My system is being upgraded as of Wednesday. An NDX2 plus XPSDR will be replacing my ND5XS2. I am also adding Focsl Utopia headphones, with a Cardas Beyond Clear headphone cable (4.5 meters). My speaker cable is Chord Clearway. Interconnects are Shawline. Speakers are Spendor A4. System is:
SN3
CD5SI
Rega P9
NDX2 with XPSDr
HighcapDR.
Isotek power management and Isotek power cords.
Spendor A4
Should I be considering a higher level Chord speaker cable or wait to see how the new stuff sounds?
Nice system . I would definitely upgrade the speaker cable. I have Chord Odyssey 2 which is really good. Dont think chord make it anymore but you can buy it on E**y .
For those who suggest NACA5, it has to go behind bookcases and custom record cabinets. Lots of corners which makes NACA5 unsuitable. My dealer feels that a speaker upgrade beyond my A4 Spendor speakers should be considered first.
I am reluctant because the A4 speakers have work well in our living room. More importantly, better speakers will likely be taller which will block part of our NYC skyline view. Preserving our view is a major priority for my husband.
Mine bends and my dealer says don’t waste your time on anything else. I just, naively maybe, assume the manufacturers of the kit know the best cable to use with their kit.
It’s the same cable as they use in the cabinets I know many houses completely wired with it for all the system installs.
Certainly no bass missing issues here.
I would like to comment on Naim NAC A5 speaker cable.
I am not expert enough to make a judgement on how this cable would match the rest of your system, but I installed it in my system some months ago and was very pleasantly surprised at the improvement. You can see my system in my profile and there are photographs on the forum somewhere too.
My other observation is that this cable is not really inflexible - at least not as inflexible as some on the forum have suggested. I bought mine ready-terminated and installing really was not a problem. My speakers are Linn Isobariks and you may know that they are happiest relatively close to the rear wall. I was able to tilt them forward a little bit and insert the banana plugs fairly easily after carefully bending the cable in a gentle curve.
I’d been using Linn K400 and then split for about 35 years.
Had to change due to home improvements but KS-1 was the only cable I found thst had the same if not better level of bass reproduction.
I had tried the new K200 linn cable but was far too bright for me.
My advice is just to get the NDX2 installed, sit back and enjoy the music. The NDX2/XPSDR is a lovely source and you should be delighted with the improvement. There’s no need to change anything else. I’d wait till summer before even thinking of further changes.
The Kudos cable is very good though, and I’m sure a U.K. dealer would be happy to supply some in due course, if you feel the need.
@HungryHalibut i will wait. I am in no rush. I am looking forward to the Utopia headphones and the Cardas Beyond Clear headphone cable. I never have had great headphones before and stopped listening because speakers always sounded better.
@HungryHalibut i doubt if I will change electronics. With the XPSDr, i will have exhausted shelf space. I might want to get a dedicated headphone amp, if it would be a massive upgrade from the one in the SN3. However, even there, I am out of shelves.
