XLR Cables for New Classic Range

Hi-Fi Corner
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I am awaiting delivery (just a few days to go) of my New Classic boxes. I will use the Naim supplied cables during burn in to get my ear in for the sound.

Question is has anyone ventured into the realm of changing the XLR interconnects as yet. If so to what and what improvement did you see. I’ve been reading around the inter web and seen a few mentions of Mogami, Atlas, Chord, Tellurium Q, Wireworld etc. Most of the usual players. As a relative newcomer to this which brands do folk find best. I will of course have a conversation with my dealer but that will likely focus around Chord whose cable I tend to find a little on the bright side. All that said I may just stay with the supplied cables if I like the sound - I did like the sound during my at home demo.

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I started listening to a few since Friday;

So far have listening to Tellurium Black Diamond which vs the provided Naim cables provides a warmer sound, level of detail equal to Naim, however, PRaT not to the same level…

Next onto Chord Signature, a step up vs Black Diamond, has the warmth, detail, improved timbre and good PRaT…

Now I am listening to Tellurium Statement II which are excellent, not sure they are worth the price vs the difference between these and Chord Signature.

My dealer is going to get a set of Chord Sarum for me to trial in the next week or so.

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I demoed the new classic 250 for a week and was disappointed with the supplied XLR’s .

I tried a couple of Chord cables (£750 & £1500) and ultimately preferred in my room/system the Mark Grant XLR cables…which are made with Neutrik connectors with gold plated contacts and Canare cable…for the princely sum of £49.50, free delivery, and 30 day return period !! Whats not to like.

Have a good Sunday.

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Many thanks for additional info. I did come across this diag for Tellurium cables but obviously it does not include other manufacturers.

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Be interested in your final thoughts after you have tried the Sarum.

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I am so going to enjoy watching this thread as it grows & grows!

Our non-Naim amps also use balanced inputs and interconnects, so we have been (still are?) on a similar journey.

By far the best value we’ve found for our amplifier has been Designacable’s Mogami 2549 balanced interconnects with Neutrik XLR connectors for £50 a pair, delivered. They manage to maintain music’s sense of rhythm & timing, something that most of the posh ones lose along the way. They are not as smooth & refined as the £1,000+ ones but they aren’t so far off. Hence, they are a brilliant value baseline or reference for the posh ones.

Posh ones we’ve tried include:

Witch Hat Morgana - a special, balanced version of Morgana, after great success with their single ended DIN-XLR cables between the NAC52 & NAP135s. Fat, bloated, slow bass. Not good at all. Got rid of them quickly, once I’d allowed enough time to hear that they weren’t getting any better after burn-in.

Siltech 770i - Wow, noise floor just fell away, lovely warm, endearing round slightly dark sound, draws you in with effortless, lifelike detail. Huge musical image between and around the speakers, gosh, lovely. Phenomenal but so slow, timing’s just gone, no foot tapping anymore.

Nordost Heimdahl - A breath of life, vibrancy, energy and rhythm after the Siltech. Much more like it and leaves the Mogami way behind. Just a bit bright and fatiguing.

Atlas Mavros - Better than the Mogami 2549 in all respects but only incrementally so.

Townshend F1 Fractal - Bettered Atlas Mavros XLR when I compared. Phenomenal resolution & perfect timing/rhythm when between pre & power amps. They are always a bit lean/thin/cold/brightly lit sounding. Not harsh or distorted, just a bit lean/thin. Overall very good and I still have a pair of these.

Atlas Asimi - Utterly delicious and beautiful sounding. Eye-wateringly expensive.

Transparent Plus & Transparent Super - Big, fat, bulky, stiff and awkward as hell to fit in a restricted space. Sound brilliant between the pre & power, simply natural. Wanted to hate them ended up buying the Super.

It will be interesting to learn of others’ experiences with the new classic Naim amps.

Best regards, BF

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Thanks for the input here. In my reading I’ve seen good reports about Neutrik connectors and also some reports on the benefits of 4 wires within the interconnect not to mention differences in screening approaches. I’m quite happy to consider all cables and if there is the odd bargain to be had then I might just try it.

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Great input many thanks.

First impression based on comments from yourself and @anon17748768 is that I may just start lower down the cost scale. Why spend loads of money when there are good vfm cables out there that allow me to spend the cash on music.

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:+1:

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I have just ordered a pair of Mark Grant’s so hopefully they sound good in my room / system as I’d rather spend £52 than an whole lot more :grinning:

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Great stuff, I have used MG for other cables (and powerlines) as well and never been disappointed…the XLR’s, imho don’t add anything and don’t take anything away…they just let the music come through in a good way.
Let us know how you get on… :crossed_fingers:

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I used Designacable for my XLR’s £41 for 2 5 metre lengths of Van Damme cable terminated with Neutrik connectors. Looking at the price of some of the other cables, I think I shall be sticking to what I have.

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I am using the cables from Audiocables.eu.Nikos from Audiocables made me cables from the same Canare cable,Mark Grant uses.I wanted the Neutrik NC3MXX-BAG and NC3FXX-BAG xlr connectors,because Naim and also Chord using silver plated connectors.

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Ordered Chord Shawline DIN to XLRs for HicapDR to NC250.3 - similar cost to Naim cables but bespoke lengths. Will be able to give feedback once my kit is up and running again; hopefully weeks few now :crossed_fingers:t2:

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Another thumbs up for the Mark Grant cable. I recently home demo’d a range of XLRs, from low to high cost, and thought they all sounded different. I definitely preferred the most expensive ones over the cheaper options. I then blind tested them and realised I couldn’t reliably tell the difference between any of them! Confirmation bias is a mean mistress…

So I bought the cheapest ones that looked well made, which were the Mark Grant ones.

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I have now listened to all three extensively;

Tellurium Black Diamond
Chord Signature
Tellurium Statement II

If I had to purchase one now this moment in time then it would be the Chord Signature, HOWEVER, I am not convinced on the cost vs benefit (vs standard Naim XLRs provided) for this. So I am looking forward to my Mark Grants arriving and may well purchase a couple of other recommended brands.

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When there is too much choice I tend to follow my dealers advice.
The Chord Signature was doing very well between my N272 and 250-DR, but was considered a little too bright for the NC-series. I was advised to try a MIT Evolution Three balanced XLR instead. They give a clear improvement in many aspects and I have decided to keep them. My NC set, including the NXP300, slowly starts to get into a steady state but continues to surprise me with an excellent musical sound!

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Interesting re Chord Signature as I tried these but they didn’t sound bright to me vs Naim provided XLRs. Suppose it could be the influence of three factors, speakers in use, room and personal hearing. Can you expand on what you like about the MIT evolution?

Best, D

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You are right David, the choice/advice has to do with other factors as well. I use Chord Odyssee 2 speaker cables and it was the combination of Chord interconnect plus speaker cable that would have emphasised the treble part a little too much on the NC-set.
Compared to the standard Naim cables the MIT cable provide a more spatial, airy sound while the bass is deeper and better defined. My system sounds balanced. I haven’t tried Chord XLRs though, cost being part of the equation (twice the price of the MIT cables).

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Firstly many thanks to all for contributions so far.
My new boxes due to arrive on Thu this week. :grinning::grinning:
As mentioned above I will start off with the Naim supplied XLR cables. Based on comments above I will also try the Mark Grant cables. I am hoping to keep the sound natural, with good bass and mids, not bright. I am also conscious of the fact that the boxes will need some time to settle/burn in so will wait a bit before trying/demoing the more expensive options.

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Anyone tried a super lumina XLR cable yet ?