Hi
I’ve taken a picture of the only printing on my Linn Silvers I know of only two types of plug on these and the change was a good number of years ago.
I’ll attach the blown up image below.
There is no mention anywhere of a mark one or two version.
What is the Atlas Factory you mention.?
I live near the factory and have on occasion seen the cables being made as well as larger than surface mount components being hand installed.
You know Linn supply the plugs and cable to specialist dealers for custom requirements.
Anyhow enough about Linn products this is the Naim forum and the discussion was about connector types.
Atlas Cables in Kilmarnock, Scotland, UK.
Purely coincidental Scottish.
Atlas don’t use any solder on their cables.
Quote Kevin Kelly interview for Hi Fi Pig.
" HP: You mentioned that you don’t use solder at all in your cables which is very unusual, what do you see as being the benefits of this process and how does it work?
KK: We don’t believe soldering is necessarily bad, however when we originally chose our preferred conductor material to be OCC copper this necessitated the use of cold welding. The reason being that OCC as a material doesn’t really like much “post-processing” especially variable high temperatures (soldering or extrusion). As we didn’t want to solder the conductor material this meant we had to design and manufacture all our own plugs. So, over the years this has developed into our brand-defining manufacturing processes. We don’t solder or silver plate any of our analogue cables and by not soldering we deliver very consistent products and have virtually no variability product to product."
Hope this is of interest.
OK, so they’re crimped……
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They’re not the only cable brand to adopt crimping instead of soldering. Chord and QED do it too. Sure, they give it a fancy name and supply the equipment to retailers, but maybe that’s not such a bad thing if it gives consistent results. Having seen some disastrously bad soldering done by a dealer in the past, maybe it’s not such a bad idea.
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Sorry to hijack the topic, but is there a brand option for the 3pin XLR to 4pin Din, 250 to HiCap cable and would it make a difference. Thanks Anthony
There are many, to suit every budget, from Super Lumina (££££), to WitchHat (££) and Chord (£-££££) to name but three. As to the difference they make - you’ll just have to try them and see. Online, WitchHat offer a 30-day trial as do FutureShop (who sell most of the Chord range), but your friendly neighbourhood dealer - if you have one - should be able to loan you some alternatives.
Thanks for the response, most of the dealers of cables in my part of the world (Toronto Canada) do not have anything extra in stock or are unwilling to lend/loan what they do have. If you can believe it, all of Canada (Focal/Naim) dealers are on an order only basis.
Sorry, I didn’t realise that you were in CA; my reply was very UK-centric. If you’re unhappy with the standard Naim cable or just want to try something different, then even allowing for shipping you’d get a good trial from WitchHat (their Morgana range is very highly regarded) - I’d email them to discuss it. Alternatively, try eBay for something like a Chord Shawline as a first step up; you wouldn’t lose much if you didn’t like it and wanted to sell it on…
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Gothic Audio doesn’t ever get mentioned on this forum so I thought I’d drop it in. They are pure silver cables, the best build quality of cables I’ve used and ime the best I’ve heard (i’ve not heard Naim High line)
Their new range of interconnects for Naim is called the ELLA. Also any custom cable can be made on request. I use their interconnects in my system and also use their silver plated banana plugs for my NAC A5 to great effect.
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I’m located in the GTA as well, I’ve purchased a number of Witch Hats Morgana cables & would recommend checking them out, their shipping cost to Canada is also quite reasonable.
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I have used Gothic Audio cables before and they do appear very well made.
However, the 12c pure-silver DIN-RCA adapter seemed to lack center image focus and stratification of sources in the soundstage. Everything was blurred. The effect was strong compared to a Chord Chrysalis II and WitchHat Morgana RCA->DIN adapters I’ve also used; both of which sounded normal in those regards. I know that the Chord and WitchHat cables that I bought are both designed for the RCA to be on the source end and the DIN to attach to the Naim equipment at their input.
The Morgana was indeed an upgrade, but in other areas as well. As it should be for 3x the price. I’m very pleased with the Morgana and it’s staying.
Just couldn’t get the GA cable to work but they are obviously making things with care and using quality components. It’s entirely possible that I was using it /not as intended/ with my RCA source (Chord Qutest). Being in the US (and in the PNW at the time), shipping back to UK for inspection want really practical. So I disclosed my issue and sold it. New owner is using it differently and really loves it.
Interesting I’ve personally had the opposite result in my system. I’ve used the 16core rca to Din and 16core cables running to the NAP135s.
the focus, imaging and clarity is far beyond anything I’ve heard from any other brand (note, I haven’t heard the Naim Hi Line).
The burn in time is substantial with these mind you. There is a period within which they sound a little thin and not as liquid as they eventually end up sounding. I guess compared to copper they don’t quite sound as thick but imho with Naim that’s exactly what I don’t need. Naim provides more heft/weight (in a good way) to the sound than I have heard from any other brand.
Thanks for the Headsup, i have found the new Chord distributor for Canada in Oakville, he will only order new cables for me, will look into the witch hat. What do you think of the Teddy Pardo interconnect?
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I’ve never tried any of Teddy’s interconnects. The cables do look to have good quality build materials, vs their cost. Recommend reading up on Witchhats website as they have some interesting design concepts. Again, good quality materials vs cost. With their Morgana series they use OCC copper, which in general I find to be probably the best sounding copper. I went from a Hiline to a Morgana, my main reason for the swap was due to how fragile the Hiline can be. This was on my digital front, I didn’t notice any reduction in sound quality, so bought a second one from my analog front.
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They started selling the MKII version in 2019, which are the ones made in the UK, both older versions are allegedly of chinese manufacture.
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I dont like expensive cables like the Morgana - I use a Gotham GAC ultra pro 1 fitted with switchcraft rcas - seem to be not quite as rolled off as the ol’ stock Naim DIN5 180 cable.
update: after a year I sold the Ultra Pro, replaced it with 1 meter par of Gotham GAC-4/1 with Neutrik Rean rcas. $26 on amazon.
I have a nac 272 and would like to connect a tape deck. does anyone know if the 5 pin din has both in and out?
No, unfortunately it’s input only.
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