Should I get a new dealer ..
Posted by: Peter Gear on 20 April 2005
or wait?
I have bought all my Naim from the same dealer and have had for 10 years or more an excellent relationship. I'm now in the market for an AV add on and have pretty much made up my mind on the AV2/175/n sats/centre route. Not sure about the DVD5 though as my dealer reckons its a lot to pay and something like an arcam can do it nearly as well and cheaper. I do have £10k waiting to be spent!!
I have had to prompt my dealer on several occasions over the past 6 months the most recent being earlier in the year when he said he would set up a demo. Since then nothing! Why am I not getting any feedback? Is Naim av equipment difficult to get hold of? Does he not want my custom? Why do I have to initiate contact each time I want to find out what is going on?
So .... should I get a new dealer of wait?
Any thoughts/suggestions?
Peter
I have bought all my Naim from the same dealer and have had for 10 years or more an excellent relationship. I'm now in the market for an AV add on and have pretty much made up my mind on the AV2/175/n sats/centre route. Not sure about the DVD5 though as my dealer reckons its a lot to pay and something like an arcam can do it nearly as well and cheaper. I do have £10k waiting to be spent!!
I have had to prompt my dealer on several occasions over the past 6 months the most recent being earlier in the year when he said he would set up a demo. Since then nothing! Why am I not getting any feedback? Is Naim av equipment difficult to get hold of? Does he not want my custom? Why do I have to initiate contact each time I want to find out what is going on?
So .... should I get a new dealer of wait?
Any thoughts/suggestions?
Peter
Hmm
I'm not sure if it's related, but I note that my dealer also takes a long time to get 'stuff' re the latest Naim bits, and gear for demo etc.
I spoke to my dealer about this, and the reasons given were various, but came down to basically this:
Naim these days build to order, with a 'just in time' approach, so as to minimise dead stock.
The numbers produced are small and hard to get hold of.
The dealership has to buy the demo models - which adds to his overheads and cash flow problems.
Here in OZ, (and this and the above is hearsay BTW) the five series sells well; everything above that is very slow - mainly due to the large jumps in price due the rate of exchange, and everything being airfreighted across.
The 2 channel Naim kit sells well; the AV side of it is very slow - I believe (again hearsay) my dealer has yet to sell ONE AV2 - again price being given as the reason - it's a VERY difficult market here. We have ONE Naim dealer for a city of 3 1/2 - 4 million people.
Hopefully I will soon be able to demo a pair of N-sats - but both the centre channel and sub will arrive only sometime later this year - whether that's due to demand/supply, or my dealers reluctance (understandable despite their enthusiasm for the product, as business is business) to stock expensive equipment that may or may not sell well, I cannot answer.
But I would think the situation for a lot of the smaller dealers is tight - after all they have to make a living, and Naim would hardly be their bread and butter line.
I guess it's a matter of what the market 'wants' and what the dealer needs to supply. In my dealers case, their service is exemplary, as is their 2 channel knowledge; HT seems to be more of a learning curve for them. Naim is their top brand, but NAD, Rotel, Arcam etc is where the turnover and cash - flow is.
As I mentioned, this is hearsay from a friend at the dealership, but it may well apply to your dealer as well, and seems a very plausible explanation.
Cheers
John...
I'm not sure if it's related, but I note that my dealer also takes a long time to get 'stuff' re the latest Naim bits, and gear for demo etc.
I spoke to my dealer about this, and the reasons given were various, but came down to basically this:
Naim these days build to order, with a 'just in time' approach, so as to minimise dead stock.
The numbers produced are small and hard to get hold of.
The dealership has to buy the demo models - which adds to his overheads and cash flow problems.
Here in OZ, (and this and the above is hearsay BTW) the five series sells well; everything above that is very slow - mainly due to the large jumps in price due the rate of exchange, and everything being airfreighted across.
The 2 channel Naim kit sells well; the AV side of it is very slow - I believe (again hearsay) my dealer has yet to sell ONE AV2 - again price being given as the reason - it's a VERY difficult market here. We have ONE Naim dealer for a city of 3 1/2 - 4 million people.
Hopefully I will soon be able to demo a pair of N-sats - but both the centre channel and sub will arrive only sometime later this year - whether that's due to demand/supply, or my dealers reluctance (understandable despite their enthusiasm for the product, as business is business) to stock expensive equipment that may or may not sell well, I cannot answer.
But I would think the situation for a lot of the smaller dealers is tight - after all they have to make a living, and Naim would hardly be their bread and butter line.
I guess it's a matter of what the market 'wants' and what the dealer needs to supply. In my dealers case, their service is exemplary, as is their 2 channel knowledge; HT seems to be more of a learning curve for them. Naim is their top brand, but NAD, Rotel, Arcam etc is where the turnover and cash - flow is.
As I mentioned, this is hearsay from a friend at the dealership, but it may well apply to your dealer as well, and seems a very plausible explanation.
Cheers
John...
Lomo said:
Yes, I may have written about this in another posting, but recently HiFi Choice came out with their 2004 top components list. Winner of the 'gold star' in the 2-3k UK pounds section for AV processors was the Rotel 1098 AV processor - the top unit- for UK 2,300.00 pounds. The 'silver' medal was the Naim AV2 circa UK 2,200.00 pounds.
Yet here, the Naim AV2 is AU $7,000.00 dollars, and the Rotel 1098 is AU $4,299.00 dollars - one cannot help but ask how come??
That's a very big difference in price, and I also cannot help but agree that either Naim or the distributor need to do more to support the product in Australia.
Surely prices that were more competitive in the market place would lead to increased sales? - after all it's not so much a performance issue as a price issue, relative to the market place re competition and what the market is prepared to spend for that 'extra' something that Naim can bring to the party.
Just my 2c worth
Cheers
John...
quote:Rotel and NAD seem to have come up with a pricing structure which is more realistic and rewards those willing to have a go. It is time Naim made an effort to reward the faithful in the southern climes.
Yes, I may have written about this in another posting, but recently HiFi Choice came out with their 2004 top components list. Winner of the 'gold star' in the 2-3k UK pounds section for AV processors was the Rotel 1098 AV processor - the top unit- for UK 2,300.00 pounds. The 'silver' medal was the Naim AV2 circa UK 2,200.00 pounds.
Yet here, the Naim AV2 is AU $7,000.00 dollars, and the Rotel 1098 is AU $4,299.00 dollars - one cannot help but ask how come??
That's a very big difference in price, and I also cannot help but agree that either Naim or the distributor need to do more to support the product in Australia.
Surely prices that were more competitive in the market place would lead to increased sales? - after all it's not so much a performance issue as a price issue, relative to the market place re competition and what the market is prepared to spend for that 'extra' something that Naim can bring to the party.
Just my 2c worth
Cheers
John...