I figured that had something to do with it. I have to admit considering flying to the UK for a vacation and picking up some new kit then getting the voltage converted when I return to the states. I figure VAT would kill the savings on that endeavor though.
That may well have been a factory visit at the time Uniti was launched. I went on a factory visit then and they were busy building Unitis. I saw a batch of UnitiCore being built in one area and as I bought one of the very first Cores my dealer had, I occasionally wonder whether in fact I saw it being built!
Not necessarily. It’s been a while, but I used to be in the UK frequently, and sometimes bought an expensive watch for example. The major shops used to be able to simply not charge VAT when you produced a passport, then later on, they charged the VAT, but you could get a form to leave at the airport, and the government would send a refund of the VAT. I don’t know if they still make it this convenient. Maybe I could stuff a 222 in my carry-on bags 
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I’m sorry you’ve been a little taken back but if you read the posts properly you would/should have worked it’s more than just a pricing issue. It’s a concern around how the product is marketed and distributed in Aus/NZ which I believe to have contributed to the risk of Naim being uncompetitive here.
Also we’re all entitled to our opinions and raising issues isn’t a whinge it’s a concern.
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There are a few potential issues there. The first issue is that if you buy in the UK then your warranty contract is made between you and the dealer (which is then underwritten by the distributor, who in the UK is Naim). It will be a UK warranty and will be dependent upon the kit not being modified in any way during the warranty period. Any warranty service will require you to take the unit back to the supplying dealer and thence to the Naim factory.
Should you decide to purchase it anyway (and to hell with the warranty) and take it to the US, you will need to pay any applicable duties and taxes upon arrival. You’ll then need to have it converted to 115V/60Hz. This is normally done by the distributor, although they may be not so happy to do this on a brand new piece of equipment that’s a “grey” import that’s undercutting their business. So you’ll be relying on either a willing dealer or someone outside of the Naim family to do the work - an unofficial conversion… Is it still looking quite so attractive an idea…?
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No doubt, which is why I didn’t give it much consideration.
That is not a process that fits my ownership of hifi. Having identified an item that brings the sound quality or improvement I want, and verified that it does, I have to be able to afford it. The cost of purchase at that point is a fundamental consideration, except that if it releases an item to sell, then I could potentially borrow short term over the intervening period, so I only have to find the difference between purchase cost and the realistic sale price of the item it releases. That and my assessment of whether the net cost to me is adequate value for money, are all that matters.
The cost of ownership over time may be of academic interest, but is irrelevant to purchase decisions, because, aside from the need for the funding at that moment, I have no idea how long I will have something for (I always hope 10 years plus, but things change), and even more so I have no idea what tge future resale price will be - today’s equivalent is not meaningful as anything can change (in either direction), as witness this thread.
Lets face it Naim can Name there price and people will buy it,Yes they,tare taking the Piss.And eventually people will walk away.
Fair enough. Sounds a bit whingey though 
I must admit 15000 A$ is a bit excessive
Auralic equipment prices look very reasonable over there.
Consider this the Naim turntable isn’t about to be superseded but it’s also heavy discounted here. Down from 30 odd K to $24k.
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Just out of interest, what price were people expecting for the new streamer/pre in Australia? I was anticipating the same expenditure as a new NDX2. So currently that can be had for 8-10k. Needless to say, an extra 3-5k was a bit of a surprise.
That’s a good question, I assumed that the NC222 streamer/dac is more in line with the ND5SX2 but I maybe wrong. If that’s the case the ND5XS2 sells for around $5,750 here and oddly it’s not discounted like the NDX2 is (it’s down from $12k to just over $8k). With that in mind around $10-12k. While the cost seems a little high it’s probably more about how much discounting is going on the the current classic series.
Well my suspicion is that they realised they weren’t going to sell many at $12000 so they have had to discount them. I suppose even at full price the ND5XS2 is more achievable.
Still there
Just going back to my original comments it is interesting to see the 272 was $7800 from memory in AU. It’s replacement is $13500. The 250DR used to be $8700. List is now $9500 though you can get one for $6175 right now! Replacement (OK improved) NC250 is $13500.
My initial comment is that following these leaps the 300 series to come will be out of reach for myself in Australia given what we seen already happen here. This leaves me enjoying my current system (a lot!) but will more than likely place the yet to come releases out of reach. Sad, but indeed life goes on.
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?, I am unless you’ve heard something I haven’t. 
And they appear to have a stock issue, too many. They’ll need to shift them before the new classics start to arrive hence the heavy discounting.
In simple terms the bargains are currently in the classic range as we know here in Aus/NZ . If customers are happy to stay with the classics then that’s fine
However if one would like to move over to a new classic range ( from say the 5 box ndx2/XPSDR/252/SCDR/250dr) , the change over price has just increased by $20k at least, possibly more depending on relationship with retailer .That’s not peanuts
$20k down the toilet due to discounting as it would appear overstocking in the first place
Poor strategy if you ask me
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Bevo that’s been my case all along, the new mob agreed to take more stock than anyone with knowledge of the local market would have excepted. It was a poor decision, that on top of failing to market Naim properly (there’s been no ads in the local hi fi mags since they’re taken over and there not at this years hi fi show) now has left them with boxes they can’t sell.
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