I naively used to assume that the NAC A5 are perfect...
Just got the speaker cables and could not believe that cables could make this difference.
Clearly these cables need a good warm up and run-in before they are going to approach their optimum sound and I have been told that it takes one week for them to really start to disappear behind the music. Yet from the off with only day’s warm up this upgrade delivered a more musical result than the majority of others.
The system now creates an effect of a non-electronic device, the end result gives the overall feel of a much more realistic space. The wider and deeper soundstage has very consistent perspectives.
These luminas changed the system, it became a variety of moods expressed in tones that are almost endless, they depend actually upon the great working together of all the tonal attributes– color, quality, pitch, and loudness.
The heavy tones assert their will with a more insistent energy; the long tones upon which we linger make a deeper and more lasting impression; while the light and short tones in contrast become points of mere passing and transition.
The contrasts between piano and forte – loudness that brings the tones so near that they may seem threatening in their insistence; softness that makes them seem far away and dreamlike.
The treble is delicate - sweet and clear. Voices are strongly holographic, female singers do not screech and are outstandingly articulate.
The energy it managed to extract from the albums was nothing short of astounding.
It also preserved the ability to put the music before the sound...
It makes you want to keep on listening! can't get to sleep.
What a great project.
Good job naim,
Martin
Posted on: 09 December 2015 by hungryhalibut
No interconnects required here, of course. I may look at the din to xlr in a year of so, but for now the Hatpin is doing a great job. A few hours further of warming up and they are better still. Like a Tetley's teabag, the flavour, I mean music, floods out. Amazing.
Posted on: 09 December 2015 by ChrisSU
Well, my ex-dem cables are now sounding even better than they were when first plugged in, which is perhaps not surprising - from the dealer's very chilly store room to my living room. It's very hard to describe what's better; I don't really like resorting to the expressions more real and more musical, but that sums it up really. They really are transformational.
Luckily for me, I can get away with only a 3m pair, and with the ex-dem discount the cost is affordable. Even so they cost me nearly 75% of what I paid for the speakers, which for someone starting out with Naim in 1983 seems really weird. £300 a metre for wire! Bonkers. Until you hear what that gets you of course, when it seems rather good value, in a funny sort of way. In any event, what I've heard this afternoon is enough to have made me pay for them - these aren't going anywhere.
I think 'bonkers' sums it up pretty well! I'd need a 5m pair, which would cost nearly as much as the 200DR and Kudos X2s I'd be using them with. Having listened to them in a dealer demo, I left in a state of shock realising that they are on my wish list for next year.
Posted on: 09 December 2015 by MDS
I tried an SL XLR on my 250 a fair bit after the interconnect and speaker cable and, once again, the performance gain was substantial and justified the outlay. Indeed, with my 300DR on order I'm going to have to trade in the single SL XLR and buy a pair at twice the price, so I'm putting (more) money where my mouth is, as the saying goes. So when you're ready, Nigel, do give the XLR a try.
Mike
Posted on: 09 December 2015 by hungryhalibut
Going back to Chris's post above, I don't think I could reconcile using SL cables with Kudos X2s, good as they no doubt are. The SL2 was, in its time, a much more expensive speaker, even though they are much more affordable used, these days. So crazily priced leads with SL2s makes more sense to me. I think if I had X2s I'd use the cable money to get better speakers. Maybe that's just old fashioned thinking? Anyway, SL cables with SL2 speakers has a certain ring.
Posted on: 09 December 2015 by ChrisSU
Going back to Chris's post above, I don't think I could reconcile using SL cables with Kudos X2s, good as they no doubt are. The SL2 was, in its time, a much more expensive speaker, even though they are much more affordable used, these days. So crazily priced leads with SL2s makes more sense to me. I think if I had X2s I'd use the cable money to get better speakers. Maybe that's just old fashioned thinking? Anyway, SL cables with SL2 speakers has a certain ring.
I can't reconcile it either. On paper, it's madness. What I like about the X2s is that they are small, and I'm not aware of any speaker that would be a significant upgrade on them without being much bigger. Kind of an extension of the low box count thing, I suppose.
Posted on: 09 December 2015 by Allante93
Repeat this SL technology is not for everyone, But the individual that is trying to squeeze the most out of his system, and content with his Black Boxes, These Speaker Cables may very well do the trick!
Mind you, we are talking serious cash here:
552= 35K / 500DR=34K / 555PS DR=12K, that's nearly 80K USD/120 GBP MSRP!
Based on my 60% Reality factor, we looking an investment of 70K GBP and upwards in Hi Fi Gear, and here's the kicker, that's only a DRed front and rear end!
No Source
No SL Interconnect from source to Pre
No SL Interconnect from Pre to Snaxo
No SL Speaker Cables
No SL Interconnects from Pre to Amps
The Above list is easily over another 50K GBP
So if you Do choose to dance with this SL technology, Don't tell your stock broker! 
Posted on: 09 December 2015 by hungryhalibut
Hi Chris
The block at the speaker end is empty, whereas the one at the amp end apparently holds a resistor. You can't get right angled plugs, but because the wire is very bendy I just managed to get the plugs in without needing to move the speakers forward - there is about 1mm between the cables and the walls. If I'd needed to pull the speakers forward, I wouldn't have got the cables.
