What's the consensus on cabling? Also, I'm loving my Naim gear!

Hi-Fi Corner
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Greetings from Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.

So far, I’m loving the sound of my recently acquired XS-2 (60wpc version) and CD5x. The CD5x has been powered ON since Feb 17, 2019 and the XS-2 since Feb 20, 2019. By the way, I’ve heard it can take weeks for Naim components to fully warm-up and sound their best? Is this true?

This post is regarding cabling. I’m curious as to what the consensus is among Naim owners regarding cabling? And, how did you arrive at what you’re using? Did you do a lot of comparing beforehand?

I’m currently using Mogami W3082 speaker cable and Mogami W2549 RCA interconnects. Speakers are Vandersteen 2C’s. I know Vandersteen may seem odd, but this combo (to my ears) actually sounds really good together. Of all the gear I have owned over the year, the Vandersteen 2C’s and the Mogami cabling have remained.

Interconnects:
I’ve been reading and getting feedback that DIN is the best connection method for Naim gear. I did pick up a used original Naim 5-pin DIN to DIN interconnect (grey color) to start my own comparisons. I should have the cable by week’s end. Of course, after I bought this cable, someone mentioned the Lavender version is the better sounding of the two?

Speaker Cable:
As for the NACA5 speaker cable, it seems folks either love or hate it. There is a company called Witch Hat Audio that makes naim-specified cables and interconnects and is reportedly very good? In fact, this company is owned/ran by ex-Naim engineers. Anyone have any experience with their cables?

Even looking at the technical specs of the NACA5, the Mogami W3082 I’m using is much higher in capacitance (253pF/m) vs. NACA5 at 16.5pF/m. It seems though the speaker cable requirement isn’t an issue with the newer Naim components, but I was curious to see if there is a Mogami cable with closer figures. W3103 for example, has a much lower capacitance of 93pF/m at 1kHz, and 83pF/m at 10kHz, vs. the W3082. However, it’s still higher than NACA5.

I have some Audioquest CV-4 I tried on the XS, but it added too much artificial bass. It sounded like someone turned up the bass knob. When I went back to the W3082, it balanced everything nicely. Mogami is a very neutral cable in my opinion.

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If you can I’d get all Naim cables to get a baseline. And then if you wish swap cables in and out you know where you are starting from.
It would have to be an early DIN5 interconnect not to be a Lavender one. The colour is just a hint of Lavender.

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Hi again JSB, the important speaker cable parameter with Naim amps is inductance, not so much capacitance unless its very high.
The cable inductance, together with the internal zobel (C+R), stabilises the amps output stage & suppresses the effects of capacitive reactance.
Naim recommend a minimum length of 3.5m (11.48ft) with NACA5, & as NACA5 has an inductance of 1uH/m … 3.5m = 3.5uH (& thats what Naim are really recommending)
Your Mogami W3082 has an inductance of 0.4uH/m so in theory its needs to be at least 8.75m to meet the Naim minimum.
However hold yer horses, the Naim integrated amps such as your Nait are not so fussy about cables, yes a good idea to stick with the Naim recommendations, but it won’t go bang if you don’t. Just avoid the very high capacitance woven & litz types.

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Burn-in is more of an issue for brand-new equipment than warmup for equipment that hasn’t been played in a while. Some people who buy the really expensive stuff claim to hear gradual improvements (with heart-breaking setbacks) over the course of months. It’s all part of the fun. Don’t let such considerations keep you from enjoying your system.

Looking for consensus here will only bring you grief.

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They’re called lavendar but they look grey to me, there was one included with the CD5x when it was sold new.

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Here’s a pic from the ad of where I got the interconnect. The ad doesn’t specify color. It only specifies that it’s a naim cable, 180 degree, 5 pin DIN. Even when I google image both colors, I agree, it’s hard to discern.

naim%20interconneect
naim interconneect.jpg1600×1391 189 KB

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I use Witch Hat N2 from my XS2 in to a pair of PMC twenty5 22’s. Very happy with it.

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Hi jsbach,

I would say that looks like a “lavender” - the early 5 to 5 interconnects had a white band label & a very slightly smaller overall cable diameter.

Regards
Neil.

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Welcome, I started with the ND5-XS with the XS 2 (70 wpc) with the NACA5 cable connected to ProAc Response D2 speakers. I also used a Naim Din interconnect. This was a sweet sounding system.

Currently running a NDX with a SuperNait 2 with the NACA5 connected to a Naim Ovator S-400 speakers. Once again using the Naim Din interconnect. This is also a sweet sounding system.

I am quite happy with NACA5 speaker cable and the standard Naim Din Interconnects. If you go to the [https://forums.naimaudio.com/forums.php](http://Naim Old Forum Threads) you can do a search on speaker cables and interconnects and find years of opinions on cables and interconnects. I found the search function incredibly helpful when researching information and looking for others opinions.

Welcome once again and have fun on the journey…

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Echo the start with a full Naim baseline, then if you want move from there, most don’t :grin:

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Hi, I am also interested in exploring alternative interconnect cables. Current setup:

  1. Prefers stock cable over Mogami 2549 between 272 and 250DR.
  2. Mogami 2964 stays between the Oppo 205 to Chord Qutest. Probably because of the rca/bnc termination. The other digital cables are rca/rca and I prefer not to use rca-bnc adapters.
  3. Prefers Naim lavender rca/din over Chord Shawline rca/din between Qutest to 272.

Currently using Black Rhodium Sonata but would like to explore Mogami 2497 rca/rca between Oppo 205 and 272 as the input din taken up by Qutest. Would also like to try 2497 between 272 and 250DR…Anyone having experiences with Mogami 2497?

Thanks.

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I am using 2 x 5 mt of NAC A5 between a Nait XS.2 and S-400s. I have tried alternatives, among which TelluriumQ Black and Vertere Pulse X mini, but life has once again left NAC A5 on my doormat and I kept it.

My IC is a Vertere Pulse D-Fi. It is more refined and organic than the stock ‘lavender’ and doesn’t cost a fortune, just the opposite. I had many times a Hi-Line, but in the end I did not feel a special need for it. And it has something ‘artificial’ to my ears which would make me choose the lavender anyway, if I hadn’t the excellent Vertere.

Best
M

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Hi bnc1863,

I use Mogami W2497 from a 272(+555DR) to a 300DR, I rate it very highly. I posted an in depth assessment of it on the old website (old forum name is ‘Huge’). To summarise I found it highly preferable to the standard cable in most ways and didn’t find any aspect in which it was worse. It’s not however an easy cable type to work with when attaching it to the connectors.

You’ll also have considerable difficulty with connecting a 272 to a 250 using W2497 as it’s a large diameter cable (8mm) and only caries a single channel per run, hence you’d have to feed 2 x 8mm cables into a single XL connector at the 250 end.

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Xanthe,
Is it possible to buy these Mogame W2497 din to Xlr interconnects to try between a super cap and a pair of NAP135s?

BF

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Thanks Xanthe for sharing your experiences re 2497. Will definitely go for it. Have a great weekend.

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Ok. So I got the DIN interconnect and hooked it up. No sound. Tried on another input, still no sound. Since I just got this XS too, the problem is either a bad cable or issue with the XS. Is there a way to test the cable?

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Hello,
if cd5x2 is as my cd5i, you have to check which output that is using: DIN, RCA or both at the same time. If you press and hold the disp button on the remote control, you can check and change this setting.
Stefano

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Hi Stefano,
Oh, ok. I had no idea there are settings. Mine is a CD5x. There is no “2” so I don’t know if mine applies if now. I’ll check it out and let you know.

Thanks,
Brent

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Hi,

In my experience having tried Chord ICs I’ve come back to Naim’s own wires. Just seems more organic. But for speaker cable with both my Dynas and now Kudos I found Naca 5 a little lumpy and went back to Chord Oydessy.

Regards,

Lindsay

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I had a 5x and it is selectable between DIN and RCA or both but I forget how, I thought it was the prog button to put it in the right mode to select but don’t remember which does the selecting. Don’t select both.