I have a Naim integrated amp and Kudos Cardea 2 speakers. Current cables are the Van Den Hul Clearwaters and I think they work really well with my components. Nice lively sound. Is it worth upgrading to the Nac A5? Will I notice much improvement? If so in what areas?
Thanks for your help.
Type NACA5 into the search bar at the top of the page. Plenty of bedtime reading on the subject.
Nac A5 always sounds most balanced (ie works better) simply because Naim amps were designed to work with it â the natural partner.
But it still worths you visit dealers and see if you like what Nac A5 brings to the table, as you said VDH works really well already.
I personally think Nac A5 doesnât really have a sound, itâs more like the speaker cable that let Naim amps work as it should â so I sensed the PRaT fully locked-in, with an earthy but not dark balance, dense, tactile midrange, sweet highs, load of low ends and low-level information pulled by Naimâs preamp so there are lot of flows. But obviously these are known characters of Naim amps.
Also good to let us know whatâs the integrated amp you are using, and see whatâs the best length for your amp. For vintage amps length of Nac A5 is crucial but iirc NC isnât necessary.
I had a conversation with Derek, Kudos designer, at a show some time ago and he has a preference for silver plated copper cables and always chose Chord cables for use with his speakers and Naim amps. That was before Kudos released their own KS1 which is very similar to the design of the cheaper Chord cables. So you might want to investigate these options, although when I had Kudos X2s I found NACA5 preferable.
Iâll never forget setting up a show where one of the guys had made up a full set of Chord Odyssey 2 cables for use with an N-Vi and the 5.1 n-Sat, n-Cent, and n-Sub system. The reason for going with the Chords, I canât now recall exactly, but possibly because they were a bit easier to dress around the room. It all sounded really good, but Paul was not impressed and so the Odyssey 2 cables were removed and a set of NACA5 cables made up late into the evening. What a difference it made! Everything sounded much more alive and engaging, with a dynamism and tension that was previously only hinted at with the Odyssey cable. A lesson for me that day.
Itâs a Nail 5i
Nac A5 are the perfect speaker cable for the Nait 5i. Make sure you get a minimum of 2 x 3.5 m lengths and that you get equal lengths.
So why are they perfect? Designed for Naim amps with correct capacitance and inductance to get the best from your amp.
Kudos KS1 are meant to be good with Naim also but have never tried them.
You have to spend alot more to improve upon the Nac A5 cables.
Best of luck with your system!
I canât say how the NACA5 compares to your current cables or with your speakers but the Naim cable is excellent and my guess is that it will help your amp and thus speakers come alive. There are the issues of the cable being quite stiff and so difficult to dress around a room but in sound quality they are hard to beat getting the best out of the Naim amp.
Some judicious use of gentle heating with a hair dryer can help get the cable to go where you want it.
Actually the Old Classic amps from 2000 onwards, isnât that sensitive as Olive /CB amps which the NacA5 original was designed for.
Based on experience, Iâd only buy A5 cable if you get a long length (4-5M+ sound better) and ignore the very stiff nature of these cables.
Oh and make sure to have them proper terminated to banan plugs - not a job for amateurs.
Must say I prefer Kudos KS1 against many other cables run over decades, this include Witchhat, Chord Co. and A5.
Well said
I read a post that a dealer couldnât order White directly anymore only Black so if they are running down the last of least popular colour thatâll be that. 
Times and trends have changed. 
Thanks Dan. Iâll give them a go.
A 4.5m pair is probably not going to be too much money to justify spending just to try. Particularly as I say I do like how the VDH Clearwaters sound. Iâd read elsewhere that Naim only recommended the 3.5m minimum for amps older than the 5i?
Make sure you can have them properly terminated by someone that knows what they are doing. It makes a huge difference. If not, then they will just sound like any other cable, or even off, and youâll be left wandering what all the fuss is about.
I had great success buying black and then white Nac A5 cables on ebay used. All terminated superbly. Naim plugs at amp end and banana plugs at speaker end. No issues at all.
I like the stiffness and the patterns you can make.
I have Nac A5 in second system. I now use Naim Superlumina speaker cables on main system. If necessary, I would have no qualms about going back to Nac A5 on main set up. Itâs a great speaker cable and many on here use it on their systems whether it be Nait 5i or 500DR.
Thanks for that Dan.
I havenât followed RRP on new A5 cable.
But thereâs a lot s/h A5 cable out there, depending on where your located. - maybe even terminated.
Your amp isnât critical on length of this cable, but it will sound better with a 5M run vs 2M run. Surely A5 cable is a much better choice than VD.Hul (which is specialized in entirely different hifi, their cable must be something rebranded - not that this is bad)
Van den Hul is actually very much a cable company. The namesake is a metallurgist, started with cartridges in 1980 and quickly expanded to cables where he pioneered several developments that are now common practice in the cable world. Clearwater is the first âseriousâ cable for many starting hifi enthousiast and is great vfm but NACA5 is clearly better suited to be used with Naim amplifiers. I just switched to A5 from from Chord Shawline X, I very much prefer the Naim cables. And you get the peace of mind that your amp was voiced using that cable.
A5 with QED airlock bananaplugs at both sides will be good i hope?
To answer the OPâs Q: âsoòooooooooooooòooooooooooo good!â Asgaard uses 3 sets.
I donât see how it could get any better than an Airloc cold weld.