Naim in Holland(ripoffs)

Hi Robbie

perhaps you need to cast your net a little wider. Holland is too small a market to fish in, which is why this Hi-Cap is so expensive.

Why don't you shop around on British websites? Shipping a Hi-Cap will set you back maybe 50 euro, but you can make up that loss by paying less for a better item.

Don't worry about damage in shipping; Hi-Caps are very very sturdy, and the mail's insured.

Herman

Herm,

Dealers here dig their one grave just because the Uk and Germanmarket are much cheaper.So in a few years there'll be no Naim-dealers in Holland anymore.

Regards,
Rob.

quote:

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Originally posted by Robbie:
Hunting for a recent secondhand Hicap I'm under the impression that dutch Naim-dealers are complete ripoffs.They ask 900euro for a ten year old unserviced Hicap.That's 600pounds !!As I don't want to do business with "easy moneymakers"
I would like to ask the forum members to mail me at r.e.brands@medgen.azg.nl when someone has a fairly recent Hicap to sell.

Regards,
Rob.

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email me Robbie I am at tuan6084@rogers.com

quote:

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Originally posted by Robbie:
Dealers here dig their own grave just because the Uk and Germanmarket are much cheaper.So in a few years there'll be no Naim-dealers in Holland anymore.

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I don't know about that. Hifi dealers typically don't make their money selling second hand material, so if they lose that business it's not the end. Most customers want shiny new stuff, and don't even know what upgraditis looks like. Also, a Naim dealer sells a lot of other brands too.

Herman

Tuan,

You've got mail.

Regards,
Rob.

Herm,

There used to be a very good Naim dealer in Groningen,the city I live in.He once told me he has stopped the dealership cause he only sold 50 Naim-items in 3 years time.He still likes Naim tough.Now he's making his living with selling lots of Rotel,Marantz and even Arcam.Draw your own conlusions then.

Regards,
Rob.

But did the dealer say it was because people preferred buying Naim second hand? That would be interesting, and surprising. My guess would be Naim is more exclusive than Rotel, so naturally it sells less; it just depends where the dealer says it's not worth it.

In a big market like the UK the idea would be second hand prices allow people to get a start with Naim, and that way they'll get hooked, and buy more expensive stuff new, making the dealer happy after all. But you do need a big, vibrant constituency for this.

I think I once talked to that Groningen man on the phone, about a pair of speakers (s/h indeed), that had just left the building.

Herman

Herm,

Sound Gallery wasn't it ?

Regards,
Rob.

Hi Robbie,

I guess you're talkin about Studio107 in Den Haag ?
Ghijssens HiFi in Brussels is offering a HiCap for 750,- euro. Ok, still not dirt cheap but 150,- euro less.

Here's the adress:

Ghijsens Hifi
St. Truidensteenweg 14
B3500 HASSELT
tel. 011 229659

regards,
Alco

Robbie,

Try to be slightly easier on these dealers, they're at least not complete rip-offs. But you do have a point.

IMHO, an active and lively second-hand market is an essential part of Naim's blood of life (correct me if I'm wrong). How many current 52 owners started off buying a second-hand 32.5? In Holland, the second-hand market for Naim equipment is close to dead. Usually, there are only 10-15 items for sale s/h. That's simply too little, so dealers seem to have very little options in finding clients that will buy and keep buying Naim.

Herman's point about looking abroad is valid. The shipping costs can get slightly out of hand, but if you're buying something with a value of that of a HiCap or more, it should be worth it.

Cheers,

Edo

I live in Austria and I bought all my black boxes (except the Armageddon) from Germany and UK, even my NBLs are from UK!

Never had a problem, always saved huge amount of money compared to the second hand market here in Vienna. Only once a seller packed a nap135 really messily (no original boxes etc) and it got a mark on one corner of the case...

- Jun

Always tought dealers wanted to sell ,so why not lower the prices of secondhand units.That's the way to attract customers and lead them to the path of upgrading.The Hicap Alco mentioned for instance is already 6 months for sale.If I were a dealer I wouldn't keep an unit for 6 months on storage especially not when it's secondhand.

Regards,
Rob.

Hi Robbie,

Sound-Gallery was indeed the former Naim dealer in Groningen. These days 'Art in sound' in Roden has taken over the Naim dealership.
They don't have s/h Naim stuff frequently, but if they do their prices are usualy very fair!
(I got my CDX from 'em, and they had some more Naim bargain's the last few years)

Greetings,
Alco

Alco,

Art in Sound is ok.

Tuan,

You haven't send me mail yet.

Regards,
Rob (off till monday)

Robbie,

Have you checked the phonologic website. Not sure how often it gets updated, but they have a few dealer second hand and ex-demo equipment on there.

Funnily enough, Audio Concept in Luxembourg always seem to have the most stuff listed. There is a supercap for 2000 euro's at the moment, if only I had the spare cash.

Simon

quote:

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Have you checked the phonologic website. Not sure how often it gets updated, but they have a few dealer second hand and ex-demo equipment on there.

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That's right, but... OR the (s/h) site only gets updated every few months(!) OR the stores mentioned on the list can't get rid of the s/h Naim stuff they're offering. (which I doubt)

regards,
Alco

hi alco and robbie,

there is also a dealer in emmen "musifoon" wich have more equipement of naim to demo then "art in sound" in roden. personally i prefer musifoon.

aj

quote:

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I guess you're talkin about Studio107 in Den Haag ?
Ghijssens HiFi in Brussels is offering a HiCap for 750,- euro. Ok, still not dirt cheap but 150,- euro less.

Here's the adress:

Ghijsens Hifi
St. Truidensteenweg 14
B3500 HASSELT
tel. 011 229659

regards,
Alco

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Alco/Robbie

You got the address right but Hasselt is quite someway from Brussel. I live south east of Eindhoven so it's not too far for me. Ghijsens is almost local.

Ghijsens did have TWO Hi-Caps for sale s/h at 750Euro.

I bought one myself and it is in good condition. Phonologic lists the serial numbers at their site so you can go to NAIM's serial number page and find out how old the s/h kit is. Both the Hi-Caps were circa 1998 if I remember correctly.

Incidentally Ghijsens gave me a SNAIC for free in that price, to go with the Hi-Cap, so that was not too bad a deal in my opinion.

The bad news is I was tempted to buy the second Hi-Cap so phoned 2 days ago and they said it was sold. So unless they sold it to you Robbie is guess it's too late.

GEOFFP

Alco,

You may be right about updating every few months on the phonologic website, as it doesn't seem to change very much.

The site does have links to most of the dealers though, most of whom seem to have their own second hand pages.

When I part exchanged my 72 though it sold pretty quickly and never made it to the Phonologic pages.

Simon

Today I discovered another Dutch ripoff example...
One dealer (not a Naim dealer) had a NAC72 pre-amp. The price of 800,- euro seemed a bit too high imho, but I was told that this Nac72 was a demo model from another Dutch (Naim) dealer, so it was practically (as) new. I mailed this store and asked for the serial nr.
I just found out from the serial that this NAC72 must be 13(!)years old. (1990!)
...hmm hard to believe that this is a demo amp imho

Greetings,
Alco

Does seem a bit extreme, 800 euros for a 13 year old 72.

I got a 650 euro trade-in for mine when I upgraded, but it was less than 2 years old, and had MC boards. No idea what the dealer sold it on for though.

Simon