New or ex-demo n-Vi?

Posted by: rhubarbe on 20 March 2007

I can make something of a saving by buying a seven month old ex-demo n-Vi, over a new one.

I'm happy to buy new if it benefits me, but having been impecunious as a lad, one doesn't want to waste brass.

Is a seven month old unit too much of a risk, hardware wise, to make it worth buying just to save five hundred quid?

Or does the seventeen months of warranty I'd get on the ex-demo make it a worry-free purchase?
Posted on: 21 March 2007 by Robbert
If it's got no children disease I would go for the secondhands one. You save € 750,- That's a lot of money + you got a very long period warrenty.
Posted on: 21 March 2007 by SimonJ
If it's an official dealer then an Ex demo model should still come with a 2 year warantee. Most issues should have already been sorted by now and ones with faulty hardware should have been swapped out. Cool
Posted on: 21 March 2007 by rhubarbe
I assume the guys talking about five year warranties are in EU countries other than the UK.

I have my own opinion about that which I won't voice here.

The n-Vi is not at a Naim authorised dealer, but at a respected specialist dealer....

I suppose that makes it second hand rather than an ex-demo.
Posted on: 21 March 2007 by rhubarbe
But, if it comes with seventeen momths of warranty, which Adam says Naim will honour, is there any risk, really?
Posted on: 21 March 2007 by rhubarbe
Well, I'll be sending it back....
Posted on: 22 March 2007 by Chalshus
Anything can't go wrong. It's a Naim. Winker

If I were you, I would have bought the demo-model.
Posted on: 22 March 2007 by rhubarbe
If I get hold of the serial number, will Naim tell me if it has any PSU issues?

Clearly, if I am having to send it to Salisbury at my own expense for repair I'll want to see if I can get a better price.
Posted on: 24 March 2007 by SimonJ
Have you tried talking to Naim official dealers, they may have kit coming to the age where it can now be sold as ex-demo. You may pay a little bit more than your 2nd hand deal (you may even suprise yourself) but I for one wouldn't mind paying just that little bit extra for that piece of mind, especially with an n-Vi as it still has minor bugs.. Winker
Posted on: 25 March 2007 by living in lancs yearning for yorks
I bought an ex-dem NVi, and ex-dem n-system speakers recently - and saved 1750 on the new cost (still left quite a big bill though and I've yet to buy cables - cannot use speakers until new house completed in a couple of months!). I felt happier buying ex-demo than second hand, although Naim will provide cover for a second hand item within the original warranty...
Posted on: 25 March 2007 by rhubarbe
I did have a chat to the only Naim dealer I could find who was advaertising an ex-demo. He wanted the same price but his was a year old compared to my second hand one at seven months. Only a year warranty on that one, then.
Posted on: 27 March 2007 by rhubarbe
Mais non, mon brave. Not my other thread! I was just contributing to it.

In the end I concluded that the n-Vi would leave me with too much capital tied up in a non-upgradeable DVD/CD transport, albeit a very good one.

I decided to buy an AV2.
Posted on: 28 March 2007 by SimonJ
Not sure what you were going to or have paid for an AV2, but if you were money concious then an AV2 with the required NAPV175 is RRP £3820, whereas the n-Vi is only RRP £3000, so not only is the RRP of the n-Vi £820 less than the AV2+NAPV175, but over the AV2 you get a free DVD5 (which is a great CD player - CD5 type performance) thrown in which normally costs £2425 on it's own.

SD-DVD is not going to go anywhere in the next 5 years and no Blu-Ray or HD-DVD player is going to play SD-DVD’s as well as an n-Vi or DVD5 and not many SD-DVD players will either! Smile If it were my money I'd get the n-Vi now and add a HD or Blu-ray player later. If you want ultimate AV sound though the AV2 is better than the n-Vi.