I have tried quite a few pro-audio (from the likes of Mogami, Gotham, Canare, Van Damme and Flashback) cables for the 180 5pin-5pin DIN between NDX2 and 252. These are in addition to Naim’s lavender and HiLine. In summary, I prefer the SQ from Hiline with Mogami 3173 coming in close second.
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Which interconnect is Naim’s “black”?
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I too am a Mogami IC user, in my case its 2549. I initially chose it for a DIY project because of its very low capacitance & high end materials.
I made up a prototype & compared it with my Lavender, FlashBack & AR Sounds, also a few borrowed others & a HiLine. The Mogami was so close to HiLine & hard to tell.
I made the 2549 cables with Neutrik DIN plugs & the set each of the lengths to fit between components with the objective of reducing the already low capacitance to a minimum.
Interconnect on the left, SNAIC on the right.
Hi Mike,
Glad that your “findings” are similar to mine wrt Mogami. As a matter of fact, the 3173 is now sitting in between the NDX2 and 252 - at the moment. I may swap back the HiLine later on.
I also have the 2549 made for connecting the SCDR to 250DR. I’m waiting for WH Morgana to replace this. For rca connection to other sources, i’m using 2803 and 2497. Highly recommended.
You are right! Apologies for the confusion. Getting late in this part of the world…hahaha.
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Richard, apologies for the confusion.
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Hi guys
Got the cable… hmmm glad I only paid 330…
Not a massive improvement is it… 
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Is it connected the correct way around? I believe it is directional.
And fitted correctly?
Must hang free and not touch any other cables or the floor.
Once pushed home pull back the plug by 1mm to maximise the decoupling.
Mine was still an improvement even when connected the wrong way round for the first few tracks…
There’s a bit of a knack of getting it to connect without any stressing along the cable or the plugs. Take each plug in each hand with the cable in a nice u shaped loop between them. Orientate the plugs so they’re exactly positioned to slide into the sockets. If you don’t have a nice even u shaped cable then you can gently swing it back and forth while holding each end just before the plugs (keep the plugs within your palms so they don’t come apart or get stressed themselves. Once you you have it nicely de-stressed and formed then take it over the kit and the plugs should hopefully just slide in. When they are fully home just pull back on the plug front a mm or two so the end is not completely rammed up to the end of the Din socket. It sounds like a bit of a faff, and may take a few tries, but the results are well worth it. Any undue stress on the cable or the plugs will result in the decoupling not working properly, which you’ll hear easily as the sound will just become a bit closed-in and constrained.
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Hi
Yeah it’s in ok and the only cable it’s slightly touching is the ndx2 network one I didn’t want to try and fiddle anymore cos it’s a bit busy round the back lol…
Yep and the directional marker is closes to the ndx.
It does sound better (slightly different also)
But not as big as I was expecting…
But I guess with high end cables etc its small gains…
The standard Naim lavender/grey i/c that come with the kit is still very good…
Totally agree…
To my ears pretty much as good as the highline
Whenever I have a spring clean I often find that the first time I re-attach the HiLine it doesn’t sound right, but I only know that since I’ve heard how good it can sound. It may be worth trying to unplug and then reconnect the HiLine a couple of times to try and get the right fit since you’ve now bought one.
As previously mentioned, try and get it hanging loose without touching anything else. I sometimes hold the main section of the cable up whilst inserting the HiLine connector into the socket so that the main HiLine cable is parallel with the connector and not hanging down whilst doing the insertion. The HiLine plug seems to almost glide into the connector when it’s right with hardly any resistance.
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How is it possible to make the cable hang if it has a fixed length? I have a 3 box system and it is impossible to achieve, as the lavender cable is very flexible and of course - quite too long.
I tie a very loose knot in my HiLine cable to stop it reaching the floor
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As ajm says above, if you can’t accommodate a nice u shaped dressing, then making a very loose loop or even a knot can sometimes help. Just try to keep the cable as unstressed as you can.
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