Yes it would most likely be a hard sell.
I made my own IC’s as part of a search for the best IC at a reasonable cost (I’m an electrical engineer and reject the mad money stuff)
I tried a long list of cables from Naim, AR, Chord, and some made to order types that were around in the day.
Then I looked into DIY, primary objective to make them to a length that fitted the short distance between the Naim units and to minimise capacitance.
Lowest cap cable I found was a Mogami, best DIN plug was silver pinned Neutrik.
That was a success, the SQ as good or better than I remember of previous testing, and better than the AR I had at the time.
I can post the actual spec details if you want, but don’t have them on my phone, am away from home until tomorrow pm
Very interesting. I would love to see the specs if you can, thank you! The silver pinned Neutrik sounds interesting. Is it the Rean NYS322? It is very inexpensive, which is good if it’s also the best.
No probs, I arrive back in UK mid morning, should be home around noon
Neutrik is inexpensive, similar price to PREH, but expense does not mean better connectivity, and a DIN plug is primarily all about connectivity.
Despite the context of the thread I managed to read IC as integrated circuit at first and thought you were going too far, then my brain cut in. I think I need another coffee.
Another coffee sounds fair. Think I might have one too.
Annoying that the shipping cost is around 150% of the total cost of 3 plugs.
Also it’s difficult to find a place where I can buy 5-pin 45° and 4-pin 72° and xlr.
Spoil yourself. It’s something you love. I’ve stopped counting dollars by now and waiting for the right moment. It might never come.
Have fun while you can
This thread made me order a set of WBT rca plugs….
Did you go for nextgen?
Just ordered 3 Neutrik Rean 322 5 pin DIN and 1 Neutrik NC3 MXX 3 pin XLR. All silver plated connectors. Now the difficult one to source here is the 4 pin 72° DIN. I’ll keep looking. It would be interesting to see what exchanging the standard 4 pin DIN to a different one will do to sq.
I’m thinking I’ll have an RCA to DIN made up for the RIAA, a 5 pin to 5 pin for the NDS and a 4 pin to XLR for the NAP 250. RCA connectors are easily sourced through my dealer.
Likely to be very little.
Main problem is actually soldering to DIN plugs - which is a Royal PITA - and poor soldering could well lead to (!!) strange results.
Soldering DIN Plugs = Pain - Avoid (unless you really have to…)
Hi Mike, did you experiment with cable length? Just curious given that Naim and Chord refuse to make short cables as they claim that they adversely affect performance.
Yes I have understood that. This is why the person doing the soldering is as good or better at it than the good people working at Naim HQ. He is no diyer. He solders for a living so I have faith in him. I would never do this myself.
And I meant exchanging the whole cable to a new cable with perhaps also better plugs.
Oh it’s not that bad. Patience and a narrow shaft iron gets it done. And a lot of the plugs actually have removable pins so you can solder the pins free of plug (just make sure you remember to put the DIN body over the lead before you start!) and then insert them into plastic inner body in the right order.
One area that soldering DIN definitely beats RCA is that all the stripped back lengths can be the same. With RCA, you really need to get hot wire length shorter [correction: longer] and just right to avoid undue strain on the connection and form a lasting reliable join.
That’s what I used too and the same outcome. I can’t recall how long mine was but certainly shorter than Naim standard.
With a brand new, un-soldered DIN and relatively thin wires that will fit in the pins, DIN’s can be just about OK. Otherwise… in my experience… not.
YMMV…
I’ve used Mogami cable (there are quite a few to choose from!), and have done XLR using Neutrik pro plugs/sockets (gold plated - perfect if chassis connectors are also), and RCA though I don’t recall make. Not used DIN since the early 1970s, when all I came across were very poor and I abandoned using.
Correct. In copper. A local shop had 37 % discount. I bought one set of four. Will use them from turntable to riaa. Maybe I will get another set from riaa to preamp?
Cable will be something that is suitable. This is only for a test. The cable will be professionally soldered.
After all, I use standard 1.5 mm² installation cable for my speakers without terminals. I think its best that way. Cable cost is £1 per metre.
Is it pure copper and no gold?