positive_energy
pfm Member
Recapping costs must be at least 20K.
New budget Naim.
- Thread starter Markus S
- Start date
This stuff isn't a sign of 'growth' or 'expanding markets'...it's part of high-end audio's death spiral. Prices rise, so sales drop, dropping sales force higher prices, sales drop again, the cycle repeats itself until commercial death occurs. Most of this super-overpriced stuff sells in a trickle, usually to distributors who knock them out cheap.
The idea that the Far East is full of rich mugs is just another part of the fantasy these firms cling onto. Funniest of all, most of this stuff sounds just awful....the big Focal speakers are so bright it hurts. Sad, but the idea that super-priced stuff is 'saving' audio is way off the mark. It's a sign of impending market collapse...the equivalent of a market bubble in share prices....up, up, up...then swift collapse.
If that sounds unduly cynical, just wait around a few years......
The idea that the Far East is full of rich mugs is just another part of the fantasy these firms cling onto. Funniest of all, most of this stuff sounds just awful....the big Focal speakers are so bright it hurts. Sad, but the idea that super-priced stuff is 'saving' audio is way off the mark. It's a sign of impending market collapse...the equivalent of a market bubble in share prices....up, up, up...then swift collapse.
If that sounds unduly cynical, just wait around a few years......
Rico
Bloody Colonials
Naim Audio are releasing more products, turning on plenty of new punters to the brand that previously haven't owned Naim, and they're selling more than ever. Your argument is dependant on the assumption (unstated) that Naim's bread-and-butter sales are tapering off - which could not be further from the truth!
Naim Audio has been a successfully run company for forty (yes, Forty!) years, and is unlikely to be 'staking it's future' on an aspirational product. You can bet your bottom dollar that this has been a carefully considered move; indeed, in incubation for 6-8 years before the project was given the go-ahead.
"It may sound cynical", but I'm prepared to wait and see how successful your consumer electronics production and sales company is going in a few years!
Naim Audio has been a successfully run company for forty (yes, Forty!) years, and is unlikely to be 'staking it's future' on an aspirational product. You can bet your bottom dollar that this has been a carefully considered move; indeed, in incubation for 6-8 years before the project was given the go-ahead.
"It may sound cynical", but I'm prepared to wait and see how successful your consumer electronics production and sales company is going in a few years!
Cracked me up & saved my awful morning! Thanks
On topic - yet another boring high-end product. I honestly couldn't care less 'what this means for Naim'. I would be way more excited if they'd introduce something shoeboxy way below 1k£ pricetag.
I do admire the company's history and some individual products by them, but as far as religiously following every whim a certain "brand" does? Still not my thing, and never will be. (In this case it would mean mere acceptance, since even if I might be able to afford something like this in the future, like many others, I still wouldn't buy. They are just ugly, boring and "unpurposeful" - if you will)
Still
he said his naim was ralph
Does anyone know the current pony/goat exchange rate?
That music accompanying the amp video was downright scary.
I kept expecting a mechanised Ashley James to appear and say, with a heavy Austrian accent, 'come with me if you want to live'.
With sincere apologies to Joe da P
That music accompanying the amp video was downright scary.
I kept expecting a mechanised Ashley James to appear and say, with a heavy Austrian accent, 'come with me if you want to live'.
With sincere apologies to Joe da P
How do you know this,do you have figures to back this up?
This is Naim's Concorde moment, their Bugatti Veyron. It's an exercise in creating what is possible.
I would think that the 746w into 8 ohm 'statement' was the first thing written down on the back of a napkin when the idea was first mooted. Same with Bugatti when they decided they wanted to build a 1000hp super car.
They'll likely be built to order (as already suggested), have a long waiting list and they will certainly sell a few. The trickle-down to their existing ranges will be of benefit to many, many more people.
For example; Arcam released a £2,200 DAC in 2012. Amazing thing by all accounts but (relatively) very expensive for Arcam when you consider the costs of their previous DAC's over the years. The trickle-down from that 'statement' piece has appeared in the irDAC and that sounds amazing for £400
Embrace Naim for having the R&D budget and foresight to create something (potentially) truly special. We shall all benefit from its success and only Naim will suffer a little bit of tax write-off if it fails.
Totally agree with this - well summed up
Rack Kit
pfm Member
I'm amazed that nobody has mentioned the Terminator likeness of this amp Joe. Naim are Skynet and Statement has been sent from a dystopian future to kill all other amps before they're born.
Rack Kit
pfm Member
DavidY80
Not RoHS Compliant
2013 - £22,467,732.00
2014 - £220,467.732.00. Statement amp is a roaring success.
Turnover doesn't tell the whole story, of course, but on the face of it, that is quite impressive.
positive_energy
pfm Member
To put the counter argument, I think its fair to say also that Naim was a successfully run company but had to sell out to a French company in order to keep its business functioning (it had basically got itself in a position were it had not enough cash for R&Dd...) and that the jury is still out on whether that move, and products like the S1 will be successful for them in the long run.
JemHayward
pfm Member
When I first encountered Naim in the 1980s I was able to get onto the bottom of their upgrade ladder, and suck with the brand for many years, and gradually upgraded. I'm reasonably affluent, but since about 2005 the upgrade costs seemed to get much greater, and the differences in performance seemed to get smaller. Any hope of getting to the "top of the range" faded into the distance, so I started to listen to other things and found I could get a much bigger improvement in quality for a much smaller outlay with other brands (one made in China, but the other hand made in the UK), so now I only own an ARO and a Prefix. I still think Naim make great products, and the quality of construction and design probably does justify the cost, but they are rapidly leaving behind all but the wealthiest of enthusiasts.
maxflinn
pfm Member
A company that's been able to sell external PSU's for up to £5K, without laughing, and 'still' enjoy a growing customer base may as well try to flog anything they can think up to them for as much as they can get.
It honestly wouldn't surprise me if they brought out a 'special' PSU for this, charged £100K, and sold loads
It honestly wouldn't surprise me if they brought out a 'special' PSU for this, charged £100K, and sold loads
maxflinn
pfm Member
Really? So a £5K PSU is worth it? A rectangular box with a couple of green lights and some copper cabling inside
Not corect. The way I understand it (entirely from information that's in the public domain), Naim's ownership was split between one side willing to up investment in both R&D and manufacturing considerably, and another side not willing to do that (and thus blocking getting the financing required). Basically, it was a disagreement about the future direction of the company - stay at the present level or grow.
The merger with Focal allowed the second side to cash in and the other side to take the company to new heights. Quite sensible all round, really.
maxflinn
pfm Member
Joe I haven't a clue though I'm assuming none.
I know you're a fan, as are many, no doubt they make good quality, desirable kit, but IMO, value and Naim don't go hand-in-hand.
Joe P
Memory Alpha incarnate | mod; Shatner number = 2
Max,
I have precisely one Naim product, bought used in 1998. As fans go I kinda suck.
You have this tendency to make grand pronouncements on kit you've neither seen nor heard. Not that it matters, but it strikes me as a bit odd and most definitely as unscientific. Distortion may be the enemy, but empirical data is your friend.
Joe
I have precisely one Naim product, bought used in 1998. As fans go I kinda suck.
You have this tendency to make grand pronouncements on kit you've neither seen nor heard. Not that it matters, but it strikes me as a bit odd and most definitely as unscientific. Distortion may be the enemy, but empirical data is your friend.
Joe