I’m looking for a flat speaker cable that will lie underneath carpet and underlay, Tellurium and Nordost springs to mind, are there any others I can consider to use with a 250dr amplifier?
It would need to not protrude or be obvious that it is under the carpet.
I think 3mm thickness of the cable would be maximum in order to not show or feel when walking on the carpet.
I just used an extra layer of carpet underlay with a thin gap in it for the cable to sit in. The cable I used wasn’t particularly thin but it was unharmed by people standing on it. As a bonus, the carpet (or rug in my case) was nice and soft to walk on, it added a little insulation, and could conceivably even help with room acoustics.
Of course you would need to lift the whole carpet in order to fit this, but it might well be a cheaper option than new speaker cable.
Failing that, I suppose a cut in single layer underlay so that for the 1-2cm width of the cable there is either thinner underlay or none, but unlikely to be noticeable.
However if I were doing that I think I would if possible run the cable around the edge by the carpet gripper rather than across the middle of the floor. If an existing carpet the edge is much easier to re-fix without calling out a carpet fitter
If the cable needs to go around a corner a flat cable is not recommended.
Tellurium Q works well with a 250 imho and it’s very flat, but the comments about corners are right - any bends will be an issue.
I’m having a new carpet fitted in a few weeks, the cable will run straight across from one side to the other, so no corners to worry about. I’m not sure if the Tellurium will be too thick at 3mm without cutting into the new underlay, which I didn’t really want to do.
Not sure if the Nordost specs will suit the 250 dr, anyone here uses Nordost?
Yes. Nordost specs on their speaker cables are pretty much in middle of the road - nothing crazy. Plenty of Naim amp users with nordost speaker cables
NACA5 in a gap in the underlay here - can’t see it or feel it.
Had to channel the skirting to route it in and out though…
Almost anything would be easier than NACA5 but, whatever you choose, give some thought to how you will route the cable in and out.
Chord did a cable called the Flatline. Very thin at about 1mm (but very wide). You can still find runs of it on ebay.
But I’d still echo others advice to use the underlay and carpet grip. I one ran cables for 7.1 surround in the underlay channel next to the grip. Utterly invisible.
I did use Nordost Flatline for a number of years for just the reasons you give. This was with Audiolab power amps (back in the day!) never with my Naim amps. They worked really well and went under the carpet easily. I would echo the comments about corners but with enough length of cable, it is possible to loop it.
One thing I hadn’t bargained for was not knowing where to put the speaker spikes. It was only when taking the cable out that I realised I had accidentally pierced the cable! No problems caused but more by luck than judgement.
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