Just had my 1st experience of NACA5, installed on SN3 system. 2 x 4m lengths. Not entirely sure I like it on 1st impressions, but to be fair I’ll reserve judgement until the cable is run in.
However, with my normal listening ‘availability’, that will take weeks (more likely months) and it’s not practical to just leave the system playing continuously in a small house.
I could make a up a rig to run the cable in continuously, but without speakers, i.e. by using power resistors, possibily aluminium clad 25W, 6.8 ohms. I’d use my spare amp and digital music on repeat from a laptop.
Does anyone have experience of doing this? Obviously a resistor does not simulate speaker parameters, other than average impedance, but should be ok for the purposes of running cable in?
I assumed playing music would be the best way to run in. Sine sweeps or white/pink noise might be another option, but care would need to be taken not to overheat the amp. I’d set the volume level with speakers first in any case, whichever method used.
Is there a recommended run-in time for NACA5 (in hours)? I couldn’t find a naim recommendation, but I thought maybe 100 hours?
I suspect you’re probably right, which would be a shame. Although from other posts here, NACA5 does seem to improve significantly after running in.
Key point for me is I’m not enjoying it and I’m already itching to put back the old cable, or try something new, but, objectively, I’d rather do that once I’ve heard it properly run in. But (and to robert-h’s comment) I don’t want to wait weeks/months to make that decision. So I was looking for a quick/cheap way to run the cable in over a few days, then make the decision to stick with/ditch.
I’ve always known right away if it’s right or not it’s only going to polish if you let it.
What’s the point of demonstrations to choose items if they are going to change.
How do we know the change is always going to get better.
Your system your house you’re ears if it doesn’t sound right it doesn’t sound right.
That’s also been my experience, generally. Although I hear the point of view that running in can transform your perceptions significantly. One of the dealers that I’ve used in the past refuses to allow an audition of anything that isn’t run in.
In any case, it’s a pretty low overhead exercise to build this ‘rig’ for running in cables in, so I may as well do it + I can also use it for other cables I might want to audition in the future. I just wondered if anyone else had tried this previously.
Can’t do it, as I said before, would take too long and not prepared to put with system I don’t enjoy for weeks/months, just to ascertain whether running in might improve things…
Surely, running the cable in with any amp/speakers (or in this case a resistive load) would be effective? I’ve never heard it’s system specific.
Anyway, parts ordered (£7): block of wood, 2 resistors and some banana sockets. Very easy.
I’m interested anyway as an electronics guy to hear for myself the effect of running cable in, before and after without the gradual accustomization. Is it really just polishing the sound, or more significant? We shall see.
It’s so unique it can’t be measured.
Mechanical things wear in and electronic components get cycled in use but cables.
You’ll get used to them if you want to.
Without getting too detailed at this point before run in, the main issue is with my system and room the mid-range is very forward (too much), compared to what I had before. That’s not a criticism of the cable, but it might not work for me. The room has a tendency towards this sound anyway and I’ve been looking at room treatment options, but that’s a story for another day/post. Assuming running in the cable doesn’t help, I’ll have to think about what the right solution is, different cable/room treatment/different speakers. It never seems to be about single factors. But I wanted to get the cable run in quickly and at least rule that out, hence the post.
Hi @RonB1 I apologise if you’ve mentioned it as I didn’t read the compete thread. What was your previous cable?
NAC A5 takes a long time to run in. Make sure the direction is correct on both cables. Also which banana plugs are you using? I recommend gold plugs if it’s a bit too lively although my favourite Chord Ohmic plugs.
Secondly the NAC A5 does have a lively presentation well it did in my system. I’ve read others say it’s soft at the top end. If you’re used to a laid back cable it will take some getting used to. I regard the NAC A5 to be an exceptional cable that can be used in any high end system. I’m currently running in Furutech DSS4.1 speaker cable which is ten times the price of the NAC A5 and right now I kind of miss the A5 so that speaks volumes.
Give it time buddy. Hifi upgrades take time to settle in.
I’ll tell you a short story. I sold NAC 52 because I was convinced that because my tube DAC is so far ahead of anything else surely the tube pre from the same brand would also be the best especially anywhere near that price. When I finally received my new tube pre I didn’t get on with. I let it settle for a number of weeks but it just wasn’t anywhere near as exciting or enjoyable as the NAC 52.
I tried to return the pre but that was no longer an option available to me. So I bought the 552DR and after many many months of burn in I was content with the 552DR/135 system. However, I’d sometimes substitute my tube pre in and out of my system as I would do upgrades or make changes to other components etc. It took about a year and a half of doing this and suddenly one day the tube pre was a completely new beast. It was NOT an imagined thing. Having invested so much money in the tube pre when I first bought it I really wanted to love it but I just couldn’t. I now know thatSW1X tube gear takes a very long time to burn in. BTW tube components have more internal wiring than SS as at the very high end everything is point to point wiring. Not to mention all the transformers.
So the lesson is wires take time to burn in. I don’t know why but it’s something that is an absolute fact for me.
There are companies out there who will do the burn in for you. I have no idea what this vidar machine contains, but apparently it works for any cables.
OK, thanks. I bought the NAC A5’s recently, because these are the recommended cables with Naim equipment. But my ND5XS2 is a bit bright at times (after the firmware update), so if the NAC A5 are more focused on higher frequencies, that may become a problem. Anyway, I have to find the time to try them out.
Not absolutely sure, the cables are quite old - I think they were QED79 and with less than stellar screw on banana plugs. I’m surprised it sounded as good as it did. The difference with the NACA5 is night and day, another level of clarity. But the mid range is too much, a little painful at times, not something I can learn to live with really without addressing the problem somehow. I used the naim SA8 plugs on both ends, my speakers have nickel/tin contacts so didn’t want to use gold.
I’ll def do the burn in on the cable tho, see if anything changes.
