I have a 332/333/350 system and would like to separate the preamp and power amps further than the XLR cables that come with the system allows. Assuming that the Naim XLR connection is balanced, is there any advice/information regarding the recommended “maximum” lengths of the XLR cables. I believe that people using active speakers with XLR input must be using longer cables than those supplied by Naim. Thanks so much.
I use 7m length of xlr cables with no problems what so ever. So i’d say that it’s down to how long you need.
I suggest looking into whether Chord Company have something in their range, or could make something specific for you. (There is a Naim connection.)
I would contact Naim to get this answered.
I am using 5m length XLR cables with my active ATC’s with no problems at all. Assuming Naim’s XLR outputs are true balanced, it should be fine. I am fully prepared to be corrected, though 
Naim have said they are Balanced. So… cable length should not be an issue.
@philiprst via dealer(s) all Naim cables have always been available to order in longer lengths iirc, depending on purpose which will determine exact criteria. Previous answers relative to xlr cables are a good guide. For future reference, I expect your dealer could have requested / ordered longer versions of the standard xlr cables with your new boxes - I’ve certainly done that in the past - small premium sometimes.
edit: I made a similar comment on another thread I believe; if you ask via dealer for specific needs, Naim are very good at responding positively imhe. With an active system, it is almost a prerequisite, so I have longer i/c and powerlines!
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As a result of lounge rearrangement I installed longer balanced cables between my Linn DSM and active ATCs. They’re now 10m and sound at least as good as the shorter ones.
Roger
Thanks Sound-Hound. My desire use longer XLR cables to rearrange my listening room from the way it was originally setup; so entirely my fault.
Yep, many of us have made changes we didn’t forsee in layout terms - we won’t mentioned more or new boxes!
What surprises me is that longer i/c leads have almost never been mentioned on the forum.
Hope you are enjoying your new 3** kit; heard a Naim demo, v. nice, I posted a thread.
NC2** here in a second system as upgrade to Nova; very pleased.
The ability tu run long cables was mentioned at the launch of the 300. The question about balanced or pseudobalanced must be answered by somebody that knows these things. At first there was a white paper referenced that said that the design is pseudo balanced whatever that means but standard balanced xlr cables can be used unlike with the oldd 300.
Claus
Thanks so much everyone for your suggestions and help. I went back and read the manuals more carefully for both the NC 332 (preamp) and the NC 350 and Naim describe the 332 output and the 350 input as balanced: “The NAP 350 features industry standard XLR balanced inputs for audio. Balanced connections are a low-noise solution and are able to run over long distances – enabling
more flexible placement of the NAP 350”. So, although it is buried in the manual, it seems clear that the XLR connections are, in fact, properly balanced. I would need XLR cables to be about 5m long and so I am going to give it a try and see what happens. Thanks again everyone!
I thought I should follow up since I have now tried the balanced XLR connection between the preamp and the power amps (350s) although, for full disclosure, I did use for my test a set of 20ft pro-audio XLR cables I had around rather than anything more fancy. I did not hear any real difference between the long XLRs and the short DIN cable. Perhaps those with better ears might hear a subtle difference I am missing. I was sufficiently encouraged by this test to plan for XLR connection which results in much better placement of the various components in my particular situation. I can confirm that locking XLR plugs work fine in the Naim XLR sockets and I had wondered about this since the supplied Naim XLR cables are non-locking. I will probably make up my own XLR cables to finish the project.
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