I think it would be a sad day and a very backward step to lose this community. When I first started the forum it was a big experiment and of course I did it with JV’s backing and he loved it.
I could see from all my travels the disparity between knowledge in various markets for all things Naim and set up procedures.
It was one of the very first audio Forums, many friends have been made, thousands of people have benefited from experience of others, it keeps the Brand honest nowhere to hide, long may it continue.
I am very keen for it to stay and for my Naim journey to continue. Later this year , I may restructure my system and split it into two , a daytime /casual system and a headphone system .
Naim will feature very heavily, as indeed will Focal .
I would miss the Forum dreadfully, but I prefer to think that it also gives Naim a chance to listen to it’s customers, and listening should be what an audio company is all about
It is how these TVs integrate with the sounds that is one of the big factors for purchasing audio. I started with a small Sony TV, a cable TV set up and plugged my VHS recorder into a Naim amplifier via a RCA to Din cable . This was back in the very early nineteen nineties.
If I move , the only positive will be getting a decent 4K set and linking it possibly with a Naim Atom and finally integrate TV and sound together (I have a 24 inch set at the moment )
It would be a sad day if this forum would ever be closed down. It basically is the only ‘social media’ that I use. I refuse to use any of the other familiar social media, but this forum is generally very civilized and interesting.
Let’s hope for some common sense. It would be so much better for social cohesion, mental health etc. Today, I saw a mother at the playground in front of my house. Her little daughter was trying to get her attention, but she just continued to scroll on her phone. It broke my heart and I could not resist making a remark. Thank God she took it OK and realized what she was doing.
Why all this talk about the future of the forum, I know Naim now has new masters that doesn’t mean they’ll shutdown the forum (or am I missing something).
I’m curious why Naim, as a company, couldn’t maintain both its ambitious spirit and complete independence, while Linn, as a standalone firm, has managed to survive and thrive. Both companies produce excellent audio products and could complement each other, just like they used to.
IIRC Linn didn’t thrive. They axed half their staff and moved to a smaller factory. I think Naim saw that and thought, “Yikes" and decided on another path.
Naim didn’t have a lot of choice as Julian (the co-founder and majority shareholder) died and so his shares were put into a family trust. However, when the merger with Focal was mooted it offered the family, who had no real interest in the business, the opportunity to sell, so that’s what happened.
Quite right Pete. It wouldn’t make much sense to close the forum (or am I missing something..??). Naim’s forum was one of the first of its kind and remains one of the best IMHO. It was very much Paul and Julian’s “baby” and so it was a great shame when Julian died. The forum could have died with him, but Paul kept it going and when I first joined Naim soon after at the start of the new millennium, administering the forum was one of my first responsibilities. Adam took over when I went on to manage Naim’s export sales, and then I picked up the baton once more when Adam left. Throughout all this time, I have never failed to appreciate the passion and loyalty on here - there’s real love and a desire for the best for everyone in the Naim family. I feel that the forum has acted as a safeguard for Naim’s heart & soul and also acted at times like its conscience. I think this thread may even be testament to that…
True and any business worth its salt would appreciate that. It also makes good business sense, I’m damn sure I wouldn’t have spent as much on upgrades if it wasn’t for this place.
I do worry about Naims future though, the new classics have been around for over 3 years and nothing much else has changed. There’s been lots of product deleted and not replaced, the 5 series is still in the old case work and basically hasn’t been updated of at least 15 years.
Companies need to stay in front of the customers, I feel Naim has fallen behind.
I would agree on that, you can really sense the deep interest most members have about audio gear, especially Naim obviously, and music reproduction in general. It’s a very valuable source, I learnt a lot here over the years. Also it’s a great place to discover new artists, albums, etc. and many other things. What’s not to like about this forum, really.
Last but not least I really appreciate a lot that Naim R&D staff post here from time to time, that’s so valuable and not a common thing for sure.
Thanks Gianluigi. You’re spot on, and just like Maupas54 I can’t give an answer. Having only recently joined this wonderful community online it has become a great pleasure to spend time with Naimophiles reading lighthearted conversations, laughing at some excellent jokes and also getting some good info I can’t get close to home. Having a wonderful setup that’s mostly Naim with Linn decks - LP & CD - oh, and my beautiful Nautilus & Linn speakers it is all I want at present (although never say never) so in the immediate future I could live without a new source of hi-fi. I have 2 friends who think they have state of the art setups, one has my old Meridian system with Arc speakers 1hat he calls the Dogs B****cks and the other worked for Mission some 45 years ago and is very proud of his system. Really they don’t understand the difference between what we have and I will not be unkind by pointing out the obvious. So yes, it is a quandary. Having found this group of people a click away; to stretch my imagination, make me smile or share advice, it’s a luxury I don’t want to lose. But…… what about those people who are not yet completely satisfied with their systems? I don’t know if I could be that selfish to wish away their future joy, should Naim cease trading. So it’s a good thing we’re only talking theoretically. May the Naim brand outlive us all to be a source of pleasure for those who come after us and may Richard pass on the baton to another should he sometime choose to call it a day
Neither are important to me. I would choose Naim over the forum in a heartbeat only for after sales service as I hope to have my Naim gear for a long time.
If Naim as we know it disappears I will deal with it as a consumer does.
