Hi all; I’ve got a Naim Nova paired to sonus faber Olympica 1’s and a paradigm sub in a moderate sized living/dining room/kitchen. We listen to everything and play our tv through the system. Will I get much improvement upgrading from cardas crosslink 1S biwires? I don’t have a huge budget for them. I’m currently testing Unity Audio cables and am looking for other suggestions as well.
Cardas cables use a Litz construction which makes them about the worst possible match for a Naim amp. In extreme cases this can drive the amp into instability and cause it to overheat.
This is less of a problem with the Uniti players than it is with separate power amps, but I would still suggest that you look at cables known to be a good match for Naim amps for best performance.
Do not have an idea what is Crosslink 1S, but have had an experience with just Crosslink for 2 years and then 18 years with Quardlink 5C as second is much better and the minimum to buy from Cardas, in my view. Never had any issues with instability, overheating, etc. Sound wise in my case it left no chance to Naim cable. Know other happy owners of Cardas and Naim.
But because Naim gives specific reccomendations such use is up to you.
If you biwire with an off spec cable then you are halving the inductance and doubling the capacitance and could therefore be affecting the amplifier. While the nova is more tolerant of this than older Naim designs, it’s not recommended for this reason.