Is Naim losing its way?

Interesting the need for a manual and age related or, female vs male. I used to think it was an age thing having been been interested in how things work as a kid, and then being trained as a(fairly) logical engineer. Then I thought it was a male/female thing as my wife doesn’t like the computer- PC desktop- because she says she doesn’t understand it. A few years ago I bought her an ipad to read her emails, rather than use the PC. My surprise was not only that she took to it straight out of the box, but that very soon she knew her way around it, the various social media, camera settings etc more than I still know.
Conclusion? Some people just don’t need to know how something works, they just need to be able to use it. Apple seems to have realised that from early on.

Oh, I still have to read the manual and understand the nitty gritty. lol.

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While it is awesome to have certified / qualified dealers, who are highly skilled and well versed with Naim, still I am not used to thinking about audio equipment needing dealer’s help in order to deliver a working setup and not sure I want continuous dependency on them for operation.

Must say I did feel a little strange that I might need the dealer to solder the speaker plug or install the DAB+ module. Why can’t it plug and play? Subwoofer crawl yes and heavy lifting, swapping speakers and components and digging through cables, yes. But I don’t picture a HiFi store sales rep to roll up his/her sleeve and start soldering. :sweat_smile:

I have never had a dealer install my system. I wonder whether I should have?

Quick answer: yes. In fact, they are supposed to. It at the very least used to be a Naim requirement of their dealers to ensure customers got the best out of their equipment and I believe it still is.

Ah well, too late now, I suppose.

Haha, yep, I let him off too easily and handed over my money too quickly! :smiley:

There’s nothing to stop you doing things yourself, it works the same as cars and motorbikes.

If you buy new then yes the dealer is there to ensure that all is well and installed to give optimum SQ.

Agreed, but I think part of the discussion in the last few comments is not whether or not Naim dealers should offer a superior service as they certainly should. Rather how easily useable should a system be without dealer intervention.

It can be super plug and play and one can still have the dealer installing it.

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I’ve had issues when I’ve allowed the dealer to do the installation. I remember letting a well known retailer in North London install a pair of SBLs. He applied so much force to the bass/midrange box that the spikes penetrated the pads unevenly so that the gap when viewed from the side wasn’t parallel. Although I lived with it for a short while, it wasn’t long before I purchased a gasket kit and did it again myself.

More recently, I have realised how much care is taken by one of the most well known LP12 experts, even wearing cotton gloves when handling the plinth. This contrasts with my black box retailer who doesn’t wear gloves and I so hate having fingerprints on the brushed anodised finish. Wearing cotton gloves should be common practice in my opinion, but because of this I do everything myself. I might take longer, but I do rather enjoy it and at least I know it’s done well.

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I share the same abhorrence regarding fingerprints on my blackboxs’ brushed anodised finish.

I always unpack and install the gear myself.

I even unboxed and installed the Magico S3 MkII :sweat_smile:

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Omg, you must be very strong! They are well over 70kg each and I wonder how you slip those SPODs on. Must be a satisfying experience once it’s done.

I had seen a multitude of speakers at shops with damage where spikes are fitted probably by dragging the speakers on the floor. I would do my own install unless I can’t. And just for the record, it wasn’t a Naim dealer. :slight_smile:

Indeed, they are 77 Kg each :sweat_smile:
To take them out of the box I had some help from a friend, a climber. It was ok, we both workout quite a lot :wink:

That was really easy, anyone could do that. We just followed the instructions.

But to slide the speakers around, in order to find the perfect speakers position, I tinkered two pairs of sliders made out of wood and felt.

I wouldn’t let a dealer unpack and/or position my nearly 40K speakers :sweat_smile:

Depends on whether you fit the spikes when speaker are lying on its side I guess. I won’t want to topple over 77kg over myself or your climber friend. :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

A case of, if you know what you are doing, it is really easy. :smiley:

We’ve done that way (with white gloves! :nerd_face:) :

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White gloves should be part of the dealer certification requirement!

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Never offered to me 30 years !

Why white? What’s wrong with orange?

But on a serious note, when handling heavy smooth objects, like say a lacquered speaker, cotton gloves can be a liability as they can slip. Gloves with a rubber or similar grip surface would be appropriate - they just need to be something free from grease or similar that can make a mark

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@Innocent_Bystander, that was just a bit of fun. I only use them for vacuum tubes so not to leave oily finger prints on the glass envelope.

Good grip is important. These are what I use to move equipment. If that’s not good enough I move up to leather iron clad gloves not to mention about shoes with good support and grip too. Horses for courses. :grin:

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