Speaker cable lenght under 3.5 m

Yes, I think I have seen that said. That the 'modern' stuff is less demanding than the older Classic amps. However.... please - get a definitive answer from Naim, before acting on this.

IanM

ianrobertm posted:

please - get a definitive answer from Naim, before acting on this.

Great advice. Best to get the answer straight from the horse's mouth rather than rely on any old Joe on the forum.

support@naimaudio.com

For what it's worth, I once ran a 202/150 with 3m lengths of A5. Had no problems whatsoever. I have to agree with Ianrobertm. The cb / olive amps might not be so accommodating so worth checking with HQ.

I can confirm that my CB/Olive 250 is fine with two 7 metre runs of NAC A4.

(Yes, thats right. Before A5... Berfore Naim put their Naim on it to...!!  7 metres was a guess - and so far has been fine for any system set up I have used, in several different houses. One more soon....)

IanM

7m per channel of NACA is just about optimum I find.  

There's no point going under 3.5m per channel.  Firstly, even if the newer integrated amps are more tolerant, you'll always wonder, what if?  Secondly, if you upgrade to a separate power amp, you'll need at least 3.5m per channel.  Thirdly, if you ever wish to sell your NACA cable on, there's not much market for lengths below 3.5m, for all the aforementioned reasons.

Its also worth remembering that the 3.5m recommendation is really addressing the required amp inductance loading:   The amps need a 3.5uH load & with NACA5 @ 1uH/m the math is easy.  The problem is the inductance spec of non Naim cables is rarely published,  so without this info with non Naim cables its best to go longer in any case.   

Or just get SLcables; they come in 3m lengths

I like chord cables, so if I in the future goes higher up the naim ladder with pre and power amp, 3.5 m Chord speaker cable is not enough? If not, what chord cable lenght would you recommend? 

...as minimum lenght?

56wilson posted:

I like chord cables, so if I in the future goes higher up the naim ladder with pre and power amp, 3.5 m Chord speaker cable is not enough? If not, what chord cable lenght would you recommend? 

Therefore 3.5 / 0.6 = 5.83m to achieve 3.5uH per cable run

So 6m per side will be just fine.   I have 5m - & nothing is smoking yet 

I just got replies from Chord cable doctor and naim. 

I asked specific the cable doctor about the chord epic twin. He said I could go down to 3 x 3 m lenght. I asked about the nait xs in my mail, but as I understand his reply he meant naim in generally. 

Naim's answer was that if a manufacturer advises that shorter lengths of their cables are okay then thats their recommendation based on their own specs on speaker cables. 

I ran 2 3m lengths of TQB into a 140 for a couple of years with no issues.  I currently use the same cable with an SN2. Still no issues. 

So bacically 2 x 3 m Chord Epic Twin equals 2 x 3,5 m Naca5 according to Chord. 

I'm using a pair of 3m Tellurium Q Black with a Chrome Bumper NAP 250 and it's absolutely fine; slightly above body temperature on the casing when playing at 40+ from a SU.

Mattnbarns posted:

I ran 2 3m lengths of TQB into a 140 for a couple of years with no issues.  I currently use the same cable with an SN2. Still no issues. 

Like Matt, i too use TQ black. Details on these cables are hard to find, but I did find on one site that the TQ Black is 1.2mH per m. So 3m would be 3.6mH which will be ok. No problems on my system. Can't find any info on cables further up the range, but will keep looking. 

Well....just found a site that says the TQ black is 25nH per m. That's put a spanner in the works. Non the wiser 

My Naim dealer also confirmed  that the TQB would be fine with a CB NAP. 

56wilson posted:

So bacically 2 x 3 m Chord Epic Twin equals 2 x 3,5 m Naca5 according to Chord. 

I guess the super lumina cables are slightly more inductive then, as they start at 3m lengths. 

Maybe prohibitively more expensive fed into that determination?

Finkfan posted:

I guess the super lumina cables are slightly more inductive then, as they start at 3m lengths. 

I have yet to see any data published on the SL's.  However as they are separate & screened conductors,  then they will have a higher inductance than does a twin pair cable.   Is it the same/similar inductance as is the managed spacing of NACA5 ???  lets wait for Naim to tell us, if they ever do.

Mike-B posted:

Finkfan posted:

I guess the super lumina cables are slightly more inductive then, as they start at 3m lengths. 

I have yet to see any data published on the SL's.  However as they are separate & screened conductors,  then they will have a higher inductance than does a twin pair cable.   Is it the same/similar inductance as is the managed spacing of NACA5 ???  lets wait for Naim to tell us, if they ever do.

Doesn't really answer the question ,but Steve Hopkins told me a 3m SL run would be O.K. with my NAP300.

p.s. Presumably this makes it O.K. for the other Classic amps

I run 2.5 meter Chord Signature that is 6 pairs, with a 200 and 2 250s, clearly not in line with the advice from Naim, but fortunately it has not given me any problems in the more than 7 years I have used the cables.