Cables off the floor, why?

I use some of these, which was a lockdown purchase due to boredom…

Excellent for helping to keep speaker cables away from power cables, and vice Versa, behind the racks.

No idea if they “improve” sound quality but great for placebo…

Andy

Why?

Because producers are greedy.

Just look at the products Synergistic Research make. Jeesuz.

And I find it amusing that intelligent grown ups are able to throw away money on this. So much snake oil. But whatever floats your boat.

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Steve Sells on ‘voodoo’ - 11.43. Otherwise a pretty dumb interview.

Observation possibly prompted by ‘problems’ with the Salisbury dem room.

I agree but there is some logic in just keeping things tidy, some basic control and thought about where power leads, interconnects and speaker cable are placed make sense, lifting them up or placing them on special stands is a no, at least for me it is.

LOL - how ridiculous, perhaps there is something toxic in that carpet?

You are spot on - it reminds me when I used to have my Hotwheels track setups as a kid - perhaps that is what some are yearning for again?

I am sure raising cables off vibrating wooden floorboards can help - especially if they are particularly bouncy in an old building - but I suspect some of these setups have veered strongly into obsessive territory.

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I enjoy lifting cables off my ‘concrete’ floor with bits of foam, it makes me feel crazy, plus the system sounds all the better for it :crazy_face:

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Don’t know about that, but probably a single man :grinning:

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I experimented cables of the floor,
Not touching each other,
After my mess of cables,
Could tell no difference in sound,
No hums either way,
And directional speaker cable sounds the same either way,

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That’s a good illustration of how Naim’s (and other) right angled plugs are a bad idea in many installations.

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I agree, but makes no difference in sound,

Can’t see why the plugs should be doubled up like that mine fit flush to the Amp rear panel. :thinking:

I assumed it was the angle through which they force the speaker cables to bend to clear the shelf underneath… but you know what they say about assumptions!

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Yes, my point was that the cable exits the plug pointing directly down into the shelf below, putting stress on the plug and socket, and eliminating any possibility of the mechanical decoupling that Naim are aiming to achieve here.
If you use the very stiff NACA5 that Naim suggested, the problem is at its worst. Of course, if you use Fraim or similar shallow shelves the cable will just about clear the back of them and hang free.

In the past I’ve used nickel plated Deltron bananas to avoid this problem, saving the Naim plugs for the loudspeaker end where they are perfect for ensuring that the cables hang nicely from many sockets.

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Some of the older Naim kit used 4mm terminal type sockets rather than the 4mm panel sockets fitted to the later kit (and your SN3).

Your pic has reminded me that I need to re-terminate my KS-1 cables at the amp end with the Naim supplied SA8 plugs :+1:

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Yep. Bloomin’ obvious ain’t it. However, every time I’ve mentioned it here, I get flamed from above.

@james_n
Thanks for that school day moment. :wink:
SA8s look really nice and tidy with KS-1 and Deltrons. :+1:t2:

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Yes I agree with both of you. It really is a bad design since it sends the cables straight down in to the shelf the amp is situated on.

Or if you flip them over straight up in the sky.

Very neatly done. I may as well do the speaker end too whilst I’m at it.

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It’s not difficult to work around, I sit my XS3 right at the back of the shelf to allow the speaker cables to hang straight down. But it means the front of my XS3 is pretty hidden from the front.

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