I'm french and I would like to buy Naim in UK

Hi Itoune,

I sent a pair of Kan II's to someone in Paris from England using "Interlink Express". The cost was about £30-40, and they were pretty reliable.

If you are buying from a dealer, they are likely to have their own courier. A really good dealer may do this for free.

Dealers in England all sell Naim at the same UK price. The difference is finding a good dealer. Which town would be convenient for you?

Andrew

quote:

Originally posted by Itoune:
- could you give me advices to find perhaps a better Naim retailer for the good prices

A better Naim retailer tends to be local, and usually speaks your language.

A good dealer is an essential asset when choosing, installing and problem solving.

quote:

Originally posted by Adam Meredith:

quote:

Originally posted by Itoune:
- could you give me advices to find perhaps a better Naim retailer for the good prices

A better Naim retailer tends to be local, and usually speaks your language.

A good dealer is an essential asset when choosing, installing and problem solving.

get off the forum and enjoy your hols.

- Andrew : Thanks for 'Interlink Express'. I am going to ask them a quote.
As I am far from England and I am getting them via plane, I have no really a prefered town.

- Adam : I aggree with you but in that case, the interest is that UK prices are lower, so it's little different. I have a friend close to me that works in Hifi (but not Naim). I'll install my system with him.

- Dev B : I'm not sure to understand. Are you suggesting me to leave the forum ? ? ?

He was replying to Adam

quote:

Originally posted by Itoune:
- Andrew : Thanks for 'Interlink Express'. I am going to ask them a quote.
As I am far from England and I am getting them via plane, I have no really a prefered town.

- Adam : I aggree with you but in that case, the interest is that UK prices are lower, so it's little different. I have a friend close to me that works in Hifi (but not Naim). I'll install my system with him.

- Dev B : I'm not sure to understand. Are you suggesting me to leave the forum ? ? ?

Hello Itoune,

You are very welcome on the Forum. It's a place where you can learn much about Naim equipment and lots of other things aswell, from both Dealers like me and end users (customers).

Advice is very important for you to get the very best out of your Naim HiFi and as Adam said, for you to do this, it is very important that someone local to you helps you with your system.

You live in France, so it is probably best for you to shop with a dealer in France as they will be in the best position to give you all the personal advice on choice and setup that you require in order to get the best out of your system once you have chosen it from all the options you have listed above. Believe me, setup of your chosen Naim system is very important in order to get the best sound from it (and hence value for money). - You need some one who has this experience. This is why just buying boxes and taking them home is not a good idea.

In Central England where I am based, nearly all the Naim I sell is installed in the customer's home for this reason. The only time I allow customers to take equipment home themselves is when I am satisfied that they are experienced Naim owners and that they know about the various do's and dont's during the installation process (normally, this is because I have installed things for them before and I have given them training in setup when delivering and setting up their original systems).

Please remember - small adjustments can make big differences to the sound!

I would hate to hear that you had brought a system and then you were dissattisfied with it once it was at home

For a few Euros extra use your local Naim dealer............. you will hear it is worth it!

Best regards,

Peter Swain

Itoune

Going back to your original question, the CDX2, 282, hicap, 250.2 is the best system and worth the extra, so long as you can afford it.

But before spending such a lot of money you really need to listen properly, preferably in your own home, and make sure the system is right for you. To do that you need a local dealer. Remember that you will have to go back later if you ever have problems or want to upgrade. You'll also need to sort out stands, leads and so on.

I suspect that if you were to go for the whole lot in one go (that's over £9000) a local dealer would have some flexibility on price, possibly including racks, leads etc, so that you could approach the UK price overall.

It's definitely worth a little more for expert advice and to establish a long term relationship with your dealer. Just because your friend works in hifi does not mean they could set up and optimise a Naim system for you.

Edouard is a very knowledgeable (French) forum member who I'm sure would be happy to advise you. His e- mail address is esed at free.fr

Nigel

Am I allowed to say I disagree very strongly?

We all live in the EEC but I am expected to pay at least 30% over British prices for Naim gear here.

Let's try looking at our new friend Itoune's shopping list as a £12,000 system for a moment... Do you still feel the same way?

£3000 will buy him another Naim box if he gets it in the UK. £12,000 will buy him a £9000 UK system in France.

Even bløødy estate agents don't make £3000 for a couple of hours drinking cofee and chatting while they stick plugs in sockets. Who knows? Perhaps they do? Even my architect didn't charge me that much for a hell of a lot of legwork, lots of drawings, getting planning permission, stress calculations, re-applying, re-drawing etc.etc.

Forgive me if this hits a nerve. It most certainly does with me!

Nime

In France the official price for CDX2/NAC282/Hicap2/NAP250-2 is 15650 euros.

In UK, I think it is £9005 so approximaively 13000 euros.

The difference is then 2650 euros, which isn't nothing.

Hi Itoune,

Why don't you visit your local Naim dealer and audition the kit you are interested in. You can decide yourself then which system you want.
Later, tell the dealer you are prepared to travel to the UK to buy if necessary because of the inflated price in France. If your dealer has some flexibility on price then it may be as cheap to buy from him as it is to buy in the UK after you factor in the shipping costs.
Having someone local to help you is definitely the best way to go. Proper set-up of your Naim gear will be priceless.
Regards,
Steve O.

Greeting from Vancouver Nigel, British Columbia is truly a beautiful,place, Olympic mountains and coastal Mountains make a spectacular surrounding, not to mention the Pacific Ocean. I'll meet some of the Naim forum members at the Port Townsend jazz festival (US) by the end of the week, we have booked rooms in the same B&B.


Itoun,

Although it could be tempting to buy in UK you might want to weigh the pros
and the cons (le pour et le contre)

The price might be a good point from a quick look but as you mentioned on
your posting the shipping is very expensive, moreover the warranty is a big
issue as well and again you'll face the shipping cost.
Bear in mind that the difference in price isn't that big if you consider
that your dealer may offer you a good price for the purchase of such an
expensive system.

You may face little or not so little problems with your gears and a dealer
will be useful in this case, and eventually Naim UK and/or the French
distributor will deal with him/them to help you.

If you are not happy with your system, your dealer may exchange part of your
system or entirely at the cost price for something you like better.
Let's say you got a 202 system and 2 months later you want to swap it for a
282...
Of course your UK dealer would probably do that as well, but you'll have to
pay the shipping cost...both side.
...moreover (most probably) you won't have been able to demo the systems.

Not to mention that you live quite far from UK.

Although I have been travelling quite often to England, I purchased my Naim
gears in France.

If you want more info, just email me,

Regards,

Edouard

Hi Steve,

I have listened both systems and of course prefered the 282/Hi/250.

I have asked my local dealer his best price but it was very close to the official price.

In France I have found good prices but in a dealer far from me.
So it is the same for me to buy in the north of France or in UK.
And as official prices are nearly around 15/20% lower in UK, if I can fin a dealer that makes me a good discount on the official price, then it would be really very interesting for me.

So I am waiting for good addresses of Naim dealers ;-)

I don't wish to fall out with anyone, but I do think that this whole dealer-must-set-up-the-kit is something of a myth.

I've had to buy second hand over the past 12 months to complete my "olive" system, so have had to install the additions myself. At first it can be a bit confusing (or, as our American friends might say, counter-intuitive) matching the various leads, etc, but it sure as hell isn't rocket science. (Unlike trying to set up an LP12 or install an ARO, which I'd never try to do myself.)

If you're based in the UK, and all dealers are charging the same price (and I've never quite understood how that fits in with retail pricing legislation, but never mind), it clearly makes sense to go to whichever dealer offers the best service.

But, given the choice between any UK dealer selling at price X and any dealer in France selling at price X+20%, I know which option I'd go for! That wider market available to all EC citizens is why we're in the EC, after all.

Graham

quote:

I don't wish to fall out with anyone, but I do think that this whole dealer-must-set-up-the-kit is something of a myth

Graham nor do I but I'm with you on this. I've bought 4 items of brand new kit from 2 UK Naim dealers and both have never even offered to install/ deliver, I then went on to (nearly) complete my olive system the 2nd hand route to great effect! Also when i think of products and where they came from then that’s just the way things are these days, i have a walkman from Germany, drink from Italy and 2 watches from Switzerland, i know that’s not Naim, stuff but the principal is the same - we all travel and work in more and more countries these days and I cant agree with Adam on this. Naim has to move with the times, things are much more fluid these days and Naim have to except that not roll out the "dealer is best" - they clearly aren’t.
Martin

I would like to go back to the initial subject :

- the best quality/price company to send from UK to France

- a few addresses to find Naim at a good price in UK

Thanks

Itoune

I can't help you as to couriers.

But, as to price, you won't get discounts on new Naim equipment. Maybe consider nearly new second hand?

G

Hi Graham

I have already found good prices on new equipment in UK.

I would like to know what the forumers have found best.

Who have you found in the UK that is doing good deals?

Itoune

Welcome to the forum

I installed my kit on a naim fraim all by myself and it sounds great to me and I'm somebody with a reputation for not knowing one end of a srewdriver from another. As said by Graham, I'd not try this with an Aro - but CD players, amps and speakers are easy enough. Only problem is if something doesn't work then it is handy to have some help around the corner.

As far as I'm aware all dealers in England sell new naim kit at the same price. You can find the names of dealers on naim's site

Rotf

Itoune

The typically shipping cost by air courier from the UK to The Netherlands (Including some insurance) which I assume is similar to France, is between 70 & 100 Euros PER BOX depending on actual weight (a 282 weighs quite a bit less than a 250.2 for example) so for the CDX2/282/ Hicap & Napsc /250.2 you can expect to pay a minimum of say 320 to 350 Euros shipping cost.

If you are absolutely firm you are going to buy in the UK I would advise you to get in your car and drive over there. It is not that expensive to cross the channel. I use Hoverspeed Calais to Dover & back and the cost was about 120 Euros round trip + petrol of course BUT if you settle on a dealer you can visit him and at least listen to the system in the shop BEFORE paying and then put the boxes that you now know are working properly in your car and drive home. Since this is all inside the EEC there will be no import duty to pay, just show the customs people the receipt if stopped (never happened to me). Obviously a dealer in the south around the London area would be nearest to Dover and so most convienient.

If you are going to risk this don't cry if you have problems later with any of the system! Not that you should. Also talk to the dealer and arrange for him to give you some basic training on do's and don'ts such as the right order in which to switch the kit on for example, and which socket needs a shorting plug on the 282 when using 1 Hicap, and which socket the NAPSC plugs into, and how you power a phono stage from the 282 and so on, and so on..... Of course if you know all this already you have no problems. Good Luck

regards
GEOFF

Geoff

Surely, if there are problems, the dealer (or the Naim warranty) are there to sort this out? I don't mean "problems" such as dropping and breaking something, but why else would the dealer (by contract) or Naim (by warranty) not have to sort things out?

Just moving from one EC state to another can't break the contract with the dealer or the warranty with Naim.

Graham

Itoune

Naim gear is sold at the same price by all UK dealers. If any forum member has private arrangements with their dealers, they are not going to publish anything here.

If you want to shop around in the UK, you will need to pick up the phone or get e-mailing.

Nigel

quote:

Originally posted by hungryhalibut:
Itoune

Naim gear is sold at the same price by all UK dealers. If any forum member has private arrangements with their dealers, they are not going to publish anything here.

If you want to shop around in the UK, you will need to pick up the phone or get e-mailing.

Nigel

I understand but there is the PM to avoid problems

quote:

Geoff
Surely, if there are problems, the dealer (or the Naim warranty) are there to sort this out? I don't mean "problems" such as dropping and breaking something, but why else would the dealer (by contract) or Naim (by warranty) not have to sort things out?

Graham..what I was really meaning (not expressed in detail) is that the dealer that is there to sort this out is in the UK in this case and Itoune is sitting where he lives in France faced with how he gets the kit back to dealer in the UK to have something done about it. Certainly the warranty requires the same of Naim and again instead of a local french dealer organising getiing a box back to Naim it would be the UK dealer Itoune purchased from. Itoune would have to get it to the UK at his own expense.

That's the extra risk in this

regards
Geoff

Geoff

I simply wouldn't know whether, if I bought something from a Naim dealer in (say) Newcastle, given that I live in London, I could be charged for the excess amount in (theoretically) transporting from London to Salisbury via Newcastle.

So, if I were to buy in Paris, which is nearer, would I be charged extra?

If Itoune buys in (say) Canterbury, and something goes wrong with the equipment under the warranty period, doesn't the dealer and/or Naim have to collect, service and return?

I don't know, but I suspect that EC regulations may come into this, however much we may be urged to go to a "local" dealer.

Graham