Tara Labs cables with naim amplifier?

Posted by: hifinerdwannabe on 27 September 2016

I have heard that certain speaker cables can damage even modern naim amplifiers in the long run. I have a Superuniti and wonder if anyone knows if TaraLabs cables are ok to use together with a SU, more specifically it is a TaraLabs Spectrum Helix 8 cable.

Posted on: 27 September 2016 by b_lund

No idea but you have such a fine Superuniti why compromise cable, go get some chord odyssey or naim A5 and be done, cheaper options could be mogami, cable talk or van damme

I allways thought longer run cable sound better in a naim based setup

Say 6mtr is better than 2-3mtr

Posted on: 27 September 2016 by The Strat (Fender)

Exactly as Mr Lund says - your system deserves Naca A5 or Odyssey.

Regards,

Lindsay

Posted on: 27 September 2016 by hungryhalibut

I've never really liked Odyssey, but Tellurium Q Black works well with the SuperUniti. All these cables can be bought used with a big saving.

Posted on: 27 September 2016 by hifinerdwannabe
b_lund posted:

No idea but you have such a fine Superuniti why compromise cable, go get some chord odyssey or naim A5 and be done, cheaper options could be mogami, cable talk or van damme

I allways thought longer run cable sound better in a naim based setup

Say 6mtr is better than 2-3mtr

Thanks. I have naca 5a but I prefer the sound with the Tara Labs since it gets fuller/ritcher. But then again the tara labs cable is more expensive as well. 

Posted on: 27 September 2016 by hungryhalibut

I suspect that very few here will have any experience of Tara Labs cables; I've certainly never heard of it  If you have any doubts, emailing Naim is probably your best bet. 

Posted on: 27 September 2016 by Mike-B
hifinerdwannabe posted:

Thanks. I have naca 5a but I prefer the sound with the Tara Labs since it gets fuller/ritcher. But then again the tara labs cable is more expensive as well. 

Be careful with Tara cable,  see their speaker cable explaination page ....... "At TARA Labs, the major design goal for speaker cables is to reduce the inductance in the cable"   That is not according to the recommendations of Naim & why NACA5 exists.  Tara go on to explain some more on the various cables they offer,  but its a bit vague as no specific data is mentioned. 

Posted on: 27 September 2016 by Bob Edwards

Do not use Tara Labs with Naim.

Use Naca5 or other Naim cable; TQ Black, or Chord Odyssey.  Linn K20/K400 is also OK. 

Posted on: 28 September 2016 by dzambolaja

Why not?

I used Tara Labs and then Kimber cables with my Uniti with former giving richer and later much more detailed sound compared to Naca5 - albeit at much higher cost ...

Posted on: 28 September 2016 by daren_p

If you already have the cables kicking around, probably wouldn't hurt to try them out & see what you think (likely not an issue with a Superuniti but check case temps every so often to be on the safe side) but not sure I'd want to purchase them new without at least hearing the combo as they may not be a good match for Naim.  According to the name, they are a helix design which is normally lower inductance & higher capacitance, ie the opposite of what Naim typically prefer.