Re the 500 series replacement i already stated above i think to replace the 500 amp Naim should do a smaller upright monos version of the Statement. 300w or so. For the pre amp i think they should use the 332 as the baseline. Put the boards on brass suspension and come up with a higher specified power supply npx500.
Well, I would certainly see Statement as High End and Muso as definitely not. Even Naim’s current reduced offering covers a huge range of quality levels which makes it difficult to apply any label to the whole portfolio. I’m unsure whether or not this is an advantage. On the one hand, covering so many market segments may be beneficial for sales. On the other, might someone thinking about investing in a 300 series setup be put off if they see Naim as a player in the low end market? I don’t know, but I guess the new owners will need to think about it.
Roger
It’s certainly expensive but hi end?
You certainly don’t see it being used in any hi end systems apart from naim ones.
That tells me that dealer’s and hi end buyers don’t, and thats the problem with the hi end market. You need the badge to get in, or a product that simply can’t be ignored.
The performance is definitely up there, as is the build quality and of course, the price, but perhaps the Statement has sold far too well for you to include it amongst the esoteric High-end, where items are often built in numbers that you can count on one hand?
Now, you may not personally like it, and I may well be biased here, but, personally I feel it’s very special indeed, and that to argue that The Statement amp is anywhere but up amongst the very best amplifiers available at any price is bordering on the absurd.
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I suspect the 500 won’t receive a direct replacement per se.
I think Naim will releases a product that sits in the price range between the S1 and the 500 series - a bit like what innuos have down with some of their new products.
As for when who knows!
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“Bordering on the absurd” is understatement . The post is way past the borderline. It smacks of a put-on in the worst kind of way.
Many seem to think about the high-end stuff (500 and Statement). I hope Naim will not abandon us mere mortals that don’t have that kind of money to spend. A modern integrated and separate streamer below the 200-series would be nice (to replace Nait XS3, Supernait 3 and ND5XS2).
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Completely agree! An NC Supernait would be a nice transition in the product line from Uniti to New Classic. My understanding is that the Supernaits were always good sellers so I think this has to be top of the list.
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I’d hope for a proper upgrade to Naim&Focal user-interface. I’m guessing the 10 year old hardware isn’t up to it but the way it treats meta data is so clunky. Now that Naim have discontinued the Uniti Star and Uniti Core, wouldn’t it be nice to just be able to use any CD transport to rip CDs to eg the Atom or Nova? Modern streamers (eg Eversolo) allow CD ripping from any CD player.
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Missing the point Richard. It is obviously built very well; etc. But it isn’t seen anywhere other than in a naim room, and even now in a naim room you hardly see it.
What i was getting more at is the buyer looking at say wanting a hi end amplifier doesn’t seem to have naim on their shopping list. Hi end has really left naim behind these days.
40 years ago naim was everywhere and probably why i wanted it all them years ago. You go to these so called hi end hi fi shows and naim isn’t really seen anywhere.
Naim should be there with the Statement and showing what they have, as you are never going to get back into it, if you don’t get yourself out there.
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I use an Innuos server and the sense app is brilliant…. No idea why but it sounds better than anything I play via the Naim app! In fact I rarely touch the Naim app these days.
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Factually false. There are YouTube videos of high end audio shows all over the world and Naim is at almost all of them. Frequently with multiple systems in demo including the Statement.
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I’m not sure what shows you’re talking about but ever since the Statement was launched Naim have had it showing and playing at shows and dealers all over the world - I know for certain that it has been many times at the Munich High End Show (which was the premier show in Europe) as I was there. And Naim also have it on permanent demo at the Naim and the Focal factories. Plenty of dealer who cannot have a Statement of their own on demo can bring their interested clients to the factory to see and hear (and even get to see it being built, and, perhaps even chat with the designer, Steve Sells.
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How long ago was all this ?
As far as I can remember Naim were never in a hurry to release anything, so why now…?
I never see Naim with other brands in Audio shows nowadays. Watching YouTube. Not at Axpona, Munich and now Vienna, California audio show, CES, neither Warsaw.
Where have you seen Naim with other brands, in Alaska, Tahiti, Mars?
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Basically what i was getting at.
Statement is at naim factory and focal, well i would never of thought that lol.
I have never seen either the statement amps or S1 being used anywhere apart from in a full naim system run by naim or a big baim dealer.
You never see the amps being used with other makes, etc. Why is this? Got to be a reason as other makes get used with all sorts of different gear, and naim is all about amplifiers, or it was.
Its not a dig at all, just an observation and must be a reason for it, as why not see the mono statement amps sitting beside a lovely pair of speakers and a top system components.
I believe this was a marketing/business decision made by Vervent owners. Normally you are present at audio shows if you have news to present but news come rarely with Naim. They thought Naim is Apple in HIFI so customers visit their stores and they don’t have to visit the audio shows because they passed that time like Apple is not present at CES. I believe Naim will have to rethink this cause they are loosing their mojo in the HIFI market me thinks. They are not a lifestyle brand which the french have tried to force onto them with yacht and car products and whatnot. They tried to master everything with the same limited resources to build a castle. And this is the aftermath of lousy ownership (Vervent) IMO that new owners have to deal with. I still believe Focal made more damage than good partnering up with Naim positioning Naim in the backseat.
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Dunc
There are plenty of YouTube audio show walk thru videos of late from all over the world. 2024-2026. There is one particular channel that is I think from a Chinese person (therefore I can’t give you the actual channel name because I don’t have a Chinese keyboard) that puts index points in the videos so you can find particular companies you are interested in. If you watch these you will see plenty of Naim presence at shows of late.
French Rooster - I agree with you that Naim always showing with Focal is a big mistake. Focal’s have a particular sound signature and Naim is unfortunately tying itself to just that sound. If you don’t like how Focal sounds then you are going to associate Naim with that sound. Not so good because it cuts down your available market. However if you watch these videos you do see on some shows Naim in other rooms. Not enough of them. So I agree with you completely. I have the same complaint with the Focal Naim store approach. Too narrow.
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You do see it, particularly out in the Far East (a quick google search immediately brought up Marten Coltranes with Statement at a High end show), but with Focal making high-end speakers I would guess that commercial consideration means that Focal & Naim would want to be promoting that partnership.
p.s. Just doing another search and it brought up some pretty cool looking Gauder Akustik speakers being used with Statement at a dealer.