Super Lumina impression

Posted by: thijazi on 03 December 2015

Tested a few cables in the past few month, my friendly naim dealer loaned me a pair of Super Lumina speaker cables (3m) to test, I was very skeptical before I replaced my NACA5 with the SL, however, I have to admit, the SL added a sense of body and life to the music that is hard to explain, my speakers are very resolving and detail comes out, I listened to my system for a few days and then took out the SL and brought back my old trusty NACA5s and while they sound very good, the SLs are definitely missed.

Now have to wrap my head around investing into the SLs, I was always pretty skeptical about the high end cables, but this one made me rethink..

Now for the magic question, does one start with the power cables, interconnects or speaker cables?

 

Posted on: 03 December 2015 by Steve J

If you can get away with a 3m pair of speaker cables then it may be worth going for them. Yes, you could upgrade your system in other ways but you have tried the SL and liked them. Your choice in the end.

Posted on: 03 December 2015 by Jan-Erik Nordoen

Hi Tareq,

In my experience, the SL source to preamp interconnect gives the greatest gains. Others have found speaker cables to be the best first move. I've played with all three - source-to-pre, pre-to-amp, amp-to-speakers, in four different systems, 252/250, 272/250DR, 82/250, Supernait2 (no pre-to-amp cable in that one obviously) - and found that the source to pre literally transforms the source (nDAC or CDX in my case). If you think of the preamp as an extension of the source, then it makes sense to maximize the alliance of the two.

I've not come around yet to the pre-to-amp SL between the 252 and the 250 (olive). I keep trying, but eventually remove it and revert to the stock interconnect, which seems to maintain greater warmth and drive to the music.

Apart from the purely sonic benefits that you've described, the Super Lumina cables' greatest strength is their ability to expand time when listening to music. Others have described this as a relaxed, less hurried presentation. At age 60, I'm open to ways to maximize what I have left. The Super Luminas fit that need.

Jan

 

Posted on: 03 December 2015 by hungryhalibut

Do you have dedicated mains? If not, I'd do that first. £300 should cover it if the wires can be run easily. Then do the Powerlines. 

Posted on: 03 December 2015 by thijazi

yes I do have dedicated mains which I sourced from Mains-Cables-R-Us in the UK.

Jan, thanks for the tip, will definitely test the SL interconnect between the DAC-V1 and the Pre (NAC282 in my case),.

Regards

Posted on: 03 December 2015 by Jan-Erik Nordoen

Let us know what you find. I'll return to my cable testing lab.

Posted on: 03 December 2015 by Harry

I'd go with speaker cables first. But if you're at some point doing speaker cables and interconnect then it doesn't really matter.

Posted on: 03 December 2015 by Jude2012

What's your impression of the new firmware update (v1.16) to the V1, Tareq?  

Interesting that 'mains cables r us' do fittings of dedicated mains spurs / radials to houses. I thought they provided main cables and mains conditioners.....

Posted on: 03 December 2015 by Bert Schurink
Jan-Erik Nordoen posted:

Let us know what you find. I'll return to my cable testing lab.

Didn't know you had already the last PB pictures of Pamela Anderson in the wall......

Posted on: 04 December 2015 by thijazi

Jude, thanks for the tip. I wasn't aware the V1 got a firmware update, when was it released?

Posted on: 04 December 2015 by Jude2012

Check out this thread - https://forums.naimaudio.com/to...75#50703968829170975