Speaker cable advice for NAP300
Posted by: vinylrocks on 22 February 2017
I recently decided to make some changes in my living room and that means changing the place my system is located. Unfortunately the new placement commands for a longer speaker cable which means I have to buy a new one. I own a 252/300 combo driving a pair of Neat Momentum 4i floorstanders. Until now I was using a 2m factory terminated pair of Chord Carnival Silver plus bi-wire cable with great results. It's a cheap cable that was given to me for free with the purchase of the speakers. I since have auditioned the Nac A5 at some point and some more expensive cables like the Nordost Frey 2 (2m length) but wasn't convinced the change was for the better in the latter case considering the price.
The Naim cable seemed very similar to my Chord, with a very tight and coherent musical presentation, but I felt it lacked in the higher frequency delivery, the overall transparency and the micro dynamics compared to more expensive cables. Some of the pricey cables using silver coating sounded more transparent but at the same time gave a more harsh top end which seemed unnatural to my ears.
I know Naim suggests using the Nac A5, but since technology advances and themselves have a better and more expensive speaker cable now, maybe there's a better (but cheaper than Super Lumina) solution out there.
Is the concept of length (over 3,5m for Naim amps) still relevant? I think one of the reasons I liked the Chord so much might be that the bi-wire feature means the effective length resembles to a 4m pair. If it does the cost factor does make things more difficult for very expensive cables.
What speaker cable are you using in your own system? Which brands seem to work best with Naim amps?
Thanks in advance,
John
Posted on: 23 February 2017 by vinylrocks
At some point I may need to upgrade the speakers so I feel there's no point in investing in speaker cable that is going to be obsolete in the near future.
Absolutely, buy a "future-proof" cable -- no point of buying something you might wish to change with new speakers... Do you have particular speakers in mind? If you already have your eyes on a particular set of speakers, might be worth to demo the cable with these speakers... Sounds like you will have lots of fun!
I heard a pair of Wilson Sabrina's with a 282/250.2 combo at a local dealer and was blown away! I imagine that the 252/300 will be even more glorious with the added control and detail on tap... They're very expensive but I love the look and the smaller footprint and the fact that you're not sacrificing the sound and authority of a much bigger speaker.
I know it's not a popular choice for Naim amps but my mind is stack with this sound!
I would like to think a good pair of speaker cable will work well with most speaker combinations, right?
Posted on: 23 February 2017 by Bob the Builder
I went from Nac a4 to Nac a5 both 5m lengths and it was a superb upgrade I then went from Nac a5 to TQ Blacks (3m) and the difference was more subtle but I much prefer the extra detail in the top end that I get from the TQ Blacks.
Posted on: 02 March 2017 by Finkfan
The ultra black is an awesome speaker cable. It's on my upgrade list.
Is that what used to be called the 'Green' cable ?
The ultra black is an improved green. Green has now been replaced by Ultra black and Graphite replaced by Black diamond.
Update. The former Green cable is now Blue diamond. It sits just below then Ultra black and above the silver.
Posted on: 02 March 2017 by Finkfan
I'm looking forward to hearing the Black diamond speaker cables with [@mention:50422349809511500] system over the weekend. We'll post our findings.
Posted on: 03 March 2017 by vinylrocks
FINKFAN thanks for the update! Looking forward for your findings of the black diamond demo. What is the price range of the black diamond series? I've read raving reviews for the new chord Sarum T cable range from the Bristol show. Maybe that's worth a listen as well.
Posted on: 03 March 2017 by Finkfan
The black diamond speaker cable is £630 p/m, 1.5m bring the shortest length. The price is high, but apparently so is the performance!
Myself and @wenger2015 went to the first chord demo on the Saturday morning. To new honest, I was unimpressed. They used a Naim setup with Neat speakers and I thought it was flat and lifeless whichever cables they used.
Posted on: 03 March 2017 by hungryhalibut
Are you on the Tellurium payroll? The OP was looking for something cheaper than Super Lumina, not twice the price.
Posted on: 03 March 2017 by Finkfan
Haha! Unfortunately not!
The OP also later said the chord Sarum t might be worth a listen. I think that's a little more expensive than the TQ.
Posted on: 03 March 2017 by vinylrocks
Dear God I didn't realize they were so expensive! Does it really make such a difference? I mean different cables have different presentations, but different doesn't nessacery mean better. Does it really have to be so expensive?
Posted on: 03 March 2017 by Huge
The cables I use with a 300(DR) are DNM Resolution @ £15/m. They are rather bass light, but in all other ways I rate them highly.
(The bass light presentation actually suits me as the low bass in my setup is provided by a sub.)
Posted on: 03 March 2017 by james n
Dear God I didn't realize they were so expensive! Does it really make such a difference? I mean different cables have different presentations, but different doesn't nessacery mean better. Does it really have to be so expensive?
Only you can really answer that - it's the performance / value proposition. Some cables can be very expensive due to the manufacturing process, some from just recovering the NRE costs for development and some just chancing a high ticket price on the hope that people will buy based on price alone.
Posted on: 03 March 2017 by Timo
Dear God I didn't realize they were so expensive! Does it really make such a difference? I mean different cables have different presentations, but different doesn't nessacery mean better. Does it really have to be so expensive?
Cables are certainly important, but IMO no need to go overboard. It is my impression here in the Forum that spending between 30 and 60 GBP per m is good enough for most systems. After the price rise, NACA5 went up to 32 GBP I think. In any case, I would rather upgrade my speakers than buying a pair of Black Diamond for nearly 4000 GBP...
Posted on: 03 March 2017 by LFCJohn
Went from naca5 to chord odyssey ant then to black. Very happy with the last change.
Posted on: 03 March 2017 by james n
Dear God I didn't realize they were so expensive! Does it really make such a difference? I mean different cables have different presentations, but different doesn't nessacery mean better. Does it really have to be so expensive?
Cables are certainly important, but IMO no need to go overboard. It is my impression here in the Forum that spending between 30 and 60 GBP per m is good enough for most systems. After the price rise, NACA5 went up to 32 GBP I think. In any case, I would rather upgrade my speakers than buying a pair of Black Diamond for nearly 4000 GBP...
Well it's the end point. When you've run out of black box upgrades it makes sense. Chord Music speaker cables on a Unitiqute (for example) may not be the best allocation of funds 
Posted on: 03 March 2017 by vinylrocks
LFCJOHN When you say black you mean Tellurium q black?
Posted on: 03 March 2017 by Finkfan
As James said justifying any cost is down to the individual. Cables can make as big a difference to the sound as a box upgrade. Some will say a rack can too! The chord cables I heard at the show varied from 2 figures to 4 figures. I'm sure they'll sell miles of them, but non of the got me reaching for my wallet.
Posted on: 03 March 2017 by Timo
Personally, I would get the following three speaker cables for home demo: NACA5, Chord Epic Twin and TQ Black. And take it from there. Could be a fun weekend!
Posted on: 03 March 2017 by Dozey
Strange definition of fun ...
Posted on: 03 March 2017 by Timo
Personally, I would get the following three speaker cables for home demo: NACA5, Chord Epic Twin and TQ Black. And take it from there. Could be a fun weekend!
P.S. And if you like the presentation of a particular cable, you move up the ladder with this manufacturer, and assess whether extra cash for a more expensive range is worth the money...
Posted on: 03 March 2017 by Finkfan
Very true. And exactly what I'm doing.
Posted on: 03 March 2017 by Timo
Strange definition of fun ...
What's your definition of fun then?
Posted on: 03 March 2017 by LFCJohn
I meant tq black. A real improvement and good value for money.
Posted on: 03 March 2017 by Wiltshireman
My two pennyworth on this is that I have heard Chord Signature cables. A friend had a Krell pre and a Gamut power amp fed by a Chord Blue and 64 dac into a pair of very modified infact totally rebuilt pair of Gale 401 (?) speakers which he connected with Chord Signature interconnects and Chord Oddessy speaker cables. One day he invited me over for a listen, I was not told of what he done and had to sit with my eyes closed which for me is my usual deep listening way. I was totally flabbergasted by what I heard and ever since then I always say that this demo has been the biggest single improvement I have ever heard and only approached by a ad hoc dem last year at the Bristol show when an interconnect was reversed deliberately to show how important the direction of a cable is. Whether or not you like a cable or can warrant an expensive cable is up to you personally I would love to have Signature cables in my set up but x8 lengths at 1.5 mtrs is a total no no.
Posted on: 03 March 2017 by vinylrocks
I got a 4m pair of NACA5 from my dealer and I will give it a try over the weekend. I really want to like it cause it's a relatively cheap solution. I will post my views when I have a solid opinion.
Posted on: 03 March 2017 by nigelb
NACA5 is perfectly fine cable and I lived happily with it for many years. However, I made the mistake of auditioning SL speaker cables.
So listen to the NACA5, you will like them I am sure and live happily with them and avoid reading any threads on here about posh speaker cables. Then you and your bank manager will live happily ever after.
Here endeth the sermon.
