Ah ! got it now Mike !
Do you still have the “group” photo ? with/without names (minus our Lightning friend) ?
Those shoes were really disappointing. Dr Marten 1460s, made in England. Hugely comfortable but the leather split after nine months and I took them back for an exchange.
I stick with Barkers, Northampton.
3 pairs at the moment, 2 years; 10 years and 30 years !!
Scrooge is probably appropriate !!
…and a couple of pairs of Clarkes
…and some Scarpa’s and a couple of pairs of Salomons
…and…
… but the Barkers seem to last (forgive the pun) forever and a re really comfortable.
I think we’re all agreed on this …
Thank you for the photo, brilliant day !
Hi Don, I have both, including the 'naim’ed EE Lightning friend
Yes great day thanks to HH and the wonderful staff at Naim HQ who made us feel special. I looked around and saw the schedule of future visits from dealers etc…relentless. But still special for us and others in the future.
Can you afford to go to another one 
If another forum visit came up, i would hope others could enjoy the visit and tour. If short of numbers i be there in a blink of an eye. I know my journey…its expensive.
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Me too. I would be up for an overnight stay to help those folks who are further away than a day trip from Salisbury.
I’d love to visit HQ sometime, and it would be fun to do it with other forumites, definitely!
Count me in!
And me too.
So obvious question when?
For me selfishly – Spring 2020. Between now and then I probably cant get to the UK for what would be a 3 day or so trip.
Oh you do sound like a broken record. Of course they do - I have a pair of Sopra 2s and they’re wonderful. Perhaps I’m just a poor judge of quality and have a hearing or brain impairment!
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I was probably the only one who quite enjoyed the Focals - yes, a bit bright, but they were certainly capable of showing differences upstream. I’d have certainly liked to spend some more time with the various components and my own choice of music. It was a very good day and thanks to Nigel for organising. I was a bit of an interloper, not really having Naim as my main system (although a long time Naim owner) and not being part of the Beta group but i did appreciate the invite and would certainly do it again. It was good to see a company passionate about what they do and why they do it. Steve Sells is the sort of chap who is a bit of an engineering genius yet is able to get across his thinking to a mixed audience with superb clarity. Fantastic. It was great to meet various forum members, a shame there was not more time to socialise. It would have finished the day off nicely (and i’m assuming a hotel stay here…) to head on down the town with Steve, Richard, Jason and (at the time) Trevor and the various forum members on the visit, to have a few beers. Just to say thank you properly 
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Not disagreeing, but I too thought the big Focal’s disappointing, I even thought there must be something wrong. I heard Focal 2’s on another occasion at Naim & also at dealers, these I quite liked, wouldn’t go so far as buying them tho’ ugly bling boxes (IMO)
You guys should have heard the Focal EM Evos at Munich fronted by the ND555 and Statement. A bit different to what I’m used to with Naim speakers, but in my respects it was the best I’ve heard in a very long time. It put you right there in front of the performers and with judicious room treatment there was sense of naturalness and reality that was quite uncanny. All that with the usual Naim timing strengths - I was impressed.
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I think you sat next to me on my right hand side…glad you liked them. For me it was not a £100 k system sound wise. But very important that we get across, that we all hear things differently. I came away thinking NDX2…no way for the ND555. A great dealer demo…and i changed my mind. Maybe even the speakers…who knows. The Naim demo room has been improved, new territory for dealer visits.
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