I'm planning to use my new Naim as a streaming unit for my main system centered by the McIntosh Mx160. I need a cable to connect the Naim 4-pin din pre-amp output to one of the MX160 analog input. The small diagram on the back of the Naim shows two upper pins as channel 1 (right) and channel (2). The lower left pin is marked as "ve". The lower right pin is unused.
I think I should connect channel 1 to the tip of RCA red (right), channel 2 to the tip of RCA white (left), and ve pin to both RCA right and left ground.
If you have information regarding the wiring, please confirm. Thank you.
Philip
Posted on: 09 July 2016 by ChrisSU
The ve pin is actually the -ve pin if you look closely, i.e. negative. If you want a cheaper cable to get you up and running, try Flashback Sales. They understand Naim gear and are very helpful, and will be much cheaper than the Naim original. I suspect you might not be in the UK, but with the exchange rate as it is now, that might be a good thing!
Posted on: 09 July 2016 by pto189
Thank you Chrissu. I checked Flashback sales as you suggested. The 4m (12ft) Naim type 4-pin Din to RCA cable costs approximately US$75 including shipping. Since I have a Neutrik 4 pin Din plug and a pair of Neutrik RCA plugs in stock, I'll study further to see which way makes more sense. I'm thinking of making a cable with two pairs of RCA plugs, one to use the Naim as a streaming unit for my main system (McIntosh + Focal Electra), and one for a future sub-woofer for the focal bookshelf in my office. You information regarding -ve pin is very helpful.
Posted on: 10 July 2016 by ChrisSU
If you intend to run a sub, be careful if you make your own cable as I believe there are some rather specific requirements to make it work properly. I'll leave it to someone else to explain this as I'm not sure I understand the technicalities very well. Again, you can buy such a cable from Naim, but it will be expensive. A much cheaper, and some would say better sounding, alternative is to use any old cheap speaker cable to connect the sub to the terminals on your speakers. This assumes you get a sub which has a high level input option.
Posted on: 10 July 2016 by Huge
As the UnitiLite doesn't have a sub-out connection, I feel the high level connection to the speakers is the way to go. To do this you need to use NAC A5 (or a similar high inductance speaker cable) from the UL to the speakers, and then connect the sub's high level inputs to the the back of your speakers.
Trying to drive both a power amp AND a sub via cables from the same pre-out din of the UL will be putting too great a capacitative load on an output not designed to be loaded that way. This could have unpredictable consequences (I don't know the precise circuit details of the UL, so I can't know exactly what will actually happen, just that it's potentially a very bad idea).
