On a cold, yet sunny morning in November of last year, I hit the road and embarked on a journey to the medieval city of Salisbury, Wiltshire. Situated a mere 9 miles south of the mystifying ancient circle of Stonehenge and home to the iconic 13th Century Cathedral and its 123m tall spire, Salisbury holds another wonder within its city limits... Naim Audio.

Founded in 1973 by British born engineer, Julian Vereker, Naim Audio have been an industry leader in high-end audio equipment for the past 47 years.

The Visionary – A Brief History of Julian Vereker

Julian Charles Prendergast Vereker, MBE (7 May 1945 – 14 January 2000)

Born in Oxford in 1945, Julian Vereker demonstrated a flare for engineering from an young age. Whilst his early ventures centred around the world of motorsports, and a brief albeit successful career as a race-car driver, it wasn't long until he focused his attentions towards audio. Through a personal passion for recording his friends bands, Vereker began to develop and design his own equipment as he was unhappy with the quality he was getting from the products available at the time.

Image from iOS copy.jpg — Unknown to many, Vereker was instrumental in creating Brompton Bicycle, a start-up company credited as inventing the folding bicycles.

From here Vereker founded Naim Audio Visual in 1969. Its first product was a unit capable of switching 30kW of lighting on and off in time to music. The following year, he released his first professional audio product the M10.2 mixer. In 1971, Naim Audio Visual produced its very first amplifier, although initially it was made on demand for friends and acquaintances. Following on from this success, Vereker won a contract to supply Capital Radio with new amplification in 1973, thus Naim Audio was born. And the rest they say, is history...

Despite Naim's merger with French speaker company, Focal, in 2011 - the vast majority of their catalogue is still made in the UK, and I was fortunate enough to take a tour of the factory.

The first thing that struck me about my visit to Naim was how fetching I looked in a light blue lab-coat...

No, but seriously, the first thing that hit me was that Naim's organisation isn't some lifeless conveyor belt of mass production like you'd expect to find in a factory.

The whole operation has more of a family business vibe to it, with a very relaxed and happy atmosphere throughout the building. Its obvious that all of the engineers love what they do and are truly passionate about their craft.

Our host for the factory tour, Mark Raggett, joined Naim at the age of 19 and has worked in most areas within the business. This was instantly apparent in his encyclopedic knowledge of the company and all of their products.

Mark Raggett, International Product Training Manager, Has over 25 years experience with naim

Mark shows us the inner workings of the flagship, naim statement system

Most of you will know that each Naim product is manufactured to extremely precise level, but what you may not know is in-depth this goes. Every cable within each product has been designed to such a level that the engineers have tested whether or not the sound benefits a cable being straight, coiled or bending around the chassis. This is then replicated in every finished product.

Every product made in the naim factory has a master model which each engineer must replicate every single time.

Newly built products ready to hit the QC area of the factory

Unlike a lot of manufacturers, Naim make their products to order. You won't find shelves of boxed stock sat there waiting for someone to buy one. I think this really emphasises the level of quality you are purchasing when you invest in a Naim product.

The legendary naim “snake shaker” - This machine puts every naim DINN cable through its paces before it leaves the factory.

I genuinely found the whole tour to be fascinating! Every part of the operation is meticulously run, and the same care and precision is present throughout each step of the manufacturing and quality control process. If you ever get the opportunity to go to this Willy Wonka's factory of audio delight, then do it!

Should you want to discuss Naim or demo any of their products, be sure to get in touch with us.

Brad, Nick and Joe - Audio T Portsmouth

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