Important Announcement Regarding the Availability of Naim Ovator Loudspeaker Range

Hungryhalibut posted:

Cast them as cousins.

Pregnant Penguin. 

I absolutely love the way my Ovators S-400 sound! My wife has a strong dislike to their looks though Luckily the sound quality is more important 

I love my S-400. Never once I regretted buying them. 

They deliver music exactly like I want.

The four things that have always given me confidence in buying Naim products are 1) sound quality, 2) reliability, 3) resale value, and 4) serviceability. I see this criteria applying to purchases of both new and previous generation Naim products, including the now end-of-sale Ovators. As I've said many times, my experience with the 400's has been entirely positive, and this announcement gives me no reason to think about changing.

The odds may be against it, but I do hope that one day we will see a new generation of eclectic, iconic Naim-badged speakers. 

ATB.

Hook

Always say when a range of Speaker one likes ceases, but it happens! I lived with PMS Isobariks for 25 years before migrating to S600 Active, then S800 Active, so I'm pleased I got them while they were available - a beautiful and very musical speaker.

I wish Naim success with their new path - but it looks like the end of Active loudspeaker developments.

DB.

Hook posted:

The odds may be against it, but I do hope that one day we will see a new generation of eclectic, iconic Naim-badged speakers. 

ATB.

Hook

Me too.  The engineering in my SL2s is something to behold, and the Ovators have their rather idiosyncratic BMR technology, isolating plinths and so on. So many speakers one sees are me-too boxes; wooden rectangles with off a few bought-in drivers. It's good to own something a bit different. 

Hungryhalibut posted:

Hook posted:

The odds may be against it, but I do hope that one day we will see a new generation of eclectic, iconic Naim-badged speakers. 

ATB.

Hook

Me too.  The engineering in my SL2s is something to behold, and the Ovators have their rather idiosyncratic BMR technology, isolating plinths and so on. So many speakers one sees are me-too boxes; wooden rectangles with off a few bought-in drivers. It's good to own something a bit different. 

Hear, hear!!

enjoy

ken

Hook posted:

 

The odds may be against it, but I do hope that one day we will see a new generation of eclectic, iconic Naim-badged speakers. 

ATB.

Hook

I do hope so, Naim have produced some classic speakers, DBL's SL2's NBL's N-Sats, any of which I would have been happy to have owned.

Nothing would be better than attending demonstrations of new naim speakers in the future and considering buying a pair.

Guessing this means the SL speaker cable is the last speaker cable Naim will ever produce too as i'm guessing it was developed alongside the Ovators. Will future cables be voiced to match the Focal range? 

rackkit posted:

Guessing this means the SL speaker cable is the last speaker cable Naim will ever produce too as i'm guessing it was developed alongside the Ovators. Will future cables be voiced to match the Focal range? 

I always thought the Naim speaker cables were made to suit the amps, not so much the speakers.

What colour choices did/does the Ovator range come in.  Where there years that new colours were introduced/retired ?  Is it listed any where ?

There have been a number of excellent naim speakers since so many years.

Maybe a new range is in development ?

Safe to say those in Muso and Qb are not considered Naim speakers?

Or nobody wants to look at it that way for fear of the harbinger?

Like others here I've always been smitten with the older range of Naim loudspeakers and been amazed by the detailed engineering that went into them. Much as I respect the Ovator range I'm afraid they just never did it for me. Just personal taste, like all high-quality loudspeakers are.

I have my precious DBLs and I'm counting on them outlasting me! Oh, and a nice pair of nSats doing surround sound duty. Although understandable given the market they were initially aimed at, I always thought it was a pity Naim called them nSats because they are brilliant little monitors in their own right.

tonym posted:

... a nice pair of nSats doing surround sound duty. Although understandable given the market they were initially aimed at, I always thought it was a pity Naim called them nSats because they are brilliant little monitors in their own right.

I always thought it was a shame that Naim never built on the N-Sats abilities. Many people with cheaper Naim electronics would have found Ovators well over their budget, and where space is limited, you can hardly run S400s with a Unitiqute. Seems like a lost opportunity to get first time buyers into the idea of owning Naim speakers. 

Hungryhalibut posted:

Hook posted:

The odds may be against it, but I do hope that one day we will see a new generation of eclectic, iconic Naim-badged speakers. 

ATB.

Hook

Me too.  The engineering in my SL2s is something to behold, and the Ovators have their rather idiosyncratic BMR technology, isolating plinths and so on. So many speakers one sees are me-too boxes; wooden rectangles with off a few bought-in drivers. It's good to own something a bit different. 

Nigel,

You took the words right from my mouth

R.

rackkit posted:

Guessing this means the SL speaker cable is the last speaker cable Naim will ever produce too as i'm guessing it was developed alongside the Ovators. Will future cables be voiced to match the Focal range? 

The SL cables were developed alongside the Statement, so were designed to push the performance envelope higher to support this. I'm running a full loom SL set with Focal speakers, and it works rather well already!

Hi Doug,

Yes, Sorry to hear this. I have a set of 400's and a superuniti and they're great. Talking about that I was thinking of moving up a level - i guess you will be recommending the focal supra 1/2's now. Any idea of a good system upgrade from my above?

cheers

Tony

So are naim finished with making speakers for good??

Letting focal take that end like many predicted even when naim said different.

The iron grip of the vulture capitalists starting to take a strong hold.........sadly.

Sat listening to my "passive" 600's and they are sounding glorious. I'd like to say well done to Roy and the team on producing the Ovators.

I'm wondering how much I would have to spend to get a considerable upgrade on what I'm hearing. Speakers are so room dependent and mine just work...brilliantly...in my room. Everything I'm hearing is so well balanced.

Good job Naim. 

robert- posted:

So are naim finished with making speakers for good??

Letting focal take that end like many predicted even when naim said different.

The iron grip of the vulture capitalists starting to take a strong hold.........sadly.

Naim are a business and it's in all our interests for them to flourish. Even if the merger with Focal hadn't happened it's unlikely, given the numbers of loudspeakers I suspect Naim sold, that continuing to manufacture them would be financially viable. Did Naim "say different?" not officially they didn't.

what i admire about naim speakers, and will miss sorely, is the high focus on mechanical issues. for example, SBL, NBL, DBL and SL2 among others.

This attention to mechanical detail was very well thought out and clearly worked (for me in my system, in my room ... etc etc)

i wonder if they would consider a "money-no-object" ultimate (beyond all that exists today) speaker as a 'farewell' product.  God knows what it would be called :-)

enjoy

ken

tonym posted:

robert- posted:

So are naim finished with making speakers for good??

Letting focal take that end like many predicted even when naim said different.

The iron grip of the vulture capitalists starting to take a strong hold.........sadly.

Naim are a business and it's in all our interests for them to flourish. Even if the merger with Focal hadn't happened it's unlikely, given the numbers of loudspeakers I suspect Naim sold, that continuing to manufacture them would be financially viable. Did Naim "say different?" not officially they didn't. 

Steve Crowe, on the Merger!

“For future success, the key point is that there is no future for a speaker or electronic company alone,” says Jacques Mahul, founder and chairman Focal & Co. “Partnership and collaboration are the way forward both in terms of investment and R&D. Working together means you can go more quickly and successfully whilst remaining true to the respective brands.”

I remember a time when Linn took care of the front & rear end, while Naim handled the electronics. 

 Let's hope The Glass Is Half Full!!!!!

Allante93!

ChrisSU posted:

tonym posted:

... a nice pair of nSats doing surround sound duty. Although understandable given the market they were initially aimed at, I always thought it was a pity Naim called them nSats because they are brilliant little monitors in their own right.

I always thought it was a shame that Naim never built on the N-Sats abilities. Many people with cheaper Naim electronics would have found Ovators well over their budget, and where space is limited, you can hardly run S400s with a Unitiqute. Seems like a lost opportunity to get first time buyers into the idea of owning Naim speakers. 

i agree about nSats. owned it, enjoyed it immesely. regret selling it.

enjoy

ken

Steve Crowe · August 19, 2011

Will the two R&D/design teams stay separate?

"R&D is an area where we can pool our efforts to create something which is better than the sum of its parts. Both brands have outstanding R&D teams, which will continue to work as separate teams – with joint technology groups set up to look at big picture projects."

Better days are ahead!

After all, this is Naim!

Allante93!