I agree about the cables here but not about them starting up again. That was a real S**t show that left people out of pocket.
Now, if they were employed by a well run company and took their cable IP with them, that might be different. But I suspect the experience has left them wanting to be as far away from the industry as possible. I bet there are still a few people angry at them and with long memories out there.
I would guess the s*** show was not something everyone was onboard on but who knows It could very well have been a one mans show taking down the company.
I changed the stock XLR interconnects between NSC222 and NAP250 replacing them with Atlas Ailsa and the change was obvious from day 1. Wider soundstage and fatter bass and low mids. No regrets.
And another. I collected a number of ‘lavender’ ICs from various 2nd hand sources then had my trusted technician from the authorized servicing lab terminate them for my needs - RCA to RCA, RCA to DIN, DIN 4 pin 240° to 180°, stock one… My system is a full Lavender loom, and I am very happy with it. And yes, I also had a couple of HiLines in the past.
I first started with a non naim system. At that time my speaker cable was NAC A5, which wasn’t good enough for my system, so I sold it. After that, I replaced my pre amp for nac 272. I sold nac 272 and bought nac 202 with hicap Dr, napsc and 200Dr.
so my cables now;
Naim power line for 200dr
Dh labs red wave power cable for napsc and hicap dr and smsl d300 dac
high fidelity ct-1 interconnect with rca-din adapter for dac
Ecosse big red power cable and custom made rca-din for cd player
Ansuz x power cable and ecosse master referance rca use with rca-din adapter for vinyl pre
Inakustik LS1102 speaker cable ,
WireWorld Starlight 8 Twinax Ethernet cable,
and all naim cable between napsc, hicap dr, pre and power.
Hello,
the Inakustik webpage for your speaker cable mentions this among the characteristics:
Multicore für Präzision und Punch: Der Multicore-Aufbau minimiert die Induktivität, die den Signalstrom behindern.
Minimizing the inductance is not a good thing with some Naim power amps. And inductance doesn’t ‘obstacle the signal’s flow’. A vague proposition for a serious maker like I thought Inakustik is. But if you don’t experience issues…
Hi Per71, I have almost the same electronics as you, except I have SuperCap. Provided you can try them at home, I think it’s definitely worthwhile to try different cables. What follows is my view based on my experience.
Just changing the mains lead to ones configured as a Hydra, bought significant improvements in SQ. Cost around £200, about 5 years ago.
Nordost Red Dawn loudspeaker cable made the Naim cable sound congested in my opinion.
Replacing the standard Naim interconnects with WitchHat audio Morgana cables did the same. (Unfortunately, they went into administration)
The same happened when I replaced my Nordost with WitchHat speaker cables.
If cables did not make significant difference, why would Naim have brought out their SL range?
So in response to your question, yes it’s definitely worth trying out different cables, you really don’t know what your system is capable of sounding like until you do.
You might decide that the original Naim ones sound best to you, great, at least that one ‘change’ itch you have got rid of, so even more relaxing when listening to what is a really good sound system.
Best wishes Amer
The OP’s system comprises 282, Hicap DR and 25DR. There isn’t any cable between the preamp and amp as the 250DR is connected to the Hicap DR instead of the preamp (282) unless the power supply is considered as part of the preamp.
All cables with Naim amps are supplied as standard in the boxes other than the speaker cable. I didn’t experiment much with cabling on Naim amps. However, in my limited experience with a Luxman amp, mains power cables and type of power conditioner bring the most significant impact in the system. Next is speaker cables, then interconnects and finally digital (usb) cable.
I have the same amps without the ND5XS2. May I ask what speaker cables have you tried where you found the Naca5 to be preferable? I found Chord Epic and Signature XL to be preferable to Naca5. I could expand on the differences if required. Powerlines and alternative DIN interconnects from Chord are other options you may consider. I have Chord Signature Tuned Aray cables which replaced the standard Naim cables.
FWIW my main system is now based on a Luxman L-590AXII while the Naim amps are unused for more than a year already.