Naim & Focal 10th Anniversary Edition

I feel… some redemption for having like-minded inclinations…

Blasphemy. :sweat_smile:

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I guess you are not familiar with the BBC TV science fiction series Doctor Who. Its most fearsome and legendary villains are the Daleks, to whose travel machines the Focal Sopra N°2 loudspeaker bears an uncanny resemblance. The catchphrase of these villainous creatures was “You will be exterminated,” bellowed at any life form that was not a Dalek.

@Clive was alluding to the fact that the BBC props department used a sink plunger and a whisk in the construction of the Dalek travel machine.

So my comment was a joke about how Naim ceased production of the Ovator loudspeaker range shortly after the merger with Focal. But if it takes 2 paragraphs of text to explain a joke, maybe the joke isn’t very funny. :grinning:

Apparently, the Linn K9 cartridge was so named because in the early engineering drawings it resembled the character of that name from the same series.

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Friends of ours once had a Dalek in their house, somehow they ended up with it from the BBC. They terrified me as a child and it was most odd to see a real one some 40 years later. I thought you little comment was rather amusing, for what it’s worth.

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I bet they will look much better in the flesh but unless future upgrades are available ‘build to order’ in the same finish it seems an odd development.

I really can’t see the demographic this is aimed at other than people who are pretty comfortable financially and want a very good system package chosen for them, something they’d buy on a whim because they could afford it.

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Thanks. So can I have a like then? :rofl:

Unless you grew up in Britain at a particular time, you’re unlikely to get all the cultural allusions in my little joke. But I am guessing that the majority of the Naim Audio Community are part of that particular demographic.

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Probably one of the reasosn I loved that MM cartridge though did they turn it grey in later iterations as I found the yellow stylus much more funky.

I Think I was rather cynical about the K18.

Your wish is granted :wink:

There’s probably a dominatrix involved somewhere :rofl:

I think you can see the demographic. (And it seems it’s only 50 of those)

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Sounds like a recipe for spillage or is it considered a connoisseur’s skill?

Well, yes I’m being a little cynical. Possibly a marketing gamble - if it works great as it’s additional sales to support Naim/Focal, though on a purely Naim basis I think many of us are hoping for more traditionally focussed developments.

As I’ve said further up, it seems to me less like a gamble (though it probably is to an extend) and more like trying some things without much risk. They probably know they find takers, it’s an established line of products just with a different color (so no large investments), and they might get some feedback out of it regarding what people think about future color options.

It’s not putting the world on its head, but I don’t think it was meant to. I believe we can be pretty sure that more exciting things will happen.

The speaker cabinets look like they had some really bad production issues, with failed finishes, and some bright spark said “Hey, let’s market them as something special - I don’t know, an anniversary or something?”

Why do the speaker cabinets look like they had production issues?

(Even if, I wouldn’t have a problem with that if those that I buy look fine after reworking. Besides, things like that are probably not uncommon for special editions. If, say, a car manufacturer makes a special edition, they will also do it in a way that makes economic sense for them. E.g., add extras or use materials that they have in abundance and want to get rid of)

I too think they’re on to something with the dust disguising finish (there was a post a some way up the thread). My black boxes all seem to turn grey remarkably quickly after the rare occasions I clean them. Perhaps they could offer a matt finished grey glass and grey matt shelves finished for Fraim while they’re at it. Then instead of a duster you just need an effective static treatment for your records. A cationic surfactant works well unless there’s some residual anionc surfactant on them, the combination leaves a deposit that’s very hard to shift.

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Looking at the close-up of the one with Sopra No 2 heading the little text paragraph, it looks like surface issues (roughness) above the grille and to the left of the almost vertical split. And the lower two panels don’t line up along their top edge - but perhaps that is a design statement.

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Each to their own. The tin edition Focals are the only Focals I’ve every seen that I would let in the front door. I’d still cough and drop hints like looking at my watch as the evening wore on, and eventually herd them towards the door again. But that’s way more than any other Focal speaker would get.

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I don’t know which image you are referring to, this?

A lot of inferring going on. I doubt that they are trying to sell visibly poor ones. These look fine to me:

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Those weren’t the images - but the surface round the main drive there look quite rough.
But this is being taken too far. I’m not really seriously suggesting that is what happened - though I could imagine something like that happening. Perhaps I read too much Dilbert.

I can’t begin to fathom letting speakers like that in my living room.

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