife in currently in the Cleveland Clinic Cardiac ICU unit awaiting a 2nd heart transplant after 3 difficult years with the first. 75 years ago we didn't even have penicillin) in other ways it has digressed or, at least wandered off in directions some of us choose not to follow.
Please feel free to subscribe to the channel and tell others about it as well.
@@audibleeleganceinc Just subscribed; thank you. May I give my very best wishes to your good lady and hope she has a speedy and full recovery. Maybe this time for longevity they'll be using locking connectors to the heart valves rather than RCA jacks! Take care of each other and good luck for the future
@@russputin6294 Thank you kindly. We are also very mindful of the fact, as before, if we get to celebrate joy that another family is suffering pain. We are always grateful that the individual or family chose to give the gift of life to another.
To give you a little laugh about it all, I had a friend that needed a kidney transplant and I offered to get tested. They said that because of my age, that being 70, that I was no longer a viable doner for others. My thought was that a bald tire was better than a flat one. But, the organs have to survive the transplant and drugs and statistics are clear about it.
Ive tried to detect a difference listening between the DIN vs the rca and havent found any. Taken the XS2 case off and could not see how they are wired to the circuits. The RCA ground and the DIN ground are both "common" but the rca design has of course 2 common grounds, one per cable R+ L, whereas the DIN has only one ground. I go with the stock Din5 180 gray ic. because Naim recommends it. But its hard to detect a difference.
@@rd264 There are practical mechanical advantages to DIN connectors over RCA phono plugs. A DIN plug connects earth before the signal pins so acts as a safety default; if a plug becomes loose or is accidentally inserted with the power on there are no potentially speaker damaging buzzes or cracks. Phono plugs do the opposite of this and make the hot connection well before the earth collar engages. Another clever element of the design is the sockets contain mechanical wipers (scrapers) so every time a din plug is removed and reinserted the contacts are automatically cleaned. The locking plugs Naim used ensure the connection is as mechanically secure as it can be and made sure a connection could not be accidentally disturbed when dusting or whatever. They also used to say the pins were a better impedance match for signal cabling than the much thicker phono plugs but I'll have to take their word for that. With a DIN plug (assuming it's correctly wired inside, of course) there's no chance of a consumer erroneously mixing up left / right or in / outs. Downsides, of course; they're a pain in the *ss to solder and there's always the chance of an internal short if your soldering technique's a bit iffy and, of course, you need adapters (or better still dedicated leads) if you're partnering with "normal" equipment. I think that, in purely practical, real-world terms, the main benefits for sound quality accrue long-term from a clean, tight DIN connector rather than a potentially loose and oxidised RCA. And, in the interest of full disclosure, have you ever seen a DIN loudspeaker plug? Absolutely hopeless so the German's didn't always get it right!! Naim never used them but I remember Nytech did for a while; these don't have any place on any piece of kit aspiring to any sort of quality. Hope this is of interest; have a great evening, my friend
Such a shame when a supplier refuses custom. Very bizarre.
There are other small companies around, Taiwan's Usher is worth looking at.
My tale could be spoken in many industries. It's just that so few have the resources to let the audience know. I am most fortunate in that sense. In the end, few realize how "human" dealers really are.
@@audibleeleganceinc Hopefully we are close to dawn, and better times will lie ahead, everything goes in cycles.. We were lucky to experience the real music and Hifi. From the artistry inside a Sansui 1000a to running out and buying 'the Wall' at the newsagent, the amazing Kef scene of the 1970s etc.
Now I look for small singer songwriters, Amanda Rogers, Eisley, Amelia K Spicer etc, for talent, and DIY a lot of stuff :)
Give it a year or two and we will start seeing more brand consolidation in the industry.
I would not be surprised as many things are becoming homogenized and nearly indistinguishable from one another.
Thank you for taking the time to comment and please do enjoy my other 175 videos. We have many, many more planned and I hope not like this one.
I fear this too especially with class D making it's way into audio electronics.
Seems like a trend in various industries, the move from firms driven by engineering/marketing to being managed by accountants.
I’ve seen this process in many firms at totally different industrial fields, the western countries are after the quick bucks but we can always blame the Chinese for the collapse of certain industries 😢
Thank you for taking the time to comment. As wealth has become more centralized in fewer hands, the need to accumulate from different sources has grown into different industries like an invasive vine to a garden. In short, everything is now becoming a commodity. Even farm land here in the States is being snatched up by very wealthy people or by investment groups. I doubt they know very much about agriculture but if they can profit by it, who cares?
People need to understand *Private Equity. When a buyout happens, the first two things to go are employees and quality.*
That's why now I won't touch Naim, Totem, Mark Levinson, Dynaudio and many other brands that have been bought out.
Look at Pioneer. They used to be at the top of their game when it came to DJ equipment. Now it's just cheap build quality, Usually plastic instead of metal) and a higher price tag.
I am familiar with many of the buyouts but I am unfamiliar with that regarding Totem Acoustics. Can you provide further information?
@@audibleeleganceinc I did a dive on it and found some info about some kind of investment deal.
I might be going mad, but I'm sure I saw a video on YT with Vince at a show (recently) and halfway through the new investor chimes in.
Either way, it smacks of Private Equity, which for me is a no no … and I won't be buying in the future.
Naim ... is a heartbreak for me, because I enjoyed their product. Not that I bought any of it, 'cause after 2 failures from Cryus, 2 failed amps from Arcam, and a failed amp from Audiolab I stopped buying British gear. But I tested some Naim gear against Linn (not a big fan of Linn) and I liked it.
Focal, unfortunately, I got into their car audio gear which is complete garbage. My speaker popped in a short amount f time, and although I never bought them, I've seen two of their amps catch on fire! Focal subs are 'meh' at best.
It's not cheap gear, but after 4 blown speakers in under 3 months, I was done! Switched to Morel and over 12 years later, they're still kicking.
If I find the video, i'll get back to you ... but I just remember thinking that I'd strike Totem off my recommendation list. But as I've been designing and building 1/4 wave transmission lines exclusively since '91 (see my channel) … I have no need for commercial speakers!
@@audibleeleganceinc There must be some cases where private equity / buyouts come from a group of one or more wealthy enthusiasts with a desire to support a brand that they respect? I guess the answer comes from the reason for the investment: Is it an enthusiast looking to do something "interesting" with their money? Or an investor looking for a good return? I assume most are the latter?
Once you get into the realms of these big investment groups you have to wonder if any of them really care much about anything beyond the numbers on a balance sheet? I guess at best they might be concerned about long term returns, which should at least give them an incentive to try to maintain some kind of quality of product and service...
@@audibleeleganceinc There is a video, I'm sure it's Vince at a show, where a woman comes in and talks. Investment, management company ... whatever it is. But what I do remember is that, to me, it smelt fishy.
I wish Vince all the best, because being a DIY're with 35 years behind me, I can say that if I were to go back to commercial speakers (and let's hope that day never comes) Totem would be my first choice ... and I'm talking above and beyond near million or half million dollar exotica.
@@juststuff5216 Depending upon how the investors behave, their additional cash can allow a designer to reach further than their resources permit. I know of several great designers who didn't make it because they are great designers but poor at managing their company. They are two different talents. It's when management decides that they are designers too where the trouble begins. See the video by Frank Zappa where he talks about cigar chomping management of record labels and when the new managers took over. Quite interesting.
When you do anything, mainly for the money, you’ve signed your own death-knell.
Thank you for taking the time to comment and add to the channel. Most appreciated. While I don't think your observation is correctly accurate 100% of the time, both you and I have witnessed when greed overtakes joy. If you don't like the business you are in, you should get out. Music is about passion. Passionless people don't belong in the trade.
Please do tell others about my channel. We have 175 other videos already up with so many more planned. Perhaps they will subscribe which allows me to improve the quality of what we are doing here.
Whats in a Naim?
Reputation is everything.
You cant buy it.
It has to be earned!
Sad story.
Lessons learned.
How is Bryston doing since the founder passed away.?
Bryston is actually a very interesting case. Yes, the one brother died, the other cashed out and the third, and a friend of mine, was pushed out by the two brothers. That said, the company is fundamentally run by one of their chief engineers of many years. He is a delightful person to meet and when I learned he was taking over the steering of the company, I was most pleased. James is a good man and now he has managed to move the company forward with speakers as well. Bryston is continuing to find its way having not abandoned its customers by creating equipment only the far east can afford but it has risen beyond the fledgling audiophile. They are sorting that out.
Thank you for your taking the time to contribute to this video and my channel. Please tell others about it and the 175 videos already posted. Perhaps they will like it so much they will subscribe. That helps me build a better channel with better sound and video.
@@audibleeleganceinc
Thanks for that update.
I believe James helped me out when I needed a new reed switch for my 3B SST.
They seemed kind of disorganized at the time, but it was in the middle of covid-19. Everyone was having trouble back then😕
I was happy to hear about their upgrade program for older components.... When my amp hits the end of it's two decade warranty I'll have them work it over 😀
@@carlitomelon4610 James is a good man who still thinks in the old school way but with modern twists. All good. Covid 19 screwed everything up and far beyond the supply lines.
Love that you have the Bryston 4b cubed in the background
Thank you for noticing. We also have Bryston speakers. More to come from them for us as we liquidate the Naim gear that we have.
Sorry to hear. Thank you for sharing this.
Thank you for taking the time to express you feelings about this matter. It appears from all of the comments I have received that my experience is not unique.
Best to buy from companies like Rega, Sudgen ,Expsoure ,Creek etc that are NOT by investment groups
Interesting that you mention Creek. We sold their goods in the 80s. I have not seen Mike in years. Hope he is doing well.
Thank you for taking the time to comment and please do enjoy our other 175 videos. We have many more planned. Please let other folks know about our work. They may find some useful things as well.
Until the founder designer passes away,and the wife sells it to an investment house,because she does not know what to do with it.
You never know. Succession is a tricky thing.
Ivor’s and Julien’s aches, and pains they had for each other are theirs. My money pays only for my satisfaction. And as far as that worst product nomination going to the Kremlin is concerned, I’m here to state for a VERY CLEAR RECORD of direct testimony, my 1994 Dallas, TEXAS
Audio Concepts experience of said Kremlin FM Tuner.
A WRR 101.1 classical music broadcast nearly had me body-slammed to the GD floor! So powerfully jarring was that FULL QUIETING 50 dB modulation, it was as CD black, it was “Silent Hill” creepy, as all out Hell! This singularity of a performance was courtesy of a FULLY grounded, roof mounted, dedicated FM aerial. Even 30 YEARS HENCE, in this age of subscription streaming services, terrestrial FM’s 30 to 15,000 Hz frequency window is still appreciated by folks who still use high-power compression tweeter horns, and equalizers in active bi-amplification systems. It is of marked sadness, many of the detrimental compromises from founding fathers fall wayside to consortium greed, and avarice.
Good morning.🌹
As for the Award Ceremony, I had no hand in it and it is simply fact. By the way, it was named Kremlin after they were able to receive signals from, I guess you would call it Radio Free Moscow. Thus, Kremlin was a natural name for it.
@@audibleeleganceinc A testament to its superior construction* And I’ve scoured almost everywhere trying to find a pristine piece for my collection.
Consider picking up the Cyrus and Sugden line.
Thank you for taking the time to comment. For the moment, we plan to increase our displays of Rega first. From there, well, we have had some nice suggestions including yours.
Please tell others about my channel and the 175 videos currently up. We plan many many more.
What about the traitors that sold out to VC company in the first place? If you have a successful company why sell out? Greed.
I cannot speak at to the motivations of people and sometimes there are very unfortunate circumstances behind the scenes that are never part of the public domain. I know of one manufacturer that started to do things out of what they normally would have done with the key person of the company dying 2 years later of cancer. All I can speak to is what I now see happening and we are simply not part of that plan. We once left a well known company that quite frankly, screwed us over. 4 years later they visited us asking "what would it take for you to become a dealer of ours, again?" My store manager simply responded "Start with getting your head out of your ass." He could not have said it better. 25 years later they royally screwed over a fellow dealer with whom we had a very long history. They hadn't changed one bit.
In my opinion Linn and Naim have been in decline for decades. I'm a Brit living in the United States since 1990. I own nothing from either of these manufacturers.
And we are a dealer for neither too. Coinky-dink?
@@audibleeleganceincIt was the be all and end all when I was growing up in the UK prior to 1990. I think all of the British manufacturers have been in decline for a long time. I bought a pair of B&W 801-D4 earlier this year and I can tell you I am disappointed to say the least. I'm going to Wilsons next. Have to support local manufacturers and growers wherever possible.
@@philstevens9914, Well, I think that product is from the 3rd or 4 owner of the company in 15 years. Who knows what that has done to them.
I don't see there is a problem in servicing this equipment. Even if you can't get the parts from them, you can find higher quality substitutes. I've fixed thousands of hifi components. I don't think i ever turned a customer down unless it was a case of a uneconomic repair where I would make my recommendation. On every occasion though, I've always tried to act as if I were in the customer's shoes and do what I would do if it were my own equipment. This is why my customers came back time and time again. The customer is king - always.
We once had a service department but many people did not want to pay the costs of repair, it is as simple as that. So, we relied on the sources of the manufacturer or distributor. With Naim, many of the parts are not even available or it's completely uneconomical. We just had a case where a customer with a Nait 2 (Olive Series) had a bad selector and it had never been re-capped. The authorized service center in the States wanted a flat $1500 to service it. Needless to say, that didn't make much sense and the local shop wants a minimum of $300 just to look at it.
So, let me know where you are and perhaps we can send some trade your way.
@@audibleeleganceinc It was a business I ran years ago. I never charged those sorts of rates. I used to do free estimates, but under the agreement that if the estimate was under a certain price that I would fix it for that. This made a neat compromise where we shared the risk, and it meant the customer can be reassured he could turn down an expensive repair whilst not wasting my time getting numerous free estimates from companies. One point about capacitors though was back in those days they were mainly Japanese and they were far more reliable. The most common trouble was blown output transistors and their drivers.
@@Andrew-rc3vh well, things have changed dramatically, even from the 80s and 90s. There was a time when you truly had a working relationship with a customer. With the advent of the internet, that is pretty much gone and here in the States customers will choose price over service nearly 9 out of 10 times. Some don't hesitate to have salespeople do demonstrations for hours only to then purchase it on the web. Oh, yes, times have really changed. With loyal customers we do our best to take care of them but when manufacturers or distributors choose actions making that support impossible, there's not much we can do.
The day of component repair is gone. It's now all boards and once those boards are used up, well, that's it. So, yes, times have really changed.
@@audibleeleganceinc Yes I understand that. Once we went to large surface mount and custom chips things got far more difficult and one relied on the manufacturer to source the part. It got to the point with me when servicing computers that it became uneconomic. I packed up before losing what I had made.
@@Andrew-rc3vh Smart move while I am, at age 70, still in the trenches.
It's a sad sad day. Cutting the honest experienced dealers out is a foolish business model.
Love my Aro arm.
Well, it depends upon your intention. I have known some companies that intentionally pump up sales and destroy their dealership base because their true intent is to sell it to the next person based on yesterday's numbers. They had no concern about their existing dealers because they were working on walking out the door. I think of Equity, the former operator of B&W, Rotel, and Classe as an example in the States.
@@audibleeleganceinc have you considered writing an article or book about your experiences? I think it would be very cool to hear all about them and there must be a huge audience for such a history.
@@rd264 Actually, I have a more important book to write about being a caretaker to a heart transplant recipient. Right now, I am sitting in the Cleveland Clinic ICU where my wife is having a very difficult time with a second heart transplant after 4 years of very tough years with the first one. It's a lovely idea but my attention belongs on a higher plane.
This is so sad😢.
I simply wanted to give my fond nod to Julian and what he believed to be right. It is, sadly, not uncommon that the vision of the founder is lost upon their death and sometimes transforms into the antithesis of that vision. And so it is with Naim.
Cambridge audio p40 was the first to use a toroidal transformer in reality.
I was kinda wondering about that as I sold JVC in the 70s and they too used Toroidal transformers. Can you give me a date of the P40?
I stand corrected, sir. I just found an outstanding video on the history of Cambridge Audio. Their use of toroidal predates Naim Audio by about 5 years. Fascinating video to watch as part of the birth of British Hi-Fi. So, Naim was not the first but rather an early adopter of them.
It's a sad story indeed, but it's interesting about the timeline also.
Thank you for your contribution to the channel. There are a few of us left who still have bits and pieces of various timelines of audio. I still meet some of my colleagues here and there and we do share some of the funniest stories about the characters who have walked through the history of audio. Oh, there are, as Gollum would say, "Nasties" but those usually come out as we each try to figure out what happened here or there. Our industry had been not only a combination of products but also of personalities. We have lost much of the latter. There are a few still around, but corporately muted.
Please do tell others about my channel as we plan so many more videos in addition to the 175 already up.
@audibleeleganceinc I will share it on Reddit on budget audio, but it's not budget.
I've been looking into Niam 150 power. Is there any good?
Thanks for the reply :)
@@itisjustacomment my experience with the NAP 150 is that it was a unique amplifier capable of driving difficult loads with ease. Now, it is an older amplifier and, if true to Naim, it would be suggested to have it re-capped. If you are in the States, I can recommend a place to send it run by a former technician from Naim. Otherwise, ask around about doing that first before making a purchase.
@@audibleeleganceinc thank you very much , you are a true gentleman.
At a hifi show a couple of years ago, representatives from the Naim factory were proudly showing their latest amps and power supplies, and with the covers removed. One word: shoddy.
They were a very poor example of what electronics can look like, and to me they say more about the company now than anything else. I'll be sticking with my 1990s olive gear for as long as I can, but won't go anywhere near the hollowed out shell that remains of this once brilliant company. I just can't trust them to do the right thing anymore: all that happens is they are repeatedly being sold on to yet more money-takers with absolutely no interest in what JV created. Sad sad sad.
I’m even removing my posts on the forum. Just not interested in the company anymore. Over 25 years of standing by them, gone.
Thank you for taking the time to contribute to the video and channel. It is most appreciated. I have been, honestly, overwhelmed by the responses. Each has added pieces to the puzzle that made it clear that I really did not make a decision to leave; it was made for me. Other stories, like yours, are sad comments about what has become of Naim Audio while the prices have soared. I never could get the latest goods and now it appears I was fortunate.
well, I dont see any "shoddy" work inside my 2019 CD5XS and 2017 XS2.
@@rd264 those aren’t the components I was on about. Yours are older. Mine are MUCH older. I’ve just checked. It’s the new 300 series stuff.
@@rd264 And from my position, I never made any sort of observation like this. But, obviously, someone has.
I have the Uniti Atom and I love it... don't give a ha- penny tuppance who owns it or where its made as long its a quality product and sounds good..adapt and survive or wither away has always been this way since the dawn of time..
And that's perfectly fine. I made no comment about the quality or performance of Naim products. I clearly stated, however, that I was unable to deliver goods to my customers and had a hard time getting back service pieces. Clearly I was trying to sell it and they frustrated that for a different means of distribution. I simply was no longer part of their vision, whatever that may be. So, enjoy what you have and that's it.
So how is Naim worse? Does it not sound as good? Is it less reliable? Is serviceing poor? I'm still not quite sure what you are getting at. I heard a demo at a Toronto Audio show with Naim amps driving Flagship Focal speakers. The sound was exemplary... probably the best at the show. But insanely expensive.
I don't believe you will find me commenting about the current performance of Naim Audio although there are plenty of comments for you to look through. We were still trying to sell Naim when it became obvious we were not in their future vision. My point is that the care and precision of dealerships and how things were installed and handled simple ceased to be a reality. A click of a button, a box, and Fedex were good enough. Selling discontinued items through jobbers is not the way to uphold the reputation of any company. Might as well sell it all to Ollies.
Oh, yes, their service was a nightmare and I did talk about that and have now refused to take on any Naim product we sold for service through them as I can no guarantee that it will come back.
Without question, we too saw prices on most nearly all products simply go beyond reasonable and the use of price was used to convince others it was that good. Heck, even the Anniversary Naim Nait, which they wanted us to buy and sell at $3500 (which I thought was completely absurd) is now being peddled for 1950 all over the web and maybe less. A professional dealer simply cannot afford to remain static while such behavior is going on. All of our work over the years is now being cashed. Nuff said.
Naim and Focal together just doesn’t work. I’ve walked out of demos. It’s aweful
Not all demonstrations at shows are good. I have heard some real crap out of what should have been good companies. Not all companies are good at set-ups and so they typically blame the rooms.
Naim Focal would be a challenge as the Focals are very extended on the top frequencies and any error in front of them could be brutal.
Its very typical of what is happening in the UK .China is producing good equipment at a reasonable price .
The question on top of that, however, is product support and repair. I simply have to wonder how well they will do that once the model is discontinued. Will it simply be a throwaway? I have to order parts for Cambridge from the UK as they are not here in the States.
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@@audibleeleganceinc This "take, make and throw away" model has to be overturned at some point. We can't keep buying new and throwing the old into landfill indefinitely without consequences.