Question on Unitiqute 2 and speaker cables
Posted by: Orpheus2013 on 04 July 2013
Dear All,
Just getting to the first 10 days with my Unitiqute 2 and Sonus Faber speakers. Fantastic experience so far, but want to make it even better by changing my existing QED basic speaker cable (with plastic airloc banana plugs at both ends) with better ones. I have narrowed the choice down to either Chord Epic or Naim NACA5. I have two questions I would greatly appreciate answers on, even though they might have been answered in the past
1) Do I need to get 3 metres + per side, as per regulations for older Naim amps? I was told by the dealer this is not really necessary for the Qute, but want to make sure.
2) Can I use Chord bananas at the Qute's end or do I really need to use the Naim adapter? I have received the adapters in the box, but am not sure of how I must connect naked cable to them.
Last but not least, is Epic really worth double the price of NACA5, for my setup?
Many thanks
1) Do I need to get 3 metres + per side, as per regulations for older Naim amps? I was told by the dealer this is not really necessary for the Qute, but want to make sure.
A: No you don't but I have 4.6m NACA4 (Linn K20) per side and it sounds great, don't forget you may want to upgrade your system so buying a length and suitable type (NACA5 you cannot go wrong with in a Naim Amp'ed system!) that does not require a cable upgrade may turn out to be great foresight.
2) Can I use Chord bananas at the Qute's end or do I really need to use the Naim adapter? I have received the adapters in the box, but am not sure of how I must connect naked cable to them.
A: You need to bare a short length of the conductor and solder them on. Chord banana plugs are fine if you want to use them but again I'd stick with the supplied connectors at the amp end as the plating is identical so no 'nasties' can occur
Last but not least, is Epic really worth double the price of NACA5, for my setup?
A: Only your ears and pocket can decide that. Personally owning a Qute2 myself I'd leave considerations like that to the multi-box bro's here 
and just get what Naim and your dealer recommend. I'm going to get a SuperUniti soon but I've no plans to upgrade the cables, job done on that one (except for a little more soldering, as the Super's loudspeaker connectors are designed differently to the Qute's)