In my experience I have heard NAC A5 in so many different ways. I have heard it sound sound harsh with no bass. On the other hand I have heard it sound uninteresting with too much bass. I have also heard it sound neutral but flat with no dynamism. Of course I have also heard it sound fantastic in all areas of the presentation. The only thing that changed in all of those instances is the way the cable was assembled and soldered.
I am absolutely convinced now more than ever that it is the way NAC A5 is terminated that folks either completely dismiss it or totally swear by it and nothing else will do. I am not trying to be a know it all here but only to express what I have learnt with this cable in 25 years of living with it, whether in a active or passive system. It never ceases to amaze how fussy it is when it comes to the quality of it’s termination, especially with Naim’s SA8 plugs. I have lost count the amount of times it has caught me out, often blaming other parts of the system instead. However once this cable is done properly, the penny drops, and everything starts to make sense and then one can truly appreciate why Naim have stuck with it all these years!
What I mean is that there are surely limits to what people can expect out of NACA5 given its price and age of design. It’s good but not great. I’ve just replaced mine with something that sounds a lot better, albeit at considerably more cost. Well worth it considering the price tags of the accompanying black boxes though.
Hi Stephen
How did you find out about the importance of soldering NACA5?
This is relevant to me as I’ve just started using it and mine is casually screwed into place with Naim double plugs.
Thanks
Jim
Long story short…I’ve had years of playing around with, soldering, terminating NAC A5 cables (learnt the hard way). It all started when I ran a Naim active system for 18 years and lived in many different properties, so was forever changing the lengths of my cables (NACA5).
Not only did this teach me a lot about terminating all four of them but also how the sound can be greatly influenced in the way they are terminated. This is why I share my experiences here as i know how important it is to get them right for the system to truly sing. This took me years to learn as i hadn’t any training, or a purpose built jig or a workstation but i did have perseverance. Rather than lead you down the DIY path, may I suggest that you send your cables off to a very experienced dealer and ask to make them up for you, with the correct plugs soldered on either end. In your case it will Naim plugs at both ends. I think that you will absolutely gobsmacked at the uplift in performance you will get on their return if you have not done this already.
Yes I think any reputable Naim dealer who are trained in this field. I suspect that Naim do an in house training program for many of them but I’m only guessing here. I use Audio t myself. @Cymbiosis gets high praise here from many members. Perhaps you can give them a call?
Hi Stephen,
I once saw some pics of properly soldered NACA5 done by @Cymbiosis on the last forum but one. They cast doubt in my mind about the quality of the soldering done by my dealer.
To be clear, are you recommending Audio-T in London Rd?
I would be able to drop my wires in to them after the lockdown.
I am Stateside and have had Peter here several times for a visit (both LP12 and RnR). I can still vividly remember the first time we had a look at the soldering joints on my NACA done by my previous dealer. Simply atrocious - they looked like burnt toast! It was a pleasure watching him build a homemade jig and properly solder my plugs over again. It’s not rocket science - however it does take someone who knows what they are doing and takes the time and patience to properly do the job. Sort of what it takes to PROPERLY set up a LP12
