Yes, that’s what I do. Before connecting I hold the plugs in each hand, with pins pre-orientated to fit the plugs perfectly, and then swing the cable to loosen any stress. Then fit with the cable formed in a nice u shape.
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Most of the “what is better” discussions are silly if not pointless — Vodka or Blue Jeans, 250.2 or 250DR, Lavender or Hiline… Apparently, we look for different things when listening to music. Rather than “what is better”, we should ask/discuss “how is it different”…
Now back to choosing some new music in Roon — the best ever interface in the audiophile market… 
Running for cover…
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A while back when I had a ND5XS > NAIT XS 2 my dealer suggested I give the Hiline a demo. I ran with it for a few weeks and did notice a slight difference in the sound. The cost of the cable $1395.00 plus tax did not make sense at the time, did not see the VFM. The lavender cable has been wonderful.
With that said, now that I am running a XSP DR > NDX 2 > SN 2, another demo may take place in the future to see if the outcome is the same with different set of hardware.
No right or wrong just preferences, and cost does enter the equation.
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I use the Lavender on the Superline and NAT05 and a HiLine on the CDS3. Preferring HiLine on my CDS3 must mean I am actually capable of connecting it properly. Even our resident Naim legend, Mr Richard Dane stated a preference for lavender on the phono stage. Are you suggesting he doesn’t know how to connect a HiLine Stephen?
May i ask, what does BJ stand for?
I believe he is referring to the Blue Jean cables which have been discussed extensively in the ‘Blue Jeans Ethernet Cables’ thread.
I’m not sure if I’m interpreting it correctly but I may share the same experience. Most of the time my Naim system sounds good but there are few occasions it doesn’t. There are few possibilities, and one of them include the mood or physical condition of the person at the time he is listening to the music. On a bad day the system may not sound good to the listener although there is nothing wrong with the system. But now I think it’s more to the cabling, the connections between the cable plugs and cable dressing. Over time the cables or connections at the plugs may have a slight shift or change in position, or signal cables touching power cables etc.
These days I power down the system, unplug and plug all connections and dress the spaghetti of cables at the back of the rack once in 2 to 3 months or whenever I feel like it. I admit it did help in some ways.
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I admit I find the loose connections of Naim plugs, 4 or 5 pin to the amps a bit annoying. The connections are not exactly a tight fit as the cable ends can still move a little even though the cables are pushed all the way in.
So, I rang my dealer to see about availability of the Hiline I/C and he has a second hand superlumina… what to do?
…see if you let you demo them both. Although the second hand SL may be price prohibitive to begin with…
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Hi for the super lumina !
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Borrow, listen, decide if worth the $…
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Ask him if you can borrow it. I tried my dealers demo SL between NDX and 282, and it did nothing for me.
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OK - but what has gone wrong to make you lose your love of music?
Is it that ‘Naim have lost their way’?
Probably not.
Is it about your interconnect?
Probably not.
Is it that you have a system in storage that you once loved: CD3, NAC92, Flatcap, 2 x 90.3, IXO?
Maybe you miss the simplicity of whacking on a CD - and the fact that it was impossible to fiddle with changing tracks on a CD player (whereas on a streamer it’s very tempting to muck about with tracks and not listen to whole LPs - and also to stare at an iPad screen instead of really listening - or dancing)?
Do you miss your CD5si - NAIT5si and Neat Motive SX2 speakers?
Ditto. I’ve heard many owners of this type of set up who always miss the boogie and fun factor of it.
Are you still listening to the same music you did a decade or 3 ago?
If so, perhaps you’re bored of it and need to explore more?
This is a wild guess, but this just happened to me - I moved on to focus on and explore in depth a whole new region of music.
Maybe get that stuff out of storage - flog it and buy a killer streaming system?
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Only buy either of these cables if they can hang without touching the rack, wall, floor or any other cable.
I’d gently suggest that the issue is in your head. With the amount of time you’ve spend endlessly comparing cables it becomes impossible to simply enjoy music. When you play music you shouldn’t need to even think about the hifi, it should be like it’s not there. I went through a box-swapping fiddling upgrading phase - more than one actually - and lot my simple enjoyment of music. Jim makes a great suggestion above - sell every single box and wire you are not using. With it not there you cannot fiddle about and the only option is to enjoy music. It’s important to remember that the only point of owning a hifi is to enjoy music, the gear itself is simply the means to the end.
It’s beyond me why people have to go on endlessly about which is better and who is right and who is wrong. Gary prefers his lavender. You prefer your Hiline. That’s it. Each to their own.
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This might be a challenge, the units are side by side on a cabinet. The cable would either be on the shelf, or I could run it through holes at the back do that it hangs like the burdy, but it will still touch the side of the holes. I wonder how critical that all is?
How critical is critical? If you use it like that you won’t get anything like its full potential out of it.
Cut a slot in the cabinet shelf, if the shelf is high enough above the one below to let it hang free (which it’s probably not).
Or cut slots in the back wall of the cabinet and move the boxes back so the cable hangs free between them and off the floor.
Or get a hifi rack!
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You could try large bubble wrap bags to stop cable to cable interaction…better than touching
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