Have you tried Sarum T Din XLRs?
Interesting discussion. I’ve hard dark thoughts about a SL I/C for my NDX2 to SN2. Have been put off the Hi-Line by discussions about it breaking, and whether the SL would add something over the stock cable, or loose something. Of course, being in New Zealand, one can’t demo. Might just look at Power Lines next, cheaper and less risky. Or do nothing.
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I am currently using SL interconnects, snaxo 4-4 and DIN-XLRs in my active SL2 system. The only reason I didn’t go full loom is that i’m retired now and there are other priorities for funds. I am vey happy with the SQ lift that SL wires provided…
enjoy/ken
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I used a Hi-Line many years ago on a CDX2/XPS2 combo. It never broke but it did sound better than the standard Lavender cable. Quite a bit better. Powerlines are good too. I found a single one was best on the amp (250.2) instead of the pre. Powerlines on both obviously works even better.
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I did indeed - not bad at all, but there was just something about the SL that stood out, particularly when matched with the Epic Reference spaker cable. The much vaunted ‘SL synergy’ just didn’t do it for me, and I got the unlooked for bonus of saving a couple of thousand!
I think the SL effect starts with the SL DIN source to the preamp
next is the DIN-XLR
and last should be the speaker cable.
but quite a bit expensive for the full loom
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My findings were different … SL Din source - yep (1st)… pre power no … SL (meh) has only a very very slight improvement very slight…SL speaker cable (2nd) - more important in my system. (Note the SL pre power was a dealer used sample pre run in…)
Sorry… MMky what is your system … can you list…
I tried an SL cable from NDX to 282 and it did nothing for me. The speaker cables, on the other hand, were an immediate and clear change for the better.
He posted above – ND555/552/500. (Speakers are Kudos 606.)
The more I get to understand Naim, getting these boxes working seems more a case of ‘though we are many we are one’ and Naim have the insights. This extends down to the mains as well. I suspect as @Richard.Dane suggested recently that it takes them days to get balanced for the use their user makes of ‘their’ system. So turning them off when sounding rubbish is a temporary panacea ultimately solved by sorting out imbalances that in my experience build up over time. Whether other brands bits and pieces can be better balanced I do not know.
Phil
I found exactly the same - exactly what you describe with my new SL leads.
But I had previously borrowed for home demo a run-in set from the Dealer that sounded wonderful and did not sound shut-in and cold - asked the Dealer and he said ‘they need to run-in’ and they did - it took about three weeks before I was beginning to hear a balanced musical presentation - then after a couple of months they obliterated the old Naim cables to sounding comparatively bland and inexpressive/lifeless.
But my initial impression with my new ones was - these are awful!
Funny enough that was the SL Interconnects - forward and hard/over-lean at first - the SL Speaker cable was soft and over-full at first. They both run-in but at first, new, they kind of cancel each-other’s non run-in character.
The Speaker cable does do more very low bass - so I had to re-do my system install to prevent the extra bass from feeding-back and losing timing, as NAC A5 has a little bump-up then rolls-off the bass compared to SL Speaker leads that do not roll it off - it just goes on and on down a lot weightier, so that can cause problems I initially found too.
DB.
DB…i intend to try again next year, fingers crossed as i have yet to hear anything i want to buy.
I like that - always nice not to hear anything you want! 
I like it both ways - if I hear what I have is preferable I’m always pleased, but also a bit disappointed, especially when there was supposed to be an upgrade.
DB.
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My experience as well. Plus got rid of the “fat” bass of NACA5, which in my smallish home office was an issue.
I always borrow used demo leads from the dealer…run in is protracted … I ended up buying the demo set! I found the run in interconnects superb … for some reason I don’t find much in the way of a benefit with the pre-power din to xlr’s - which are hideously expensive. As an asside - I tried the Hiline cable - and that was 50 shades of diabolical - forward/up front … for me a bit hifi ‘boom and tiz’ …
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I wanted that too - especially with the DIN-XLR leads from (in my case) Snaxo to 3x 500 Amps.
As you can imagine three times the expense and they took me more than six months normal use before they were sounding like the one I tried on the HF/mid BMR feed from my Dealer that was sublime - but my new ones took a very long time to come good - but they have.
Some say it is due to the amount of current and that the least of all flows in the feed to the Amp so it takes longer.
When not run-in they sound - as someone put it, ‘thin and reedy’ - and I’d describe as lacking in any Bass power but immediately having extension and very deep bass control - and the lower-mid was very inhibited and closed-in. If I’d not heard the demo set then I’d have though it was the wrong or different cable.
After run-in they open-up and the run-in set are very worth the outlay, in the context of a Reference system or above IMO.
But a run-in service would really help these!
DB.
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I, like you, have a very similar set up (NDX 2, 555PS DR, 252, SuperCap DR and ProAc K6 speakers). I also recently purchased pre-owned, run-in SL speaker cables. And also like you, I had a very difficult time with the sound that was being produced from my system. Dull is the best word that I could use to describe what I was hearing. I recently resumed using the NACA 5s and the difference was stark. I will be keeping the NACA 5s in my system for a long time to come.
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I forgot to mention a 300DR as well.
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Mango,
Are all your components plugged directly directly into the wall?
The Nap 500 DR in particular must be plugged into the wall.
Next, do you use any power strips with a surge protection. These really ruin the PRAT and engagement and dull the dynamics. Even if used in a different part of the home.
I would look at the electrical environment carefully. Do you have a newer fridge with an inverter energy saving Compressor. That ruins the performance of any Hi FI system in your home.
Personally I am a big fan of Vertere and SL speaker cable, both significantly outperform NAC A5 by a huge margin - in terms of clarity, deep bass punch, and sheer speed. The opening up of the Hi-frequency content through SL is really amazing which NACA5 doesn’t quite let through (when compared to SL)
NACA 5 sounds slow, dull, forced, and lacking in clarity and soundstage to my humble ears by comparison.
Of course until I heard better, NACA5 was the standard for me, but impossible to go back to that after hearing much better cables from Vertere and Superlumina.
I know this because I tested this recently at my dealer also on the Uniti Nova, Naca5 to Vertere Pulse X and back to NACA5, as good as NACA5 is, shown a clean pair of heels by the considerably more expensive Vertere… It just sounded like a more engaging, faster, more dynamic system, with the deeper bass punch…
And tested Superlumina vs NACA 5 extensively in my home, and 2 other 500 series systems - no comparison, SL is a superior cable to my ears in a similar way as described to the Vertere, not exactly the same, but really very similar.
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