Insane new pricing in Australia

I picked up a full new classic set, 222/300/250. Crazy price. Sure warranty is not exactly great, but I am confident in Naim products. And there are competent local repair people who have been fixing Naim for years. In time Naim will either get the local distribution sorted or work out a service solution. There is a huge installed base here in Sunny Perth, (and the rest of Australia :australia:), so it would be crazy to walk away from that. It might take a while though…

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Shock horror - What a positive view on the situation - you’re suppose to moan and go on and….

Well done.

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How worthless 12 month one actually is depends what the standard one is. Around here it’s 24 months. If the price reduction was 40% I would be tempted to take the plunge even with the shorter warranty.

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I grabbed a new ND555 at 40% off. Yes, the situation is messy, but that is the only way I’d ever get one, so what does one do?

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A Uniti Core for -40% was as far as it went for me at this stage. If the brand is a dead duck here that will be incredibly sad. I am pretty set on the 350s when they come in but I will be headed for my ancestral home to buy them - bit of a pain, but part of my income is derived in the UK so in a weird way it makes sense to pay in sterling and have a trip ‘home’.

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Great news Mike none of this is our fault. :+1:

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Agreed Pete,
Come on Naim management, time to open the Kimono. Personally, I am heavily invested in Naim products and have been a loyal buyer in the UK, Romania, the UAE and NZ for over 20 years. I think that we in the Antipodes and elsewhere need some answers not just for new product delivery but also maintenance of old gear. Don’t damage the brand any more than you already have by ditching your greatest marketing resource - give the Forum some feedback!

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It’s a nice idea Romjock, but as I posted earlier in this thread, I reckon there are good (legal?) reasons right now why Naim and Focal cannot really say anything at all for the time being. As and when that my change in the future, I would guess the dealers will be the first to know, so keeping in touch with your dealer would be my best advice here.

Richard we all agree but watching our stuff depreciate like it is at the moment is not good for anyone.

Back in the day I was a Naim dealer. And Linn, plus a whole lot more high end brands.
Today… just a customer. But for what other brands in Australia is there 50 years of history?

I was late to the party, got my first black box in 1976, one year after my first Linn product.
Whilst I don’t have an LP12 anymore, if I did I could get it fixed.

Whilst it’s a bit iffy now, (no actual official service agent in Perth AFIK), I can get a 50 year old NAP200 serviced and/or repaired here too.

Sure current Naim streamers will be a bit hard, if not impossible to fix down the track, but preamps, power supplies and power amps will probably be okay.

Compared to most other brands, whether mass market or niche, Naim is way ahead.

Okay, if my new toy breaks tomorrow, (I actually haven’t taken delivery yet), service might be problematic in Perth, but if needs be there’s always the option of sending things back toOld Blighty.

And actually at this level, for most other products, that’s probably going to be case as well. Or to the USA or Japan.

It’s just the problem of a small population spread over a huge continent. Distribution and service is hard.

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Good one Mike

Can you hear any difference :crazy_face::crazy_face::crazy_face::crazy_face:???

Only joking

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I have confidence that the Naim brand will come good down under Richard

As you say it will take a bit of time and as I see it , courage from some company to take up the challenge

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Again … the problem is the new distributor will be asked to take on Naim and Focal. Quite a different proposition than this forum concerns itself with.

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Looking at the prices on the ATA site you both got great deals. Good for you. I’d take that gamble as well, Naim’s gear is pretty reliable. Sad to see all this havoc in the Naim market down there though… Hopefully Naim/Focal can get this sorted and get things back to some sense of normal at some point.

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Incredible prices for the NC gear.

Looking at posts in this thread appears the old dealer is destocking until the new one takes over.

Agree that Naim could manage the transition better but one positive is that you get to pick up the new gear at very very cheap prices that isn’t like to be repeated.

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You know what, I’d think we should consider that the retail price of Naim Audio down under may not be the importers or retail stores or even Naim Salisburys doing. I work at a large multi national corporation and KPI’s are very important.
It may even be the case the importer has chosen another direction with its business model and decided to move away from a particular brand, no matter what wake they have left behind.
Part of the magic of hifi manufacturing is the cost of production. If you can get a great sounding box with low production prices, everybody will make money, but if you can only get a slightly better sounding box with higher production prices, everybody will make less money therefore you will need a higher retail return for everyone in the loop to make money. If one link of the loop is not making enough money then they are out. We all know things are not as they were, it must be very difficult to survive at either end of the loop atm. Remember its so easy to criticise when you have no skin in the game.
This is the squeeze and this is the way.

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Funny to note that the title of the thread has remained relevant, irrespective of the pricing.

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The whole world has gone crazy if you ask me and not just in Australia

Oh, hand me a dahlia
We’re going to Australia
Me life’s been a failure
She’s turned me down!

:joy:

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Thanks Richard, but I think there is a market down here that needs a quick confidence boost. Insane reduced pricing on relatively new products and diminishing expectations on re-sale of “previously loved” fabulous gear can only lead to a Naim marketing disaster. Maybe it’s too small a market for HQ to care about but the brand loyalists down here think differently and are smart enough to switch to equally capable products that provide the confidence they need e.g. Linn.

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Although I do totally get why, what seems insane is complaining about low prices!