Does anyone think that the price of Naim stuff nowadays is a bit expensive

Not as well as a powerful class A amp!

One of the few.
Don’t get me wrong: Naim products are great (but not great value for money)

If you think that Naim products are too expensive then buy something else instead.

Or, buy second hand Naim products and, with careful buying, you will pay what the markets deems them to be worth.

Long product lifespans and almost all products being serviceable adds to the value of Naim’s products and makes second hand purchases more viable.

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Expensive is a relative term. Compared to mass market consumer music playing gear, undoubtedly yes it is expensive. Compared to low end hifi, ditto. But if you ask the question is it expensive for the quality it provides, that translates as is Naim more expensive than whatever may be the normal price point for the same level of quality, quality primarily being in terms of sound, but build quality and after sales support also come into it. Then they have to be compared with other middle to high end hifi. Mid to high end hifi gear is expensive compared to the lower end and mass market products, but in the context of this group perhaps Naim is only average in terms of expensiveness.

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Yes, far too expensive.
The Statement amplifier and pre-amp should cost £10,000 please :wink:

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Nice try Blythe…

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After finding out my Star lost 30% of the purchase price on a trade in in the first year this gives me hope LOL

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To me, expensive means high value, for example Bentley Motors, Breitling watches, etc.

More correctly, I think it should be, “is Naim gear dear?”

Yes, it’s a top end brand and has commensurate prices to match, but does that make it dear.

For me and a lot of others users, I don’t think it’s dear.

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Not a comment on the price as such but I’ve been away & recently unpacked my LP12/32-5/250/CDI/NATO1/Isobarik DMS etc from the late 80’s and am amazed to find it can all be brought up to spec by Naim. Whilst its away being serviced I bought an N272 streamer and am feeding an old A60 & Mission 760i speakers and am transfixed by the quality and convenience of it! I had forgotten how involving and musical Naim equipment can be in comparison to what I thought was OK ish mainstream audio kit e.g. Yamaha Receiver & Wharfedale Diamonds in the kitchen. I sat on the Sofa and played about 10 albums in a row I cant wait to get my upgraded kit back & try it :slight_smile:

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Didn’t expect that there are so many replies in a short time. Don’t get me wrong, I like Naim and I’m also using Naim. My system is CDS3/555PS, 202/200/HCDR/NAPSC,Highlife. I’m thinking to upgrade to 252/300 in the future but I don’t want to buy secondhand anymore. I calculated that the price in total is around 23000€, so I start to think using same money what I can get from other brands and the like

Should be £120000 rather than £10000?

Price is relative to the market ones in. In the US Naim is a very poor value for the money and resale isn’t that great either. Just my experience, just my opinion.

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Indeed, this make sense. There are preferences of different places

FWIW no I don’t think so. There are very few hifi brands able to deliver great-value products from 1000 Euro up to 150,000 and with everything in between. Compared to other very expensive stuff, the Statement isn’t even all that expensive.

Whenever I see people make the too-expensive comment it turns out they are talking e.g. about the upper end of Classic. Well yes, it is costly, but it is the upper end of the Classic range. Other options exist.

Last time I checked, Naim was not making huge profits. So to make it cheaper, costs would need to go down. Can be done, e.g. manufacture in China, pay less to staff in UK, less attention to detail, and so on. But I buy Naim because they don’t do these things, generally (Mu-so notwithstanding) and I don’t want them to stop being Naim so that people who don’t love Naim can buy Naim

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I’m reminded of Charlie Croker retrieving his Aston Martin from storage… :grinning:

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I got my Atom in Jan 2018 for £1750 j thought it was expensive then it now goes for around 1999 - 2100. Would likely not pay that much now but there is not a lot out there that’s cheaper that does what it does and sound as good. If I sourced seperates (not Naim) I couId find something but I wanted an all in one. I am still on the fence about Naim in general , yes they sound good when they are on song but from my experience they have not been the most reliable for sq as it varies a lot and software is not their strength. 3.5 update has made me value stable software more than anything else as its really not up to.much at the moment in this regards. For the price we should expect this all the then and currently they don’t deliver.

Not quite sure why it’s worth more now either. I guess I see Naim as an investment, it’s earned more value than my savings account has in the same time. :slight_smile: so when I come to upgrade or sell on I should be quids in.

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Why is that? You seem to think Naim is expensive, prompting you to look at other brands. Whilst there is every sense in seeking what is best for you rather than sticking to a particular brand, buying secondhand makes an expensive product less so, and with amps at least, given that they can last forever there need be no detriment in buying secondhand and cheaper. Streaming products are a bit different matter as the newer products may be better, depending on your requirements - but that just limits how old you can go buying secondhand. Most of my hifi I bought secondhand - that is how I could afford a better system than otherwise (and one that most “normal” people would consider extremely expensive).

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If your careful you can easily get very good value for money Naim kit.
The first Naim I bought was a CD5si for £900 some 10 years ago. That took me a few months of careful saving to get it. But, at the time was thought of to be the best cdp around the £700 to £1300 price range so I thought I’d saved a few.
Then later picked up an ex demo Ndac for 1.2k and the little Unitiserve for 1.2k, which is still giving me much musical pleasure.

I suspect the reason you have had so many replies so quickly is because you might have hit a nerve. ‘Too’ expensive is ridiculously subjective, but yes - high end hifi, including Naim, is very expensive.

Comparisons with something utilitarian, such as a car, are not very helpful because, whilst these items vary wildly in price, they all do something ‘useful’.

High end hifi is an expensive way of projecting art and art is basically superfluous for a lot of people.

Not for me, but for a lot of people. My two cents.

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Okay, I changed the title😅