Does anyone know why Naim suggest 3.5 meter lengths of speaker cable? My speakers are quite close together and I use 2.5 metre lengths of Chord Epic (still too long!) from my Nova and get no issues with sound?
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Itās in the FAQ and thousands of other threads.
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While not ideal, your Nova will likely be fine (i.e. wonāt blow up) with 2.5 metres per channel of Epic.
The all-in-ones and integrateds are a bit more tolerant of shorter lengths than the classic power amps, however itās still advisable to stick to Naimās recommendations for optimum performance.
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I use 3.5m length with my SN3.
Is there a performance gain if I get a 5m pair, are we saying out of curiosity ?
I found I preferred 5m over 3.5m (IIRC we were using a NAP300 when testing different lengths). Whether it will make a meaningful difference on a Supernait 3 I donāt know for sure.
My system is somewhat cramped, and this is the question I asked when I had a 200/202 set up - and was told a very firm no.
But will ask again now I have a Nova , āācan I use cables that have differing lengths ?āā
I am sure the naughty step awaits me for asking such a stupid question, itās just that Iāve seen one cable manufacturer offering different lengths
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Whatās your plan Ian?
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Glad youāre asking this as I felt a slight nudge towards the naughy step when I asked originally 
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A 1.5 metre run of cable to the nearest speaker and 3.5 metre to the furthest
Traditionally Naimās recommendation has been this, as per page 1 of the current manual for power amps:
Loudspeaker cables are vitally important. They should each be at least 3.5 metres long and of equal length.
But are you looking to widen the speakers or keep as is? You were saying that itās cramped. I canāt offer you any advice sorry. Just interested.
Keep as it is, very messy - but reading Richardās comments it stays that way
I just wondered if anything had changed with the Nova
There was some recent discussion of uneven lengths here:
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On a slightly different note (and Iām sure this has probably been discussed many times), what are general thoughts on the Naim speaker cable?
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Thanks Richard.
If I ever get to the 250 level, Iāll consider changing speaker cable length but leave as is for now.
Many would say that is very good - but stiff and awkward .
I abandoned Naim speaker cable when I moved back home (see above) and the Naim cable was not an option
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And many others, me included, are of the opinion that the stiffness is great for many applications if you treat it accordingly (i.e. not trying to handle it like a flexible cable, but bend it into the required shape). Though there are some applications where the stiffness is indeed a problem, such as when threading it through a wall conduit.
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Itās ideal for your Naim amp and sounds great.
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The issue I have (and I guess a lot of us) is if I use 3.5 meter lengths of cable I will need to coil it as my speakers are only just over 2 meters apart, so 7 meters of total cable to cover a 2 meter spread, it gets messy
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My system is off to one side, so 5.5 meter is the exact required length for the far speaker, but much too long for the near speaker. So for the near speaker I run the cable for nearly the half length (behind a sideboard), then make a u-turn and run in back in parallel. No coiling or elaborate folding required and works for me, but of course it depends on the furniture situation.
Others fold it back and forth, but itās not going to be an electrical problem if you coil it.
There are a hundred threads with pictures about running NACA5 including mine
Edit: Linking some previous posts - mine, not because I think they are the best but because easiest to find. Look through the referenced threads or search for āspeaker cableā and you will find other peopleās pictures: