Hi thanks for the reply… sorry I meant is a worthy contender too Naim cable and are there similar alternatives that don’t break the bank
Regards
Anthony
Hi again, K20 is a very worthy cable, its almost the same as the old NACA4 & has the same L,C & R specs.
As for breaking the bank, K20 is just over £6/m unterminated vs NACA5 at £35/m
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For the benefit of the OP, I assume C is capacitance and R is resistance, but what is L? Not everyone is Mr Techy.
Sorry habits of a lifetime etc, but I’m not the worst (no names etc)
Yes C is capacitance, R resistance and L is inductance
The symbol L is used to honour its principle founder Heinrich Lenz.
Inductance is important for Naim amps as it the main element of output stage loading
Naim NACA5
Inductance - 1uH per metre
Capacitance - 16pF per metre
Resistance - 9mΩ per metre
Linn K20
Inductance - 0.93uH per metre
Capacitance - 16pF per metre
Resistance not specified
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It would be just fine.
With your amp in mind I’d not use less than 4-5 meter run, the longer the better.
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Thanks Mike. And while we are on the subject of speaker cables, particularly for older amplifiers such as the Nait 3, it’s worth reiterating that ‘you should ensure that the cable is low capacitance and of moderate inductance. High capacitance &/or very low inductance cables are to be avoided at all costs and may result in damage to your amplifier.’ That’s a quote from the FAQs.
I have numerous made up lengths of K20 and have used it on numerous systems and setups, it’s cost efficient and easy to locate and fit round bends.
I use it today on a Denon AV amp, a Sonos amp and a Uniti Atom, all fine.
As suggested aim for a decent length in your case somewhere between 4-8m being the sweet spot, avoid short lengths below that.
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Hi again Nigel, yes important and thanks for reminding.
However it does raise concerns in my mind re the understanding of this for the non-technical.
What exactly is high, low and moderate, it really needs to have some numbers.
Indeed, but that would be a hostage to fortune. If Naim published that X and Y would be ok, and then it wasn’t, it would open them up to legal action. As it stands they recommend A5 and SL, and if somebody tries something else then on their head be it.
Isn’t it also the case that this extra set of data points regards speaker cable is quite brand and generation specific, most manufacturers just specify quite basic requirements for speaker cables and most types/lengths will work without issue.
I’ve certainly not found a setup that doesn’t behave itself with Linn K20 at least!
From memory the cable was developed as a low voltage hook up cable for lighting. Linn had it made in grey and called it K20 and Naim had it made in black and white and called it A4 and cable talk had it made with there name on it. Naim was not happy with others using the cable as naim got there first so they developed A5.
It’s a great sounding cable like all Linn cables and under rated due to its low cost. I used it over A5 as it goes under the carpet between the underlay and grippers. I do think A5 has the edge but there’s really not much in it and im convinced 8meters is the perfect length but that’s just my personal preference.
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Really… No heard that. My understanding was than Naim had A4 made first, by BICC. Then Linn and Exposure (?) got BICC to make clones for them. Which BICC did… Naughty.
Naim were not happy and wrote to BICC. Not sure if legal action was mebtione. But BICC caved and paid Naim an amount of money. Which Naim ploughed into developing A5 with ANOther cable maker.
@Richard.Dane - ?
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Hi Mr.M, yes agree. K20 is a damn good alround trouble free cable, for Naim amps at least.
This subject is complex, more so when other amp designs are in the mix.
e.g. Most non-Naim power amps have an internal inductance coil on the output stage.
That inductance value gets added to with the speaker cable, normally no problems but add a long length of K20 & the total output stage inductance can be too high and cause the speakers to roll off in the upper audio band, then K20 (and NACA5) get ‘branded’ as dull.
That’s sounds perfectly plausible, I can’t remember the details but it’s something along those lines.
Still a great cable
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There is always this…
That sounds about right.
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I’ve typically used relatively short runs of it, the longest K20 I had was when I used it for rear channels from an Arcam AVR surround amp, even that was only about 15-20m from memory (at my old house).
I managed to get a load of “bin scraps” of it from my dealer as well from home cinema upgrade jobs, so all decent lengths/pairs, just chopped a few cm off each end and put new plugs on and off you go.
I’ve always found K20 a good all round general purpose cable, regardless of electronics, pretty sure I used it on older NAIT’s as well at some stage without much concern, certainly a safer bet than many possible cable options available at similar price point.
Another option here could be something like Chord Leyline, not tried it myself, perhaps others have.
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That is exactly the story that I have heard.
Originally BICC made NACA4 exclusively for Naim, but Linn persuaded BICC to supply them with an identical cable (other than the colour), which was sold by Linn as K20 (and sill is today, I believe).
Naim were not happy with ‘their’ cable being copied by Linn, so Naim found another cable manufacturer to produce NACA5.
I tried NACA4 and K20 in my vintage Linn/Naim systems a while back - always with Naim boltdown/CB amps. They sounded surprisingly different considering the construction/history. NACA4 was cleaner and clearer with perhaps a touch more swing to the music. K20 was a bit muffled by comparison but the music made more sense to my mind, was more coherent.
They are both cheap enough, so perhaps buy both second hand and sell one set, although A4 is not so easy to find these days. Or if you’re happy with either from a musicality perspective, then just pick the one that better suits the balance of your system - i.e., use the cable to tune the sound more to your liking.
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