Cable burn in

In fact, it was a triumph. They knew exactly that with the energies of the LHC they would confirm it if it exists, and it did just that. As particles don’t come with name tags, statistical analysis of billions of interactions was required. At first, the detection of a new particle between 125 and 127 GeV/c2 was announced, i.e., the predicted energy. Then, all the other predicted properties had to be tested and confirmed. What you call meetings was in fact hard work by some of the brightest minds humanity can muster.

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That pretty much confims what I said.

Please, you have no idea what you are talking about

It’s all true.

You cannot know the position and speed of an electron at the same time. :smile:

I have an Atom. I was under the impression that the same cable length rule doesn’t apply. Sounds fab and the amp stays cool. I use Ecosse ES 2.3.

I don’t think the electrical properties of the TQ are even known, so the length rule for NACA5 can only be a rough guide anyway. The TQB2 is probably not very different, though, and the Unitis are definitely less picky, so I guess you should be fine. (you’d have to try)…

Edit: The Uniti + Focal bundle offers came with 4m NAC A5 though

The TQ is going back. It sounds choked compared to my Ecosse cable. Transient attack with deep bass thuds is quite a bit less with the TQ. My ecosse is 3mm. By the looks of it the TQ is 2 or 2.5 mm. Great sound otherwise.

I got confused by what you have now, but the same probably applies to the Ecosse: The length rules for NACA5 can only be a rough guide unless you know the properties of your cable, and the Unitia are less picky.

Though not entirely, another member had a Nova overheating with AQ Type 5. If yours sound fine and don’t cook the Atom, I wouldn’t worry

I’m not worrying. What I was originally saying is that I am purchasing the same cable that I have now (the ecosse), but just in a 3 meter pair instead of 2 meters. My current 2 meter pair has been in use for 10 years so will be interesting to compare the difference. 10 year burn in vs brand new.

Well, there have been many peer suggestions re what and how to test and comments on proposals, so definitely more than just determining procedure.

The Unitis are less fussy than Naim’s separate power amps, but they are not completely immune to the effects of out of spec cables. I’m pretty sure your Ecosse cables will be fine, although a competent Naim dealer should be able to supply something that is known to be compatible so that you don’t have to guess. NACA5 is the safe bet, but there are alternatives which are known to be compatible, and there are suppliers who provide the required (capacitance and inductance) specs for their products so that an informed decision can be made.

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The property you are referring to is the lumped impedance. This is easy to measure and so can be determined for all cables.
So yes the NACA5 length can’t be used as a length guide for other cables, but comparing lumped impedance for a given length absolutely can be. However speaker cables with a higher capacitive impedance can be problematic with traditional Naim amps.

Traditional Naim amps require the inductive with low capacitive load of the speaker and cable to prevent reactive feedback instability, where as many other designs isolate this dependency by using a small output inductor to cancel the hf capacitive reactive impedance of the lumped cable and speaker load. (often referred to as part of a Zobel network filter)

BTW the so called ‘unknown’ of TQ cables is over the materials used I believe.

I’m 99% sure recent Naim amps use a Zobel network to stop oscillation

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Sure, but only when known/measured/whatever. My point was that the guidance being “x meter of A5” does not mean every cable must be the same length

I agree.

I used to be skeptical years ago but I have repeatedly experienced the phenominum in recent years … on my system I changed the mains flying leads the difference was phenomenal…then over time the depth…width and inner detail improved. The system did not get brighter or duller it just sounded far better… I have experienced this with speaker cables but to a lesser degree…

What I have also noticed that when using balanced connectors the subjective assessment of cable stabilisation or burn in or settle in - whatever we want to call it lessens to the point that sometimes I feel its not apparent at all - as I have mentioned above more generally.
However on unbalanced DIN and phono I do more likely hear a change - and typically more with heavier cables than lighter ones - which I attribute most likely being down to point pressure contact based - which to me suggests that what we hear is possibly mechanical pressure contact based at the connectors rather than the cable itself.

With Naim Hiline phono I could ‘simulate’ a ‘burn in’ type effect by removing and then reapplying and resetting the collar pressure to pressure the return contact.

On speaker cables I can ‘simulate’ the effects of ‘burn in’ by unplugging cleaning and reapplying… I am not saying this is the same of everyone - but its what I have personally noticed.

I do think there is likely a rather mundane and rather basic explanations to all this - I suspect it’s a construct of many differing effects and reasons… and the actual cable itself going through some sort of physical / chemical (other than mechanical and resonance related) transition in use is probably to my mind the least likely in noticeable effects in real terms.

Also don’t forget static charges - where the possibility is that they leak more easily away in time with fine dust settling on jackets.
In my some of my other pursuits I absolutely can hear (and measure !!) the effect of rain hitting a conductor or its dielectric cover in free space - in terms of increased noise - but the conductor itself has not changed - but the EM field around the conductor has changed albeit temporarily.

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Do you have any source for this? I was under the impression that at least the Unitis, and probably most other current range amplifiers, were like any other amp in this regard.

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