I have questions regarding service on my Naim CDP. Three requests to AV Options the past two weeks. No response. Who is servicing Naim gear in the US?
Pretty sure AV Options is an independent now and I don’t think they service any digital gear.
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Indeed it should be handled via Naim Audio North America (which IIRC is based in Canada). But you approach service questions for Naim gear first through an authorised Naim dealer. They should be your advocate for pressing NANA for responses.
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This is all curious. I solicited Chris West at AV Options and got no response. Went to Hawthorne Stereo in Seattle, an authorized Naim dealer, and they told me “Naim isn’t what it used to be since Verdant took over”. So is Naim as a servicable audio entity effectively dead in Seattle? Am I hung out to dry with getting a Naim CDP serviced in North America.
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I’m not sure if Hawthorne Stereo was the most professional response for an official Naim dealer. In any case, Naim are now owned by Barco rather than Vervent.
As with the UK, official dealers can raise service requests to the service agent (In the UK that is Naim Audio, in the US that is Naim Audio North America). And an official dealer should be doing that and not giving you the run around with stories.
As for CD Players, as there are no replacement parts for many of the components, like the transport mech or the DACs servicing may not be possible. They should be asking detailed questions with you back and forth to determine whether the fault is unrepairable, possibly repairable, or probably repairable.
It is true they won’t do a standard service on them anymore. The risk of damage in transit is high and with no spares for the parts likely to be damaged, they run a “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” policy.
A/V Options does not service Naim digital. Audio Concepts and Naim Showroom dealer are discoing their Naim amps and preamps in Dallas.
Joe, you have a few dealer option in the Seattle area, such as Connon Price at Tune, Hawthorne of course, and a couple of others. Focal Naim North America do service Naim kit, as well as Chris West at AV Options. However, CD players are hugely problematic these days due to the lack of good quality mechs out there - it’s mostly all junk nowadays. So, service is tricky, and I know that Chris West won’t service CD players.
The factory finally ran out of VAM1205s and had to stop replacing even VAM1202s because their yields were so low - they were having to build one good one from parts from a number of units and even then it was impossible to guarantee it would last for at least 12 months. The VAM1250PRO used in the CD555 is still OK though AFAIK.
So, depending on what player you have, if it’s mech related then you may be best to look at an independent. Many of these may well scavenge good condition mechs from other players, which is probably better than fitting new rubbish that they cannot guarantee, unless they have a secret source of good quality NOS mechs to draw from.
Which player is it? Is it the CD5x listed in your profile? If so, that’s a VAM1202…
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I would get yourself a new CD player if the Naim one is not working. You could get an independent to keep it running, but I fear the repair would be short lived.
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Randy! Long time, no chat! I hope that all is well.
True, in the UK. Sadly, not generally so in the US.
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Why? Because they’re honest and tell a customer how things are with Naim in the U.S.? FNA is a mess and U.S. dealers are fed up. My dealer dropped Naim last year due to ongoing issues and frustrations with FNA. They aren’t the first or last to abandon Naim for that reason. You should watch the Youtube video by Audible Elegance. They were the 2nd oldest U.S. Naim dealer and dropped them. They spell things out in the video.
To the OP, Chris West / AV Options don’t work on Naim digital products. I’m pretty sure they spell that out on their website. if you need a Naim CDP repaired you’ll have to go through a Naim dealer to work with FNA. Good luck with that!
Is the Barco acquisition complete? It was only just announced not long ago. Those things take a lot of time.
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Yes, we keep on getting these “everything is dandy” comments to defend poor service from Naim, usually UK centric view points. The reality is that outside of the UK, Naim service is far from what it used to be. No harm in being honest about this.
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This is exactly why I have been selling off my Naim gear. Not because I didn’t like it, but because things are not so dandy with Naim in the U.S. I am now down to just a 252/SCDR/300DR, but I know Chris West can work on those. Everything else I had of Naim in my main system has now been sold and replaced (except that I still have Fraim I need to move on).
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I understand the service challenges. I just don’t think a dealer should air their dirty laundry while they are still a licensed retailer. It just seems unprofessional in general and unrelated to the specifics of Naim service quality.
Say what they want after terminating the dealership agreement, fine.
For any manufacturer, I would expect end retailers to effectively be a brand ambassador and if not, give them marching orders. I’m fully aware Naim made various dubious decisions which in hindsight affected serviceability in some markets. That’s not defensible. But I also see it as separate from the dealer’s responsibility as a brand carrier. Are they happy enough to sell it and take customer’s money but not happy enough to chase up support requests for the customer?
If you can’t stand by a brand, don’t sell it. But don’t sell it and then give it bad word of mouth at the same time.
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I don’t agree. It’s not their dirty laundry. It’s FNAs. My own dealer shared issues and frustrations with me, and warned me of problems. I respect and appreciate they did that. That’s how I feel well-served as a customer, and why I trust them. Then I experienced the problems myself first hand, and it’s only because of Richard getting Naim UK involved on my behalf that it got resolved. Otherwise I would have been out a lot of money spent honestly that FNA showed no concern about otherwise.
If a distributor is a total f-up, it’s not the dealer’s problem to isolate customers from it. It’s their responsibility to the customer to be honest about it, so the customer can make informed decisions.
I guess it’s easy to be a Naim fan boy in the UK, but it’s really not so rosy for us here in the states. You all apparently don’t have to deal with what we do in the states. Do you not find it disturbing that long-time Naim dealers are jumping ship? My own dealer sold Naim for over 30 years, and now they feel like they have to tell their own customers they can’t even provide service, because of FNA.
Maybe you’re just failing to really understand and appreciate a sad situation that unfolded here, and perhaps in denial about it. But it’s real for us Yanks.
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I’m not in the UK nor a fanboy.
In fact I live somewhere where Naim did irreparable damage and left the market with zero support options since 2008. The details about what transpired are probably not anything I can safely share on the forum though. There was the official story - and what really happened.
My only service options are to send to Canada or the UK. Both in different continents from me.
My comments are more general and not as a Naim sheeple. I think vendors of any big ticket item absolutely should shield the end user from the BS that happens further upstream or ditch the relationship.
When things went sour in Japan, the retails said nothing bad at all. They merely said that unfortunately the relationship with Naim has come to an end and they would honour all servicing requests for 5 years to 2012 for any items bought up to 2008. As far as I’m concerned, that’s the correct way of dealing with the end of the relationship.
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You’re making stuff up here. The real problem is the dealers cannot chase down support because FNA is the blocker for that. Dealers aren’t the support problem. FNA is the support problem. This is exactly why my dealer gave up with exasperation over FNA and exited the brand. I know from experience that my ex-Naim dealer is terrific about post sales support and service, for every brand they have ever sold me.
The dealers aren’t the problem here. Not to Naim or their their customers. FNA is the problem, to both their dealers and to their customers. That’s the story. Don’t believe it you don’t want to. The dealers owe honesty to their customers, IMO, not dishonesty to protect FNA. I’m glad my dealer is honest with me.
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You’re misconstruing my comment - intentionally or not I cannot tell. I’m not saying that the dealers are the ones to blame for not getting responses from Naim Support. I am saying that if it is a huge problem and they are not getting the support needed, they should stop taking customer money and terminate the relationship rather than dragging it out. And then they are free to tell customers whatever they like about why they did so.
I think from a business perspective, leeway is acceptable in telling customers once the final decision has been made but the current contract term is not expired (“we won’t be carrying that in the near future as we have decided to drop the brand effective from X because Y.” etc.)
I don’t think it’s as clear cut or black and white as you believe.
The dealer and manufacturer relationship is symbiotic, sometimes going well and other times not so well. Everything with a manufacturer/supplier might be superb, bar a few things that happen occasionally or are dependent on other things going awry. These changes aren’t static and obviously change all the time. Some people (dealers) are sensitive to being let down, feel an obligation to tell customers and others don’t.
Japan tends to have a very honorable way of approaching business relationships (some been notable acceptions) but in other countries the supply chain relationships are very different.
As a manufacturer would I want to hear a dealer being upset with servicing and telling customers? Of course I wouldn’t.
But I’d also be asking, how did we get here? Have we been warned, did we address it, did we deprioritise and decide to take the hit later, etc etc.
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