To impress friends and family with systems

Well I'm bitterly disappointed that this festive season I won't get the chance to impress my family with my system.

My mother informed me last weekend that they (mum, dad, brother & sister in law) aren't coming to ours on Christmas day they are staying at home instead. Upon reflection I think that I must of bored them of it last year.

Damn it!

I read the above posts with interest and have picked up on how people ask how much you paid for your systems.  I have to say that I think this is incredibly rude - vulgar even - but then I am a bit old-fashioned like that.

Nobody ever asks us, though, as we never seem to have visitors these days; in fact, if anyone is nearby (Todmorden/Calder Valley), you are welcome to drop by.  Tea and cake is on offer

Mike-B posted:

One line in the OP is the copy/paste from the Naim communique that bothers me  “We're incredibly excited......”     Come on Naim, [@mention:77737380917463397],  that style of corporate commercialised  marketing speak is not required.   It seems to be creeping into a lot of your marketing blurb of late,  we are not impressionable consumers,  it’s not required,  and you can do better than that.

Any other opinions on that ?

Yes - I completely agree. There was a time when Naim ads were witty and customer relations treated people as enthusiasts and music lovers with a modicum of intelligence.

In recent times, since around the introduction of the new Unitis and outsourced support, the whole Naim marketing and support function has gone downhill fast and there has been a worrying departure of key staff such as Phil Harris. Whoever thought the "support assets" offered with the new Unitis were a substitute for a proper manual and that outsourcing support was a good idea is part of the problem. Meanwhile over a year after launch my Nova still doesn't have the capabilities it should have had from the start. Rather than impressing others I'd like to impress myself by being able to perfom amazing and challenging feats such as turning the sodding display off!

 [@mention:77737380917463397] indeed - I hope he reads the whole of this thread, and there are others in similar vein.

I emailed Naim this past week about an Airplay problem muting all outputs. I had a response with the solution within 15 minutes, they had even tried out on their ND555. Thanks to Rob@Naim. So it’s not all bad in support imo.

One of my mates commented on the money spent on Hifi, yet he had just bought a canal boat for £40 k. He will use a few times a year, and hopefully has a great time. I have a great time every single day. We just make our own choices in life.

Pev posted:

Rather than impressing others I'd like to impress myself by being able to perfom amazing and challenging feats such as turning the sodding display off!

 

That made me smile, and I totally agree. 

‘We’re incredibly excited....’ maybe as part of a cost cutting drive Naim employees are getting their six year old children to write the marketing material. You can imagine them bouncing up and down as they say it. 

Hi,

I'm listening and reading as much as I can!

Thanks to all of you for your ongoing feedback and suggestions.

(And [@mention:69004037573964054], thanks for feedback and comments re Rob, great to hear you had such a good experience)

Cheers

Charlie

Nobody who knows us, knows what system we have. Friends and neighbours who visit us have never seen or heard our system, although we sometimes have one of the MuSos running. We love music. We talk about music. I have clients in the music industry. HiFi never comes into it, let alone the Naim name. Why would it be of any moment if someone else likes to show off and impress? Each to our own. We should each please ourselves.

The wording in the newsletter either reflects naivety on the part of the person who wrote it or duff information from customer research.

I also spoke to a Rob at Naim support last Monday about an ongoing issue connected to Tidal non HiFi subscription and the fact that my 272 won't play any new material added by Tidal since early September. He advised that they were aware of the situation and that he would speak to Mark Bonner and then call me back before Tuesday lunchtime at the latest.

I'm still waiting for his call! (Admittedly he didn't specify which Tuesday).

As it turns out another forum member has since posted that the issue is to do with Tidal changing from MP4 to MP4a and there is a glitch within the Naim app that can't deal with this change!

I'm incredibly disappointed NOT excited.

Hi Charlie,

I am impressed and encouraged  that you are reading the forum on a Sunday.

Which by the way, one of your competitors in Glasgow can no longer do,  if they were so inclined, as they closed it down!

All the best,

Richard

I'm impressed (in fact very) that Naim use the term 'festive period'.

I had an email today from HDTracks with '15% off Holiday albums' when I looked they were all Christmas albums........

It's not like the 7 codes of bushido have been broken.

The festive season is a typical time of having friends over, with some treats. 

Ive been invited to a New Years Eve party down the road from a friendly neighbour. Not interested in asking them how much the new car, renovated kitchen, extension of the house, lights on the Christmas tree or even what the TV cost them, as impressive as they are.

FangfossFlyer posted:

Hi Charlie,

I am impressed and encouraged  that you are reading the forum on a Sunday.

Which by the way, one of your competitors in Glasgow can no longer do,  if they were so inclined, as they closed it down!

All the best,

Richard

I'm a builder and I've worked more Sundays than I care to remember and for a lot less money I would imagine so hardly that impressive and that isn't having a pop at Charlie at all just that perhaps our own expectations have lessened of late. I can remember reading on this forum about members of Naim staff attending to customers needs over and above the call of duty and out of hours all the time.

Bob the Builder posted:

...I can remember reading on this forum about members of Naim staff attending to customers needs over and above the call of duty and out of hours all the time...

Nothing has changed there Bob.

Mike-B posted:

Iconoclast posted:

Ask yourself the following question (and be honest): If you were living alone and NEVER had any family or visitors at your place would you still be as inclined to pursue this hobby to the same extent?

To be absolutely honest, if I were living alone, I would almost definitely be spending more.   A free hand with interior decor would invariably result in a more extensive pre/pwr/psu system. As for impressing family & friends,  I have not done so in the past,  any comment that has been made was positive, some interest on how it works etc. & I’ve helped as much as I can if asked, that’s it.

 

+1

Don't see any point in going much further as it's currently confined to my small study.

Richard Dane posted:

Bob the Builder posted:

...I can remember reading on this forum about members of Naim staff attending to customers needs over and above the call of duty and out of hours all the time...

Nothing has changed there Bob.

Glad to hear it Richard. Having not purchased a new Naim product since a UQ2 in 2015 and not itending to do so again anytime soon I suppose its of little importance to me other than knowing that if any of my gear needed servicing or repairing that Naim continue with their fantastic record of customer care.

I think the "average" person, if that exists, would be more impressed by a new Mercedes-Benz S class on the drive than a 500 Naim system which with a pair of quality speakers would be in a similar price bracket. At least hi-fi doesn't suffer door dings or gets the bonnet "keyed".

I have had people sit looking at my B & W 802s. One wanted to know what they were. When I explained  they were  loudspeakers, she didn't ask to hear them so I just changed the subject. Another person said they had a nice "tone" so I just said  thanks. Most people  ignore my system and are more content to play with the dog. And that's true.

My cousin's wife sings in her church choir and was  genuinely interested in the kit. Not from a hi-fi viewpoint but from a musical interest. Fair enough.

My wife had a time when District Nurses came to the house. One of them thought the tweeter housing was a sort of microphone and was just about to try and pick it up. I moved quite quickly that time.

Most of my black boxes are housed in a cupboard and my SU cable is under the floor so its as discrete as I can get it. When you go to a hi-fi show its usually peopled by middle aged men with white hair. Plenty of them at the Windsor Show last month but its still a minority interest to most people.

Christmas is not a good time for audio especially if your guests are on their second bottle. Keep the door to that room shut.

Douglas.

FangfossFlyer posted:

The following from the monthly newsletter email from Naim made me think:

“We're incredibly excited for the festive period, we're sure you'll agree it's the perfect chance to impress friends and family with new systems!”

Do you buy your system to impress others?

As for me this is the last thing on my mind!

Richard

 

That would never cross my mind either.  I really don't think most people would give a hoot about hi-fi these days, which is very sad.

Richard Dane posted:

Bob the Builder posted:

...I can remember reading on this forum about members of Naim staff attending to customers needs over and above the call of duty and out of hours all the time...

Nothing has changed there Bob.

Absolutely right. Jason Gould taking time out of his very busy schedule to come to my house and set up my SL2s was the single best piece of customer service I have ever experienced.

SamClaus posted:

Nobody's impressed by high end hifi these days. Mine's in my den/study, on the second floor of the house. Hardly anyone ever sees it.

Hey, no offence - but oh the irony - I'm impressed you told us yours is on the 'second floor' and in a 'den/study' ! 

“My wife had a time when District Nurses came to the house. One of them thought the tweeter housing was a sort of microphone and was just about to try and pick it up. I moved quite quickly that time.”

That reminds me of the time when SWMBO was with her pals gossiping in the conservatory, & she managed to stop one of them putting their coffee cup on the volume control of the Muso that dwells there - she thought it was a combined coaster and cup warmer. Absolutely true!

douglas posted:

I think the "average" person, if that exists, would be more impressed by a new Mercedes-Benz S class on the drive than a 500 Naim system which with a pair of quality speakers would be in a similar price bracket. At least hi-fi doesn't suffer door dings or gets the bonnet "keyed".

I have had people sit looking at my B & W 802s. One wanted to know what they were. When I explained  they were  loudspeakers, she didn't ask to hear them so I just changed the subject. Another person said they had a nice "tone" so I just said  thanks. Most people  ignore my system and are more content to play with the dog. And that's true.

My cousin's wife sings in her church choir and was  genuinely interested in the kit. Not from a hi-fi viewpoint but from a musical interest. Fair enough.

My wife had a time when District Nurses came to the house. One of them thought the tweeter housing was a sort of microphone and was just about to try and pick it up. I moved quite quickly that time.

Most of my black boxes are housed in a cupboard and my SU cable is under the floor so its as discrete as I can get it. When you go to a hi-fi show its usually peopled by middle aged men with white hair. Plenty of them at the Windsor Show last month but its still a minority interest to most people.

Christmas is not a good time for audio especially if your guests are on their second bottle. Keep the door to that room shut.

 

Douglas.

 

 

 

That's so true! If only the companies who market and sell their products in the pages of hi-fi glossies knew who their real target audience is because its not chic, svelte models in minimalistic Grand Designs houses! Boy, would they get a shock if they really knew the truth...

Jason has spent a morning in my lounge, along with my dealer's fitter. We have had several after sales glitches (and one pending). All resolved professionally, with every indication that people really cared.

All my components apart from the speakers, NAS and Ethernet cables say "Naim" somewhere on them 

This things are related.

 

The following from the monthly newsletter email from Naim made me think:

“We're incredibly excited for the festive period, we're sure you'll agree it's the perfect chance to impress friends and family with new systems!”

The remark would have been appropriate back in the 1960s and 1970s when a home audio system was more generally quite high up on the list of leisurely things to own, and i do remember friends and colleagues bragging about their 'tower' systems [of those times - usually Pioneer or Technics] and some fuelled envy and lust to compete with who has the most powerful amp or how many slides to their graphic equaliser.

A couple of my friends purchased the amazing bargain priced Amstrad multi-box tower system for £199.99 to include turntable, and a twin tape-deck, i had the demo and can confirm it was a music murdering machine  [i was amazed that anyone was daft enough to buy it] but other friends and colleagues were genuinely impressed with the apparatus having so many great value for money buttons and switches to the Pound.

My 1985 initiation with Naim Audio componentry; a cute little Nait One purchased on a well called recommendation of a good music-loving colleague/friend, didn't impress any of my cloth-eared friends because it didn't look bling enough, or have 200 imaginary watts of music power per channel, and horror of horrors - no tone controls to fiddle with, and we all know the average hifi nut will know far more about sound engineering than how the artists intended : /

Debs

Bob the Builder posted:

Unfortunately I think we're all missing the point here Naim Audio has been taken over by people whose target demographic is actually people who do buy things to impress others.  They want to turn Naim Audio into a brand Bose for the better paid and more well off why else do you think they have compromised on sound quality to squeeze a whole three or four box system into a shiney little box with a colour screen it is to appeal to the fashion conscious among us.                                                                                                              

Unfortunately; a lot of that rings true with me Bob.

Mr Henderson - I suggest that you print off these replies and present them at the next board meeting. We; the faithful are not amused.

But; do we; the lunatic fringe hereabouts, matter in the grand scheme of things? We do not generally fit the current market demographic for new business. Much of modern marketing is a strange and distasteful beast to me. Arguably, it has always been disingenuous, but are things becoming increasingly worse/more desperate?

 Are Naim simply doing what they have to do by following a disagreeable but effective trend for what currently works to shift merchandise?

John.