Some interesting stories above from some of us who have gone on to look outside the Naim world and for a variety of reasons.
Unlike football teams hifi brands can be changed without a complete change of who we are, brand loyalty only makes sense if that brand makes sense in our individual system.
Finance plays a huge part for many of us when it comes to buying a hifi system without the need of credit which for me personally is a no no so many of us are forced to buy used items that by their nature cannot be tested at home or even in store so there is a fair bit of hit and miss, fortunately though Naim only left me out of pocket once.
So building a system in this way whilst a lot of fun can lead you on a long road of chops and changes until you find one product that stops you in your tracks in my case a set of speakers that makes you think maybe another brand will be better suited here.
And so it is that Iâve ended up in the life after Naim camp still the same person I was before Naim came into my life and still enjoying listening to and collecting music every day.
If Iâd been prepared to walk into a shop and drop five figures on stereo would I be sitting in front of a full Naim set up today possibly but where would the fun be in that?
Eh Max is of course on to something here. Thereâs 100000% a Naim âecosystemâ where customers can enter (like I did) at say a Nait XS2, and then progress âup the ladderâ as far as they want â interest and/or funds permitting. Iâve spoken with dealers about this; itâs not like itâs a secret. Nor is there shame it it, or any inherent âevil.â Every good company needs a good marketing and engineering strategy, as Max wrote.
General Motors did the same for decades, as did Ford and Chrysler. GM: young and new in the work force you could afford to buy and drive a Chevrolet. At some point youâd probably be able to move up to a Pontiac, and maybe a Buick or Oldsmobile if you moved into management and did well. The Cadillac was only if/when you REALLY made it; not only were they expensive, but one would not feel ârightâ driving one if they hadnât âmade it.â
Hello Bob
Surely the fun comes from listening to the music 
Agree 100%
Have owned and cherished many Naim kits over the years and during that time I also dabbled with other brands such as Linn, Devialet, LFD, Moon but always ended up returning to Naim.
That was until recently, when I decided to make a permanent move away from Naim pre/power/streamers to Exposure, Melco and a Chord DAC setup. As much as I enjoy what Naim brings to the party, I felt the rising costs of ownership and the costly upgrade path made it easier to make a move.
Very happy with this new direction, system sounds fantastic and having fun listening and discovering new music.
But opening up a box with a new item of hifi is quite a lot of fun too.
Like a Xmas Present
You canât beat that first audible click when first powering up
This Is something I hear more and more not only about Naim, see for instance Linn⌠Is this suggesting anything to the companies? An upgrade path should be intended to bond the customer not to push him away⌠Just a reflectionâŚ
If you buy used then upgrading is a lot less painfull, there are some excellent used dealers around Tom Tom Audio is especially good and will take your used Nac, Nap or PSU etc in part ex.
I agree Btb, in UK itâs easier, in other countries a little less but in principle I agree 
Hi,
Iâm not sure what you mean with âthe cost of ownershipâ. Once you have bought the boxes, they consume some power. But thatâs true for all electronics and Naim is relatively good in this regard. Class A designs and tubes are consuming several times more juice. The recapping is good practice in my view, especially after my Linn Classic Movie went up in smoke due to a old leaking cap.
And the upgrade path is yours to take or not. If there is nothing above your own gear in a manufacturers portfolio thatâs of course easier to do.
Having said all that, if your current Hi-Fi makes you happy, itâs the right one, Naim or not.
Perhaps Ants just means the initial cost of buying a Naim product which less be honest to us mere mortals isnât cheap.
Yes it looks like the Exposure brand that @Ants now favors is priced much more modestly. I would never begrudge someone wanting less of their capital tied up in hi fi boxes!
Me either.
Horses for courses.
The cost of acquiring hi end gear has gone up for many makes and brands. Make no mistake, I loved what upgrades could do for my various Naim system and Iâve done my fair share but as I moved up the ladder, the cost to add something like a 555PS was considerable. So, decided to use the potential funds for home reno projects and such.
With the exception of a handful of items which were purchased new, most of my Naim gear was used and came from dealers where I was able to trade in and trade up. Definitely a great way to save.
What is funny is that my new set up lies somewhere in the 18K (CND) range in terms of cost and I consider this mid to modest. There really is no end to where we can go. The rabbit hole goes deepâŚ
Some have spent this amount just on interconnects, others have spend 10% of my budget and both are happy with the results.
Imagine if youâd spent all that money on one top Naim system.