properly dressed cables (ref. to "eek, me ears...")

oh richard,

a straight look at the back would be enough for the moment.

glad to hear you gave up, too.

but what about the minimum 3.5m for NACA5?

hi richard b.,

thanks for that link, have seen that one before and i like it. but. do you want me to play kermit and explain to you the difference between the FRONT and the BACK? :-)

so you agree that it is not possible to tidy it up, yes?

Well, a naimie told me how dressing up the cables improves the sound. I do it as much as possible with the interconnecs behind the rack, and make sure the power cables from the equipment IEC sockets don't touch any interconnects.

However, when it comes to the Naim power cables, I refuse to cut them up shorter, and I subscribe to the advise given by Roger Skoff of XLO cables - bundle up all power cables ! Explanation from http://www.stereophile.com/showarchives.cgi?188:1 => "That way, you get rid of all sorts of rogue signals that ride the power line. The expanding and collapsing fields won't be exactly the same; some will be out of phase with the others, and that tends to cancel out the junk."

Never did AB tests, just did it ... it was convenient for me

I ordered 2x5m lengths of NACA5 but was given 2x10m lengths with plugs attached (£3.12 per metre!!). I can eventually bury the cable under the floor if required but in the mean time I am still experimenting with speaker positions. Currently one speaker is quite adjacent to the rack. This means that I have several very visible, inflexible speaker lead to deal with. The other one I can hide the cable behind/underneath some convenient furniture with only a short run visible.

I am very reluctant to cut them in half and re-solder the plugs (its over 20 years since I last wielded a soldering iron in anger and it wasn't a pretty sight) and I don't want to take it back to the shop as they might realise their error and charge me for the extra 10m.

Should I

• Leave it loosely coiled
• Tightly coil it
• get the wife's hair dryer out and concertina it
• do something else

?

Looking at the "Other People's Systems" link Richard posted, I found this picture - I've got piles of the stands shown on the left, but I'm buggered if I can remember what make it is. All I can remember is (sometime back in the early 90's) thinking that I ought to move the kit from the floor to a stand, and this stuff had rack levels designed specifically for Naim boxes - a reallly tight fit.

Now I know buying stands on looks if not the done thing, but I'm not sure anybody thought that stands (except under an LP12) made a difference back then. And it does look well smart, expecially with stacks of proper chrome bumpered stuff. But does anyone know who made them?

As for dressing cables, it's a bloody nightmare. Does "hiding them very well" get brownie points on the sonic scale?

I have 7m of the stuff hid behind the cd rack in a coil, there really is no other way.

duncan those racks look like sound factory tripods
i too have some lying about in the loft
and yes my cabling also looks like spaghetti junction

i take it no one wants to show us the mess from the back of his system??? i further understand that no one has tidied up his "spaghetti junction"?

...one of these...

Monster PowerBar

...if you can't are not willing to get dedicated mains at this point. The older powerbar (HTS2000 I think) was favorably reviewed in Listener, I think. I could be daft on where I found this out - but the thing works.

AVOID the ones that are meant primarily for circuit protection - they will limit current and introduce nasties into the line.

I've got the PowerBar 1100 (enough outlets for me) and it cleaned up my soundand added dynamics. Makes louder stuff, including very busy classical, much easier on the ears.

Tweeters, Circuit City, and home theatre type stores carry these in the US. Don't know where to get one in the UK. I paid $200 USD at Tweeter. Maybe you can find a place with a 30-day return policy so no harm, and minimal fuss, to try.

- GregB

Insert Witty Signature Line Here

The rack has changed, but the routing remains the same.



Note single SNAIC touching wall. Sorry.

You can bundle all your cables together with cable ties. These are disposable plastic strips that connect in a loop.

That way you can neatly connect all your cables together and keep you signals and power cables separate. With Naim gear, when looking from the front, all the powercables connect to the kit on the right and the signal cables on the left. So it is easy to keep them apart when all your units are stacked up.

You can tie the resulting bundles to the rack. Where neccessary you can make the power budles and signal bundles cross at right angles etc.

Cable ties cost a couple of pounds for a packet of 50 at the hardware/electronics store. They come in all sorts of sizes and colours. On TV you even see American cops use the larger ties as handcuffs. This opens up a whole new range of uses with the left overs.


Then there is lots of tweaking to be done such as rearranging the order of the cables, whether the weak signal TT snaics should be routed separately, ferrous vs non-ferrous conduits, etc, etc.

I use this on my PC and AV systems with their zillions of cables to great effect. My Naim doesn't have that many components so I only tie the power cables together and to the rack.

If you go this route make sure that the cables are snugly together but so tight that you damage the cores at the cable ties or at the ends. If you decide to cut the tails of the ties make sure that you cut the tails at the eye, so there are no sharp edges poking out.


Gus

Bring your equipment support more into the room leaving about a foot from the back wall.

This in itself will facilitate proper cable dressing.

Cable dressing works. Make sure that no wire touches another, the wall, the rack, or any of the boxes, and that they all hang free.

Music Works stuff works really well in opening up the sound both in terms of tune and dynamics, butonly if everything is dressed propely. Where leads have to cross one another, I place bits of Blu-tack between them. Try it - it's possibly the best value upgrade ever.

Otherwise, spend a couple of grand on a new box to yield similar results.

Regards,

Steve.

Let your ears do the talking, let your remote control do the walking...

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You can bundle all your cables together with cable ties.

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quote:

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Make sure that no wire touches another, the wall, the rack, or any of the boxes, and that they all hang free.

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?

Thorsten,

I guess that everyone has their own solution. I tidied up two racks and had no difference in sound quality.

The only rule I kept was to keep the power cables seperate from the signal cables. Where signal and power cables cross they do so at right angles.

In my Naim system I only have 4 boxes. The 3 power cables are neatly tied together and then to the rack. So there is no danger of them running parallel to any signal cables. Of course they could induce a field in the metal rack but I haven't heard a difference in sound.

The shelves in the rack are about 50 cms apart so there isn't too much slack in the interconnects, and I just have them free-snaicing at the back.

The AV rack has 6 power cables, 6 speaker cables, several rf cables and at least half a dozen interconnects. It is a complete mess with zero WAF when it is not tied down. It looks ok when it is tidied up.

You just have to see what works for you. I heard no difference in sound in my setup but had a much cleaner room to look at.

I think that in general the better your gear is the more sensitive it is to your setup.

Bundling works for me but may not be everyones cup of tea.

cheers
Gus

hi richard b.,

unfortunately i am only too familiar with hifi voodoo (those anecdotes are still good for a laugh with unharmed friends). that's why i like naim too. usually you cannot tweak it as much as other hifi-stuff. take the cables for instance. naim can give you peace of mind in the voodoo-section (if that is what you are looking for). at least, that is what it does for me. i haven't read of anyone using gryphon exorcists or bedini ultra-clarifiers around here. (of course seeing a picture of 11phase mana under equipment made me think twice.)

however, i do not mind voodoo if it's for free. tuning my hifi in terms of have it sensibly shelved, levelled, phasewise corrected, speakers properly set up and so on are okay with me. just like pumping up my bike properly and oil the chain. two of the most important tuning tips to the average cyclist.

i will try to bundle my cables now, because it looks nicer. (wife's complaining) if i find out that it may sound worse than before, i will give it a go at all cables hang loose. (wife's got to face the facts).

Yes it probably fair to point out Nick that I am full of energy and keen to clean. Never the less after a good listening last night I could not tell any difference what so ever. Marco has suggested I remove the pulsar point which I will do when I get home. But as I noticed no difference when I put them under I fail to see what removing them will do, (I think they looks nice thats why they are there!)

I slept better knowing they were tidy though

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I'm totally flummoxed. I'm prepared to believe that cable dressing can bring some benefits (as I believe that accunpuncture can have (some) beneficial effects).

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Sorry Nick, but accupunture is the real deal.
It even works wonders on dog, cats, etc...
Maybe your practioner didn't shove 'em in deep enough.

Hi Richard,

Where did you get the Belden cable, if I may ask?

Since I purchased a fair a amount of my boxes in the UK (better s/h market) and had to redo the power plugs anyway (three pin > two pin) I made a couple of power cords out of old Monster CX2 hi rez cable my dealer sold my cheap.

All I do is keep power cords seperate from the rest and pray for good vibrations.

Herman

Yes, no need to be sceptical about this ... for most of the world's population, our traditional medical practice is "alternative medical practice".

Thomas

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Originally posted by Richard van Laar:
You made some powercords from Monster CX2 cable ehh?? Then I might have a clue who your dealer is. Not CAC in Leiden by any chance?...
I've found to get better results with the CX2 as powercord for a mainsblock. This is what CAC uses this cable for.

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Two times affirmative: Gert at CAC sold me the Monster stuff, and indeed, I used it for a couple DIY mainsblocks.

Thanks for the Belden info.

Herman

herm, richard,

you're not turning this cable thread into a cable thread, are you?


btw. acupuncture did not help my wife giving birth to our son a lot. but you could always say it would have been even worse without this and the bachblüten-stuff and alike.

Affirmative # 3, Richard!

Yes, CAC's Gert is great guy. I just don't get why Alco's always talking about his dealer (some place in the windblown deserts of Drenthe) as the only FEP around (granted Drenthe is flat earth).

This Gert doesn't even own a CD player (nor does Peter, the young guy). What I like best about CAC is they like cheap things / solutions better than expensive ones, as long as they're good.

Incidentally, as of today I have purchased more things at The Audio Works, Cheadle than at CAC, Leiden, so I guess I should could the former my official dealer...

Herman

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Originally posted by gusi:
You can tie the resulting bundles to the rack.

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Gus,

oooh, I wouldn't do that. ;-)

cheers, Martin

hi richard v l,

since i have no smileys at my disposal for my work i try to make myself clear with the words i can think of. it was a joke of course. i am probably very stupid and misinterpreted your smiley.

do go on and make this cable thread a beautiful cable thread, please.

btw, as it is, i leave my cables just like they are. too much trouble.