I hear no difference. I think both cable’s are 100% the same exept the silver coating on tbe CT3.1S
I dont think there’s is an audible difference. I have no golden ears 
1 Like
Just curious, is each K20 cable running in the correct direction ? The Linn triangle should be pointing towards the speaker end - I seem to recall thats in the opposite direction to the printed writing, just to help confuse everyone, but not 100% sure.
And if youre using Naim right angle connectors then each cable run is for a specific channel / speaker, otherwise you’ll be out of phase, but that should be a more obvious degredation.
2 Likes
Everything is set correctly. Everything is Ok.
1 Like
Ok, cool. So will you just pick the one that suits you best for non-sonic reasons then?, i.e. cost, looks, flexibility, etc.
1 Like
It is a brand new K20 and has a proper input capacitance of 16 pF per meter at 1 kHz. The inductance is 0.93 µH per meter at 1 kHz.
Cable length is 4m each
NAC A5 has an inductance of 1uH per meter.
Cable Specific Capacitance is slso 16pF per meter.
1 Like
According to… legend… Linn K20 is very similar… to Naim NAC A4. Both were made by BICC. NAC A4 came first.
Naim contacted BICC and a payment was made. This was used by Naim to fund the development of NAC A5. Which was/is NOT made by BICC…
2 Likes
Sounds great with my 62/140/HiCap
Coaxial Type DIY speakers. Plans from German HobbyHiFi Magazine using Celestion TX1225CX drivers
Great Sound
4 Likes
I have a lot of fun with the whole setup so far. Today, I managed to eliminate the slight transformer hum in my HiCap; the NAP140 is completely quiet. I installed a spare IFI AC Purifier in the first position on my power strip, which not only helped to eliminate the hum but also improved the soundstage I think.
1 Like
The slight hum is back again on the HiCap, but it’s not annoying. However, I want to get rid of it as well as possible. I will check tomorrow if everything is plugged in with the correct phase. Maybe this will help
Perhaps you might think about a dedicated separate spur to supply power to just the HiFi components.
I put one in here at home some 30 years ago, just laid a spur supply from the main fuse box using cooker wire to feed double unswitched sockets, (rather primitive in today’s terms), but at the time it was possible to do such things yourself, and I knew what I was doing…
It certainly cleaned up the power to the system, and I lost all the pops and clicks from the fridge and kitchen lights. Now household mains are much more polluted and even with the more involved jumping through hoops that would be needed these days, the effort would be worth it for you, and your NAC72, HICAP and NAP140 will benefit.
4 Likes
Further investigations revealed a deep hum coming from the speakers, which are 92 dB fitted with 15" woofers. The hum is slightly audible but not very loud, and it does not change when I increase the volume. This deep hum is caused by the Nap140. The mechanical transformer hum on the HiCap is almost gone. When the Nap140 is turned off, the hum disappears. It’s time for a recap.
I will replace the current power strip with an Oehlbach model and also construct new power cords using Supra LoRad 2.5 cables soon
3 Likes
Finally, I have found the main problem. I have two streamers: the Arylic up2Stream HD and the Wiim Pro. When I connect either one to the USB power socket, I experience a slight ground loop hum caused by the streamers when they are plugged in via a USB-C power supply. Tomorrow, I will grab my old Auralic Aries Mini to see if this unit also causes a ground loop hum. If so, I will try to run the 62/140 without the HiCap
1 Like
I am going on holiday for one month somewhere in January. The temperature in my city would be 12 to 25 degree centigrade. How do I take care of my Naim amp system,
NAD CD player with DAC. Should I just unplug the components and cover with cloth or should I pack them individually in bubble wrap? Will the capacitors get discharged if not used for a month?
Please advise.
I’d just turn them off.
1 Like
The Sound Organization was my dealer in the early to mid 80s when I lived in London and I went there soon after they opened the dealership. They worked with me to gradually build a Linn/Naim system that I owned before moving to the US. I remember them demonstrating a prototype of the original SO turntable stand. It was a time that almost no one really thought about the potential improvements brought about by turntable stands so I was pretty skeptical. But after I heard the difference I was convinced and acquiring one of their first production models was probably the cheapest significant improvement I ever made to my system.
At the time I was an undergraduate and then a graduate student studying theretical physics and, being curious, tried to understand from a theoretical perspective what the turntable stand was actually doing to change the sound. Although the original SO table appears, on the surface, to be a rigid platform, the board on which the turntable sits has bending modes at some well defined resonant frequencies. So what is probably happening is that these resonant modes couple to the resonant modes of the turntable suspension which causes them to shift in frequency and amplitude.
2 Likes
Imagine the effect of demands on the power amplifier supply on the supply out to the pre-amplifier.
All demand will somewhat modulate the pre-amplifier supply and the draw from the pre-amplifier will be a ‘parasitic’ drain on the power available to the power amplifier.
Interposing a power supply both frees up the power amplifier and makes the pre-amplifier independent of demands on the power amplifier.
You are also powering each pre-amplifier channel independently of the other AND changing to a more capable supply.
1 Like
Naim sent out new .5 motherboards (complete with input switching and volume/balance controls) which we were able to swap - transferring over the existing daughter boards. I pretty sure this also included changing the phono sockets from ones which earthed to the case chassis to ones insulated from the case and earthed to the star earth point.
Later these were changed to BNC.
At the time I remember Paul Stephenson, while keen on the HiCap, enthused most strongly about the new SNAIC.
2 Likes
What harm will they come to in your house while you are away? Is your house so dirty that you need to cover them in a cloth? Why would you wrap them in bubble wrap? Do you have a pet llama that you are leaving in the house? All you need to do is turn them off and unplug from the mains in case of a thunderstorm.
1 Like
IIRC, was it Paul Benson who, while delighting at the arrival of the HICAP, felt the SNAIC was the star?
Edit: Actually it may well have been Peter Turner
1 Like
Then that makes two SNAIC enthusiasts - as I didn’t know Benson at the time.
1 Like