to do my project. I have a Kef K-ube for my Kef 107 that I’m restoring and the RCA cables are fixed to the case. The K-ube bass eq is between my Cambridge CNX v2 and my Naim Nait 5si. I need to do cables RCA from the streamer output to the K-ube and out to 5pins DIN to My Nait 5si.
Should I buy cable with outer grounded mesh or not ?
If yes, what would be the right way to ground the cable ?
Ground mesh soldered only on one side with the neg?
Mesh soldered on both side with the neg ( outer plate on RCA and Center pin to DIN ) ?
Or should I buy not sheilded cables and only use the neg as ground ?
I can’t buy already made cable because I need 3 feet on both sides so diy is the way to go for me.
Tank you for your help.
Jpd.
Van damme star quad mic cable is likely your solution here. 4 signal cables plus shield in a single lead so you can easily terminate into a 5 pin din for left and right signal. Comes in many colours.
It’s a long time since I played with a KEF Kube but back in the day I used to use one with a Quad/B&W setup. I had to modify the Kube to remove the upper mid range hole that it introduces for the KEF 104AB, with which it was intended to work.
But anyway what I wanted to suggest was that you lash it all together to try it out before you invest a lot of time and money sorting out the interconnects. Putting the Kube between my Quad 44 preamp and Quad 405 power unit worked ok, but there was significant hiss from the speakers, that was noticeable from the listening position.
What I had to do was go inside my Quad 44 and insert the Kube into signal path before the Quad’s volume control. That worked just fine and I successfully used it like that for many years.
Anyway good luck and I will be interested to know how you get on. I’m pretty sure I’ve still got that Kube in the shed somewhere…
Assume you mean braid when you say mesh? I would be inclined for audio frequencies not to bother… you might want to keep capacitance to ground low so route and shape a slid core wire in the clear point to point.
As far as external cables… again braided cables can add capacitance… an alternative to a braid is use twisted pair, or even parallel wires DNM style… considerations here are environment and length and signal level… I prefer to not uses shielded interconnects unless balanced.
@robert_h
Yes, it could be a good idea. I use Canare 1411 for my speaker diy cables. Still need to read on type of cable, coax vs star quad vs mesh shield RAC cable. The problem is what I do with ground?
@davidhendon
I’ve lived without the K-ube on my Kef for 2months just to feel it and after putting the K-ube back in between my streamer and my Nait, there is no coming back. Kef 107 without the K-ube is a no go.
Mine is in good shape, I’m just restoring it up to date, no hiss, buzz, hum, just soul and happiness.
@Simon-in-Suffolk
Keeping thing simple is sometimes the best way, but in this case I’m not sure I understand ( English is not always easy for me ) what would be your solution. Not shielded with only twisted cable, signal to the center pin and return outer ring… and on the Din side to the Naim, signal to ch 1 and 2 and return the the ground center pin. Any cable brand you would suggest in this application.
If I follow you correctly… that sounds correct. As far as brands there are many… to be honest you often can’t go wrong with Naim, and they can make to your requirements. DNM is another manufacturer I use for copper connections.
@Richard.Dane
Thank you for the QED suggestion, I will look into that but I was hopping to try with a DIN connector on the Nait side. Either way, I will need to cut cables but I don’t find any consensus on the good way to deal with the ground. For exemple if I buy some basic QED cables I’m not sure what I should do with the ground…
Worst case I will try different options and hear out what’s seems to be the best. Sorry for all those questions but I thought there was a official way of doing this kind of cable, well it’s not always that simple in the Audiophile world, but that’s part of the fun.
I have Kef R107s as well and they are fully refurbished. They’re my main speakers and I had the Kube rebuilt about 6 months ago. If you haven’t had that done yet, it would be a good idea as it really helps. I got the special cable to connect the Kube into my system from Flashback Cables, but of course Dave isn’t with us anymore.
I note your Kube is a little different to mine. I guess mine is a later one as it has a bunch of RCA phonos on the back for connection (nothing hard wired), plus it adds the tape loop that would otherwise be used up by connecting the Kube. If I were to use it with a Naim amp then I would use a Naim tape i/c, so you could probably pick one of those up (or a Chord Chrysalis equivalent) for cheap and just remove the RCA Phonos and hard wire into your Kube.
@david1111
For the K-ube I did order new caps and OpAmps to put it up to date. Should receive everything this week, pretty excited about restoring the K-ube. @Richard.Dane
Thank you for the suggestions, I do need a cable that the Y is at max half way, length wise. That’s why I’m looking to to my cables and still need infos on How do I ground it to the K-ube and the Din.
I decided that I would experience. I appreciate all the infos, this thread was helpful. Love this Naim community.
