Rel Bassline Blue Naim Bannana Plug Connection?

Yes, if you connect black to negative and red to positive it should be fine. You’ll want to cover the unused yellow plug to make sure it doesn’t touch anything it shouldn’t.

Connect to Ur speakers as rel n naim prefer I use naim n sopra 2 n mine are attached at speaker :loud_sound:

The point of using the Naim version of Rel’s Bassline Blue cable is that you can connect to the amp, not the speaker.

Just read the comments red and yellow together black on its own rel have setup vids on YouTube have a quick look

Nope naim n rel prefer back of speaker

Not if you’re using the version of the Bassline Blue cable that Rel developed specifically for Naim amps. It contains a circuit that enables it to be connected at the amp end.

You can do that too, but you will get a higher output level which may be too high, so I would try just one cable first and see how it sounds.


Here’s a comment from Richard aswell… Rel and naim suggest speaker end

REL specifically designed this cable to optimize connection to Naim amp. This is the best possible connection. End of discussion.

1 Like

He was referring to the use of regular speaker cable, not a Naim modified Bassline Blue cable. As I said, it’s specifically designed to connect to the power amp and compensate for the fact that it would alter the cable characteristics by adding the required circuitry.

Well I’m only going by naim and rel and after emailing them both and getting my replies and use them in my system but try both ways n see what u prefer… Red n yellow together unless it’s to loud n u can’t get past 6 or 7 clicks in gain then remove n tape a red or yellow cable n this will half the output

1 Like

I recently connected stereo REL S/510 subs through my Naim 500, after some back and forth with REL tech support. Happy to share my experience and hopefully spare you some trouble.

The red and yellow wires carry the signal and connect to the positive output terminal of the amplifier. The black wire connects to the signal ground, which for most amplifiers is the negative output terminal. I think that this applies to Naim amps except for the 500. For safety, it might be best to double check with your dealer or Naim to verify that this is the case for your amp.

Assuming that the negative amplifier output is also the signal ground, the advice above is correct. For each sub, stack the red and yellow bananas on the positive terminal and the black banana on the negative terminal. REL should also have supplied an additional black stackable banana connector, which you will need to add the the negative terminal if you are using a standard Naim dual banana connector (so that both the positive and negative connections are in the same plane).

You can, in fact, connect only the red or yellow connector to the positive terminal and leave the other one free. However, the signal level going to the sub will be reduced, so that you will probably need a higher gain when you tune the sub.

If the negative terminal of the amplifier is not the signal ground (as for the Naim 500) a little bit of extra work is needed. I stacked the red and yellow bananas on the positive terminal for each channel and connected this to the positive terminal of my NACA-5 cable. The negative side of the NACA-5 cable was connected directly to the negative amplifier output. I attached the black wires of the Bassline Blue cables to the signal ground screw on the rear panel of my 252 pre-amp as follows: insert one black stackable banana into the other, then connect these via a laboratory banana coupler to an appropriate length of stranded wire (I used AWG 18) with a banana plug on one end and a spade lug on the other (to connect to the pre-amp ground screw). You should be able to source these bits from an electronics supply shop. The banana coupler is the most difficult; I was able to find them (in Canada) through Newark Networks.

A lot of work, I know, but it is worth the effort. My Spendor SP100s are not bass-shy, but the RELs add a visceral impact and a musicality to percussion instruments that the Spendors just can’t match.

One final caution. Be sure that all the connections at your pre-amp are solid. A few weeks ago I reassembled my system and inadvertently neglected to turn the lock ring of my Burndy cable at the pre-amp end. When SWMBO decided she wanted to put the subs through their pace with Madonna’s Vogue, the vibrations were enough to jostle the Burndy connector and intermittently disrupt the signal ground connection…scary stuff then happens!

Thank you for taking the time for your very lengthy and detailed answer. I have a pair of SL Speakers cables going into a Nap 250 non DR so on those i am guessing I would not need the spare black banana to pair the banana ends of the SLSC ?

Yes, that’s correct, since the positive and negative leads of the SL cable can flex independently of each other.

I’m using NACA-5 cable, but some time ago replaced the standard Naim dual banana connector with single bananas, so I just needed to cut through 4 - 5 cm of the webbing between the two stranded conductors so that they could flex more independently.

With a NAP250 be sure to connect from the speakers not the power amp.

You need to connect from the positive terminal of each speaker and the negative of one of them - that way if running a single sub, the sub gets a L&R signal which it sums to mono.

Thanks Richard, Question, but I’m running duel subs, so connect both Bassline Blue (naim) cable left and right negatives to there left and right speaker terminals ?

Question #2 Also, does this also still apply for the Bassline Blue (naim) cables ? So, you are saying that even with the Bassline Blue (naim) cables that they also need to be connected to the speakers terminals and not the amp ???

1 Like

The Naim version of this cable was developed specifically so that you can connect it to the amp without compromising its performance in the way you would if you used regular speaker cable. It’s as simple as that.

1 Like

That’s what I thought Chris, but was just making sure because of Richards last post. Thanks.

I don’t know the baseline blue cable (apart from what is written on the REL website) and what specifically has been done to it to make it suitable for Naim amps so could not say, sorry. I guess a dealer long familiar with running Naim and REL would be the best one to advise on whether it sounds better to run from the speakers or from the amp (and whether if running the latter it really does avoid any issues). If in doubt just run from the speakers, as has hitherto been Naim’s recommendation.

2 Likes

Taken from the REL website :-

What’s In a NAIM? These same benefits are available to most NAIM owners—especially the older, classic models. These units feature an unusual output impedance that is quite complex. REL worked closely with NAIM engineers to model this behavior and arrived at a special circuit built into each NAIM cable that replicates this impedance so that it is safe to run Bassline Blue on early NAIMs. We even sourced a wonderful stackable banana plug that makes it so easy to use the cables, just plug them in to NAIM’s flush-mounted chassis banana sockets and then plug your speaker cables directly into the rear of our stackable banana plug.

Also from the REL website it suggest connecting the red and yellow together for each sub :-

If connecting 2 RELs, connect the black wire of each REL to a negative speaker terminal of the corresponding channel; twist together the red and yellow wires of each REL separately and connect each pair to the positive speaker terminal of the corresponding amplifier channel. In some instances, this will result in exceptionally high gain (output) from the RELs. If it seems simply too high in gain, please remove either the red or yellow wire from the twisted pair. This will reduce output by half and restore a natural dynamic.