I’m currently home demoing a few speaker options and need to use different cables for some of them. I have in the back of my memory some discussion on the forum a long time ago about whether Townshend Isolda Speaker cable is unsuitable for use with Naim amps. Can anyone confirm or deny that they are safe to use with my 500DR please?
Search for a review by The Ear (no links allowed here) – it seems it’s very high capacitance and low inductance i.e. the complete opposite of what Naim amps like.
The review I’ve read suggests there is a (supplied?) fix though – suggest read their review 4/3/13 for guidance.
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« Oh, and please Never use Isolda cables on Naim amps. These are very high capacitance and very low inductance cables; basically the opposite of what Naim amps need. Use of High capacitance/low inductance speaker cable with Naim amps will at best, give poor performance, and at worst cause the amp distress or even damage.«
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Thanks gents. That’s what I thought I remebered. I’ll stick to Mogami 2972 or Kudos KS-1.
Whilst other comments are right to a certain extent, it is my understanding that this can now be used safely due to changes made by Townshend on the later version of their Isolda. By all means contact Naim/Townshend direct, in respect of their cables, they are some of the best I have heard.
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I’ve used Isolda without incident with a nait xs. Yes it’s the polar opposite of naca5 but the amp didn’t appear to complain.
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Just don’t forget that there’s another variable in the puzzle - speakers. I’ve had no issues with Isolda/Nait50/Neat Petite and a lot of issues with the same Nait50 and Audio Note speakers
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Since it appears you have thankfully been put off the idea of using Isolda cables this may only be useful for future reference but there are two types of Isolda cables, one of which was “supposed” to be for Naim amps and has a stainless steel cylinder with an inductor inside to keep the amps stable. Sadly this improvement is just as misconceived as the original cable because, with enough capacitance, you can have oscillation without the amplifier being in any way unstable, irrespective of whether you’ve got the characteristic impedance of the cable down to that of the speaker. Just the output inductance (or inductor) and the rather large - and in this case variable - capacitance can set off on a song of their own without the amplifier being in any way at fault. Throw in the fact that it’s microphonic (same principle as a condenser mic) and is positioned right at the start of the feedback loop, means I wouldn’t plug this into any amplifier, let alone one as valuable as an NAP500.
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It’s a decent cable overall
I don’t necessarily disagree sound-wise. Both the Gallahads and his turntable were pretty damn good too. Some of the best sounds I’ve heard were through those, both at his house and at John Bamford’s, and I assume both used his Isolda cable. Incidentally, he was aware that I disagreed vehemently with almost all of what he thought on the subject of cables, though we were perfectly aligned on what we thought sounded good.
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