Av Options now making interconnects for Naim

Av options in the USA is now making interconnects for Naim. They are a little more pricey than a Hiline, but much less than Super Lumina.

Anyone try them out?

Haven’t heard them, but they appear to be made of Neotech OCC wire which is well-regarded stuff.

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I replaced the 4-5 Hi-Line between my SuperLine and Supercap with an AV Options interconnect a couple of months ago. I was fed up with the fragility of the Hi-Line, and just wanted an equivalent cable that wouldn’t fall apart when I looked sideways at it. I would have been happy with a small SQ improvement.

AVO say that the new cables take 150 hours to give of their best. I’m about 25 hours in, and it’s clear to me already that this is a substantially better cable than the Hi-Line. They also say that the new range is not far short of Chord Music, which I initially wrote off as hyperbole, but I’m finding that, almost on a weekly basis, I hear sounds from my system that are better than anything I’ve heard from it before.

I’ve been underwhelmed by cable upgrades before - Hi-Line and PowerLine I found good, but barely worth the price. The AVO Options interconnect is, without a doubt, the best cable upgrade I’ve made to date.

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Thanks Corry, that is really helpful!

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Hmmm… Always been skeptical of cryogenic treatment of a piece of wire but I’ll defer to those that have actually used and compared them.

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How do you rate their power cables?

AV Options makes great stuff.

Now that my Naim HiLine has broken a second time for no good reason I would buy a new cable from AV Options long before considering a Naim POS that breaks if you don’t suppress even just farting around your hifi. :slight_smile:

I have AV Options power cables for my subs and phono stage PSU, their modified WireMold power strip, and cryo’d hospital grade power outlets. They make great stuff. They also built one of my Superline Z-Plugs. I’m serious that I would prefer one of their ICs instead of HiLine, but wasn’t an option when I got my HiLine cables.

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They are really, really good. I have the RCA-5Pin DIN for the Aura and the XLR-XLR for the 332/NC250.

It’s hard to describe the sound as they don’t show off in the bass, treble or mids.
They don’t have a huge soundstage, tons of air or the like.

Everything just sounds incredibly coherent and makes sense. It really sneaks up on you how good they are.

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The only other AVO cables I have are a couple of power cables I bought several years ago, one with a special connector for my Audience power distributor, another for my Bluesound NODE. They were priced much more modestly than the current range of interconnects. I installed both at the same time as their respective boxes and so I can’t comment on how they would compare to a more basic cable, but my sense at the time was that they were excellent value.

Regardless of their VFM, If I was in the market for a suitable cable for one of my Naim boxes, I’d be inclined to look for something better.

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There’s definitely some sort of magic at AV Options with Chris West and team.

I have his “Ultimate” Nait 2. I’ve owned dozens and dozens of amps of all types, class, and power during the past twenty years. This Nait 2 is up there with the very best amplifiers I’ve owned. The little Nait is unbelievable in the amount of musical information presented, the way it’s presented, and with the right tonality. Hence, quite interested in the new interconnects.

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Was he the Naim head in the US?

I thought he was the service manager for NANA, but I could be confused (happens at my age).

Yes, you may be right! Now I remember that I bought a NAP 500, and a pair of SBLs from another Chris in 1999.

I’ve been very happy with the Ultra HBL Power Strip, got a nice uplift in SQ over a standard Wiremold strip. Edit - Also have the Cryo NACA5 and noticed a nice uplift over standard NACA5. Considered their XLRs for the 222/250 but the prices seem a bit steep for me. Luckily I’m very happy with the OEM XLRs.

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Cryo stuff can sound really really good. I had AVOptions cryo my NACA5 and I was shocked at the improvement tbh. I borrowed a pair of NACA5 cryo cable from them while my cable was being re-terminated. Swamped in their cable and thought wtf just happened! I was sold. Had them Cryo my cable while it was being re-terminated.

I trust what AVoptions says and I trust what @Corry says as well.

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Might have been Chris Koster?

Chris West’s experience goes back to the 80s when working in Salisbury for Naim. I think he had many jobs there before moving to the US and continuing to work with Naim.

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When I was going to NANA in the late 90s early 00s Chris W and Dave D were in the office. Chris K left around that time iirc.

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Er, are we talking about the 1600 bucks cables here?

For ICs, yes.

This is good to know. I have a few cryo treated bits and pieces - the new interconnect, a couple of power cables, a pair of Hubbell outlets - but they were treated when I bought them, so I can’t tell what contribution it made.

That question aside, I trust Chris W’s judgement, and everything I’ve bought from AVO has felt like money well spent.

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