Looking for an upgrade on the standard Naim interconnect between my NDX and Nait XS - any recommendations ? I’m a big Chord fan but would consider other makes. Not looking to spend more than about £250. Thanks
With a budget of £250, best look no further than Chord.
Both the Naim IC’s are way over that.
Other brands ??? OK but any better than Chord, I don’t think so.
Question is at that price are their any out their that are better than the Naim standard ‘lavender’ IMO, not really
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The lavender grey Naim interconnect is tough to beat when it all boils down to the fundamentals - engagement with the music. However, the Hi-Line is a nice step up, works very well with Naim digital sources (as it should), and could be attainable secondhand at the limits of your budget.
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The AR Sound Lunar is also very good
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I went for a demo in December to listen to the ND5 XS 2 along with a few integrated amps. I tried the Nait XS 2 and the Nait 5si using the standard ‘lavender’ lead.
I wasn’t ‘feeling’ either amp so my dealer recommended the Exposure 2010S2D. We had to change the interconnect (no DIN connection on the Exposure) and decided to go for the Chord Shawline. We were already using Chord Shawline speaker cable so it seemed a sensible choice.
Well I loved the Exposure straight away but just to be sure we went back to the Nait amps but kept the Shawline in place. Although I still much preferred the Exposure amp I was very surprised how much the ‘lavender’ interconnect was holding the Naim amps back. I felt the presentation was darker and a noticeable amount of detail was missing.
For full disclosure this over a short space of time and I’ve never owned or heard any Naim products before. I think the Shawline is definitely worth trying to get a loan pair from your dealer.
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Use 2 Rean 5 pin 180 DIN plugs and a length of Mogami W2549.
In my opinion… Beats the Levender and costs about £25 if you have a miniature soldering iron and make it yourself (or about £50-£70 if you can get one custom made commercially).
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Mogami 2549 … I can’t possibly disagree with that can I.
If changing the IC is an itch that needs scratching, have a look at FlashBack Sales (www) their “Premiere” cables are excellent in both design & quality. Made with a pair of minature coax’s, damped DIN plugs & a choice of length & colour … & you could buy 5 of them for your budget.
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That’s for the recommendations everyone . Think I’ll maybe try and get a second hand hi line …
Incidentally I changed my cheap Ethernet for a Chord C Stream which cost me £40 - the best £ for £ upgrade I’ve ever done. Huge difference , especially in the bass .
Funnily enough I went the other way round. After comparing 4 Ethernet cables, (including Chord C-Stream), I found that the best in my system was the cheapest one!
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I agree, C-Stream is tremendous vfm.
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It made a very noticeable difference. I was very surprised , I thought that an Ethernet cable would make no difference in SQ. I think Chord have some great cables, they’re really suited to Naim.
I’ve always stuck with Naim - I assume they know what works. Hi-Line and even Super Lumina cables pop up on the gently used market.
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I used to have that view - understandably reinforced by my dealer at the time. But then I heard something better that stopped me in my tracks.
Agree - I’d also suggest Canare, which I prefer to Mogami, as it has better RFI rejection. If my memory serves me well and it probably doesn’t, it’s Canare Quad L4E6S.
I would also recommend Blue Jean Cables Ethernet, these are fully qualified cables and significantly better than audiophile (Chord, AQ etc) streaming cables. “Better” as revealed under a Fluke test.
However, I’m not a fan of after market audiophile cables and it seems many are. Personally, I just plug it what I have and enjoy the music.
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what about Whitch hat cables, making cables specially for naim components? not very expensive. Somebody knows them?
There’s very little real difference in the RFI rejection between Mogami W2534 and Canare L-4E6S. Under some circumstances, the Canare may be a little better due to the braided shield (Mogami argue that for AF use a lapped shield is preferable, but I think the point is debatable), on the other hand the capacitance of the Canare is greater than that of the Mogami.
Similar exists between Mogami W2549 and the Canare L-2 variants, however for most of these, Canare don’t even bother to quote the nominal capacitance values.
I certainly wouldn’t argue that in all circumstances either cable is better than the other.
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Tried a couple and ended up with Chord Shawline ethernetcable.
Piano sounded most piano with that and overall clarity improvement.
Thanks
Canare L-4E6S - that’s the one. It’s nominal capacitance is 150 pF/m between twin Blue and twin White conductors & 180 pF/m between conductors to shield. It has a nominal impedance of 44Ω. It does very well on the AM Radio test; better than any audiophile cable I’ve used. Its quad star design purports to minimise the loop area between twists of its conductors to reduce susceptibility to electromagnetically induced noise, which sounds impressive. It does seem to work well.
Agreed. I definitely wouldn’t argue that Canare is better than Mogami or another cable. Sound quality for analogue cables can only be judged by listening in my opinion and the outcome will vary depending on who listens. I prefer Canare to Chord Company cables by some margin, but not everybody will agree. Now I’ve got them I’ve no inclination to try any others as they are more than good enough for me.
I’d say they’re worth a try if you’re experimenting and can make them yourself or get somebody skilled with a soldering iron to perform the necessary.
I would suggested BJC Ethernet cables are better than most audiophile streaming cables based on objective “Fluke DTX-1800” tests. With digital, it’s discrete so you can count what goes in and verify it matches what comes out. BJC Ethernet is fully qualified in respect of TIA-568-C.2 and ISO standards,
FYI Mogami cable specs
2549 – 2 wire & screen is 11pF/m between cores & 76pF/m core to screen.
2534 – 4 wire & screen is 97pF/m between cores & 110pF/m core to screen in star quad configuration.
I use 2549 for my IC’s
2534 4 core is the same config as the Canare L-46S
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