The state of the UK Hi-Fi Industry...and what might be done

[CN211276]

For a friend wanting advice on a new system I would previously recommend the original starter kit; P20, A20 & Cubettes.

This is my second system and it sounds better and more musical than my main system before I discovered NVA. I was taken aback by the quality of the P20 and A20 when they were put in the main system at the times the P90SA and A 80s were being upgraded to the latest specs. The NVA starter system is undoubtably outstanding value.

[Geoff.R.G]

The title of this thread contains the words "and what might be done". If I could answer that question I probably wouldn't be posting here, I'd be running seminars on how industries could get back on track.

Many jobs depend on the "Hi-Fi Industry" but most of them aren't in the UK any more because much assembly work is done elsewhere the margins for manufacturers being too tight to do otherwise. Repatriating jobs and curtailing dealer margins by selling direct might help the well known names if the prices followed the dealer margins downwards. That however won't/can't help the small and/or emerging manufacturer that needs to get their products heard and seen.

Dealerships aren't cheap to establish or maintain because the market, like that for purpose built cameras, has shrunk to the point where Hi-Fi is a niche product. The same people who don't buy cameras equally don't buy Hi-Fi, in both cases they use their phones. However, all is not lost both film and vinyl are making a come back, a niche within a niche to be sure but it is something. What that niche needs is a high quality, low cost*, system that gets the best out of the medium. A no frills integrated amplifier with a phono stage, a pair of easily used speakers and a turntable could/would do very nicely if presented in the right place. Unfortunately, adding a dealer's margin to such a simple system would make it unaffordable. Thus dealers are out, traditional ones at least, advertising in Hi-Fi magazines is out for reasons already stated so that leaves music magazines, record shops and... ? How about newspapers and Sunday supplements could they be persuaded to do a spread on the resurgence of vinyl? Vinyl isn't cheap but getting a seller to endorse a system might be sufficient.

*Low cost is a relative term of course and I am out of touch with prices but I am sure others will have a better idea of what it actually means in numbers.

[CN211276]

I think the inclusion of a DAC in a no frills integrated amplifier would be more of an attraction than a phono stage, except for someone with a large vinyl collection.

[savvypaul]

I think the very budget end has sailed (on a slow boat to the far-east). That is all about very low cost of labour, the cheapest parts possible, questionable build quality and ethics (in a few cases) and production line techniques. Made by hand, in the UK, doesn't stand a chance at £200 a box. The S80 costs more than that in parts, alone.

NVA is looking to give people high-end quality at mid-range prices. I compared our prototype integrated to a well known £4k amp and our prototype wiped the floor with it. We will achieve that through a more modern distribution model, the omission of unnecessary luxury and some unconventional marketing techniques.

I like the idea of tying in to independent record stores - Geoff is the second person to put that forward. We will do some 'thought provoking' magazine ads, partly because that is the way that mags accept kit for review (you talk about advertising and they are suddenly very interested in your kit) and partly because they are still a way to talk to a large number of enthusiasts all at the same time.

Long-term, though, we want to build up our own following of 'fans' who we can talk to for free through organic social media. Most of our current Facebook ads are acquisition led, asking people to follow our page.

[Lindsayt]

I can remember the John Cleese Sony rack system adverts.

It's a long time since I saw a broadcast TV advert for hi-fi equipment.

When you had the advertising might of big corporations like Sony throwing their money at hi-fi advertising, you had a situation where hi-fi equipment was a mainstream aspirational product.
Fridge, freezer, washing machine, oven-hob / cooker, vacuum cleaner, iron, toaster, TV, hi-fi system.

TV's are still mainstream products. Hi-fi equipment a lot less so.
Maybe sooner or later a big corporation will see a gap in the market and will advertise their hi-fi equipment aggressively. And then everyone else involved in the industry can follow in their wake / hang on to their coat-tails...

I can't see NVA regularly advertising during the mid-episode break of Coronation Street on ITV.
Although I could see some carefully selected advertising via Google Ads being a sound modest investment for NVA...

[CN211276]

I don't know what the cost might be but the Planet Rock radio station could be a good place to advertise. The vast majority of the listeners were young in the 70s and 80s when hifi was main stream and would be a potential source of NVA purchasers. Most of the music played is from those decades. There are a lot of adverts, especially just before the news at the top of each hour.

[Musicmadmaniam]

Ahhh the good old days of Hi fi from the 70's and 80's there were plenty of good dealers around then and some great stuff about, also plenty of hi fi shows to go to as well.
Now things are tougher as mainstream people tend to download music but us mad lot still love our systems? Well i do anyway!
Yes there were ads on TV for hi fi but not anymore which is a pity,
My main system is
Linn Sondek, Roksan tabriz arm with Ortofon Rondo Bronze MC cartridge
Audio Note AN-S2 step up transformer
Pre amp ..Audio Note M2 Phono
Amp Audio Note P2
All with proper Audionote connecting cables
CD ...Meridian G07 ( fantastic machine!)
Speakers...Kef reference 104's ( totally rebuit and will outlast me!)
Speaker cable is Apollo low resistance and ideal for my system

Its a simple system, completly old school and work for me, and my wife loves it too!! So win win all round really

Its sad there is not the amount of good hi fi dealers today as it was back then, but times move on and demand changes i suppose

[Lindsayt]

I can't comment much about the 70's, as I was too young then. The 1980's were when I first got into hi-fi.

Whilst in some ways they were the good old days, in other ways they were days that were a lot worse than they could have been - in the UK.

With the main reasons for them not being as good as they could have been still existing today.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Thinking back on my experiences with dealers, it would be fair comment to say that their record was extremely patchy.

We can't do anything about what happened in the 1970's and 1980's. But we can use the lessons of the past to guide us in our behaviour today.

For me personally that means that I won't be giving my business to traditional hi-fi dealers. That I won't be using the demo first and then buy paradigm. That there are certain brands that I will avoid. And certain categories of equipment that I won't buy.

For NVA, the lessons of the past will mean other things.
Such as, for example, continuing to not sell via dealers.

[Musicmadmaniam]

Back then there were good dealers and bad ones too! I was lucky to find a great dealer in the 80's they would let me take stuff home to try out and bring back what i not want and il buy the one i wanted....at a favourable price!!
Who remembers Not The Nine Oclock News hi fi shop sketch? Well some dealers were sadly like that im afaid and it did put a lot of people off going into dealers because of the high and mighty attitude they had!
Luckily they were not too many of them and if they went out of business because of this then thats their own fault,
Also been to shows where certain companies were just damn lazy to set up properly and just sounded dreadful!!
And their asking customers to fork out thousands for orders on the basis of what they heard!!
Ive heard 20k speakers sounding worse than my old Kefs!! Seems some of these products look great cost a fortune but does it deliver???
If these shows want to make sure they want custom...make sure the products being sold are set up right, and not just rely on image or past reliance of status within the industry!
Myself and a friend have walked out of many a demo due to the god forsaken noise being produced by so called hi end speciallists!!
I could put my system up against it and blow them out the water with it!
And just because its expensive does not mean it will sound great?
Only a well balanced system will do that in my experience and im sure some of you would agree with me on that one!.....rant over! Ha!

[ArloFlynn]

You will own nothing…

I think the Hifi industry will slowly decline as its current market ages. A new listening market needs to be created from the young generations. If there is a market for products, manufactures will supply for it and because the product already exists, you just need to create a new market for it.

There is already an existing online music market for Streaming & downloads etc. So there just needs to be a new market created for offline music, currently in decline. A new way to hear records and CDs but without the upfront expense.
So why not have HIFI For Rent? to attract new younger generations and fit the world business model of the future. It just needs a bit of youthful revolutionary thought, that’s all!

People have always rented stuff like houses & ladies, they used to rent TVs, now they rent Cars and mobile phones. So why not Hifi.

Everything you need will be delivered to your door...

I have NVA A70’s, amongst other NVA stuff, but if I wanted to hear the new line of NVA amps or ABC phono stages or even XYZ speakers, then when my current contract expires, I could upgrade/downgrade/try a different brand. You own bits, like a record player, you rent other bits. The possibilities are endless. Remember there are no rules.

…and you will be happy!