Many thanks S. Yes, I agree re cost of Kimber and Nordost but I always buy second hand and I find they hold their value extremely well. Anyway, I will certainly take your advice on board and try your recommendations. Is it still longer lengths of these cables being suggested or would 3m lengths be ok? Thanks again
(By the way, I kept editing my previous post while you posted yours, with some possibly helpful clarifications, in case you haven’t seen.)
As for the minimum, see the FAQ. 3.5 meters of NACA5 or 3 meters of SuperLumina are recommended for classic amps like the 250. (Uniti and Supernait are a bit more tolerant but I’d personally not go below 3 m of NACA5).
For 3rd-party cables, it depends on their specs. The length is not the issue, the minimum and maximum inductance and capacitance are. If you find a cable with 3.5 times the inductance and capacitance of NACA5, you need only one meter 
Your assistance is really appreciated 
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Just make sure any speaker cable is low in capacitance and moderately high in inductance. FWIW, using Naim’s NACA5 I found that i much preferred the sound performance from longer lengths, 5-10m being much preferred to the 3.5m minimum.
Thanks Richard, what’s the difference between A5 and A4?
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Wow! Thanks for the comprehensive answer K10. I must admit that I’m put off by the stiffness which lots of people allude to causing problems in use. I’ll probably end up buying a few lengths of different types off eBay and doing my own listening tests. Certainly some of the comments regarding potentially frying the amp have really given me food for thought though. Something I’d never even considered in my pre-Naim days.
There are equally many who like the stiffness. It depends on how you have to use it; threading it through holes and bendy trunking won’t be fun. But if you don’t have these constraints, they can be a joy to install IMHO, as long as you remember that you can’t simply toss them to the floor like flexible cables. Instead you have to bend them into the shape that you need. This way, they can be made to hug the wall or skirting, you can suspend them in the air over gaps, and so on, and they keep the shape. IMO much preferable to flexible cables for many uses.
Thanks once again S
When connecting the 272 to 250 DR with the supplied cable, does it matter which of the 2 din sockets on the 272 are used?
No, they are identical
Thanks K10. Also could I ask if I wanted to connect my Mark Levinson CD player via it’s XLRs, could I use the Din input on the 272 via a Din to 2 x XLR cable? Thanks again
When I got my NAC-272 and NAP-250 (used from a dealer), they recommended that I used the right-side din (as you are looking at it from the back) as that had been the din that have been used before. I don’t know if that makes any difference whatsoever, but that’s what I continued to use. I also use NACA5 cables with it (again used cables at a cost of about 60% of the “new” price for 4 meters). I don’t mind their stiffness.
Seems likely if your Mark Levinson has XLR outputs they are balanced outputs, and IMO it doesn’t make much sense to use them with Naim gear, since the DIN inputs are unbalanced (like RCA).
Easiest way is an RCA to RCA cable or otherwise RCA to DIN.
Thanks both. I’ve just purchased 2 x 5m NACA5 off eBay with Naim plugs for £180 so probably all set now.
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You should be all set. The 272/250DR with NACA5 is a great combo.
Does the CD player have RCAs as well. Probably best to use those if it has them. Apart from mixing balanced and unbalanced connections it will avoid having to get a non-standard XLR to DIN cable made up.
It does indeed Chris
Hi All, not sure if I should start a new thread or not but I just wanted to know whether a 555DR is a worthwhile upgrade for the 272/250DR combo or would an XPS DR make more sense? Thanks