It’s my first post on this forum. I am a Focal and respectively now a Naim fan I started my journey with Focal Clear MG and then continued with Focal Stellia and Naim Uniti Atom HE. The Atom is a gorgeous device with a lot of functionality and convenience.
I am about to buy my first Hi-Fi speaker setup. I am thinking of Uniti Nova and Sonus faber Sonetto III. I chose these pairing after a lot of reading online and in this forum. The speakers will be around 2.5 - 3 meters apart and the Uniti Nova will be in the middle.
And here comes my questions. Which speaker cables should I use? I have read a lot of topics in this forum and here’s the list of cable brands that were discussed. I put in brackets my short comments for them.
Cables
NACA5 (don’t like that is stiff)
Naim SuperLumina (very expensive for my setup and probably an overkill)
Chord Cables (don’t like the design)
Witch Hat (don’t like the design)
Tellurium Q (don’t like the design)
Atlas Cables (don’t know if they have a good quality)
Kudos KS-1 (don’t know if they have a good quality)
WireWord cables (don’t know if they have a good quality)
DNM Resolution (don’t like the design and don’t know the quality)
AudioQuest (preferred if they can make a match for the Nova)
Please don’t judge, the design of the cable is important to me and also the ability to be flexible to some extend. I really like the AudioQuest Rocket 11, however I have read some controversial comments on this forum.
I know that “Naim power amps sound best with a combination of minimal capacitance and higher inductance.” and that to sound optimal I need a minimum of 3.5 meters for each speaker. BiWire is not an option.
AudioQuest have said they can make a cable compatible with Naim gear - “For the older Naim amps, we recommend Rocket speaker cables in ‘shotgun’ or ‘parallel’ configuration. See attached rendering. You cannot BiWire these amps.”
My question is can I use AudioQuest Rocket 11 in the Naim configuration? Would it sound good or just acceptable? The next cable I like is Atlas Cables, then probably Kudos KS-1 and WireWord cables. I don’t know if they are a better fit for Nova than the Rocket 11.
I want to buy a factory terminated cable.
My budget for cables including speaker links cables is max 1000 EUR.
A list of ten speaker cables for a Nova - which is a great piece of kit, is making a simple choice complicated.
Go with NACA5 - you won’t go wrong - I’ve used it for years - white or black see your dealer.
Stiffness can be very easily overcome, with careful use of a hair drier.
Once formed it will retain its shape; thereafter just let it do its job - no additional movement necessary.
Enjoy the music welcome to the forum.
Have no experience with the Rocket 11, but used Rocket 33 for two years with the unit nova until I got naca5 which improved the overall sq: so +1 for @sound-hound. However, try to (home) demo the complete setup to make a decision as mentioned in various posts. atb, SP
Thanks for the warm welcome. I’ve read about the use of heir drier, however I need to bend the excess cable in a circle and that would be hard. I’ve read that the recommended diameter is around 10 cm. or something and away from the speaker and the amp. Also the design of NACA5 is not one of my favorites. It is really my last resort.
@robert_h I wanted to keep my original post short and provide more details that are valid for the cables. My Atom HE is in another room. I don’t want separates, otherwise I would have chosen different Naim setup. Regarding the pairing of Nova and Sonetto III what I meant was that Nova provides enough power for these speakers and that was confirmed in the forum.
So the question remains. Are AudioQuest Rocket 11 Naim edition a good choice or the other alternative?
Many of us rate Tellurium Q, Kudos KS-1 and the Witch Hat cables as all sounding at least as good as (but not radically different in presentation to) A5, which remains the default choice. They are all more bendable than A5, esp the latter two, and WH in particular was deliberately designed to be good with Naim while being more user-friendly and flexible.
That doesn’t mean you have to like them of course, but could you be a bit more specific about what aspect of the design you don’t like?
If it is nothing to do with technicalities or how they are meant to work but simply how they look, and if hiding them won’t help, then KS-1 may be the best choice.
However, and it is a big ‘however’, I would join the voices suggesting you listen to a couple of candidates before spending any money.
Thanks for the info! By design I mean only the looks. I am not looking for something better sounding than NACA5. I am looking for something more flexible and good looking with the same or better sound characteristics than NACA5.
I read that Witch Hat was founded by ex Naim engineers and they wanted to create a more flexible cable with similar sonic characteristics to NACA5. From all the reviews here it seems they are on something great. I just don’t like the design. The look of it. It’s personal taste.
The Kudos KS-1 looks gorgeous in white. If you say it has similar characteristics to NACA5 and is compatible with Nova (won’t overheat and etc.), then I have good option
Does this means that the Kudos KS-1 has minimal capacitance and higher inductance?
Linn K20 is also a very viable, inexpensive option that would work quite well. I lived with NACA5 for quite a few years until I just had enough of the blasted stiffness of it. No more, no thanks. I found the K20 sounds every bit as good and much easier to work with. FWIW…
Thanks all for the recommendations! I will take the Kudos KS-1. They make it 3 meters and 4 meters. I guess some of you will say that 4 meters is better considering Naim recommends at least 3.5 meters, although some say Nova is more forgiving on this.
@sound-hound, @NickofWimbledon thanks for the info on cable management. I’ve been reading more on this in the forum and the figure eight is the recommended way after no cable management as well
Do you know if Kudos make speaker jumpers? I guess it is recommended to use the same cable for the jumper as the main one.
@Polarbear apologies for asking here, however I couldn’t find a way for a private message. I know you use Kudos KS-1 speaker cable. I will order one tomorrow and I have an option to use AQ silver banana plugs for the speakers or the regular ones. Which one would you recommend me? The amp end will be with Nail connector. My system is Uniti Nova and Sonus faber Sonetto III.
I believe that Linn’s LK20 is basically the same as Naim’s older cable, NACA4. It is much more flexible than NACA5, so that may suit the OP’s needs better.
NACA4 used to turn up a lot on eBay, so that may be a less expensive way in.
To be honest, I see no need to try and better the Naim cable terminations. They seem to be the best. I tried the Chord silver terminations and they screwed the sound up badly.
Thanks. I will try the silver connectors for the speakers as I see Witch Hat are using them in some of their speaker cables and they certainly know what they are doing
You asked a while ago whether Kudos make jumper cables. All they do is supply rolls of cable to dealers, who then make the cables. When I had biwirable speakers, I used an F connection. It’s much neater than jumpers. The cable can be soldered without cutting it. The plugs are 4mm gold plated Z plugs. I’d recommend this arrangement for your speakers.
I started my journey with Focal Clear MG and then continued with Focal Stellia and Naim Uniti Atom HE. The Atom is a gorgeous device with a lot of functionality and convenience.
