I had a friend who experienced exactly the same thing with his 500 using Cardas Golden Reference cables…the amp ran VERY hot and the sound was a bit meh. Going back to NACA 5 improved both aspects.
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I did some research and found that Deltron has only one model of NICKEL plated speaker plugs. And it is 583-0100 (RED) and 583-0100 (BLACK). I checked this information on official Deltron PDF documentation. All other models of speaker plugs are silver plated
A lot of people buy and use DELTRON plugs which are SILVER plated, but they think they have NICKEL plated. Many online audio shops provide incorrect information about Deltron plating. For example, models 579-0100 and 550-0100 are silver plated, but sellers present them as NICKEL plated in many cases.
583 model has pretty long and wide bucket. It can be difficult to solder it. And this may be the reason why many online audio shops cheat and sell smaller Deltron plugs as Nickel plated, although they are not…
Has anyone managed to solder this particular 583 model properly to Naca5? Also maybe someone found Nickel plated plugs (with smaller bucket) from other manufacturer? And also maybe it doesn’t make sense to search for nickel plated. Maybe silver plated is OK also? 
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The BFAs supposedly make better contact than standard bananas, but I have had them snap off at the back of floor standing speakers with enough brush ups against shoes, dogs, and vacuum cleaners. They would probably be fine for the amp end of the cable. When I ordered my Phantom cable I just had WitchHat upgrade me from the AQ BFA bananas to the AQ 500 series deltron-like connectors.
Look forward to hearing your review, the comments on the AVO website are all positive.
What speaker cables are you replacing?
I am currently using the silver Linn K200 speaker cables.
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Please do update! I’m exploring speaker cable, and so far can say that A5 does not work as well in my system as K20.
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Per AVOptions, the lead time is at least 3 weeks (including turnaround time to and from Deep-Cryo processor).
I’m wondering who makes the wire? If you see any printing on it please let us know.
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Christ West himself hand-makes them, I am not sure where the material is from.
You can talk to him directly, AVOptions contact phone # should be online.
PS: More info from the AVOptions website.
For post 2002 Naim amps/integrated amps we strongly recommend AV Options Twisted-56 Deep-Cryo speaker cable as the ergonomic (more flexible than NACA5) and cost effective solution that works superbly with all of these Naim products (and with Rega, Linn, etc, kit as well). Each Twisted-56 pair is made by Chris West in our AVO Workshop using only the highest quality connectors, solder and termination techniques. Deep-Cryo treatment by our long time vendor Cryogenics International.
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After having tried the AV Options Twisted-56 Deep-Cryo speaker cables in my own system for a few weeks, I would personally recommend it, there are more musical details from this cable than the one that costs a few $$$ more.
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Cardas would be the worst choice for Naim amps since it’s a litz construction.
I did use Cardas Clear with my Ayon Spirit lll and ProAc D30R’s sounded amazing!
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@JosquinDesPrez, am I correct you just contacted Witchhat asking to replace the nana plugs with Audioquest ones? Very interesting since I just ordered Phantoms
Cheers, Iver
FWIW as far as connectors go WBT are by far the best. The AQ are nice plugs but their crimping method leaves a lot to be desired.
When I ordered my Phantom cables I asked them to use the AQ500 connectors instead of the AQ100/200 series. I didn’t want BFA-style bananas because they snap off too easily, especially at the speaker end where they are more exposed. The AQ500 are more like Deltron bananas.
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If the big worry is Banana plugs breaking why not use Spade Lugs? They of course can’t be used on Naim amps because of those not very practical holes. But certainly they could be used on speakers. I also wonder why a lot of Naimies and Naim think that nickel is a good material for connectors?
Material IACS (International Annealed Copper Standard)
Ranking Metal % Conductivity*
1 Silver (Pure) 105%
2 Copper 100%
3 Gold (Pure) 70%
4 Aluminum 61%
5 Brass 28%
6 Zinc 27%
7 Nickel 22%
8 Iron (Pure) 17%
9 Tin 15%
10 Phosphor Bronze 15%
11 Steel (Stainless included) 3-15%
12 Lead (Pure) 7%
13 Nickel Aluminum Bronze 7%
I’m using the banana plugs which come as default with the Phantom and they are fine - they don’t look particularly vulnerable to breakage to me, at least in my own setup. Treated with care they should be no problem.
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Because on my speakers I use spade lugs for the high-level subwoofer connections. I could reverse them but I’d still have the same problem.
It’s not just a concern for me, it actually happened that the BFA bananas snapped, probably weakened over time with the dogs, vacuum cleaner and me kicking/jostling the cables. When I went to my dealer to get a new set, they said it’s not an unusual issue and they now only use Deltron connectors for banana plugs now.
I don’t understand the objection/argument with me specifying deltron-style connectors for my cables. Do you foresee a problem, leading you to suggest I should/could have use spades instead (not that it solves my problem anyway).
Nope. 
I will add as just my opinion. That if you have to use bananas then WBT are miles and miles better than Deltron . From design and materials to WBT’s use of crimp sleeves. Also once the wire is terminated it’s chimp simple to switch from bananas to spades. And lastly I can’t understand why any high end audio company would handicap the sound quality of their kit by using nickel for any connectors
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Spade connectors have a problem, that is the connection can get loosened over time, I would not use it unless it gets checked from time to time, which is a hassle.
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