The Atom sort of works despite the nasty perspex front but I never liked the Nova I’m afraid despite owning one, a poorly resolved design imo.
While the Atom is OK the Nova looks like it’s been bodged together from spare parts. I’m confused what this idea of ‘modern’ is. There is a lot to be said for gradual evolution of a design. A modern Rolex looks similar to one from the 50s, but evolved. Our little Audi A3 looks similar to the first model. This is part of what makes things desirable - a ‘classic’ if you like. The idea of Naim throwing away 50 years of history - no power supplies, everything integrated, appealing to ‘modern’ tastes, whatever they might be - is frankly laughable. Fashions and fads come and go - the trick of long term success is to be beyond fashion, to be classic and therefore desirable.
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Funny I heard all the same kind of comments when Naim went from CB to Olive and from Olive to Reference
Hate to say it but the new sharif in town now and all the Reference gear as you know it will change.
- Case work is too expensive
- It’s time
- The new owners will want to put there own designs into it.
- The Naim factory is currently too small so that will have to be moved ( can’t see a expansion of the current building as it’s too disrupting to production)
- With the UK leaving the EU it does make sense to move Naim HQ to France and have things under one roof.
No hard facts here … just my crystal ball
What’s all this about case work is to expensive, all the premium comparable products out there use premium solid metal casing.
What are you going to change it for, plastic! 
No won’t be plastic but if you saw how much work went into the cases you would shocked !
The sleeve has to machined ( not by Naim ) then shipped to Naim for inspection then put into a “ flight type case and shipped out to have the finishing done then returned to naim and removed from the flight case and inspected then serialized and put into a production line … it’s a very costly process to do and limits how many units can be made … it much easier to make the Uniti type case.
I reckon Naim will be sticking to their guns for a long while yet. The economic future is too uncertain. In these unusual times it’s best to stick with what you know, now is not the time to do anything too radical while the whole planet is in a bit of a mess.
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New word for me, thanks! Oui Chacun à son goût
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Not true, you want to ramp up sales it’s simple
Launch new products so every dealer has to buy new demo stock … fastest way to generate a few million pounds
All this makes sense, but I wonder … only 2 years since the NDX2 and ND555 were introduced … doesn’t a new type of casework would be too quick?
If you look back in time and use the Hi Cap and 250 as a example the guts stayed the same only the where put in new cases ( CB to Olive ) the same can be applied to the NDX 2 and the ND 555
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Naim is a premium niche HiFi company. It would be pointless to compete with likes of Sony et al and go for the quick money. If anything i would expect for Naim to scale down and maybe even thin out their range and just hang on to their core products.
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I continue to really like the aesthetics of the Naim Classic series. IMHO it’s truly a “classic” design, and it has aged VERY well and looks totally “current” today. As I’ve posted before, I’m a huge fan of industrial design (but that doesn’t mean my tastes are better than others); the Naim Classic series does it for me.
Between the Nova and the Superuniti2, I’d pick the SU2 design.
I think I get what they’re going after with the Nova design. It’s an Atom with better internals, thus it’s an Atom design with the extra half-width ‘box’ on the left. Although I see the logic, I think the execution does leave it looking like 2 things stuck together, vs an integrated / whole design.
I look at a lot of other designs; many other brands fail far worse IMHO.
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Interesting. I’m a “The New Fan“ and don’t know all the history. Personally I love the casework on the NDX2/ND555/Nova etc, it’s just the pre-amps that scream “refresh me”. Again just my opinion.
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Once you have the platform it can go in any box.
Right now if you look at the holding company that owns Naim / Focal do you think they invested that much money to buy them they want to keep Naim a niche brand ?
I’d be curious to know how that Focal “powered by Naim” store is doing in the Phoenix area?
What you say makes a lot of sense…but as a customer , you would have to count me out on most of your points, except…they do need a new factory.
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No i don’t but i do think that horse has already bolted. Just my opinion of course. You have the big guns to deal with if going down that road. In these times i would not think that’s wise but i’m no expert, so who knows.
It’s just the “ crystal ball talking “ I do hope I’m wrong as I have many black boxes my self !
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The Statement look is awesome. A big integrated with scale down statement look would be cool.
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A sure way to go the way of the dodo.
I don’t really care what Naim do once they survive. I’m happy with my 552/300 /SL2 and want Naim to do whatever they need to do to remain an active (relatively) independent company that will continue to service their products while they successfully attain new customers.
It isn’t anymore a situation where, for example, a 202/200 is going to keep Naim profitable. It’s the new Uniti stuff, as it should be.
The classic range has left the building…
.sjb
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