Belden 9497 with NAP 180?

Hi-Fi Corner
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Hi everyone,

I recently purchased an Olive system consisting of a NAC 102, Hi-Cap, NAPSC and NAP 180.

Before buying NACA5, I’d like to ask if anyone has experience using Belden 9497 speaker cable with a NAP 180 or other classic Naim power amplifiers.

My current Belden 9497 cables are approximately 10 metres per side.

I’ve read many discussions suggesting that Naim amplifiers prefer NACA5 or cables with similar electrical characteristics, and some people advise against using Belden 9497. However, I’m not sure whether the concern is mainly about sound quality, amplifier stability, or both.

Has anyone actually used Belden 9497 with a NAP 180 long-term?

  • Any issues with amplifier stability or overheating?

  • How did the sound compare with NACA5?

  • Would you consider it safe to use while I decide whether to purchase NACA5?

Thanks in advance for any advice and experiences.

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Your NAP180 is the epitome of a classic Naim amplifier, where the necessary inductance for amp stability is provided by the speaker cable (thus extra inductance in the amp itself is not necessary giving better performance). Therefore it requires at least 3.5m per channel of low capacitance and moderately high inductance speaker cable (ideally NACA5 or else similar figure-8 multi-strand copper cable). You should definitely steer well clear of any litz, heavily twisted or woven type of cable as this usually lowers inductance and increases capacitance which could well cause instability in the amp.

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FYI, Belden 9497 inductance (I see you are in USA) is 0.19 µH/ft (0.62 µH/m)

That means the 9497 inductance is aprx half of required, so to apply the minimum required inductance load you need to use twice the length of the recommended 3.5m.
(that’s 11 feet 6 inches) so you need at least 23 feet per side.

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Given the 10m length of your cables I think you’ll be fine. If you’re curious, try to borrow some NACA5 from a dealer to demo it, or look for some on eBay that you can sell if you don’t like them.

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Remember that it’s a combination of low capacitance and moderately high inductance that’s needed. The problem when you double up cable to get the necessary higher inductance is that capacitance also tends to increase as well.

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Yes I understand that, but 9497 is just a basic twisted pair and it’s capacitance is very middle of the road at 99pF/m ( aprx 30pF/ft )

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For purpose you could be lucky to find some Linn K20/ Naim A4 speaker cable as a much lower price than new A5.

Really pleasing nice on a 180, I use a 7M length myself.

And not as stiff as A5.

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A friend recommended Canare 4S11 for my NAP 180. Has anyone tried it? Any problems with stability, and does it work well with Naim?

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A quick search online and in this Forum tells me Canare 4s11 is low inductance and again not suitable.

I really would go with the suggestions here. S/h A4 or KS10 for example. Chord Odyssey or Rumour are two others. A5 the obvious choice and you might also find s/h lengths, although 10m is a bit unusual. Can you get this down with moving things about?

Bruce

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Stick with Naca 5. Designed for best performance with Naim amps.

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A5. Fair price. Works great with all Naim amps. Sounds great. Don’t mess with it.

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But it is stiff :thinking:

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Yes of course you are right it’s stiff. I have heard a hair dryer can help with bending it if necessary!

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I was just trying to joke, not good at it admittedly.

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I know it was a joke…my response was a joke too…all in good fun.

Seriously though…with Naim there are things to experiment with and there are things where you just do what Naim says. A5 is the latter.

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Thanks for the insights, everyone!

It seems that when it comes to a vintage setup like my NAP 180, sticking to Naim’s playbook with the NACA5 is indeed the safest way to avoid taking the long way around (and saving some unnecessary headaches).

To take the discussion a bit further-if my ultimate goal is to achieve that classic, uncompromising Naim sound characterized by sheer PRaT (Pace, Rhythm, and Timing), hard-hitting dynamics, and a fast, punchy low-end, is the NACA5 still considered the absolute pinnacle for this? Or is there anything else that can compete in terms of raw energy?

Would love to hear your thoughts!

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Yes, just use NACA5. It’s what Naim would use here.

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It’s not the recommended, it’s the minimum length,sounds much better over 5 meters and even
better longer than that.

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You’re tellin’ me how to suck eggs dude, but thanks anyway.
I own up to a slip in technical writing standards.

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