As many said, Linn K20.
Or Linn K400 (split).
K20 is brighter than K400.
I prefer K400 with my SN3 and Proacs.
More natural sounding.
2 Likes
Iād still be using this split but home improvements rendered my K200 black too short and the only cable Iāve tried that comes as close is KS-1 it just has that warmth and depth the old Linn gave me. 
1 Like
Many are suggesting the kudos ks1 so maybe Iām an outlier. I bought some to try with my new kudos 606s a couple on months ago and I thought they were muddy garbage to be honest. Not a patch on the A5.
And that is odd because the 606s use the same wire internally and the speakers deliver shivers. [hifi shrug]
Iām going to try it again soonish, now that the speakers are run in and the ks1 also should be run in on system 2 (no critical listening there) . Could be my cables are faulty I suppose.
They are easier to manipulate than a5 for sure.
Just wanted to add some balance.
A5 can be coerced into shape by the way, it just takes a bit of patience!
2 Likes
Iāve seen people describe the same speaker cable in opposite ways. So it could just be that the ks1 doesnāt suit your room/system combo.
Vertere Redline or, if available, Pulse X-mini. Clever construction, thin-ish and flexible, great sound. And closely related to SuperLuminaā¦
1 Like
And then many here think they are sent from above as end game cables. Makes me think many have never tried speaker cables + 1-2000GBP yet having systems worth +40 000 GBP.
Are you saying naca5 is having more top end information than KS-1?
They werenāt in my system long enough to do a proper comparison across the range. The problem was a lack of clarity, separation, air compared to A5.
Will try again sometime as I still have the cables.
Given the low cost of Linn K20 - and it being closely related to Naim A4 - it seems IMO (YMMVā¦) a āno brainerā to at least considerā¦
Maybe its too cheapā¦ to be taken seriouslyā¦ 
Personally, I regarded A5 to be too expensive to buy new, compared to buying a preloved pairā¦ 
1 Like
Linn did steal the NacA4 design and called it Linn K20, Naim designed the superior NacA5 instead of legal actions against Linn.
1 Like
Maybe the cable supplier had more to do with supplying another customers specification to someone else.
It takes two to tango.
Or it could be bog standard and you can have it any colour you like.
As the new K200 looks like it was repurposed mains cable while factory testing.
2 Likes
As did Exposure, I believeā¦?
It was BICC (makers of A4, to Naim spec) who āgaveā the design to Linn & Exposure - and it is they who paid compensation to Naim, to avoid possible legal action. Which Naim invested in producing A5, with AN Other cable maker.
AFAIKā¦
3 Likes
That was the story ā¦
Nothing wrong with mains cable as speaker cable,they often outperform expensive exotic cables when it comes to timing 
2 Likes
Itās ok to go from Ā£1 per metre to Ā£35 per metre then.
What mains cable on your speakers. 
Simply pointing out its bog standard but grossly inflated.
I have NacA5 now, but I have had ordinary mains cable and it works surprisingly well.
Naim uses ordinary mains cable in their Nap 250,135,300 and Nap 500 interconnects.
3 Likes
Not saying it doesnāt work it obviously does I was only pointing out the
ā commercial ā side of it.
Iām all for simplicity and not paying the boutique owners commissions.
I only changed my cable after 40 years because a new fireplace rendered my cable too short.
I was livid. 
3 Likes
Yes the profit on cables are insane,
thatās why so many dealers wants to tell you they are so important.
1 Like
If those boutique cables didnāt do a thing compared to a lamp cord the boutique companies would not have been around for +40 years. But maybe they all just make things up and lamp cords are end game 
Super Lumina is also a boutique cable.
Most people having views on boutique cables have never tried them and are
mainly sceptical because they think itās too expensive ābecause itās just a cableā. Those that indeed tried them very seldom find out the lamp
cord got the gold medal. I think it is rare that people purchase expansive cables without having tried them at home in their system.
2 Likes
In fact I believe thereās only very few cable factories worldwide.
Chord, Naim, Vertere Linn, Tellurium Q, Atlas, Kudosā¦etcā¦ seem to be able to order their own design ideas.
I know ZenSati get their cables cheap from China, fit some fancy outer cloth and charge insane. 
Mains cable in our walls seem not that price inflated.
1 Like
You have to be careful when taking advice from others.
Some praise a product, others dislike it.
If they donāt specify why, it is useless advice.
Some like an overdetailed sound, others a more coherent.
4 Likes