Hi Richard. You are, of course, quite correct. But the Vervent Group is based in France with a French CEO. They, in turn, are controlled by Alpha Equity Finance who are based in France with a French CEO. The board has representation from accross Europe - but none from the UK. So it FEELS (to me) that Naim is very much the junior partner in all this.
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I was planning on attending, but my wife had back surgery 2 weeks ago and I’m better off home helping her. Hoping for next year!
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As I understand it the original buy in from Focal to form Vervent was by Naim shareholders (including staff) selling or accepting offers on their held shares from Focal. effectively a buy out rather than a merger. Subsequently Vervent (Focal-Naim) have been bought out in a majority share take up by Alpha Equity. We now of course have the development of the sales side to Focal powered by Naim and the many new stores starting to open or mooted to do so. and I quote
“continues growing its global network of destination audio stores.”
|So the destination audio store model is either Vervent and now implemented by Alpha to grow the business, or is an Alpha idea. I don’t see it as being at the instigation of Salisbury.
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Explorer yes you have written what others including me are thinking. Is Naim now a utility to sell Focal speakers to drive a synergy which doesn’t really exist for music lovers (although i will repeat - the combination does sound very good - just not more musically synergistic than a good number of other combinations with Naim). I guess that’s the question.
From a business perspective ceding the front end market and seemingly downplaying the option to front your high end system with Naim seems like a poor strategy in terms of the future value of the utility. Naim streamers put into the new Uniti casing will look better and sound arguably better than anything i saw and i visited 90% of the rooms.
But hey…it was one show. Maybe we have it all wrong.
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Unfortunately, I had to agree on this one…. It looks like what Focal Naim is to sell more Focal and Naim is just electronic support.
Naim have lost their focus of being a leader. Don’t get me wrong, I am a proud owner of Naim gear and currently still own over 20 Naim black boxes from 500 systems, 282/250, 202/200, NDS ND555 Atom … etc. I have Naim gear enough to be demo dealer. In fact, I have more Naim gear than my current dealer floor demo.
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Jthekop yes indeed you have more Naim boxes than were at the entire Axpona show…incredible…
The issue of the streamer market is particularly frightening. Naim WAS the innovator…when everyone else was coming up with dacs and clock software to play digital music from a pc Naim did what they have always done in the past…they went a completely different direction and were one of the pioneers of high end streaming. And now as i said what has that advantage and quality led up to…every person who went to Axpona to buy a streamer will be buying an Auralic or Aurender.
Naim was 10 years late with CD, 50 years late with Vinyl … just saying …
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Naim + Focal headphones is just wonderful. I dare to say it’s the Naim Sound. It reminds me of my SBLs.
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In the Axpona room there was a headphone area which looked like Focal headphones powered by Naim Atom. I’m sure that was excellent…but i do not like listening with headphones. But if you are then yes check it out…they appeared to have that covered nicely.
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I can’t agree with that at all. I’ve heard quite a few systems at shows sounding absolutely fantastic, including Naim driven systems set up by ATC, Kudos, Proac and others. Sadly this does not include any of the Naim/Focal systems I’ve heard, which remains something of a mystery, but there are plenty of examples out there of systems having been set up to sound very good in a hotel bedroom.
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The market is open and brand allegiance is a very personal choice.
I seem to remember a popular view in the pre Vervent days was that Focal speakers were not a particularly good sonic match for Naim. I’m not sure how a commercial arrangement changed that but I am sure that marketing can be a powerful tool…
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Thanks Richard for clarifying.
They should have exercised more care and planning for an appropriate level source in a flagship Statement set-up. A full 500DR series set-up instead of single NDX2 would have kept things on even keel - the moment a flagship is used, everything needs to be aligned. It’s like using a CDi with the 52/135s… it’ll certainly work but be compromised some.
We are mostly Naim devotees here, and no one wants to feel like the distributor just put in whatever they had as a “never mind” after-thought when the Statement is a formidable flagship which demands a top level source for sonic balance. Otherwise, don’t showcase the Statement. It’s like a form of respect for a product like the Statement.
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It still mostly isn’t a first choice to my ears but owners feel otherwise so that’s all that matters for them.
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Think it’s a case of perception here, not the reality, Sir. I think Naim are still at the top of their game with what they do best. Still the leader in sonic areas that matter most to us Naim folk.
The CEO of Vervent Group needs to see and prioritise Naim and Focal as separate entities instead of “pigeonholing” them always together. Focal speakers can sound great with other amplifiers. Naim with other speakers. Why “force” the Naim-Focal pairings all the time just because they are sister brands of the same group? Especially when they generally sound better with other makes? Are they deluding themselves to keep forcing this proposition to the audience who have already made clear their feedback over the years? Is the CEO of Vervent even aware of what the audience generally thinks and prefers?
To be fair, perhaps the new Focal designs will be / have already been voiced using Naim amplification and can be paired to good effect but that still does not address the fact that most customers want to be able to hear what they want to hear with Naim systems, not what Vervent management think the audience should hear.
There is no freedom to showcase Naim at its very best, when it is constantly being “chained and caged” to only Focal in the majority of audio shows - just doesn’t make any sonic sense to me, and hardly ideal. For me, I will not enjoy the Focal-Naim pairing in any long audition, meaning the Naim room would be lost to me when I have been a fan for three decades now. I must be quick to add, I’m not new audience for Focal-Naim pairings, so my feedback is at best possibly warped with some bias… 
Vervent group are in the business to sell and capture new audience and market, so they do what they deem best to propel sales, and I have to adjust my thoughts that today’s Naim differs from the Naim I knew decades back. It will be what the new captive audience perceives that matters most.
Change is uncomfortable, but necessary in moving on with the times and progression. I think I’d better zip it now…
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I’m sure there are owners that genuinely feel that way, as there were in the past. Others may have been sold on the (recent) “idea” Focal are the ideal match for Naim and the pairing best presents the Naim “house sound”…. which I suppose it does these days, officially at least.
That’s blasphemy, Elfer , and I’m at a stage in my life where I’ll call a spade a spade, as I love Naim.
Focal-Naim isn’t Naim house sound so far. But that’s just me based on my auditions.
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I think what we’re missing here is context, the Focal/Naim setup was not on a hotel room where people could take notice of the improved instrument separation and depth of soundstage an nd555 could bring, but on a rather large and crowded conference room hall teaming with activity and all sorts of distraction. I also seriously doubt anything from ATC, Kudos, Proac, or any of the commonly prefered Naim pairings in this forum could dominate such big space with the combination of deep solid bass, dynamic slam and clarity as the mammoth Focals driven by the Statement did.
This setup was clearly intended to showcase Focal powered by Naim, not to cater to the captive Naim audience focused on the “natural partner” concept or the Fraims with power supplies on the side deal. None Naim devotees couldn’t care less about the alphabet soup of boxes that look the same and double in cost. Vervent is evidently trying to expand their customer base by impressing prospects with a combination of power and finesse that it’s actually hard to describe with words. I was there, and it sounded amazing, and it also impressed many folks around me. About all of the detractor’s arguments I’m reading here only resonate in the realms of theory and ideology.
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Good feedback, IIatpoh76, thank you.
Perception is a sensitive matter for most who mean well, but I’m glad to hear your feedback.
Even if nobody could hear the nuances of a better source in the open space, I think it’s managing perceptions around how a flagship Statement is set-up and conveyed to the audience in impressions.
It’s great that an NDX2 still sounded good with a Statement based on your feedback. Thank you for bringing this to light.
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Still mullet IMHO (short on the front end, long on the back, to quote verbatim).
There’s apparently been feedback on a Youtube video on this very same system which did not find the sound agreeable (thin/harsh) - this I fear would be in keeping with my own auditions of Focal’s (Beryllium?) tweeters so far.
An interesting contrast of opinions.
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