Naim December price hike

[Muttley2]

I couldn’t afford Or justify Naim prices 10 years ago so no chance these days. The Naim gear I have though is well built and will be kept but the thought of replacing it should i need to, makes me shudder at the cost

 

[Mynamemynaim]

Perhaps a new for old insurance claim will help you out

 

[MJS]

Perhaps a new for old insurance claim will help you out

I saw a couple of 'creative' insurance claims in the factory in my time. Yes, the case is ruined, but it looks exactly an allen key has been hammered into it - look mine fits! That's a very specific way to fall off a shelf.

 

[Darren L]

I saw a couple of 'creative' insurance claims in the factory in my time. Yes, the case is ruined, but it looks exactly an allen key has been hammered into it - look mine fits! That's a very specific way to fall off a shelf.

That's a bit like the 'joke' the Dr told about people slipping and falling in the shower on a carrot

 

[Mynamemynaim]

That's a bit like the 'joke' the Dr told about people slipping and falling in the shower on a carrot

Well we've all done that!

 

[simon g]

FFS what a bunch of whiny bitter old *****ers. No one is making any of you buy Naim, listen to it or even read about it. The obsession so many of you to have to slag it off at every opportunity is genuinely odd.

Indeed.

 

[Darren L]

I was talking to a localish dealer today, looks like lots of price rises coming soon with various companies, prices for materials are going up worldwide.

 

[x21]

FFS what a bunch of whiny bitter old *****ers.

Who you calling old? I'll have you know good sir that I am a bitter young **cker.

 

[AudioAl]

Price hike Won't affect me , Never owned any Naim kit and probably never will

 

[Timcat]

Having worked with Naim a few year ago as a consultant, there prices may be justified.
All parts coming into Naim are not nasty cheap rip off parts, and all are very well put through inspection.
The Naim R&D team is huge there is lots of skills there and there processes to make a good product is second to none. This work can cost a small fortune and lots and lots of tooling costs.
Then we start production after extreme testing and brutally done at times (poor things) not just function but heavy on producing a safe product.
Then we move on to listening test of to a group of audio buffs that you will never hear off doing testing blind and knob bashing stuff.
Then to marketing adverts etc, reviews this is bloody expensive.
Now to calculate possible profit margin and costs, the export price as the UK can not support a company as large as Naim so exports are the key. Now retailer and export need to see the same prices all over the planet regarding RRP , or the customer will buy from Joe Blogs.
Exporter want there pound of flesh and there sweeteners this costs money also.
So lets say for example (these are not correct just examples) cost of parts £100, cost of inspection and testing £100, profit needed £200, then marketing oh boy is the expensive £400, export mark up £800 the dealers mark up £1600 now you can see why big companies making good sound solid products will sell a lot more than you think is a fair price. So £3500 + tax is very easy to get too.

I am not saying this fair it is not but wages here are silly compared to poorer countries and we all want well made safe kit. So you have to pay for it some how.
Small companies can't afford the marketing and the export mark up so we sell manly in the UK or on line only, this keeps the price lower and allows us to use better than normal components at a high price. But it also limits our profits so we grow very slowly.

The R&D lads at Naim are very good but they have to produce the Naim sound this is not to my taste but it a lot better than junk from China, a lot better and much better than some of the junk over priced from the USA.
So if you want value for money buy from a UK company that does not have a massive marketing and export side to it.
Other companies that appear to be British are in fact made and assembled in far away countries, like Cambridge Audio, some buy pre assembled PCB to fit into chassis so beware. I like the stuff I make to last longer than a few short years.

I agree with your main argument, but only up to a point. Judged objectively, this does not even remotely justify £25k for a NAP500. For example, a significantly more powerful, arguably better sounding and maybe even better built amplifier, the Bryston 4B3, can be bought new in the UK, with a 20 year warranty, for £6.5k. ATC SCM100ASLs cost just under £20k a pair retail and, in addition to some excellent power amplifiers, these come with a free pair of rather nice loudspeakers!

 

[Stuart Frazer]

I agree with your main argument, but only up to a point. Judged objectively, this does not even remotely justify £25k for a NAP500. For example, a significantly more powerful, arguably better sounding and maybe even better built amplifier, the Bryston 4B3, can be bought new in the UK, with a 20 year warranty, for £6.5k. ATC SCM100ASLs cost just under £20k a pair retail and, in addition to some excellent power amplifiers, these come with a free pair of rather nice loudspeakers!

When you show the ATCs like that, I'm surprised Naim haven't launched a range of active speakers with the amp-packs/dsp built in. Linn are all over this now with active amp packs and room correction. Even if you go for a full active Naim 500 system there is no Naim room correction/dsp other than the limited SNAXO tweaking . Nor is there any in a Statement system, unless you go stupid with an active Statement amp pack system.... They have the Focal partnership, so why haven't they developed an active/dsp speaker system range? Do Focal not want them taking speaker sales? Perhaps they are in the development pipeline after they have finished with the Focal powered by Naim approach. All-in-one speakers are the kind of minimalistic lifestyle products that people want nowadays rather numerous black boxes. Linn/Meridian/ATC etc are miles ahead in this regard. Am I correct in thinking Naim only do the Muso and QB speakers nowdays?

 

[AndyU]

ATC SCM100ASLs cost just under £20k a pair retail and, in addition to some excellent power amplifiers, these come with a free pair of rather nice loudspeakers!

Actually SCM100ASL Pros are £12,500 + VAT ie £15,000 from
https://shop.funky-junk.com/shop/re...=cd32106bcb6d&wmc-currency=GBP&v=cd32106bcb6d
And they’ll probably do you a deal on that, and throw in some cables. Add a decent DAC and source and you’re done. No Fraim, no coils of speaker cables, no devotional altar of black boxes in your living room, no cable dressing, no ludicrous mains cables.

 

[PerF]

When you show the ATCs like that, I'm surprised Naim haven't launched a range of active speakers with the amp-packs/dsp built in. Linn are all over this now with active amp packs and room correction. Even if you go for a full active Naim 500 system there is no Naim room correction/dsp other than the limited SNAXO tweaking . Nor is there any in a Statement system, unless you go stupid with an active Statement amp pack system.... They have the Focal partnership, so why haven't they developed an active/dsp speaker system range? Do Focal not want them taking speaker sales? Perhaps they are in the development pipeline after they have finished with the Focal powered by Naim approach. All-in-one speakers are the kind of minimalistic lifestyle products that people want nowadays rather numerous black boxes. Linn/Meridian/ATC etc are miles ahead in this regard. Am I correct in thinking Naim only do the Muso and QB speakers nowdays?

Managed from Focal head quarter in France active speakers won't happen.

Muso is Asia made and it wouldn't surprise me if they called the speaker-units inside "Focal"

 

[CJ14]

Long long time ago Naim did make some active speaker, but they never really worked well. I liked the proto-types.

 

[Timcat]

Actually SCM100ASL Pros are £12,500 + VAT ie £15,000 from
https://shop.funky-junk.com/shop/re...=cd32106bcb6d&wmc-currency=GBP&v=cd32106bcb6d
And they’ll probably do you a deal on that, and throw in some cables. Add a decent DAC and source and you’re done. No Fraim, no coils of speaker cables, no devotional altar of black boxes in your living room, no cable dressing, no ludicrous mains cables.

Sorry, my error, I was quoting the price for the tower version with the nice wood veneer. I inadvertently omitted the "T" after the "ASL"!

 

[Suffolk Tony]

Actually SCM100ASL Pros are £12,500 + VAT ie £15,000 from
https://shop.funky-junk.com/shop/re...=cd32106bcb6d&wmc-currency=GBP&v=cd32106bcb6d
And they’ll probably do you a deal on that, and throw in some cables. Add a decent DAC and source and you’re done. No Fraim, no coils of speaker cables, no devotional altar of black boxes in your living room, no cable dressing, no ludicrous mains cables.

I did look at these ATCs as an option to replace my DBLs. We had a good listen at my dealer's, using the same source components as we've got at home, and although they did some very nice things (the obvious midrange clarity) they had a "cold" sound, and it was a relief to get back to the old faithfuls. My dealer felt that the 150s might be a better solution, so I'm tempted to give these a home trial if it can be arranged.

 

[stevec67]

I was talking to a localish dealer today, looks like lots of price rises coming soon with various companies, prices for materials are going up worldwide.

They are, but this has nothing to do with materials. It's a brand.

 

[Darren L]

They are, but this has nothing to do with materials. It's a brand.

So you don't think the the shipping/freight costs or materials used to build speakers or case work for electronics has gone up in price?

 

[Spraggons Den]

Price hike Won't affect me , Never owned any Naim kit and probably never will

I presume you have listened to Naim and didn't like it so apart from expending a bit of your leisure time you have lost nothing- well done you.

I have had a good auld listen to many brands and there are not too many I thought I wouldn't give house room: Grado 60/80s I found a bit shrill and a Primare amp from the noughties which was a bit too rich for my tastes but that's about it.

I still like Naim amps and their build quality and the fact that they are made in Salisbury. It's a pity that Julian didn't leave the company to the employees a bit like the other Julian did with Richer Sounds.

 

[tiggers]

They are, but this has nothing to do with materials. It's a brand.

So Naim are exempt from material price hikes... who knew? You are normally one of the most knowledgeable and informative posters on this forum, but when Naim comes along your blind hatred of the brand makes you say some really stupid things!