Hi Fellow Naim Friends. I have a question regarding connecting a Cyrus Signature Phono stage to a 282. I am using some bog standard RCA cables from the Signature to 282 Aux2. The sound is good but missing some musicality and presence. I have a NDX2 and I must admit it is kicking my Dr Feickert Blackbirds butt in terms of just sheer musicality and enjoyment. So have a couple of questions RCA to RCA or RCA to DIn? Secondly any recommendations on good cables. There just seems to be so much information and recommendations. I hope that the Naim community can help me narrow down my search. Many thanks.
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All else being equal, A DIN will outperform an RCA phono in the context of a Naim system, even when there’s only one end of an i/c having a DIN. It’s why Naim choose to use DINs in preference to RCA Phono.
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The Naim RCA to Din cable is very good, and not at all expensive.
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I feed my 282 with RCAs from my cyrus phono signature. It sounds wonderful.
Yes, these are expensive Chord RCAs. And yes, i have the psx-r2 power supply for the cyrus.
The use of bog standard RCAs will kill any decent sound from the cyrus.
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I use witchhat morgana rca’s to din on my rossini and dragon and they sound wonderful, very happy with them
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for Morgana RCA’s to Din, on the DSM/2 to 552DR…sounds v good to me…
Happy Easter
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I am trialing some linn silvers converted to din by my dealer. Will report in a week when they are run in.
When i tried a RCA>>RCA interconnect and then changed for a RCA>>DIN interconnect lead, going from a Arcam CD player into a Naim amp, the superiority of even a single DIN connection was quite obvious to me, so i can only echo Richard’s comment above.
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Ultimately a DIN connection end provides one less contact compared to the phono equivalent… so given the choice I would go phono to DIN leads… You go from 8 contact connections to 7… it doesn’t sound much but will make a small difference. With DIN to DIN you may find stereo imaging is subtly improved as the ground return reference is common to both channels, and you just have then 6 contact connections (with a theoretical improvement of connector performance by up to 25%), but obviously your source would need to support DIN.
So I’d go phono to DIN for a marginal improvement. However the cable impedance characteristics are more likely to have a more obvious effect…
If using phono, ensure your use quality phono connectors … they are not all equal… you are after point contact connections such as Eichmann Bullet connectors, or from memory Naim use WBT phono connectors with a twist pressure contact.
As far as cable I always find silver plated gold alloy cables sound the best across different systems. Tend to have good weight and frequency response without being too hot in the upper mids or highs which is a risk for many silver cables … the naturalness of copper with a more extended bandwidth and nuanced detail and dynamics with minimal smearing (helps retain signal dynamics or so called PRaT)
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Thanks, Richard! I’m new to Naim and was also researching this question.
Has anyone had experience with Chord Company RCA to Din cables?
Yes. The last version of Chord’s Chrysalis works really well with Naim kit - remarkably so, in fact. And the best bit is that it’s usually cheap and widely available secondhand.
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I’ve been loving my Chord Chrysalis RCA->DIN. Though it’s not fancy, it has upstaged several high dollar RCA->RCA cables.
There seems to be a synergy to including as many DIN connections as one’s equipment can accommodate, for Naim systems.
Having a single reference (signal earth) between boxes used to be listed as one of the advantages of using DIN. Running RCA:s you have two signal earth paths (and differences between them probably exaggerate cable quality).
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I use a Chord Signature Tuned Aray RCA to DIN for my Rega Aura → 252 and love it. A noticeable improvement on its WH predecessor.
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Thanks for all the responses - RCA to DIN it is. The Naim cable is available and also the Witchhat looks promising. Price difference is rather substantial between the two. Is the Witchhat worth it??
I can’t comment on the Witch Hat, other than that their Phantom speaker cables are very good and that others are pleased with the Morgana source cables. As you say, it is not cheap at £450 but they do offer a no quibble return.
I use a Naim RCA to Din cable between my Rega Aria and Supernait 3 and it’s excellent. I have the same cables, in the standard Din to Din configuration, to connect my NDX2 and NAT02 so it makes sense to have them all the same. If I used a Witch Hat interconnect for the streamer I’d no doubt use one for the turntable as well.
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I have used Chord Cobra cables for over a decade. Now discontinued but still available used or new old stock.
I trialled a reasonably expensive (c £250) Chord Signature (?) cable a few years back but it killed the dynamics. Sold it on for what I paid.
My original Cobra cables were put back in. From memory they have been back to Chord twice for re-termination (from RCA/RCA to RCA/DIN and finally DIN/DIN) having moved back to Naim post a hiatus where I dabbled in a Cyrus set up.
I guess you just missed out on the witchhat easter discount, as that makes a nice difference in price.
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I preferred Chrysalis with Naim to Cobra.
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