For those of you who have moved a 500 series system (500/552/555) from SL (full loom) to Chord cables, where have you started ? where to get the most benefit ? if i were to prioritise, should I start with speaker cables ? or IC between 552 and ND555 ? or between amp and preamp ? or power cables ? (thinking of Sarum T or Music)
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IMV, the logical place to start is with the source cabling (ND555 to 552) ā but, overall, only your ears can decide on this, and a Sarum loom didnāt seem to offer much, if anything, over SL cabling ā obviously YMMV.
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Donāt. 
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I would go Sarum T ICs (pre to power) and ChordMusic speakers cables - mostly saying this if you have the Sopra 2 and feel the need for a more relaxed, natural/richer presentation? I would not change the source IC and leave SL in.
If only one change, I would go for the ChordMusic speaker cables.
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I think that there is an important consideration in this. Take Naim as an example:
They will have developed their products, including voicing, using their own interconnections. This will take into account the specific electrical properties of interconnects. This effect will be most obvious in the connections between electronic components. In my experience, Iāve tried alternative interconnects between pre and power amps, and previously between streamer and pre-amp. The standard issue has, in my experience, always been better. Sometimes it has taken a while to come to the conclusion that the alternatives just donāt sound right.
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Iāve been using Chord Sarum T from my nd555 to 552.
My streamer comes with a hiline
Spent past couple weeks comparing the 2 interconnects
5 pin din din
Both were very good
Settled on the Sarum T as music had more presence and sparkle
But Chord much pricierā¦.
Some years ago had a different Hiline which did not fit properly- couldnāt fully push it in to the din connection
The new Hiline fit perfectly
Chord was a bit better
Not jaw dropping better, just made the music a bit more alive.
Never heard SL or Chord Music
David
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Your dealer will have true benefit of such expensive cables, big grin all the way to his bank.
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if you have sopra 2 on a 500 system id stick with the cables you have and have a look at scala utopia, i used to have sopra, now have utopia and the difference is crazy
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I started with the interconnects. Chord Music. Fortunately I was able to get some trade-in value for the Naim SL cables, which helped the dollar outlay. Chord Music cables aināt cheap!
From my experience, the Chord Music cables are VERY well matched with Naim.
(I continue to use my SL speaker cables.)
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My experience FWIW. Upstream of the power amp stick with Naim ( Iāve tried Chord amongst others), speaker cable is speaker dependent, ask your dealer if you could demo a few.
Regards,
Lindsay
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Having had extensive experience of all of the options mentioned, it would be Music all the way for me and Iād build a āfull loomā gradually, allowing myself to enjoy the often huge incremental improvements each cable brings.
However, where to start? Certainly not by changing your speakers (?), which was not the question asked 
Iād probably look at changing the cables that canāt be mentioned first as this alone will kill off any potential interest in jumping ship to another brand entirely (as seems to be occurring with increasing regularity judging by some of the threads that have appeared recently). The Din/XLRs, both Sarum T and, particularly, Music really move the game forward as well.
Just make sure theyāre well run in when you try them, particularly if they have Chordās new ChorAlloy connectors.
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i would 100% look at changing the speakers!lol Especially at Chord Music full loom level. that sort of change would offer a much bigger upgrade for less moneyā¦whats not to like?
Why particularly with those?
Just from personal experience. Iāve had all bar one of my cables upgraded and there was a clear burn in period in each case. I think @Cohen1263 may have found the same.
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Hi Damien, Iām actually using Scala Utopia Evo now (i had not updated my profile). Youāre right, the difference is massive, in a good way of course.
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Thank you All for the replies and insights.
Iām actually currently demoing the M6 powerhaus together with a Sarum T power cable, Sarum T IC din/din (555 to 552) and Sarum T speaker cables (to the Focal Scala).
Initially i started with the M6 which was good and then added the other cables, and the whole thing got even better.
What iām getting (vs. SL full loom) is an expanded soundstage (wider, higher, deeper), more separation between instruments, more emotion in voices, and more silent silencesā¦ On some tracks i may be loosing a bit of āin your faceā kind of energy, but itās not a killer.
So this is where iām coming from, liking what i hear, and thinking of going Music where i can. Now if i canāt get all of speaker cables, IC and power cables at Music level, then Iām thinking it might be better to upgrade 1 or 2 out of 3 at Music level and wait for the remaining (keeping current SL cables), instead of doing all at Sarum T level, and potentially spending more in the futureā¦ hence the question of where to start.
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Yes Dave. At least 600 hours burn in but the new plugs/ latest solder are defo an upgrade.
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Now your ready for Chrod Music!!!haha
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If you feel the cables are necessary in delivering the sound you want from your system then absolutely go for it. Personally i couldnāt spend more on cables than my system components. Iām at the 500 series with NAC A5 and very happy indeed. I think Sarum T is out of my foreseeable budget let alone Chord Music. I may try the Vertere Redline speaker cable at some point just to see what it brings but I doubt it will convince me as its not at the level of the super lumina. Having said that Iāve read posts where some people prefer the NAC A5 over the SL in their system.
I would recommend starting with the speaker cables as that has always delivered the biggest change in my system.
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In that situation, I would definitely have started with Music speaker cables, big difference compared to SarumT.
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