Real use case on speaker cable damaging naim amp?

That’s both surprising and disappointing. May I ask how you phrased the question? Did you ask if they could “recommend” cable X or did you ask “are these specs and length okay?”

As I understood the topic starter is researching cables and is looking for the facts of real damage to the amp. A good question and lots of too silly answers :slight_smile:

To my surprise, some people provided the feedback where the amp gets hot being wired with the wrong cables. An interesting thing, absolutely! I would have tried these cables, however, I commited a crime - upgraded Naim amp to non Naim apm :slight_smile:

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To me it sounds as if two meters of this cable equals to one meter of NACA5.
If the cable is Oephi, the price will be comparable or more than SN3 :slight_smile:

Gave them the relevant specs and length and asked for the feedback on compatibility with my 300DR.

No really :blush: They have as most brands a wide range of cables. Check out their web page for the details.

I see - from 800 to 8000 euros

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That is incredibly disappointing. I have a response in my inbox from a few years back when they’d clearly been more helpful.

Why should Naim suggest any other cable than their own.They have developed cables that are perfectly matched for their world class amps and sound the way that they want.

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They shouldn’t. We are not talking about suggesting anything. Just confirming whether something is “compatible” with their product. Which they used to do.

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It’s a little special with loudspeaker cables for Naim amps,I don’t think Naim want to confirm other manufacturers cables,because they can’t know about their production quality and how it will affect safety and sound.
I think that it’s a fantastic clever design to have the speaker cable to provide the correct inductance and capacitance.

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From a purely Commercial point of view, Naim’s response is understandable. But - it is not particularly ‘helpful’ - slightly better than no response, but only just… :thinking:

Clearly the Bean Counters - or les Compteur de Haricots - now rule. Shame.

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I don’t understand why people keep on moaning about Naim regarding this issue. Responsibility for ensuring that any product is suitable for you lies with the dealer who is charging you money for the product, supported by the manufacturer, who should be best placed to advise on the suitability of their products.
Naim compatible accessories are a significant part of the target market for many cable brands. Make them earn their money by helping you make the right choice.

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Exactly - because it’s an issue, simple!

Because it’s the Naim amps (well some of them at least but Naim won’t exactly specify?) that are different from most (universally compatible) and so the manufacturer owes the clarity

Because Naim’s speaker cables should be promoted by Naim on the basis of their superior performance and not by maintaining confusion (clearly evident everywhere you look including among dealers). Besides, Naim does not even have a good range of speaker cables to start with.

Because my Naim amp manual is unclear and misleading.

I’ll be honest. Until @Blackbird confirmed today that Naim no longer provide help on this topic I didn’t think it was an issue.

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IMO… (YMMV as usual…) - because Naim amps are different from the norm, in using the speaker leads as part of the power amps circuit design, then Naim should be more helpful than currently seems to be the case (assuming that what @Blackbird reported is typical or usual - and not just a Bad Day at Salisbury).

They could just quote a ‘spec’ in terms of Inductance and Capacitance - but then the user needs to determine what those are for their intended cable. A few users would do this - but most will not, sadly.

Likely Result - some users will buy cables which don’t suit Naim amps - and will potentially get a less than good result. This is not good for Naim. Some others will just buy Naim cables.

Dealers clearly have a role here, but not everyone will listen to their dealer - or they may not be buying from a dealer.

IMO - Naim could - should - be more helpful here… :thinking:

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Why does anyone need a range? Surely all is needed is one that works optimally, or if that is very expensive then that and a good value one. It seems that Naim do that? Buy the cable with the amp - the cable is clearly intended to be part of the amp - and forget it from then on… I guess the main reasons why Naim doesn’t package NACA with the amps are because different rooms may require different lengths, and they want people to upgrade the amps.

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Which begs the question why NACA5 and SL have different specs. Which one is optimal?

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Perhaps it isn’t critical?

A question for Naim! The answer is probably NAC5 was until Naim developed the SL in the face of various cable suppliers offering increasingly exotic (and expensive) cables, with NACA5 retained as the affordable near-optimal…. Profit of course wouldn’t come into reasoning for the more expensive one.

@ChrisSU Maybe you have a competent and professional dealer. I can tell you from unfortunate first-hand experience that not all Naim dealers are the same…