Hugo to 252: RCA-RCA or RCA-DIN?

Posted by: Tom-in-Amsterdam on 22 February 2017

As I upgraded my system from NaitXS to 252+300 unfortunately my RCA-DIN cable from Flashbacksales broke (again). After having a few mails going back and forth I decided to not have the cable repaired but take the plunge and upgrade the connection from Hugo to 252.

Having researched the forum a bit and consulting my dealer, I came to the conclusion that within my price range I had two options: the Naim hi-line or the Chord Signature tuned aray. I chose to try the Chord cable first and today it arrived.

It's a better cable than the flashbacksales cable for sure. The price difference of course is considerable, from 60 euro to about 1200 euro this certainly should be an upgrade. First impressions:  I get more definition and at the same time a more relaxed sound.

The difference in pacing when listening to Jose James - Come to my door (Accoustic) is staggering. The attack between notes made my 5 year old grin this afternoon and starting to dance. 
Bill Callahan - dream river album is again much better to listen to now. Not sure what it is, but simply notably better. 
Poor recordings of some of my favourite dance music albums sounds better as well.

Apparently the RCA-DIN cable is not too popular so for convenience sake my dealer provided me with a RCA-RCA cable and so far this works great.

Lately I have also been considering upgrading to NDX, but one thing that holds me back is the number of boxes. I already have 5 levels of fraim (with Hugo and Regen on one level), I don't think I want to to 6 in all fairness (with NDX+PS). Upgrading with ND5XS and keeping the Hugo (somewhere)  would work for me as well, but in that case I could maybe benefit from RCA-DIN.

So the question becomes whether there is much difference between RCA-RCA and RCA-DIN; anyone who tried this out / knows more?

Posted on: 22 February 2017 by Simon-in-Suffolk

I have always had better results with phono to DIN, and specifically with a hiline. 

Posted on: 22 February 2017 by ryder.

That's quite a big step from the Nait XS to NAC 252 and NAP 300. The improvement must be staggering.

Similarly I share the same experience as Simon-In-Suffolk. However, in my case it is a FlashbackSales RCA to DIN costing £30 that sounded better (more open with better clarity) than a pair of RCA-RCA that costs £400. Differences are not day and night but nevertheless appreciable. I am not sure if the RCA version of the Chord Signature Tuned Aray will give the same performance as the RCA-DIN equivalent but you can always send Chord an email. They always give good advice. Personally I suspect the RCA-DIN will be a better choice for Naim equipment although the differences may be minute.

Similarly I have upgraded from the Flashbacksales to the Chord Signature Tuned Aray RCA-DIN not too long ago and share the same sentiment. In my case, I upgraded for no good reason (the Flashback cable did not break) but it did bring some nice improvements to the system. Highly recommended. As for the Naim Hiline, I am sure it will be equally good if not better than the Chord Signature with the choice influenced by the setup and personal taste/preference.

Posted on: 27 February 2017 by Tom-in-Amsterdam
ryder. posted:

I am not sure if the RCA version of the Chord Signature Tuned Aray will give the same performance as the RCA-DIN equivalent but you can always send Chord an email. They always give good advice.

 

Just sent them an email. Unfortunately the cable doctor is off for a few weeks so have to wait a bit for confirmation.

 

Posted on: 27 February 2017 by Mayor West

I have had the same experiences as above with RCA-DIN outperforming RCA-RCA. I have however ended up now using RCA-RCA as I felt that Tellurium Q Black RCA-RCA outperformed Chord Chorus Reference RCA-DIN. Remember that unless you plan on keeping the cable for a long time, it's worth considering re-sale values as I suspect that the RCA-RCA equivalent is likely to have a better re-sale value than the RCA-DIN.

Regarding NDX and shelf concerns, most people report that if you go NDX into Hugo, it is unlikely you will need an additional power supply on the NDX and the associated additional shelf; the outlay for an additional power supply on the NDX is reportedly not worth the cost.