Was running naca5, switched to talk 3 cables (new one in dark green), and experienced a huge relief in the sound. The naca5 was too forward and harsh, with bass that was overpowering the room.
I have previously tried chord clearway x speaker jumpers and felt like it was a very enjoyable sweet sound.
I would like to purchase 3M runs of chord speaker cable, and am looking at the odyssey X and cheaper. Could anyone who has tried the range give me some sound impressions against such as the shawline, clearway etc?
Iāve had Odyssey for aprx 10 years, in the meantime Iāve tried others and always came back to Odyssey.
However, 3m is not really long enough to the purist to get the Nait-50ās recommended 3.5uH output stage inductance loading.
Chord donāt publish L& C specs, but Iāve measured my cables and 5m (what I have) is close to 3.5uH.
I said āfor the puristā. 3m wonāt be a problem, but if you can stretch to 5m I would go for that.
Could you tell me about its bass quantity specifically compared to the naca5 And other chord cables too? Its quite important as I have floorstanders in a small room. Naca5 simply makes it explode in the midbass.
Hi @ThatsMynamedude ā¦ā¦.
I have smallish floorstanders, but they are DIY and Iāve voiced them for cross firing across my 32m2 room, and my amp is a Supernait, nothing like a Nait 50, so maybe not too much to learn from this.
NACA5 sounded OK, nothing over blown that stood out in the bass in but the Odyssey has more detail and musicality. But this was years ago and memory does fade
This doesnāt sound typical of naca5.
Iād advise looking for an alternative reason before spending out on speaker cables; perhaps look at possible front-end issue, speaker position, or poor room acoustics.
I agree, it seems different from what other people say it is. However changing out the cable proves without a doubt that there is a night and day difference between the cables. It could be that the soldering isnt well done on the naca5 though, but i dont think it would be that bad to have such a large difference.
Iām currently evaluating NACA5 with my SN3/NDXS2 system. Finding in my room and set up the mid-range too forward, also a little rolled off at top end. Dynamics (e.g. snare drums) sound a bit constrained as well.
Iād like to audition some other cables - any recommendations? Like balanced sound, clear at top end, good dynamics, maybe a bit warmer.
In my price range considering:
Chord ClearwayX
Chord Rumour X
Chord Shawline X
Itās interesting how we all perceive hifi so differently. Iām comparing NAC A5 to a 7k Furutech cable and thinking back to the great qualities of the NAC A5.
It just shows that there isnāt a single solution for everybody - cables and components are system dependant.
This is the recommended Chord cable for the older Naim amplifiers as it has the right capacitance/impedance. Not sure where the SN3 is in that recommendation.
Not so much the ārightā C/L.
As with all Chord or any similar constructed twisted pair cables, the L&C is in the āaccaptableā range.
I measured my Odyssey at 0.6uH/m and 62pF/m
Supernaits & Naits are not too bothered by speaker cables, but best avoid Litz & woven/plaited and follow the K.I.S.S. rule
NACA5 specifications are as follows:
Capacitance: 16pF per metre
Resistance: 9 milliohms per metre
Inductance: 1uH per metre
Minimum length: 3.5 metres per channel, Max 20
Capacitance of a 2 core cable is easy, I have a Fluke 79 multimeter with a Capacitance setting
Measure C with open circuit between each conductor.
Inductance is not so easy, various methods, best I used is a signal generator method that I used in work environment
Also at that time I had access to a multimeter with an inductance setting. Its a āfield toolā & I was not convinced about accuracy but it was close to the theoretical calculation.
Measure L as a closed circuit
I started with Chord Odyssey 2 (twice 3,5m) and had them 7 years. Then I compared with Nac A5 (twice 4 m); a highly disputed contest, at the end I kept Nac A5 because I considered that sound image was a bit more stable on symphonic music. However, both cables were very close. I went on upgrading slowly and replacing CDX2 by exotic transport+nDac got me to change the LS cables because that was more detail and more punch than Nac A5 could convey, in my experience. Chord Signature XL replaced Nac A5 and arranged everything (2 * 6m). Next step would be Super Lumina but there is no hurry.
If you absolutely have to buy speaker cables other than the NAC A5, I wouldnāt go lower than the Chord Epic XL, below them the NAC A5 still sounds better imo
