Good choice. Boulder is my dream
I had to mail my NaitXS to the Canadian Service Center myself and the online process to set up the service ticket and all of that as a non-dealer was a bit of a pain, but the guy in Canada helped me by describing the process well enough. They replaced a bad mute-relay and I had a recap done while it was up there. I was very pleased with the service, but it sucks that I had to do all of that myself since there was no local dealer. Audio Concepts in Dallas is my current audio dealer, and there is a relatively new Focal Naim place in Austin, so I will check them out, but because I love Naim so much (my current original Nait XS and CD5si CD player; and I want the Supernait next) I am willing to drive the 4 hours to hear Naim equipment I am interested in purchasing. I already heard the Supernait when I auditioned my LP12 so I can just order it from them when I get the $. But I am not surprised many of you have lost dealers over how Focal Naim have dealt with local dealers, and those that still do exist do not have a lot of the Naim products that arenāt streaming based. It is highly annoying.
2 Likes
Maybe Focal Naim America just wants to have their Focal-Naim stores, thinking people will flock to them like an Apple store in the mall. Chances are they will be more like the Microsoft mall stores that have all but disappeared because no one cared about going there.
4 Likes
Yes it really seems like the dealer network is in bad shape, and i agree with Josquin that all Naim/Focal stores will not fix it.
2 Likes
My dealer sent my HiLine DIN5-5 to FNA for repair back in May. Five months later there is no news about it, and now FNA apparently doesnāt bother to answer my dealerās inquiries about it. So basically FNA is just sitting on my $1800 cable like thieves. Thatās what I heard from my dealer today when I asked about the cable. I donāt have much confidence Iāll even get it back, repaired or not. 
They also told me that they have another customer who needs a Burndy blanking plug for a 272, and FNA is acting like they donāt even know that that is, even after my dealer sent them a picture of one. I think my dealer will happier the less they have to deal with anything to do with Naim. Sad, because theyāve sold and supported Naim for as long as I can remember (40 yrs or so).
WTF is going on at Naim?
5 Likes
Get the repair reference number from your dealer and email them yourself. That would at least eliminate the middle man if your dealer is dropping the ball in some way. Even though Iām with you on Focal/Naim North America continually dropping the ball (Iāve had a few different issues with them), they have always responded to my emails. According to your dealer, theyāll answer their emails for the other customerās blanking plug, but ignore their emails about your cable? That seems odd.
1 Like
My dealer is certainly not dropping the ball on anything! Iāve known them for over 30 years. Thatās not how they roll. Iāve never known them to do that.
So what if FNA responds cluelessly to some emails and ignore others? Itās all the same problem: Focal Naim America is a real FU mess. Why do you think my dealer has given up on them: theyāve dropped Naim like a hot potato, after decades selling Naim. Theyāve sold off all their demos, and are now only supporting (or trying to) existing customers. Hereās another laughable issue that shouldnāt be. They sold a customer a 222, who wants to connect it to his 300DR. Theyāve been trying to get the correct adapter cable from FNA all year. They even have the Naim part number and have had no luck. Itās ludicrous. At one point FNA told my dealer to order it from the rep. There is no rep! He/she doesnāt exist. Of course, FNA was unable to tell my dealer who that might be. 
Please donāt put anything on my dealer. Itās not on them. Their hands are tied.
Obviously, Iām done with Naim too. I just sold a SCDR today. Iām starting to give serious consideration to selling off my 252/SCDR/300DR too, but have to figure out how I will pay for replacements.
I have the ticket number and will try an email myself.
4 Likes
What a mess. Sorry to hear that.
Do you think Naim support monitor this forum and pass these things on?
If not, they should.
They donāt. But I doā¦
edit: Just been told they are on the case.
7 Likes
It is just unbelievable to me that a company would destroy a distribution network that was one of the best if not the best in the entire industry. But for whatever reason they have done so.
I have a full 500 system so this problem with FNA is very concerning to me. Only time I had to use them was about 2 yrs ago- when a relay on my ND555 brokeā¦ Fixed 6 weeks door to door. So cannot complain but when shipping from NY to Canada is not fun. Once it crosses the border over to Canada it can sit for a week waiting for pick up from FNAā¦ during that time when I communicated with dealer and FNA it was unclear where my streamer was sitting. It was fixed and has worked ever since. However the thought of a malfunction and having to worry about sending back to FNA is something I dread. From some of the above tales it sounds like FNA is at best difficult to work with. When you ship off your expensive Naim boxes for repair you would like to know that someone on the other end knows what they are doing and that they can be reached to get status updates, etc.
I am not prepared to rid myself of Naim boxes and start again.
David
1 Like
I am a local and have had two 1989 Nait 2s (CB, Olive) and DAC-V1 serviced in the last 6 years. Focal-Naim NA was excellent to me in every way.
1 Like
Six years ago they were mostly fine. Itās more recently that things have declined and gotten progressively worse.
And just to be clear i sent in my olive 72/hc/250 to FN about 4 years ago for their 3rd recap and FN did a great job. They estimated 4-6 weeks and thaās exactly how long it took and they sounded great after the work.
But there are enough bad stories and iāve heard it from dealers as well. It isnāt good but hopefully FN is fixing it. There have been a good number of dealer departures from the brand.
1 Like
I was last in contact with Michel in Jan 2024. If you have specific issues or queries you could try and e-mail him, hopefully he is still there:
MICHEL ROUSSEAU
S U P P O R T & S E R V I C E
I think my dealer told me Michel is gone, and thatās likely part of the problem. My dealer said he was helpful when emailing him directly, but thatās no longer possible. Happy to be corrected if I heard wrong or misunderstood.
what part of it?
If itās any consolation, itās not just the US.
4 Likes
Iāve asked Naim support at the factory to try to find out the status of your Hi-line repair in the US.
4 Likes
Thank you so much. The ticket no is SCA016994
4 Likes