A grand day out at Naim Audio

This Monday we invited a group of our customers to meet up with us as guests of Naim for the day at their factory in Salisbury.  We were warmly welcomed, as always at Naim, by our host for the day, southern area manager Jason Gould.  After an introduction to Naim by MD Paul Stephenson in the impressively equipped demonstration room (more of that later) we were treated to a comprehensive factory tour by Jason.  All aspects of manufacturing Naims wide range of hi-fi components was shown to us, from the meticulous construction of Powerline mains leads to the impressive r&d department with Jason and other Naim employees providing an informative and fascinating explanation of what makes Naim different.  

We know the incredibly high standards of manufacturing and quality control that Naim apply to everything they build, having visited Naim before,  but to our customers who were seeing it all for the first time it was a real eye opener.  The attention to detail, from pair matching of transistors, listening to every single product before it leaves the factory (no batch testing here). to the amazing SNAIC shaker, which has to be seen to be believed, all highlight why Naim products are outstanding in both performance and build quality.  It was very clear that no corners are cut here.  This level of care and attention doesn't come cheap but it does result in products which last and deliver lifetime satisfaction. Even the oldest amplifiers, which are now well over thirty years ago, are still routinely serviced by Naim and come out as good as new.

After lunch in Naims relaxed canteen we returned to the demonstration room.  The speakers set up were the imposing active Ovator S600s  

powered by a trio of mighty NAP500 power amps.....

These were located at the business end of an array of Fraims housing an awe inspiring system fronted by the wonderful NDX network player...

... feeding a flagship NAC552 preamplifier...

The effortless delivery of this statement system was stunning.  The sense of scale and instantaneous response to demanding musical transients was made easy by the three powerhouse NAP500s driving the S600s in active mode with a SNAXO crossover.  We didn't think it could get much better than this but in order to demonstrate the benefit of the new DR (discrete regulator) power supplies Jason fed the SNAXO with a Supercap DR which immediately removed a veil we didn't know was there!  The final crowning glory was achieved by Jason connecting a 555PS DR to the NDX...

... The system again responded by delivering even more clarity, authority and solidity of sound.  The difference was more than a subtle tweak.  It was a dramatic improvement on an already stunning high end hi-fi system.

It was a great day at Naim.  We were all made to feel very welcome, for which we extend our thanks to Paul Stephenson and all the staff, who were more than generous with their time, and a special thanks to Jason for being such an informative and friendly host.  If anyone would like to be included on a future visit to Naim, either existing Naim owners or potential Naim buyers please phone Alan or John on 02380 252827 or email southampton@audio-t.co.uk to register your interest.

If you are still not convinced that it would be good use of your scarce free time I'll leave you with the words of thanks sent to Jason at Naim by one of our customers who attended the factory visit this week.

Jason,

A quick email to say thank you for hosting the tour around Naim on Monday this week - it was 

convivial and insightful, an excellent day overall reenforcing my belief in Naim as a route to

listening to music; not just a product! That said, no other manufacturer can beat the imagery and

sense of ownership a tower of Naim products stacked in a Fraim evokes!

One aspect that struck me whilst at Naim was the positive and friendly atmosphere that everyone who 

works at Naim conveyed.

A truly British approach to innovation and quality which I'm proud to be a customer of, the 

principles of which I hope Naim will continue with into the future.

Thank you again.

Kind regards, Glyn