The n-Vi could have been great (in concept it was), but sadly fell WAY short of expectations and reliable performance. A year of pain for me.
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I am a huge Nait 3 fan myself.
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I had a hi-line. Couldnât get along with its floating pins and eventually changed it for. Chord lead. Sounded just as good to me 1!
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Phew! For a brief moment I thought you were going to do a Ratner, mr Dane.
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In my limited direct experience the XP5XS was a bad product because the effect its ÂŁ1600 ex-dem on the sound of an ND5XS - for which it was the direct âupgrade pathâ - was barely perceptible and a lot better improvement in sound quality was possible for less cost via a different route.
But maybe there needs to be a definition of bad in this context. E.g. it could be or include any or all of the following: 1) Died early and canât be revived. 2) Frequent failures. 3) Didnât live up to claims/expectation. 4) Sounded bad. 5) Poor value for money. And maybe more. The XP5XS was 3&4 in my examples. But how many people with same view are needed to make something a bad product as opposed to a rogue or unfortunate example?
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I remember help set up and host the AV1 demo in Banbury. 6 pack active DBLs front and active SBLs rear. It only worked because they turned it up so loud you couldnât tell it was missing a centre channel.
Less that they thought they knew best and more that they didnât want to pay for Dolby and DTS licensing. I thought it was a bit rubbish back then and still do. I remember if you turned it down to a normal level, dialogue was pretty much off to one side and I thought, âFor goodness sake, my 250 quid Yamaha add on processor doesnât have this problem.â
Maybe in second place for me would be all the New Classic stuff. It sounds really good. And most people find it to be a refreshing new aesthetic. But to me it is and always will be a hideous industrial design fail. Tried for years to warm to it. Made a pilgrimage to my dealer in the UK to touch and feel it. All it did was cement how much I strongly dislike the design and cannot understand what they were thinking.
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In my opinion, 80%+ of their current products fall under this category. If more people would put down the Kool-aid and start auditioning what else is out there with an open mind, Naim would be forced to change or go out of business. Once the older generation who seem to have a loyalty to the brand dies off I believe Naim is going to have a hard time staying afloat without offering more value for money.
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Yeah - the super lumina cables youâre running. 
And the first generation streamers were imho released prematurely.
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Got to be the plastic remote of all New Classic and NDX2. Scratch all over the place after a few months? Okay make it 12 months.
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I echo the comments about the 250.2, worst 250 of all. In fact I think the early OC components were disappointing. Wasnât happy with any of them from SN to 252 to 250.2.
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I donât believe thatâs true on two fronts. Poor value for money is certainly a problem but my view is that this has, over the past decade, become a problem for all UK brands and most European brands in general. Theyâve nearly all pushed their prices beyond what existing customers can afford.
As to the current die hard loyalists dying off, I think many left (or are not upgrading) with the introduction of the New Classic range which is very much aimed at attracting a new market rather than satisfying the existing one. And by most accounts succeeding.
Neither of which really is on topic. The question is have they ever made a bad product? That list is probably very very short. Though thatâs subjective. Over the past couple years youâve made it clear you think they are naff and have been naff for decades.
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So you state you have a differing opinion and then make two statements that agree with exactly what I stated. Naim is poor value for money and customers are leaving. You also have no idea if they are succeeding at attracting new customers. Iâd bet otherwise.
I have? I wouldnât go that far, but theyâre losing me as a consumer. I still own a lot of Naim products amongst other brands. Iâve owned (or still own) every new classic component theyâve released except for the 350s. I speak from personal experience and have every right to do so. Forgive me for not bowing to the throne of an audio brand. As consumers, we owe nothing to any manufacturer. Itâs their job to earn my business; not the other way around.
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Well I thought my Credos were dull things, and I ran them passive and active. Not bad perhaps but way off the magic of the SBL and I suspect I could have done better for the money at that time. The only advantage is I kept active and moved to SBL then SL2. So a sort of plus point for that.
I recently put a freshly serviced 250.2 in my second system (Atom HE, ATC SCM11, REL Tzero). I like it in that setup, taming the slightly dry and clinical ATCs.
Bruce
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I had some Credoâs at the time and they didnât live up to my expectations. It was like they never opened up and just sounded dull
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+1 for the HiLine, itâs vulnerability doensnât make sense
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Orginal 112:150 combo for me, found it flat and lifeless
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=Neutral?
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Define bad?
I have never had a bad Naim product. If I were to name the worst sound quality Naim product I have owned ( and still do), the forum would be up in arms.
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Now I am curious
Before I had even read your reply, my thoughts drifted to the N_VI.
Best wishes
Ian