While driving to Cleveland to see my wife, who now has been in the Cleveland Clinic Cardiac Intensive Care Unit for over 2 months with no end in sight, I had to think about the August blog. I have been very busy with my wife's situation, insurance companies, and the farm. Thus, I have not written anything in a couple of months. But today, I was driving for 11 hours and could think about something I needed to write.
There is never an easy way to say goodbye to someone you have known and served for so many years. For us, Naim Audio represented our oldest line. 39 years is a long, long time. A lot of time, money and knowledge went into serving Naim Audio.
But, over time, all of us change as do companies. In the case of Naim Audio, Julian Vereker's death was tragic. A brilliant person and dedicated music lover was lost. What happened after that was a bit of wandering which, while we didn't fully agree with it (the addition of RCA inputs and outputs on Naim gear) we certainly understood why.
As things move through time, Naim Audio merged with Focal in 2011 and things began to change a bit under the ownership of Naxicap Partners, and investment group. Another investment group, Vervent Audio Group acquired the majority stake from Naxicap in 2019. These investment groups look for returns and are not likely to have any particular love for what they own as long as it produces. I suspect all of us have seen this happen to companies, hospitals, you name it. What is usually lost is the original founding spirit much like Walmart has nothing in common with Sam Walton. It becomes "something else."
It is that "something else" that I don't recognize. After going 9 months without any access to the portal to order product (this and another line) and ending up refunding about 75,000 in sales this year, it became obvious that we were no longer wanted and we tried to resolve this many, many times. But who Naim Audio is also changed and in ways that, if I were looking for a product line today, I would avoid.
Sadly, after substantial difficulties with their service department, sometimes taking up to 4 months to get customer units back, we are also ending all support of Naim Audio products. We have already taken enough grief from customers about their units and I fully understand that. So, rather than getting caught between a rock and a hard spot with no cooperation, we simply are going to bring it to an end immediately. Ironically, as our oldest line it also has become the first that I will no longer service. I didn't choose this nor do I want to lose your gear. It's that simple. For older product, we recommend a fine Naim Audio servicer in Chicago. For current things, well, you will need to contact them in Canada. We are done.
So, if you want, journey over to our YouTube channel where I talk about our history with Naim from the past to the present. In the end, it is what it is.
Lou
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