I’m currently demoing a pair of Spender 7.2’s in place of my Naim Credo, and all going very positively. The Banana plugs on the Chord Odyssey speaker cable are the standard Naim plugs with the black outer casing.
For the purpose of demoing, I have removed the black casing and plugged the banana plugs straight in.
All seems well, but is there any reason not to leave it like this for the long term?
If not, I was looking at the ChordOhmic banana plugs which crimp on by the dealer, and Chord say this is as good as factory fitted. Any thoughts
I have Spendor D7.2 as well, if you unscrew the binding post terminals all the way they come off completely in your hand. You can then plug the banana plugs in the end of the terminals as normal but the gap between the posts are greater with less mass to the terminals now i know how crazy this sounds but it really makes a difference in sound.
Plus using Naim plugs without the cover is completely fine and again keeps the connection low mass.
This trick also works on the D9’s.
I just took delivery of a pair. As they say Breaking in is hard to do. Sounding a bit rough the last few days after sounding pretty good out of the box. One of the fastest and most dynamic speakers I’ve heard, which surprised me.
If the Naim plugs are well soldered I would just leave then as they are. I really don’t think you’re likely to get any benefit from changing them to crimped Ohmics.
I would use some heatshrink tubing to protect the bare ends of the Naim plugs though. There is a small chance that you could accidentally short them if anything metal were to come into contact with the bare metal plugs.
thanks @nicnaim so far only 10 hours in. First hour was a bit rough, but now they are now better than my Credo’s, which is great news. At the moment I still have the flat feet connected (on carpet). Idea was to get them a little more run in, then play around with positioning a bit before adding the spikes, and hopefully getting another boost in SQ. How many hours are you in?
Thanks @ChrisSU I always like your responses - will follow through on that
I’m estimating I have about 90 hrs so far. Been running them while I’m at work. I put the grills back on yesterday cause the tweeters were getting a bit hot… will do more critical listening this evening.
I have mine on the spikes but won’t play with positioning for a few more weeks. 500 hours is what I’ve heard is the break in time.
It is a little worrying about the tweeters. I suppose they are moving parts, so heat will get generated. I’ve not noticed it on mine, but will let you know if that changes.
500 hours sounds a lot, although I think I have nearly made my mind up to keep them. Hopefully its a logarithmic scale, where you get the quickest benefits up front, then a slow improvement. I do have a possible issue with the veneer which may become a new thread, but other than that, I do like them
Got a very helpful response from Splendour first thing.
The D-Line binding posts are Rhodium plated, and the suggestion was to focus on a good mechanical interface, rather than what materials the plugs are made from. So I think the Naim plugs will be fine, albeit with some added shrink wrap.
They also suggested (without being prompted) to remove the outer cases if using the banana plugs for better SQ.
All so very helpful.
BTW they also said that the speakers were originally voiced without the grills, but have made lots of effort to ensure they sound good with them.
After the first few hours they sounded great. It’s hard to say how much they have improved since then, as I decided to pay for them, so as its a done deal I just now enjoy them, without concentrating too much on the HiFi aspects. In terms of placement I am limited as to where they can go, but managed to get the minimum depth from rear wall measurement. I do still need to try and use shrink-wrap on the plug ends, but was waiting on a delivery of some IPA to remove my likely finger prints from when I first tried them
Thanks to these speakers, I think I have come to the end of my upgrade journey - well probably, possibly, ish . My wife is now used to their looks, and likes the SQ difference, so that’s a big win. No money left anyhow, and about time I start up my other hobbies.
Trying to think how long I leave it until I sell my Credo’s, as I can’t see them ever going back.
. My wife is now used to their looks, and likes the SQ difference, so that’s a big win. No money left anyhow, and about time I start up my other hobbies.