I like the idea of the dedicated Naim soldered plugs with metal matching the socket, it makes a lot of sense. But used with NAC A5 which looks very stiff does it sit OK with an amp at low level?
My cable runs directly behind the amp towards the rear wall and then under the carpet, so I’m concerned about a cable exiting the amp at 90 degrees straight down as I’ll need to make an opposite sharp right angle in the cable to make it run directly behind.
Also concerned about pressure on the amp socket due to the sharp right angle I’ll need to make in the cable under the socket to make it run directly behind with the amp at a low level close to the floor.
Is this a problem in reality or can the cable be manipulated into shape? Alternatively I could just use banana plugs so it exits directly towards the rear wall but would prefer to follow Naims intended method if it will work.
Bend it, carefully, a bit behind the plug so that it exits horizontally. It is OK to carefully bend NACA5 for installation, which makes it much nicer in general, e.g. to go around corners. Just avoid bending it back and forth a lot in the same place.
You could warm the sheath carefully with a hairdryer too, but it is usually not necessary
^^^ This IMO. Free yourself of the plastic body and solder the pins on in-line with the cable. Use heat shrink to tidy up around the joint. The plastic body is the spawn of the devil and should be discarded regardless. Ideally the pins should fit loosely inside the plastic body to allow a bit of freedom of movement so the pins can locate centrally in the sockets, but it’s so tight in there and the cable so stiff this is rarely achieved.
You basically need to bend it vigorously into shape, as long as you don’t get too viscious it’s possible to get it to sit correctly. You can also gently warm it with a hair drier or heat gun if you have the right tools but i’ve never had to do so myself. Soldering it properly and neatly is the most challenging part, some of the work i’ve seen in the past has been utterly shocking. I purchased some used cable recently and remade the connection on mine, for ref this is how it should look (compare to plugs in rear of the photo). If I am being overly critical there is a little too much solder on the left plug but otheriwse it’s bang on. There is no Naim plug on this end as I am using a speaker with different terminal spacing. This is ok to do also. Some choose to leave more copper exposed towards the end of the plug but in my experience if they are moved regularly or bent too aggessively the copper strands can become damaged which then compromises the termination.
Can you wire the sa8 plugs such that they are inverted and the cables exit upwards instead of down? Would that help with routing them?
Pinched photo from MortalWombatUK:
I don’t see that as being an issue so long as the polarities are correct. You may have to trim the plastic tabs on the plugs dependant on how they sit if they’re close etc. Alternatively you can just fit them normally and bend them so they exit more horizontally, so essentially the same as that^ just the other way around.
With a bit of digging you can source some nickel plated banana plugs with contact springs like the Naim plugs, with in-line solder bucket terminations. The plastic shells should slip over NACA5, but heat shrink sleeving is always an option.
I would stick with Naim plugs and Naim cable if it were me, i’ve had all sorts connected with it on various racks and it’s possible to get the Naca to sit right on any of it. Just take some faffing to sort.
Thanks all. I might just opt for the softer looking witch hat cable and save myself the grief and I think it would sit fine with the Naim plugs on as well.
I’ve had connection sockets fail on several devices in the past due to stressing from rigid cable, albeit not Naim.
Even with WH cable, wiring the plugs for an ‘up’ exit might work better. The right-angle plugs are no-doubt better in many installs, but if (like me too) you have an amp with the sockets low and near the floor/not at the back of a shelf, straight works better.
The reason I ask is because if you view the rear you’ll see the terminals are up a ecent way so there should be plently of room to manipulate the cable into a slight ‘L’’ shape out and over the edge of your equipment shelf.
I’ve generally found that NACA5 can be bent into a suitable shape, and will retain that shape permanently. If you really think the right angled plugs won’t work for you I would just use regular Nickel plated Deltron plugs, which are cheap and work fine with NACA5.
Or as mentioned above you can have the plugs soldered on straight rather than the 90 degree angle then tweak the cable down from there. As I said soldering them is the tricky part so as not to make a hash of the pvc sheathing, you shouldn’t need to cover any shoddy soldering with heat shrink if it’s done properly.
Thanks Tibbs. It’s not my neatest but it’s for me so I wasn’t too fussed. When I do cables for other people I make sure it’s 100% perfect. Yes it’s a bolt down 250 and I know what you mean about the plugs they don’t push all the way flush on older Naim equipment. I mean they still go in a long way but I get what you mean about the ocd! I suppose you could upgrade the terminals to the newer type I haven’t thought of that I may explore doing it.
