S U P E R L U M I N A - Is this the biggest improvement ever?

They sounded shite when I first installed them and took a couple of weeks to come good. Were yours run in?

yup

can't wait for the xlr-xlr / din-din interconnects.

Harken all ye faithful to the wise words of Martin.

Not just silly money for wires folks. The 'non-electric device' perception is spot on. A full loom in my Naim system has to be the most consistently musically engaging upgrade I have ever made. This stuff works.

I seem to have been lucky with my simultaneously installed speaker cables and DIN/XLR's. They sounded better than the standard cabling they replaced, right from the off. And then got better and better over time, with just the odd 'shouty' hiccup - mainly from the LP12/Urethra interconnect.

John.

Ouch John! I think you need to see a urologist ASAP! 

Get Superlumina wires, turn into a woman. 

LOL, hope good old John is ok!?  ATB Peter

Ah, I see the confusion - I was referring to Martin's rather fetching avatar.....

Very fetching. 

excellent write-up Martin! i keep telling myself to ignore these wires. but i sense failure...

enjoy

ken

Steve

I seem to remember that you were running some comparisons between Super Sarum and SL on various devices.  Any conclusions?  What about running a mixed system i.e. for those of us who are heavily invested in Sarum but want to add (for example) SL speaker cables to replace NACA5.

Best

Gregg

I run Sarum Tuned Aray (not Super) interconnect with SL speaker cables and a Witch Hat DIN/XLR. I realise it might be better to have a full SL loom but I acquired the Sarum TA when the SLs were just a twinkle in Naim's eye however they all work very well together. My SL speaker cables were well run in when I got them (after using the Sarum TA interconnect with NACA5 for a couple of years prior).

When I was testing the SL speaker cables I also tried a Sarum Super Aray DIN/XLR. I tried this with the NACA5 and it sounded plain weird. I suspect the Sarum Super Aray DIN/XLR only works properly with the SL speaker cable. I didn't try them together because I knew I could only afford one so it had to be the SL speaker cables which IMHO are a revelation even when mixing with Chord Sarum Tuned Aray interconnect. The SL speaker cables also seem to work particularly well with the DR power amps - certainly the 250DR I upgraded to at the time.

Steve - it would be very interesting to hear your thoughts if you have indeed been testing Sarum Super Aray and SL cables.

Nigelb

Thank you for the comments.  Like many of us I am also heavily invested in Sarum when SL "was just a twinkle in Naim's eye" - love that line!

Best

Gregg

That's a good way of putting it. It can be hard to describe exactly what one is or is not hearing but I can relate strongly with that kind of description. Mine were all uncooked and took a couple of weeks to sound right. The speaker cables were the worst offenders, the DIN-XLR being pretty good from the off but becoming a bit more "natural sounding" in a week.

These cables are no small upgrades. Alternatives abound however.

Just for perspective - I found that the Chord Sarum Super ARAY DIN/XLRs were a very nice improvement in my system over my Tuned ARAY DIN/XLRs with NACA5.

Although I have currently gone back to Tuned ARAY it is merely until I can explore SL more comprehensively as an alternative - but it is taking longer than I had hoped.

I should say though that I was not as impressed with the Tuned ARAY interconnect on my CD player and stayed with my Hi-Line, but that was with my old speakers - so who knows what further comparisons with reveal.

I'm still planning to try the Super ARAY v SL interconnects on both of my sources and the SL DIN/XLRs and speaker cables before deciding.

Chris

You're DOOMED I tell you, DOOMED!

Martin,

I'm guessing from your profile that you're not running an active system?  If you are, then you should consider the Super Lumina 4-4 DIN that connects between the SNAXO Supercap and the preamp as that makes a big difference too.

If you're running passively then this option isn't open to you as the cable then carries power and for some reason SL and power don't mix.

She reminds me of the good looking girl from Saved by the Bell - Kelly Kapowski played by Tiffani something  

I run a passive system.

As for the STA, it was quite musical, but sounded a little boxed-in. 

Yes, I was surprised and a little disappointed in the Sarum Super Aray DIN/XLR (with NACA5). The dealer who lent it to me was unsure how many hours it had under its belt but I am now suspecting it was far from run in which might account for the odd results.

I also have a different experience to you with the (Sarum I assume) Tuned Aray interconnect and I found it superior to the Hiline but this was between a NDX (now NDS) and a 282 which I guess is different to your system.

I understand the most effective way of introducing SL cables one by one up to a full loom is first the interconnect, second speaker cables and last the DIN/XLR. This may be relevant as you experiment with the SL cables.

I would be very interested to hear your findings as you experiment with the Super Aray and SL cables as I suspect my system would benefit from some optimisation in the cable side of things.

I would just like to add to the mixed conversation here. I run a full Super Sarum loom ( DIN/DIN IC from Urika to 552, XLR's and Snaic5) with Naca5. The sound is terrific , hardly "boxed in " at all. As with all of these cables, run in becomes a difficult variable when doing the demo. IMO, keeping all the cables in the same lineage will probably return the best result. I have postponed getting the Super Sarum speaker cable due to cost, I will need about 11 meters, but am working my way in that direction to maintain cable synergy. In the meantime, the good old Naca is doing its' job quite well. 

The SL cables are apparently a big step up from the Naca- I have not done the demo. Keeping all cables the same just makes sense to me...

ATB,

Mark

Hi Gregg,

I had been using the STA Din-XLR for a couple of years and upgraded to Super Array to good effect when it was released. I did have the chance to listen to the SL Din-XLR but it wasn't the right time, the speaker cables were still burning in. I will try another time but I'm not in a rush as the Super Array sound fine.

Soon after I tried and bought the SL speaker cables, after a bumpy few weeks these also proved to be a worthwhile upgrade. I had, a long time ago, tried the Sarum speaker cables but preferred the NACA5 at the time finding the Sarum presentation more revealing but lifeless. The SL speaker cables are worth a demo, I was lucky though only needing relatively short lengths.

I did try the STA IC on the Superline/SC/DR and ended up preferring the lavender IC over both the STA and Hiline. I'm awaiting a 4-5 pin SL IC to try but I may go for a Urika and then try both cables.

On the digital side I am running a SL RCA-Din IC which is awesome but didn't compare this with STA.

I hope that helps.

ATB

Steve

Yes, Sarum Tuned ARAY. I loved STA though on the Urika but listened to that with Kudos speakers rather than my old SBLs. 

With the (admittedly quite old) SBLs the STA interconnect on CDS3 sounded a touch too forthright and less natural - but it was how I heard it at the time. 

i suspect you just may be spot on, Graham. Oh dear...! 

enjoy

ken