Which Speakers Cable?

I purchased them directly from Mark Grants web page with around 1 week delivery. It’s difficult to say what the real difference was since Naca5 was sold before Chord so never did a straight AB test. But the Mark Grant going from Chord Clearway improved the bass and gave me sweeter more relaxed and neutral highs. Naca5 I mainly went away from since they are so stiff and it doesn’t work in my slightly tight/slim setup. As I remember them they were less neutral and a tad more “boomy” somewhere in the upper bass.

I went to Mark Green 6mm mainly because they are same shotgun style as Naca5 which should mean similar specifications but these are very soft and bendy. I also went with Allan Shaw (Harbeth CEO) recommendation to get as much copper as possible and forget about the rest. To me in my system that recommendation seemed to be true. Mark Grant cables to me are top notch quality for price paid. Had a friend changing from Chord Epic to the same and he told me the transformation was great in his system.

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Have the EpicX completely agree with those comments. Used to have ShawlineX cables, changed all cables to Epic and it adds richness,texture etc, haven’t heard NACA5 in fairness…

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Refined means less smearing of notes especially the treble. Smoother sounding percussion and hi hat without the brittleness or hardness but still having the energy, sounding lit as opposed to dull.

One outlier that I have used successfully with Naim is Supra Classic 6 cable. This has worked well with Larsen and Guru Junior speakers and Naim amplification. The Supra is nice and flexible too, which in my close installation in my current room, I find to be a good thing. Currently I use Linn K20, which I like as well as the Supra. With that being said, I do like the NACA5, just not the stiffness of it!

PS-also the Supra is pretty cheap compared to other options!

I am running the bass section of my KEF Reference 5 with QED XT40 from my Nova and the mids/highs with Cardas Clear Sky X4 from a 250dr. I would recommend the former cables as very good value for money.

Forgive my ignorance on the subject, but how do you use two different cables?

Another happy Witch Hat N2 customer here. Sounds great, and bendy.

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I have connected my Nova to the bass on my KEF loudspeakers and the 250 dr to the mids/highs. If you remove the external bridge between the woofers and the tweeter you can separate the inputs. Far from all loudspeakers have this feature.
Kef|331x500

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Yes, me too but now I’m thinking about their Phantom cable…

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Tempting. and with the 30 day money back guarantee, risk-free as well.

But I think I’d rather put any funds towards either a ND5 XS2 or a turntable upgrade.

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Indeed, better choice for other equipment. I think for a 4-5 meter pair their cost remains very accessible. Just got the ND5XS2 myself last week, now awaiting a Hi-line interconnect to be delivered tomorrow.
Brgds.

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Thank you

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Working on the assumption that I have both cables the same length I’d need 2x7m so for Phantoms that works out at £560 or about 25% of a ND5 XS2

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I am using Phantom with my 300 DR and Dynaudio Confidence C2 Platinum speakers. I have a 10m pair and had them customize with AQ 500 series bananas, which are more like deltron pins and less like the default hollow banana connectors I think snap off too easily. Very pleased with outcome and they sound better than the NACA5 I had. Better bass and more open.

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Patiently awaiting my 3.5m pair of Phantoms to be shipped out to replace an odd 2m pair of NACA5

I love my A23’s. I’m thinking they will do me for a very long time regardless of the system. Not cheap though.

I had Chord Rumour 2, which was very good.
Then tried Witch Hat Phantom and did not like it.
Bought Chord Epic, which was very good too, overall a step up from the Rumour.
This was with Naim Arivas.

Now I use NACA5 with different speakers.

Phantoms here too. To be honest I can’t really recall if they were a big change over the odd mismatch I had previously of 2 x NACA5 and 1 x Witch Hat N2. As I needed 3 runs of 5 meters for an active set up anything more pricey than Phantom was out of the question. Certainly not aware of any shortcomings in the sound now though. Previously tried TQ Black on my IBLs which was a really bad match where NACA5 was vastly superior. IBLs currently on WH N5 which is virtually indistinguishable to A5 in that set up.

I will say that depending on how well NAC A5 is terminated and soldered, preferably by a very experienced and well seasoned reputable dealer, then (most likely) folks have not how good this cable really is in the context of a Naim system. In fact why question the cables in the first place? I recommend in listening to some music and then it should not even enter one’s brain about mucking around with speaker cables.

It’s character can change enormously with how it is made up. It can really easily catch someone out who is off guard.

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@Stephen_Tate I do find myself in a confused position on this whole issue of wires and cables. On the one hand I’m like you just leave the system wired up and enjoy the music. On the other hand powerlines (all pillaged on the 2nd hand market) I know have had a very positive effect as did the SL interconnect between CDS3 and 282.

Specifically on speaker wire I’ve had Chord Odyssey dating back over 15 years when I had my Arcam amp and Dyna Contours. Not long after I switched to Kudos S20s I tried Naca 5 but thought it a bit lumpy in the bass and less coherent overall - for want of a description. So the Odyssey stayed and the great Dr from @Cymbiosis terminated it properly for me at both ends. Life is good!

Regards,

Lindsay

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