Sorry for another power cable thread: What would be the best choice for an Atom? (Audiquest vs. Chord vs. Isotek)

I guess someone has to mention NACA5 so it might as well be me. It’s likely to be what Naim used when developing the Atom. I tried it with my Atom and sonically it worked very well with my Neat Iotas. The only reason I didn’t stick with it is that it’s stiff and awkward to use with wall- mounted speakers. Reasonably priced, too, especially second hand.

Roger

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I have NACA5 on mine. No issues at all and sounds fine. I had the leads from my main system so though I’d giving it a try rather than spend money. Just as well as my wife was concerned that I was looking at another run of SL for the Atom!

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Thanks for all of your recommendations. Witch Hat Phantom Cables are not easy to get in Germany as far as I know. The NACA5 sounds like a good recommendation beside the Tellurium Q Black II.

Sometimes I read that users recommend having a minimum cable length of 3.0/3.5 meters. I am assuming that this is only relevant for bigger and more complex systems than an Atom, isn’t it. I actually only need 2.0 meters between my Atom and the GURUs …

Older Naim amps are more picky. The recommended lengths are minimum of 3.5 m NACA5, ideal 5-10, and max 20:

With the new amps you have more leeway. I use 5.5 m with a NAP 300DR, perfect for the farther speaker. As you can see in the pix in the other thread (link: Speaker cable for Supernait 3), I fold the cable to the closer speaker once. This, or the firecracker folding that Richard mentions in the FAQ, can work very well depending on scenario - again because you can bend the NACA into shape

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Good to hear, @Suedkiez, that there is more leeway with newer amps. In my room the space is rather limited. There is only 1.60 meters between the speakers and the Atom is sitting in the middle. So the distance is very very short and the the space to place very long cables in a decent way is limited. So I would like to use only 2.0 maybe 2.5 meters. My current cables are 2.0 meters each.

Is the recommendation of 3.5 meters minimum mentioned in the linkes thread only for the NACA5?

The length results from the electrical specifications of the cable, as they are given for A5 in the linked FAQ. A different cable with different specs might require different lengths to have the same electric effect. (And some cables may be unsuitable)

The amps consider and use the cable as part of the circuit design, as Richard explains. However, it’s the older amps that are picky about this. With the newer (and I am guessing esp. Uniti), it is not such a problem as long as you are not using ridiculous lengths of very unsuitable cables (typically litz type: “High capacitance &/or very low inductance cables are to be avoided at all costs and may result in damage to your amplifier.” This still applies to Uniti.)
I.e., with 2 -2.5 meter NACA5 you should be fine on a Uniti

Also see

I seem to recall a forum thread about a Uniti (?) getting very hot which turned out to be caused by a litz type cable

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Hi Suedkiez, I am back from dinner now :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:
I am not sure that, with the new Naim black amps it’s absolutely necessary to have minimum 3,5 m of speakers cables. It was true before.
However @Richard.Dane can confirm.

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No you are right, it’s not. But I said that! :slight_smile:

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Thanks, @frenchrooster, if I understood @Suedkiez correctly, he already said that newer amps like an Atom are little more flexible here … :slight_smile:

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Personally, I would not use less than 3.5m of NACA5 with the current Naim power amps (the integrateds and all-in-ones may well be happier though). I felt the power amps also sound better with 5m or more per channel. With the minimum of 3.5m the sound was just a bit “edgy” whereas everything seemed to flow with much more ease with the longer lengths. FWIW, I use 10m of NACA5 per channel with my own NAP250DR.

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Thanks for sharing your experience, @Richard.Dane.

Good to know. I have 2X 6m .

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Oh, I am a little jealous now. With that or with the 10 meters of Richard I could build a Faraday cage in my room. :joy:

Great to hear that you can benefit from the whole potential here …

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The other thing that might be worth bearing in mind is that a less than 3.5m run of NACA5 would be something one would likely have to take to grave, as a (vast?) majority of Naim users may not even consider that.

Granted, it’s not that expensive to begin with, but still.

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You might find room e.g. behind some furniture, where you can do the firecracker fold like this:

Photo credit: Mike-B in an older thread.

As you can accommodate 2,5 meters, maybe this lets you add another meter. Also one long fold is an option like in my pic that I linked further up. Would only have to be 2 x 50 cm to take out one meter

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The 2X 6m are for a good reason, my system is on the wall right and my speakers on the wall front. So I have nothing between my speakers… it sounds better like that.

Too tight like this?

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Here it is like this:

Unfortunately no other possibility (at the moment) …

You gained a 77 like :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:
I understand better. Can you make some holes in the rack and then the cables will be hidden under it?

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Yes, that was my only goal … :joy:
Just kidding. Thanks.

I could try that “firecracker fold” under the sideboard as suggested by @Suedkiez and @Airdavid.

Learned a lot today. Thank you.

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