Hi everyone, this is my first post I’ve been reading the forum for a while and it has been really helpful. I’m hoping someone may be able to give some advice on a current challenge I have…
I have a Supernait 3, HiCap DR and ND5 XS2 and all my cabling is Naim (SNAIC 4 & 5 for the HiCap DR, HiLine DIN for the ND5 to SN3 and 6m of NAC A5 speaker cables) except for a Chord Signature streaming ethernet cable. It is a fantastic setup that took me some time to accumulate but the sound is awesome!
I have recently added a Naim Fraim/FraimLite combination (the only HiFi stand I’ve found to be wife friendly ). The issue I am having is with the positioning of the SN3 connections. The SNAIC cables connecting to the HiCap DR have very little space as the terminals on the SN3 are positioned just infront of the rear leg on the Fraim, which means they are being bent at quite an angle when in place.
I’m concerned I am damaging them, should I worry? Any help, advice or reassurance welcome!
ps. I have another question on how to manage the NAC A5, which seems to have a life of its own; but I’ll save that for another day…
Thank you for the advice on the A5, it sounds great but I have been concerned the box plug terminations may be under too much stress.
ps. your FAQ on how to setup/level the Fraim has been very helpful. I could have saved myself a significant number of swear words and arguments with my wife if I had read your post before trying to get it level for the first time
Thanks Stephen. For some reason, I had just assumed the SN3 should be at the bottom above the HiCap. Your advice and picture is really helpful as I had also been struggling to get the HiLine unfurled, which looks a lot easier in the configuration you suggest
Not really much to add but I have my HiCapDR on the bottom shelf positioned with the SN3 above it. Yeah I have/had the same issue you have with Fraim and the rear leg getting in the way. IIRC I moved my SN3 slightly toward the left so when connecting the HiCap it was easier. Great setup btw.
I am a NAC A5 user & can speak from personal experience. When installing mine I need to have five 90 degree bends to reach one of my speakers. My dealer gave me two pieces of advice. One was to heat it gently with a hair dryer & the other was to be brutal with it.
I was concerned about melting the insulation with the hair dryer so opted for the brutal approach. I found the cable responded to this & the bends put in it stayed perfectly in place. Obviously don’t hold the terminals in one hand & bend the cable with the other, hold cable only in both hands & bend as required.
This has enabled me to make the cables virtually 100% concealed in my set-up & they have maintained this same shape for over four years since installing them.
Thank you for this, I didn’t know how careful (or not) I should be with them; but I will give this a go. I have found getting them around a corner is doable when they are lying on their side, the difficult bit is then twisting them to be flat again to connect to the amp/speakers (if that makes sense!).
Thanks again for all the help, I’m not sure if I should start a new topic or not (apologies if I should); but unfortunately I lost sound in my right speaker last night (left as marked on the back of the SN3 ).
I searched the forum and tried a whole host of suggested actions. The only one that has worked is to try an RCA cable. I think this means I have the ‘relay’ issue…two things make me question this though:
the ND5 is a pretty recent model (2021); and
if I put the balance all the way onto the channel not working and turn the volume dial up, I can hear the music playing very faintly
Could it be an issue with my HiLine DIN cable? Any help appreciated as always!
Hi
I only ever use RCA why switch through a relay when switches in Naim world are bad.
Anyhow the speaker sockets on naim boxes seem the wrong way round but are clearly identified if it says left on the amp it should go to the left speaker and the same with right or you will end up with a term called “ Wonky Stereo”
Channels reversed.
I’m not sure about the other questions but good to keep the basics right.
Hope this helps.
Thank you for the reply, thankfully I have a very nice Chord RCA I have been able to connect and it is sounding great again. I’ll try a different DIN later if I can remember where I put it……
Re the speakers - I have been confused about this…I thought the following applied:
if you are facing the front of the amp (i.e. the volume and balance dials), then effectively the left and right as stated on the back of the amp is the reverse and so you need to connect each set of speaker cables to the opposite side?
That’s right the balance knob will not coincide front to back on the box.
If it says left speaker on the socket then that’s the left speaker and vice versa.
If your system is between your speakers you might notice that the speakers cables cross over.
I’m not sure if it’s the same for every box but go with the description and it will sort itself out.
Good luck and enjoy.
Understood; but it depends on which way you are looking a the amp….from the back or front. I know this has caused some mammoth threads so I don’t want to start an avalanche
Thought you might be interested to know this was an issue with the HiLine cable in the end. I swapped it out for a different DIN and everything thankfully works fine
My next challenge is working out how to integrate a NAP 200 DR I just had delivered after getting it at a great price on eBay…not sure I need the HiCap DR and the NAP 200 DR? I have definitely got an eBay HiFi auction trigger finger…I cannot control it!
I’ve been reading the forum for a while and it has been really helpful. I’m hoping someone may be able to give some advice on a current challenge I have…
). The issue I am having is with the positioning of the SN3 connections. The SNAIC cables connecting to the HiCap DR have very little space as the terminals on the SN3 are positioned just infront of the rear leg on the Fraim, which means they are being bent at quite an angle when in place.
).
