If you can manage to solder a DIN or Phono (or Jack) plug, have you considered making your own cables…? OK, you may or may not get the Fairy Dust from a particular brand, but you will (or should) get a well made cable, which does exactly what you want or need it to.
Approximate cost - for a DIN to DIN you could build a cable with REAN metal (non-locking) DIN’s and Van Damme cable for less than £5-00; for DIN to Neutrik/REAN Phono’s maybe around £8-00…?
Solder carefully & neatly. Check and check again that you are soldering to the appropriate DIN plug pins for your usage (either input or output).
My case is building a 3,5mm Stereo Jack to DIN Input lead. I already have several suitable DIN plugs, removed from other things or brand new. My 3,5mm REAN jack was £2-65, my Van Damme cable was £2-00.
I may post pictures of my lead, once I have the Jack Plug & cable…
I did this, making some 3.5mm jack to DIN leads, some years back - admittedly I had someone who was much better at soldering than I am do it for me - and the results were a bit disappointing. I used Chord Crimson cable and a couple of others that I can’t now recall. Overall I ended up much preferring the Naim Lavender/grey I already had, so a bit of a waste of time (and money) overall.
I am not aiming to necessarily hit the highest of HiFi, here. I already have a Chord Chrysalis 2 by 3,5mm to DIN lead (which was/is for my Sony WMD6C).
I could buy a ready made cable to a similar spec for around £20-00. But I can make one…!! And having soldered DIN’s before, I do know what I am letting myself in for.
Making Guitar cables (which I have done), with 1/4" jacks is so much easier…!!!
I’m a reasonable solderer and have considered this in the past but just ended up with the lavenders off eBay. They are so cheap that unless you are on a real tight budget, it’s pointless using anything else. I might have a go at some mains leads though. One or two of mine are of dubious provenance.
The Naim Lavenders are readily available (I paid £30 plus P&P for my last one) - and for a DIN to DIN that is what I use.
This cable I am making is to connect, initially, an iPad - and maybe a cheap(ish) streamer at a later date. If I didn’t already have several good DIN’s in my toolbox, I probably wouldn’t bother…
I have in the past made cables to connect CDs, Tuners etc. With mixed results, I would say. By chance, a cable that defunct Maplin sold worked really well for a Marantz CD10 but didn’t for a Meridian 104 tuner. I am sure if one bought enough different cables and plugs you could get as good or better than most commercially available interconnects. However, I think you would likely end up spending more than just buying a good cable. These days I tend to use cable recommended to me by my dealer, they get different cables to try and stock the ones they believe work best with Naim and the other brands they sell. For connections between Naim boxes so far I have found the ones supplied by Naim sound best to my ears.
I would not compromise on Naim to Naim connections, so I am with you here. I would also avoid trying the make the more complex cables, such as a fully wired DIN to DIN, or DIN to 4 Phono’s - or a DIN to two 3,5mm jacks. If its got more than 3 wires in the DIN plug, I am not going there…!!!
I have also re-worked some cables, to suit my usage. My Naim NAC to Rega Ear headphone amp is one. It began as a Chord 4 pin DIN to Phono (so the directionality faeries were aligned…) - I swapped out the 4 pin DIN for a 5 pin 180 degree.
Most will only have 3 pins connected too, its a tape or source/power that will have all 5 connected.
I have made lot’s off different cables up over the years. It’s not hard to do, really, but you do need the right kit to make it easy.
Plus, you need to be confident and competent in what you are doing, so you dont get it wrong, but again, having the right kit to test it, before you use it, is handy
Snap! Mogami cable nDAC to 282. I used the 2534 with a Switchcraft DIN at each end (Oyaide solder). Half the price of a used Lavender and I marginally prefer it too.
