Defective hi-line?

The Hiline certainly hasn’t been downgraded, and both should be the same. Are you able to ask for a refund from the dealer? At the very least they should return it to Naim to be checked over. 

Was it fitted the correct way round? 

Finkfan posted:

Was it fitted the correct way round? 

Any cable that is *that* directional is otherwise known as "broken"

Thanks Finkfan! Do you mean the coloured-ring plug  at the source and the black-ring plug at the preamp? Or is there another trick that I don't know? 

Hungryhalibut posted:

The Hiline certainly hasn’t been downgraded, and both should be the same. Are you able to ask for a refund from the dealer? At the very least they should return it to Naim to be checked over. 

Thanks a lot for your advice Hungryhalibut! I will do that although the seller already told me the cable was checked before sending

tancrede posted:

Thanks Finkfan! Do you mean the coloured-ring plug  at the source and the black-ring plug at the preamp? Or is there another trick that I don't know? 

No, just that Tancrede. How long was it plugged in for? Might it be worthwhile leaving it in to settle down? Just play a disc and come back to it in an hour. Oddly, even previously used items can take a little time to come alive again if they’ve been sat unused for a while. If it still sounds rough, as the other gents have said, it may be broken. 

I'm sure that I read on the forum that you are supposed push the plug all the way in at both ends and then pull it back a couple of millimetres, thats how I use mine.

Good luck

Karl

With a HiLine ONLY ever grip it by the main body of the DIN plug and never grip the 'rings' at the back where the cable enters.

Failure to do this can break the rings.

A broken Hi line sounds downright awful - to the point where cheap red and white rca's would be preferred;  I can't understand why it is so.  Had mine "repaired" (replaced) but it "broke" while I was clumsily installing interconnects for a new source.  Truthfully it didn't take much.  Its replacement didn't survive the postman - or more likely the tight packing foam that forced it into an awkward position.  And its replacement looks a bit imperfect too with regards to the rings.  Never installed it, went back to lavender, which despite its hifi limitations makes the system a cohesive whole (more so than the hiline).  For the brief time it was in good order the hiline sounded great.  But nothing is worth this kind of bother.

Finkfan posted:

tancrede posted:

Thanks Finkfan! Do you mean the coloured-ring plug  at the source and the black-ring plug at the preamp? Or is there another trick that I don't know? 

. Oddly, even previously used items can take a little time to come alive again if they’ve been sat unused for a while   

Tosh.   

The rings on later Hi-Lines are tighter than earlier ones.

Have you tried giving the cable a shake to de-stress it ?

Not a huge amount to go wrong with Hilines *apart* from their corrugated connector sleeves which are notoriously delicate... but very obvious if broken... FWIW Naim repaired mine free of charge once, but I did purchase via an authorised dealer.

The only other thing I can think of is the pins are stressed, so ensure  the DIN pins are fully inserted and then slightly pull the socket (the amount will feel obvious when you do it) the socket and by design the pins will be secure but have a low stress contact. Other than that there shouldn’t be much else to go wrong... it might be it doesn’t get on with your equipment... I never tried a Hiline on a 202.  Oh yes ensure the cable is hanging freely and not touching other things... but these are subtle changes.

Hiline is fine with a 202.   

Huge posted:

With a HiLine ONLY ever grip it by the main body of the DIN plug and never grip the 'rings' at the back where the cable enters.

Failure to do this can break the rings.

Well worth repeating.

If the ring sections appear to be parting - i.e. one or more look like they are opening up too far, then the ring may be broken and require repair. 

Karl posted:

I'm sure that I read on the forum that you are supposed push the plug all the way in at both ends and then pull it back a couple of millimetres, thats how I use mine.

This may be my singular legacy - https://forums.naimaudio.com/to...208#1566878606957208

Richard Dane and I spent a while checking early production HiLines in the Naim dem room. I was, as often, concerned that the discrepancies would be minor and my motorcyling ears would be too damaged to distinguish good from dud.

It turned out to be reassuringly easy. The small bunch of rejects were sent to be reworked and passed on their 2nd attempt. As far as I recall the problems were often mechanical, within the AirPlugs - possibly wires 'shorting' mechanically against elements from which they were designed to be separate. Extraordinary performance drops from an element of the design (wobbly plug) that many might consider a mere Naim idiosyncrasy.

It is possible that some repairs of obvious breaks are done to a level of apparent satisfaction but aren't then listened to in order to check they work to their optimum. In addition - this is assuming a check was done at Naim and no damage subsequent suffered.

If possible, investigate the possibility of a re-check and explain this is not from visible damage (I hope) but lack of any wow factor. The HiLine is an expensive lead even if it performs. If it disappoints it's comically overpriced.

These are the parts of the AirPlug and - it's quite complex.

Rattlesnaic posted:

Have you tried giving the cable a shake to de-stress it ?

The HiLine requires more of a massage - in the factory the cable is run between alternating rollers to subject it to forces from either side and de-stress the inner from the outer (?) rubber sheaf. If you're minded to do this be very careful of the plugs and make sure no one surprises you at your work - it can't be explained to rational people.

Roy George told me his technique for Burndys was disturbingly forceful - involving a clamping foot and several arcane Judo moves.

Wow! Quite the inquisitive engineering feat, the Hiline. What other manufacturer has 20 bins of parts for assembling an interconnect and considers mechanical shorting, wobbly plugs, and proper massaging of their cables an integral part of the construction process? And what other manufacturer offers an interconnect that will break if not properly held during insertion while having the caveat of pulling it back a 'smidge' after full insertion? Floating pins and detached contact? Wow!

When a floating pin on my Hiline became mis-aligned and could no longer be inserted (got to do the occasional 6 cycles of swiping to clear the air), I was sent a new replacement under warranty for the cost of shipping. No questions asked and the customer service from Naim was by all means impressive. I quickly sold the cable on.

As interconnects go, I'd definitely qualify the Hiline as quite the engineering wonder. No wonder they cost $1400.

The Hi-Line for me is the most expensive cable I have ever purchased, I have never dared to play around with it. Indeed, when I first ever took it out of it's tin I very carefully unravelled it and treated it as though it was like a black Mamba snake in a trance ready to bite me if I dared upset it. I then very carefully offered it to the sockets on my CD player and amplifier, holding each plug by it's metal casing. After reading some unfortunate posts on here, I have never fondled (too scared) with it since,  this gave me a head start I feel, thanks to this very helpful forum. Needless to say, I have found the Hi-Line to be faultless in it's performance and in it's construction. I have pulled back a smidge on each plug just to be sure (thanks to Adam's tip) that it is optimum and hanging free. 

Moral of the story is - be very careful with what is quite a delicate and complex cable - from what I can gather it does not like being played around with - it likes to be left alone so it can cast it's magic spell upon the music itself.

I have no regrets in purchasing the Hi-Line even though I only run it with my entry level Naim gear, a marked improvement over my grey/lavender to these ears.

Mind you, after saying all this and to my pleasant surprise, my new Hi-Line sounded better (fresher) than the one I had on demo for a week from my dealer, the one which helped me make my decision in the first place... 

I would certainly enquire about getting yours checked out if you feel that it is under performing, after all it is supposed to be an upgrade and one where the listener should be pleased with it's presence in their system.

joerand posted:

Wow! Quite the inquisitive engineering feat, the Hiline. What other manufacturer has 20 bins of parts for assembling an interconnect and considers mechanical shorting, wobbly plugs, and proper massaging of their cables an integral part of the construction process? And what other manufacturer offers an interconnect that will break if not properly held during insertion while having the caveat of pulling it back a 'smidge' after full insertion? Floating pins and detached contact? Wow!

When a floating pin on my Hiline became mis-aligned and could no longer be inserted (got to do the occasional 6 cycles of swiping to clear the air), I was sent a new replacement under warranty for the cost of shipping. No questions asked and the customer service from Naim was by all means impressive. I quickly sold the cable on.

As interconnects go, I'd definitely qualify the Hiline as quite the engineering wonder. No wonder they cost $1400.

Indeed the high engineering quality of both the HiLine (£760 / $1400) and SL (£1900 / ~$3500) interconnect definitely reflect their prices (or vice versa).

Contrast this with the Chord Music DIN  (£3,400/ ~$5,000) - true we don't know the internal construction of the cable itself, but the DIN plugs are Rean NYS322, which cost £0.99 (or about $1.50).   According to their website, their latest improvement to this cable is to change from a DIN plug from one with a locking collar (Prehkeytek) to one without (you can even see the Rean trademark).

Stephen Tate posted:

Stephen Tate posted:

.....it was like a black Mamba snake ....

After reading some unfortunate posts on here, I have never fondled (too scared) with it since, ....

Where's Kevin Spacey when you need him?

It's even male at both ends.

(Prevents interbreeding with the SNAICs!)

erm ok. so how does one de-stress a burndy, again?

https://forums.naimaudio.com/to...a-bit-about-burndies