Which is fine if you want to spend a few grand to make an 800 quid cable work properly but not everyone can afford to or choose not to!
Like the OP as one example, sticking to the point sort of!
Yes i hear you, but on the same token the OP may have an idea of where they are willing to end up. I bought my Hi-Line when i had a 5Si series system sat on a coffee table, many years ago. It has only really started to show its true merit ever since i upgraded to the system i have now, and with it’s correct installation being able to take place. Knowing what i know now i would’ve put my hard earned cash elsewhere when i never had the means to exploit the Hi-Line’s full potential.
If i was in the OP’s shoes, i’d put the money towards a XPS DR or a decent rack first, then the Hi-Line.
P.S. it wouldn’t surprise me if the OP doesn’t hear much of a performance upgrade (if any) from the Hi-Line as things stand, but who knows?
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If it were me, I’d be inclined to just give it a try, they come up used at more modest prices fairly often and worst case you can always move it on again with negligable loss of finances.
You make a valid point on getting the basics established as a priority and having a view and commitment to a longer term system evolution, if any is planned or the potential to finance one exists.
Even a used XPS DR, whilst being a meaningful addition, is in the region of 3 grand based on vintage and a new one over 4 grand. Fraim tends to appear used somewhat more sporadically given those that end up with it tend to keep hold of it relative to availability of other Naim hardware.
Sorting out the listening space and mains make any system more enjoyable and allows for further refinements to contribute improvements with greater substance.
The order and upgrade path you aim for ultmately being driven by personal circumstances rather than being mandatory of course.
Yes i have seen a few show up lately at various dealerships in their pre-loved sections - at very keen prices.
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I’m sure we’ve both done similar in the past and optimised over an extended journey.
If someone happens to be looking used the older ones came in a metal tin box with card outer sleeve with the older Naim logo (like the Green crescent on hardware fascia).
The newer ones come in a cardboard box with a black Naim logo on white box.
Older ones, especially if they’ve been exposed to sunlight may exhibit a weakness in the ABS connector rings and display the well known fragility feature as the plastic becomes compromised and brittle over time.
The newer ones use a different plastics formulation and tend to be more robust as a result.
Regardless never hold the rings on the connector when connecting or disconnecting the IC, always hold by the silver / black DIN outer plug.
Do come back @thinning_light and report your findings should you choose to make the investment.
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Didn’t want to start a new thread. So writes here and hopes it’s ok. Have had the hiline in place for approx 2 weeks. It’s a lot more open and detailed than the lavender but also a bit more revealing of bad recordings. I think it’s all good but still hard to tell. Maybe the revealing nature will get the best of me.
Mine isn’t touching anything by the way.
Just had to say: destressed the cable as per @Richard.Dane suggestion regarding the hiline and lo and behold the harshness I was hearing lessened quite a bit.
Destressing the hi-line? How is that done or is that in a topic somewhere?
Mine is hanging freely but I guess it wouldn’t hurt.
It was in an old thread. Shake it like a burndy.
I’d treat it a bit more gently. It’s a delicate thing, especially the flexible decoupling ring tail.
You want your Hi-Line de-stressed, not distressed 
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Yes. The instruction was to hold both plugs in your hands aligned as they would be when inserted and gently swing the cable back and forth.
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What’s not to die for!
Hi-Line de-stressing
I had a visit from Jason Gould a couple of years ago at which time I was using a Hi-Line. He performed various enhancements to get the best from the system. One such enhancement was to de-stress the Hi-Line. This he did by taking the cable at one end and bending the cable to form an inverted U with a diameter of ~10mm (in effect the shape formed was more like an omega symbol). He then chased this along the length of the cable to the other end. The cable was turned over and the process was repeated back to the start.
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I do something similar with every cable hifi or not. It loosens the grip between the inner and outer sheath and just makes any cable more manageable and easy to dress too.
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