Ordering from UK to USA

Don Atkinson posted:

joerand posted:

Kevin Richardson posted:

Linn and Naim are both overpriced in the US. I thought we might see some savings given the weakness of GBP but it appears we get the opposite result.

I mostly agree, but you need to factor in the lag time; price when the gear was imported, how long it sat in a warehouse, and when the dealer ordered it. The dealer will be paying the price from when the item was imported. Maybe orders are filled in real-time (or just-in-time) these days. Sent individually? Doubt it but I don't know. Plus there's additional overhead involved in the extra supply chain. Folks working for wages, shipping and such.

For keeping costs down and buying within North America, besides McIntosh, Krell and Bryston are also good ones to consider.

I would definitely put Krell on your list of possibilities. 

We suffer the same problem in reverse in the U.K. with imported Krell, but it’s still good value, proving you enjoy their sound.

OTOH, i’m At a loss as to how an importer, distributer, dealer in the USA or Canada can survive and justify a price that exceeds an individual making a transatlantic flight etc to buy a one-off set including U.K. warranty and still have more than enough to be able to return product under warranty if necessary !

The warranty is voided if you use the product in North America.

Kevin Richardson posted:

The warranty is voided if you use the product in North America.

As it should be. This goes back to the ethics of protecting Naim dealers' presence in North America. Otherwise, one could use a NA dealer as a demo bitch and then buy cheaper from abroad.

Then again, there's the lack of a Naim dealer within reasonable driving distance from many/most NA consumers. Based on my experience over the past six years that is rapidly decreasing. Trial and error on the s/h market might be the more solvent option to buyers, and to what benefit is that to Naim's bottom line?

Not sure on the product warranty being voided. I lived in Michigan for about 4 years and took my Naim system with me. They converted to U.S voltage for me at my cost of course. My SBL, s developed a fault where one of the bits flies out of the voice coil, it was a known problem. I rang Naim in the UK (in the days before email was the big thing), they arranged for collection of both matching drive units to be shipped and repaired by Naim in Chicago and returned free of charge. This was about 20 years ago, but......could always ask

Oh well it’s about the performance and musicality.

if you think naim dealers in Usa are making lots of money I doubt very much

i suspect sales volumes are ok but every naim sold takes away from a krell or other high value sale so prices cannot really drop.

Also it’s a conversion process. One early main purchase then the big system upgrade if affordable by customer as customers loves  the Nait/ muso/atom uniti

naim is not mass product. It’s for people who love music and want the best replay at home. 

Brubacca posted:

So Nova is the item in question. 

The US Price is basically an extra £1,000 or $1,340  

I have been wanting a CDX2 - difference is £1,300. 

it is much more than that.   it is more than GBP 1800 difference compared to your ex-vat price.  In the US we have to pay sales tax on top of the retail price, it is not included in the price as it is in the UK.  I understand that products can't be priced on up to the minute currency fluctuations, but that is a significant price difference whereas other British products (ie. B&W speakers) are similar in price on both sides of the pond.

I get the ethics of protecting the local dealers...but Naim/their distributor don't care much about that either, because they also sell through Crutchfield, and there is no restriction on shipping products within the USA on either Naim or Focal.  The restriction on overseas sales/warranty is probably structured to protect the distributor's markup and not individual dealers.

The USA price of a 250 is equivalent to 5234 GBP.  Crazy.

majordude posted:

The USA price of a 250 is equivalent to 5234 GBP.  Crazy.

Look at a 500 system in US vs UK. No wonder most people in US have SN based systems. ????

In all fairness most UK hifi brands enjoy the same markup transiting the Atlantic.  Although there are a few that do not.  As far as naim and others go, I would prefer buying new but generally I end up going used. Really isn’t the cost of new, new pricing just makes me feel a bit taken advantage of.  

Manu posted:

Brubacca posted:

.......

But I can tell you I had excellent warranty service by Audio Plus Services. I had a ten year old UnitiQute that was sold to me as a dealer Demo. The display went bad before that warranty should have been up. Again, it turned out my unit was 10 years old. They took care of my unit under warranty. 

All I'm saying is......

Thanks for your good words Brubacca,

 

There are no such things as double exchange rate, Canadian money is not involved in our transaction with Naim... only for Canadians buyers.

Dear Manu, met you in The US, David Michael Audio, nice Job Debut of the Statement (2016).

Eric and you guys, also made my 2008 Cdx2 sing again, replacing the laser optic lens.

Silly Question if you don't mind:

Assuming money was not an issue, and one ordered Brand new Naim Components from the UK that required a Power Supply, would that Component be fine in the USA?

Pre-Amps, Snaxo, etc....

Allante93!

PS. 230 V vs 115V

Done it, no problems with items running off a power supply as long as the power supply is local voltage.  I intentionally purchased equipment in the U.K. as I wanted to bypass the canadian supplier due to a significant unresolved issue. Manu did a great job trying a few things, even came to my house.

OP wants a Nova. Being brand new technology, I would not want it w/o warranty service available.

Something like a pre, power or integrated....just buy used.

joerand posted:

Theoretically, at least, Naim dealers in the UK should not sell new items directly to the US. Primarily for ethical reasons - undermines the US dealers' and the importer's price structures and puts them at a competitive disadvantage. You should support your local dealer if you want continued brick and mortar Naim presence in the US. I've seen that Naim presence diminish in the Seattle area compared to what it was just 6-7 years ago.

How has the number of Naim dealers declined in Seattle. There are two dealers I know of, Hawthrone and Tone. I don't recall any others before. Definitive, Magnolia, Speaker Lab and Audio Connection didn't carry Naim.

Bubbamike,

I referred to the "presence" of Naim dealers in the Seattle area, not the number. By Tone I assume you mean Tune HiFi; still there. Hawthorne still a landmark. Definitive used to carry a larger line of Naim gear both in Seattle and their suburban locations. Now pretty much relegated to the Muso and Qb. As well there is the newer Gig Harbor Audio, a qualified Naim dealer that does the Muso and Qb, and interestingly occasional vintage Naim offerings, but nothing in-between.

While any qualified Naim dealer around the Seattle region can order any Naim gear you wish, you'll likely have to buy it sans demo, with the exception of the limited demo units available at Tune and Hawthorne. Even between those two dealers, stock has diminished greatly in the past six years and is far from the broader line it once was.

Want to demo a CDX2 in the Seattle area - you're shit out of luck. A Nait XS-2 or SN2, likely. Various separate combinations or higher end demos the likes of Superlumina,  SuperCap DR, or a Superline, etc. - all bets are off.

If you're starting at entry level Naim gear or considering the 272 then there are options for demo in the Seattle area. As you move up the chain it becomes more hit and miss for what's available to demo, and I've found a notable decrease since 2011. Muso or Qb, yeah every "Naim dealer" is carrying one. As far as detailed network or software support for those devices, I suspect this forum is your best resolve.

The cost to stock all the various models makes it hard for any retailer to afford the inventory. It didn't used to be so expensive. And I think the market is shrinking with the rise in prices. I never noticed Naim at Definitive, the Muso is new there, I think. I'm no support as I bought my SN2 used and before that my XS which now resides in someone else's house.

Bubbamike posted:

joerand posted:

Theoretically, at least, Naim dealers in the UK should not sell new items directly to the US. Primarily for ethical reasons - undermines the US dealers' and the importer's price structures and puts them at a competitive disadvantage. You should support your local dealer if you want continued brick and mortar Naim presence in the US. I've seen that Naim presence diminish in the Seattle area compared to what it was just 6-7 years ago.

How has the number of Naim dealers declined in Seattle. There are two dealers I know of, Hawthrone and Tone. I don't recall any others before. Definitive, Magnolia, Speaker Lab and Audio Connection didn't carry Naim.

I demoed and purchased the 272 with XPS and 250DR in Bellevue at Definitive. I didn’t ask to see if they carried anything higher up in the chain. Honestly naim wasn’t even on my radar until the sales manager suggest I give them a listen. 

HutchMD posted:

I demoed and purchased the 272 with XPS and 250DR in Bellevue at Definitive. I didn’t ask to see if they carried anything higher up in the chain. Honestly naim wasn’t even on my radar until the sales manager suggest I give them a listen. 

HutchMD, congrats on your purchase and discovery of Naim. Perhaps I should revise my perfunctory view of Naim dealers in the Puget Sound region. When I was demoing speakers at Definitive in Bellevue a year or so ago, they had only Devialet and Linn amps available as 'comparable substitutes' to my SN2 at the time, while a demo Nait XS sat idle off the shelf. Glad to hear they're now getting some higher end Naim separates in the mix. Perhaps the 272 is a new trump card for local dealers?