Read the cable advise from different manuals, its cut & paste & the end result is not much sense & badly witten
Whats wrong? Read my post, its quite clear to me…
@anon55098131 thanks. Eventually I might upgrade the interconnect and speaker cables. But that might prove to be costly. I spent more for the system than I had originally planned but not so much so. If I upgrade my system, I may get more improvement from upgrading the ND5XS2 to the next level of Naim streamer then I would changing cable. For the next year I will probably keep things as is.
As I said above it makes no difference to me personally as I don’t use Naim amps. But if I did I would definitely want firm guidance from the horse’s mouth. What we have here is just hearsay and ‘follow the herd’ mentality. What is needed is firm unequivocal guidance from the people who make the stuff.
Without a doubt yes. Cables can make a significant difference for sure, but upgrading a box will certainly be the biggest bang for your buck.
Hi, if your cables are Chord (even if old) you can safely use them with your SN3, anything from 1.5-2m length will work fine. This has been confirmed by Naim staff. Chord cables sound very good with Naim and many here use them for a reason, me included.
The Naim manual is indeed confusing and needs updating which is probably coming. All the best.
Does their technical director count?
See the profile on most users, with Naim electronics. There’s a lot who use Chord, Kudos ks1, ….and other brands, if the specs are similar to Naca 5. Not sure the majority use today Naca 5, as a lot find them bottleneck.
@110dB has stated that newer power amps has a zobel network that changes the requirements for 3.5 m NACA 5 to use whichever quality speaker cable you prefer at whichever length you prefer. However, I do not know if this is applicable for the Supernait.
Indeed so. Thank you for that.
Quite clear I would say - and good enough for me.
Where does it say that other cables will be just as good as NACA5 sound wise?
No, if I still had Naim amplification then I would use NACA5 - or Superlumina!
Undoubtedly true. But since when has a lot of people doing something been a good reason to do it? Reference smoking, drugs, alcohol abuse etc, etc. See the quote @Eoink by Naim’s technical director. I think the guidance here is clear enough.
It’s up to you to believe blindly in Naim guidance. Their guidance is also to use cheap Netgear switch….
But possibly not as good as NACA5, which their technical director specifically recommends on sound quality grounds.
People use all sorts of speaker cables with Naim amps. It seems to be rarely based on sound. More to do with the fact that NACA5 is very stiff and difficult to manage. But as Naim’s technical director points out - it’s stiff for a reason - this is because it makes it sound better! So if you want the best sound from your Naim amp then use it if at all possible.
Not blindly at all. Based on what their technical director says. Of course he could be a liar for all I know. But I’m inclined nevertheless to believe him rather than you.
I use NACA5, so have no vested interest in this debate. Steve’s post made it clear that Naim do not test other cables, so they are not saying that NACA5 or SL are the best sounding cables with Naim amps. They recommend the ones they know, their own.
If someone finds that a different cable sounds better to them, why wouldn’t they use that?
I’m with Mike - B that the manuals could use greater clarity. Old school Naim users may know that the chrome bumper and olive were sensitive to cables in that certain cables could cause instability, the classic range less so and I think though not sure the NC range even less so. Users of the forum can find the FAQ which describes the capacitance required to keep older amps stable. The manual is a jumble of messages from different generations. It recommends using Naim cables, but doesn’t give the clarity required to know about electrical, as opposed to sonic, requirements of other cables, and which generations are impacted.
In terms of VFM upgrades, some users here have found that Kudos KS1 cable an upgrade over their Naim cables, guided by experienced Naim dealers. At £400 for a 5m stereo pair I think you’d struggle to get a box upgrade at £400 except maybe at the low end of the CB/ olive ranges.
Yes, rarely to do with sound as you say. For example, I use a Chord speaker cable that is stiffer and a lot more difficult to manage than NAC A5 as the latter is just too soft for me, also too cheap, but nothing to do with sound.
…is what I was thinking. Some music is better than others, and perhaps more to the point the quality of recording makes the difference between great and meh…
I would leave the system playing Radio 3 for 24 hours every day for a couple of months when you are not playing anything else (on a suitable volume level).
@JimDog thanks. That would allow for the speakers and the streamer and its cable to run in. There’s still the other chord cable to the CD5si to run in. Sounds like I will need to alternate between CDP and internet radio. Have a great day.
Just use the stuff it’ll all come good and you’ll forget or stop bothering.
This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.