Focal Powered by Naim

Thought it was politically based :rofl::rofl:

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Ha… Nooo…

Selfridges are in Mayfair, and style themselves as “the big yellow shop” (I worked there for a good while) and Harrods (everybody knows the green bags right?) are across Hyde Park in Knightsbridge. I know a lot of people there.

Culturally you could not come across two more different organisations…

Me? :yellow_heart:

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I’ve only been in Harrods and only for the food.

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I guarantee you have been sneered at by every staff member in there that could be bothered to notice you. Don’t worry though. It’s not you, it’s them.

Nice oysters though!

Selfridges Motto “Everybody’s Welcome” - true.

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It may seem like nonsense to a bunch of middle aged men like us but this is the future for Naim Audio or should we say Alpha Private Equity who the Vervent Audio Group sold a major stake to raising money to power their progress into the Asian and American markets. These types of companies do not make these types of investments to stand still .

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I do hope that both Naim and Focal don’t underestimate the high value of their dealers. If they begin to feel that these dedicated stores undercut them in some way,they may stop carrying the brand which will be the beginning of the end I feel.

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I’m an Aussie no offence we’re use to it and it just rolls off our backs if it happened.

However to be honest our recollection of our time there was positive, food was fantastic (expensive) and the service was typical of anywhere in the UK no better no worst.

If you want to be insulted there’s a pet shop not far from there was the rudest people I’ve ever meet.

Subscribe. The only disadvantage I see it’s the time spent ( on the search and mobility associated to different eventual locations)

You’re Australian and you think they’re the rudest people you’ve ever met - that’s high praise indeed! :joy::joy:

Definitely worth the trip - I LOVE places like that :wink::blush:

Yes - somewhere back there London became the most expensive city in the world. It’s truly the only “world city” in my view - New York lags well behind it in terms of it being cosmopolitan - but it’s not cheap to live here!

No I didn’t say that at all, what I did say if I encountered rudeness. You’ve read more into that than I certainly meant. And yes I’ve been to NY and agree that could almost be a thread on its own. I love both cities and take people as I find them. But again wherever I’ve traveled there is always good and bad people, as you’ve pointed out we have our fair share of rude people as well. It’s not a speciality of any particular country.

Also you were the one that mentioned how I’d be treated. :thinking:

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As noted above, most of these are existing dealers who have chosen to dedicate space to “Focal powered by Naim”. So I don’t think the dealers are being bypassed. I’ve had a look every time this has come up, the thing I find unfortunate is that it’s hard to work out what the stores have from Focal and Naim, and if you try and find out by using the “Book a demo” option you will get the full range of Focal speakers and no Naim choices. Surely someone with Focal speakers might want to demo Classic/500/Statement.

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Well the store in Adelaide looks to be run by the dealer “Addicted to Audio”

Addicted to Audio in Australia is the retail arm of the Australian Naim Distributor and soon to be NZ Distributor I believe

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Why is it Twaddle?

I’m not sure why anyone here is worried about it. It clearly isn’t aimed at us. How many here would bother going to a shop dedicated to one brand of speakers? Almost none.

No one is going to twist our arm to walk in one and buy Focal speakers instead of following our usual selection process. If they can make a bit of money repackaging existing hifi as a lifestyle offering for a certain type of consumer that isn’t on the forum, what is the harm?

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Think a lot of the concerns are coming from this neck of woods. People are worried that their dealers no longer have access to Naim. It’s also been compounded by Charlie leaving and Naim apparently no longer managed from Salisbury.

I agree that these lifestyle stores are not targeted at us. It’s about increasing market share. You only have to remember the outrage when Porsche announced they’d be making SUVs, the truth is without the increased sales they might not have survived and they’d be no 911s.

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So far in this thread, Naim have been compared to Lotus engines and Porsche 911. And Focal have been compared to Ford Cortinas and SUVs.

That says it all :grin:

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My dealer will no longer have access to Naim. I’ve placed my last order.

Had it been confirmed.

What did you order?

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Details are in the Cafe thread @Pete_the_painter :sunglasses:

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Would make more sense to run a joint project developing Focal passive and active speakers using dedicated Naim electronics.

Bet no one’s thought of that before!

Passive could be to Naim’s specification and aimed at Naim’s customer base. Standard Focals don’t seem that popular on the forum but a Naim designed, Focal manufactured follow up to Ovators could have a ready market. Of course, they might be adaptable active/passive using Naims current range.

Its surprising there is no sign of a Focal Active speaker, particularly as active speakers and minimal box count seems to have a lot of interest at the moment.

If Naim want to maintain their current philosophy they could isolate power amps in an external box rather than in the speaker cabinet. This box could then be a “lifestyle” design rather than a black box which would give Naim a better chance of selling to the rich and wealthy who want their friends to see something that looks like £20k.

Not a lot of difference between the two projects but it covers off both lifestyle and the current owner base.