Loudspeaker Cables For SN3

Hi-Fi Corner
1

Hi.
I note from the manual from my SN3 the following statement “however, a wide range of speaker cable types can
be used without risk of damage to the amplifier.”

and

" “ 1.2 Loudspeaker Cables

Loudspeaker cables are vitally important. They should

each be at least 3.5 metres long and of equal length. The

recommended maximum is normally 20 metres although

longer cables may be viable with some Naim amplifiers.

Some Naim amplifiers are designed only to work with Naim

loudspeaker cable and using alternatives may degrade the

performance or even damage the amplifier. Other Naim

amplifiers can be used with any high quality loudspeaker

cable although we recommend that Naim loudspeaker cable

is used. Naim loudspeaker cable is directional and should

be oriented so that the printed arrow points towards the

speakers. The Naim loudspeaker connectors supplied are

designed to comply with European safety legislation and

must be used.

Contact your local retailer or distributor for further advice

on loudspeaker cables and connector”.

I asked my local dealer as it tells me to above and his reply was:-

“As a dealer I can’t advise that you go against the manufacturer recommendations”

Which is as clear as mud on the matter!!!

Are there any type of loudspeaker cables that should definitely not be used with the SN3?

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2

Real cable BM600T 6mm2 in use between my SN3 and B&W803D, very happy with,

No idea which cable does not work with the SN3, I remember I read somewhere this is for a particular model from naim, but not sure.

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3

Use NACA5, available from your Naim dealer.

Ford Model T cars only came in black paint. NACA5 is either black or white.

I’m amazed that the dealer let you leave the shop without two lengths of cable.

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4

Or chord odyssey, witchhat phantom, tellurium q , qed 79 strand… many other options too! Just avoid braided cables like Kimber.

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5

I understand cables with a silver component are best avoided.

6

I don’t agree speaker cables should avoid silver, Chord & many others use silver plated wire

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7

I’d avoid braided Cable
But have no problem using KS-1 with my Supernait 3

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8

I agree with Mike, loads of cables are silver plated. That includes Naim’s Super Lumina, all Chord except the few cheapest lines, Kudos KS1 and others.

9

I said “I understand”…
That’s the impression I have/had from what I have read etc. Some say they can sound harsh.
Not my personal view.

10

Yeah, I had some lead cables once, but they sounded dull and heavy so I got rid of them.

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11

Rule of thumb, if the amp gets hot and shuts down or blows up you have the wrong cable.

OK maybe not completely helpful but heat is a clue to oscillation which can result from too low an inductance in the cable, which comes with a high capacitance thrown in. Look at the cable construction and if it’s made up of lots of separately insulated conductor in parallel avoid it, unless it comes with an extra inductor at the amp end and I’d wary even then. Widely spaced twin parallel conductors, either braided or solid are safest and will leave you well placed to upgrade to a power amp should you get the urge later.
The first manual quote is more recent and relates to the supernait and a few other recent Naits, which are a bit more tolerant apparently, the direr warning quoted second has been pasted over and relates the current and older power amps.

12

While your Supernait is a little bit more tolerant than the classic power amps, be guided by the recommendations in the speaker cable FAQ here and you won’t go far wrong - so stick to cables that combine low capacitance with moderately high inductance and stear well clear of anything that’s of either high capacitance or low inductance - at best it’ll make the amp perform under-par, and at worst it will stress or even possibly damage it;

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13

Hi @Skeptikal

Thank you for answer.
Are you using Kudos speakers, mine are not Kudos.

14

Hi @Yeti

Thank you for very full answer
Would Star-Quad come under “lots of separately insulated conductor in parallel”?

15

Hold on a minute. You’re advising someone to avoid silver plated cables with a Supernait, while using them yourself?!

For what it’s worth I recall chatting with Derek, designer and owner of Kudos, some years ago, and he confessed to being a big fan of silver plating, which might explain why he used Chord cables before coming up with his own silver plated cable.

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Well it’s not what I’d call lots but it does increase the capacitance, by 1.5 times according to wikipedia. It’s advantages are with balanced connections where it helps reject common mode noise but which the supernait doesn’t use. I have an LCR bridge so can measure inductance and I’d want to do that before trying such a cable.

17

@RogerGround
Hi
Yes I’m kudos X3s but the cable does just a great job with any other speaker too.
I used Linn cable for nearly 30 years and never found anything better even when they brought out their new K200.
I was going to re terminate my cables after home improvements and unfortunately to do this I’d have been short on length for one speaker “ it really was that neat ‘
I contacted Cymbiosis my dealer hundreds of miles away and as my cable was very obsolete it was suggested I try the KS-1 and it has been the only cable I have heard that bettered what I had before so I’m happy with them.
But please don’t have the view that Kudos only works with Kudos that would be a big mistake to dismiss other options.
Hope this helps. :+1:t2:

18

Hi I meant Litz type braided wire Dugh.

19

I see you have edited your post to remove the ‘avoid silver’ suggestion!

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Like many, I’m using Kudos KS-1 on my SN3, replaced much more expensive cable and its fantastic value for money and great all rounder.

My second system is Densen based and it performs just as well there.

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