Tellurium Q-Black 2 alternatives... (speaker cables)

I’m not sure I ever read about a speaker cable damaging a naim amp on this forum? That must be a cable totally out of normal spec. Witch hat use shotgun design speaker cables as do Tellurium and Naim which has similar specifications per physical design. I’ve emailed with Shunyata on their Venom X showing them the Naim spec requirements and they told me they are 100% sure it is no problem at all. They even contacted Naim retailers locally to ask if any issues with Naim + Shunyata. Never a singel issue they said. What I do believe is that Naim claim this super danger with speaker cables to sell more meters of their own cables which give them money in the bank. It might have been valid light years ago but last 20 years-ish? But that’s also something you are not allowed to say :sunglasses:

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That made me laugh. Seriously??

You may wish to read this. It may not dampen your cynicism, but there are good (and elegant) engineering reasons why Naim decided to use the speaker cable itself to provide the necessary inductance for amp stability - you get better sound performance.

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Well, that is of course true but the way they write about it is making people super scared of even trying something else out which in absolutely most cases is zero issues. I’m still like, will it explode if it’s 3 meter or?

The warnings in the manual are there for good reason. The main issue is with cables that have very low inductance and high capacitance as these can certainly cause potential issues with Naim power amps.

Using 3m of a low capacitance, moderately high inductance cable? You should probably be OK, but it may not be ideal, particularly from a performance point of view. Having tried various lengths of NACA5 on a Naim amp (IIRC it was a NAP300) at the factory, there was a definite feeling that shorter lengths sounded less good than lengths of 5m or more.

The communication is still very alarming related to the cables and not targeted towards degration of performance which is logic however as with matching of all components. I cannot remember a single member here stating the amp blew up due to speaker cables so it cannot be a common issue. It might happen (as many other things being electronics) but if there are such a few cases out there which break their amps due to wrong speaker cables in 2022 it is my belief that the way to communicate this should be more guiding towards performance and not that things will burn.

I still have to email the retailer and ask if I can use a 3m cable and not 3.5m and they’re like “yeah of course you can”. Or in the beginning when I started out I didn’t even dare using anything else than NACA5. Not due to performance, instead due to my electronics exploding. This is caused by the way Naim communicate this which IMO is wrong since there are tons of great cables out there performing better than NACA5.

Well, there you have it from someone who should know better than any of us here. There are very good reasons why Naim recommend the use of NACA5 both from a performance and safety perspective.

Of course there will always be conspiracy theorists who imagine that Naim only say this so that they can sell you more of their own cables. The makers of unauthorised competing cables on the other hand are however squeaky clean and only have your own interests at heart don’t they? They are not at all interested in making money from you.

Naim do recommend you discuss your speaker cable requirements with your Naim distributor or dealer.

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:scream:

You can use whatever cable you like - no problem. Naim are simply responsibly advising you of the possible risks involved if you don’t use their own cables. They have no control whatsoever over third party cables so they are unable to guarantee their performance or safety with their amplifiers.

Nobody is saying that your amp will blow up. It may however under-perform or suffer premature failure.

But do as you will - just don’t expect Naim’s approval.

Well, from the manual. This is for the 300DR. in BOLD that it might damage the amp. And also specifically “High definition cable”. What’s that?? This is not a recommendation text to help the consumer for best performance. This is telling the customer you MUST use NACA5 or else it will get damaged. Which we all know is not the reality and truth.

Still I cannot remember a single member having to repair their amp due to speaker cable incompatibility?

  • Only Naim Audio speaker cable should be used to connect a loudspeaker to the output of the NAP 300.

  • DAMAGE TO THE AMPLIFIER MAY RESULT IF “HIGH DEFINITION” CABLE OR ANY OTHER SPECIAL CABLE IS USED TO CONNECT THE LOUDSPEAKERS.

Once NAC A5 has been made up properly at the desired lengths and with a very lengthy burn-in period, how one would desire to change for other manufacturers cables is quite beyond me…if something isn’t broke then why…?

This is broken indeed :sunglasses:

Ah, there is the right way and a very wrong way. Believe me :melting_face:

What you have been given here is Naim’s advice on the parameters under which the 300DR must be used in order to guarantee it’s intended performance and safety. This means using Naim’s own speaker cable to guarantee this.

Naim have no control over any other speaker cables. They cannot therefore guarantee that any other cable will not impair the performance of the 300DR or will not damage it.

But this is not a legal requirement at all. You are perfectly free to use whatever cable you want to with your 300DR, including ‘high definition’ or any other exotic cables.

It is completely your own choice. But for some reason it seems to bother you that Naim strongly recommend that you don’t do this and that you use their own cable.

My advice to you therefore is go ahead and use whatever you want to. What’s the problem? Just because you don’t have Naim’s approval why let it upset you?

Just one proviso. If you do ignore Naim’s advice and your 300DR starts to suffer breakdowns in say 4 or 5 years then you have only yourself to blame.

That’s exactly why I didn’t go with NACA5, especially as I would have wanted an F connection.

It’s really not worth people getting into a lather over all this. There are several tried and tested alternatives to NACA5 that are perfectly compatible with Naim amps and which people may prefer, both for sound and ease of use: Chord Company, Tellurium, Kudos, Witch Hat and probably lots more. What should be avoided are the woven Litz type cables, which are likely to cause problems due to the way Naim’s output stages are designed.

Anyone who suggests that A5 is the only way, the one true path, is displaying evangelical zeal and needs a cold bath.

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I have seen NAC A5 jumpers but how good they are is anyone’s guess? It’s a shame Naim themselves can’t make up the cables for you.

P.S In this very hot weather we’re currently experiencing a cold bath seems like a very good idea.

Or perhaps they are just following Naim’s advice in order to protect their precious Naim amp?

Tried and tested by who? Not Naim.

I do appreciate your argument of using original Naim speaker cable for Naim equipment and I would be happy to do so althought I know it will be impossible to bring it by 6 corners around the fireplace due to the simple fact that it is too stiff…

BTW one of the dealers recommended Cardas 101 which is Litz cable, and he assured me that everything will be perfectly fine…

I have the benefit of running a full Naim system from source to speaker. Here the NAC A5 are very at home, with SA8s on at both ends. Using third party cables for me is a Frankenstein Naim setup - i cannot see the point in doing so. It has nothing to do with being evangelical.

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As and FYI… A photo of my NAC 5 w/jumpers soldered by my dealer and have used with my ProAc D30RS and ProAC SCM 7 speakers.

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