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Hifi News Review of Naim Statement

Most of the vitriol seems to come from the trade members, doesn't it? Wonder why?
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Maybe they have tried to pick one up? Lot of bad backs in the industry. Or they've tried to sell Ovators and NVi's... :)
 
CliveGrace said:
.....(and yes my cooker is more expensive than my HiFi)
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Jus' cogitatin' here; either your cooker is something extraordinary or your hifi is low in the pecking order. If the former, my mind boggles at the exquisite culinary music it should produce !:D
 
Alan Sircom said:
So, let me get your position completely straight, because I'm obviously a bit fuzzy on this.

You were perfectly happy to recommend (and borrow - free of charge - for your National Audio Show demonstration, IIRC) Naim Audio equipment when the top of the company's tree only cost as much as a Porsche Cayman. But now that the top of the tree costs as much as a top AMG Mercedes S-Class, suddenly its products are to be airbrushed from your history. Is that your position? If it is, this Audio Lazarus role you've cast yourself in doesn't look quite so robust, does it?

For my part, the products sold to those with considerably more (or for that matter, considerably less) wealth than I do not matter to me. What matters instead is that the products I can afford perform their function well, and should I want a roadmap to what I consider 'better', that those products are within reach and achieve what I consider 'better'. My role as reviewer in some respects is to cast myself in the role of that someone with considerably more or less disposable income, to see how any given product fits into that potential person's audio experience.

The fact there is a layer of products that are an order of magnitude further up the pipeline that someone may probably never afford, never justify, and may not be able to justify even if they could afford simply doesn't figure. If it has any figuring in the decision-making process, it would be that there might be some aspects of the top-line performance trickling down to the equipment they can afford. That should be all that counts, not some attempt at political grandstanding. However, I doubt you can see the logic of this argument, because it must be hard to read it sitting atop your high horse.
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Well said, Alan, in your customarily polite and even-handed way. Even at my advanced years, I'd hate for there not to be pieces of kit to aspire to, despite my current satisfactory situation; 'twas always thus in my hifi half-century.

I really don't consider Naim's new Statement products (and that is an apposite name, n'est-ce-pas?) to be anything other than something positive and beneficial, not least to British exports and reputation in this field.

I could easily aspire to swap my 552 for the Statement pre, except that there are options I wish to explore first (i.e. valves). This is on the simple basis that if it improves on what the 552 gives me in synergy and s.q., it would be the logical, and in a few years, hopefully, value for money choice.
 
So at what level of pricing would this trend become ridiculous? Should Naim charge, say, £300,000? Would that be 'something positive and beneficial'? Or maybe £500,00?
And, once again, Naim is not a British firm and hasn't been for some time; the profits go to a bunch of international venture capitalists. They will do to the firm whatever makes them most cash, quickly..then sell it on. That's what venture capitalists do. It's their job.
 
I think a Louie analysis is at work when some kit is priced.


Joe
 
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It's been suggested that the cost for an amplifier of this audio performance needn't be as high as it actually is.

What would be interesting to see would be the sales figures of two pieces of kit, internally identical, with one packaged and sold for the mainstream market and one packaged and sold for the luxury oligarch market. Would people in the latter category ever buy anything in the former?

- Richard
 
paskinn said:
So at what level of pricing would this trend become ridiculous? Should Naim charge, say, £300,000? Would that be 'something positive and beneficial'? Or maybe £500,00?
And, once again, Naim is not a British firm and hasn't been for some time; the profits go to a bunch of international venture capitalists. They will do to the firm whatever makes them most cash, quickly..then sell it on. That's what venture capitalists do. It's their job.
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Maybe in that it's owned by a foreign venture capital firm, but in all other respects it's as British as anyone could ask for. Naim is UK based, designs and manufacters in the UK, and employs a not insignificant number people in the UK, both directly and indirectly. If some of the profits end up elsewhere, who cares, as long as people continue to be employed here, with a not insignificant sum going to the Treasury in tax and NI contributions.

Why sneer at this?
 
I wonder if we'll ever see a second pair of Statement amps in the PFM classified ads. If so will there be any takers?
 
:cool:
paskinn said:
So at what level of pricing would this trend become ridiculous? Should Naim charge, say, £300,000? Would that be 'something positive and beneficial'? Or maybe £500,00?.
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This is somewhat ironic coming from someone who started a thread about a £9000.00 passive pre-amp and felt it offered 'good value for money'!
 
paskinn said:
So at what level of pricing would this trend become ridiculous? Should Naim charge, say, £300,000? Would that be 'something positive and beneficial'? Or maybe £500,00?
And, once again, Naim is not a British firm and hasn't been for some time; the profits go to a bunch of international venture capitalists. They will do to the firm whatever makes them most cash, quickly..then sell it on. That's what venture capitalists do. It's their job.
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In which way is this a trend, Peter? Naim and others have been improving on their product portfolio since the dawn of consumerism. I may add that this goes for many other forms of engineering (cars, e.g.).

As has been pointed out previously in this thread, the price points between Naim's top products hasn't really changed much, following a generally two to three plus times price pattern.

Don't forget that the actual ex-factory value is considerably less than its r.r.p., and even the r.r.p. value contains approximately 20% V.A.T., which has no bearing whatsoever on perceived 'worth'; to me; V.A.T. on these types of goods is instant depreciation.

To push this thought a little further, one could argue (in Naim products' case) that the market value after, say five or so years, more or less equates to the ex-factory price.
 
How much are the top of the range Jadis amps!

Edit: the price for the very top Jadis gear appear to be POA only - but the JA-500 power amps are £37000.00 each and the JP-500 pre-amp is also £37000.00 - so £111000.00 in total - the JA-800 and JP-800 will be considerably more!
 
Also we have the auto 5% price increase as well i suppose, or whatever inflation is on planet Salisbury
 
Martin D said:
Also we have the auto 5% price increase as well i suppose, or whatever inflation is on planet Salisbury
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I don't know of anyone who has been put off from purchasing a new Naim Statement system due to 5% price increase, do you?
 
The whole thing means nothing to me. Just like people who own Leopards with diamond collars or have gold bath taps. I don't aspire to them or envy their owners one little bit; it all strikes me as rather vulgar.
 
Why would the 1% of the world population who own half of the global wealth be deprived of spending their cash on amplifiers that would most faithfully reproduce the music of the Woodstock spirit of times?

Long live globalisation!
 
Colonel_Mad said:
Ugly bugger too ain't it.
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Maybe, but it certainly looks impressive in the understated Naim way. Not very rack shelf friendly though; however, these, like other chunky designs, are more disposed to separate low tables on the floor, I'd've thought.
 
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