A5 + Naim plugs + Amp

Cloud Sauce posted:

Is there a cunning arrangement involving cable ties or something, or should I just overcome my fear of breaking the conductors and make an aggressive bend next to the plug?

I'd try shaping the cable as it exits the plugs to allow you to clear the shelf. Warm the cable using a hair dryer and then it will be a lot more flexible and allow you to form the cable to stop it fouling the shelf when connected to the amp. It's better to not have stress on the connectors as it allows the pins to seat better in the sockets. 

James

PS - better to do this with a small block of wood to hold the connector pins than do this with the cable plugged into the amp.

I push the amp to the back of the shelf so that the Naca wires hang straight down. The amp is also fairly high in the stack giving the naca the chance to fall gently away to the foor without putting loads of torque on the amp connection. Easy.

Chris

My Naca has been tamed to sit nicely without placing any mechanical pressure on the outlets, i'll get some shots for you later.  As the guys have said, either bend it to shape or heat gently with a hair dryer and bend it to sit neatly.  'Tis an unruly beast the Naca5!

Christopher_M posted:

I push the amp to the back of the shelf so that the Naca wires hang straight down. The amp is also fairly high in the stack giving the naca the chance to fall gently away to the foor without putting loads of torque on the amp connection. Easy.

My power amp needs to be on the bottom shelf, so even if I could get it far enough back for the cables to clear the shelf, they would still press hard against the floor. Then they would press hard against the wall too (unless I pulled the whole rack way out into the room.) For those reasons, I use neither NACA5 nor Naim right angled plugs. Even the hairdryer trick wouldn't put enough of a permanent bend into the cable to de-stress it.

Is there any good reason not to use some decent quality banana plugs at the amplifier end?

Best reason I know is to use the excellent quality that are the supplied Naim plugs as they have the same metal plating as the amp sockets.  Other metals will give you a dissimilar materials joint & it may (might) (possibly) be a problem some time in the future.     

When properly soldered the Naim plugs are the best.  They are designed by Naim to use with Naca, why would you mess with what's been specifically developed to use?  Honestly it's so easy to tame the cable so it sits well, i'll take a photo now and upload it, give me five......

Ok here are some photo's, not the best but you get the idea:

Thanks guys. I'll go to work with the hairdryer and give it a go.

Lewis posted:

Ok here are some photo's, not the best but you get the idea:

 

 

[@mention:1566878603975933] did you manage to permanently bend the NACA5 into that shape, or is it held like that under tension between carpet and plugs, thus exerting upward force on the sockets?

ChrisSU posted:

Lewis posted:

Ok here are some photo's, not the best but you get the idea:

 

 

[@mention:1566878603975933] did you manage to permanently bend the NACA5 into that shape, or is it held like that under tension between carpet and plugs, thus exerting upward force on the sockets?

Hi,

there is almost zero mechanical strain in play here.  I've bent the naca before plugging the speaker cable into the amp to ensure there is no undue pressure on the connection.  When they are unplugged they do move back a little on their own accord, but nothing to cause concern.  Don't be afraid to bend the naca, or use the hairdrier method as described above, just be careful not to melt the sheath, or worse still, catch fire to your carpet!