That Van Damme cable pictured above definitely looks very like the old Monster Cable I remember from the early '80s.
How does it compare with your previous NACA5? Did you get a chance to compare it with SL?
A veritable bargain, i think Derek at Kudos has done a great job in sourcing this cableš
Good stuff isnāt it. I replaced TQ Black and am not disappointed at all.
It certainly sounds like the flavour of the month for April, following those Gaia footer things in March. I wonder what weāll have in May?
AFAIK, AQ 500 series banana plugs are neither crimped nor soldered, you just use the supplied screws to tie down the bare cables.
As far as I can see, Naim spent their R&D on SL, not NACA5, or even a hypothetical NACA6. As with any technology, eventually it will be outperformed as a result of competition and market forces and I think thereās no doubt NACA5 has been.
Given the price and performance of all my black boxes, they absolutely deserve and benefit from a superior speaker cable. By comparison, NACA5 had been veiling the music quite considerably. This conclusion is based on listening and more listening.
The new 272 replacement, hopefully being launched from your living room after your kind offer to Charlie?
Did you actually go for the Kudos cable in the end, Gazza? Your profile shows that youāre still using NACA5.
I thought i had changed it. Yes, it was a definite keeper, have 2 x 5 metres. Well spotted Clive i have amended my profile, thanks.
Thatās correct, Audioquest 500 and 1000 are not technically crimped.
S/S ā20 itās all about the granite and other suitably exotic stone. Granite electrostatic headphones for inky black blackness, hand died with kraken ink.
Youāre going to have to explain that oneā¦
Satire?
Or as ABBA said, One Man, One Woman
Hi gaecam,
Good to see there are CDI players still going and being enjoyed, iāve owned two of them over the years, the first one with a 72 - hicap - 250 ( and SBLs ). You have the making of a fabulous classic naim audio system, although iām not familiar to the model Kefs you have, i suppose itās a room dependance thing and hope they perform well for you.
Your thread seems to have become a talking topic for a myriad of cables and plugs, which is all great fun but goes to show what a jungle it is out there.
My advice to you is to play safe, keep your classic system simple and donāt spend big money on expensive cables, consider a naim dealer for runs of genuine naca5 terminated with naim plugs. Or if you require a cable that is far more flexible than naca5 consider the new Kudos KS1 cable
Hi Clive, my first impressions and thoughts are that the KS-1 is not a world away from naca5 sound, slightly more definition of detail at all frequencies, more open mid, an easy on the ear smooth not too unlike naca5 sound, some vagueness of natural timbre which i donāt think is any worse than how naca5 performs.
The KS-1 definitely has boogie factor, need to listen with this cable for a week or two, and then put the naca5 back in to reassess.
Thanks, Debs. Iāll be interested to read your thoughts after an extended listening period. Do you have them on loan or have you already committed?
I tried Super Lumina, which were an obvious improvement over NACA5, but at some cost, of course, so I could be interested in alternatives.
This ^ was the result i found trying Chord Sarum speaker cable, getting a cable without the rough edges of naca5 sound can be a very expensive thing to do.
But it really does remain possible to enjoy the music with naca5, to my mind exotic [expensive] speaker cable is only really necessary if one has everything else real pukka in the system, excellent room acoustics and easily able to afford it.
The Kudos KS-1 cable is a contender to naca5, itās different and will depend on if one prefers those differences within the given confines of oneās own room and system.
It has to be said that KS-1 doesnāt look like an expensive cable, far from it, and naca5 build quality would suggest it to be far more serious and better value for money.
But the gem of KS-1 is the flexibility, people who like the naca5 sound but want a cable to flex easier should consider KS-1
Me too, excellent choice.