Super Lumina trial

If you have SL in your system you will live longer, your children will aspire to greatness in their chosen vocations, and peace and happiness will permeate in all that you come into contact with. Now, put a price on that!

alanbass1 posted:

If you have SL in your system you will live longer, your children will aspire to greatness in their chosen vocations, and peace and happiness will permeate in all that you come into contact with. Now, put a price on that!

And there was me thinking only a Hugo could do that. There is clearly hope for the Halibut household yet. 

Ravenswood10 posted:

I also doubt that Vertere actually 'makes' cables but I'm willing to be proven wrong. They could both be sourcing different 'brews' from the same specialist cable manufacturer. For years BICC made speaker cable for Linn and I think Naim. Again happy to be corrected!

That is what I think is happenning. The Vertere cables and Naim ones don't sound the same, and do not appear to have the same type of insulation. But seem they come from the same specialist supplier. That doesn't make them the same.

The Strat (Fender) posted:

I keep asking this and no one can explain.   I buy a Naim SL to go between my CDP and 282, SL XLR to go between HC and 250, and SL cable between 250 and speaks but isn't the whole thing compromised by the bog standard SNAIC between 282 and HC. Discuss.   It could be that other SNAICs are available but even if they are quite understandably it is an out of bounds topic on the Forum. 

Regards,

Lindsay

I'm very curious about this issue too.

Hungryhalibut posted:

alanbass1 posted:

If you have SL in your system you will live longer, your children will aspire to greatness in their chosen vocations, and peace and happiness will permeate in all that you come into contact with. Now, put a price on that!

And there was me thinking only a Hugo could do that. There is clearly hope for the Halibut household yet. 

I knew there had to be a reason for it - our lives have been transformed. Peace and and happiness to all SL owners. 

Richieroo - I am finding that SL gives all of the things you mention, plus increased soundstage (able to reduce speaker toe-in), much more detail at both top and lower end and quite a bit of de-layering. I'm also hearing new detail not previously heard on CD - or vinyl, for that matter.

In fact this souped-up CDS3 is now giving my LP12/Aro/Keel/Radikal/Superline a definite run for its money and might even surpass it in some respects !

The Strat (Fender) posted:

I keep asking this and no one can explain.   I buy a Naim SL to go between my CDP and 282, SL XLR to go between HC and 250, and SL cable between 250 and speaks but isn't the whole thing compromised by the bog standard SNAIC between 282 and HC. Discuss.   It could be that other SNAICs are available but even if they are quite understandably it is an out of bounds topic on the Forum. 

Regards,

Lindsay

Hi Lindsay,

I think there are several issues here, some related, others probably not.

Naim is nice enough to provide good cabling at no or little cost in form of the Lavender interconnect, SNAIC, NACA 5 and standard Power cord. Together they give us a good baseline for performance and may even be all that many of us need. While I use none of them in my system, the reasons for doing so are quite different. Some cables were already around before I went down the Naim route, others are up the companies ladder. Which nicely brings me back to your post. All the upmarket cables offered by Naim are types also usable in other, as non-Naim, systems: interconnects, speaker cables and power cords. Yes, sometimes the terminations are different.  But are a balanced interconnect and a replacement for the Lavender that much different, apart from the respective XLR or DIN plugs? Why is this important? If I got this right, Naim does not actually manufacture their cables, but relies on OEM. These manufacturers will have a certain expertise, but it is most likely limited to the more mainstream types of cable. Which, looking at audio systems, are interconnects, speaker cables and power cords. Unusual things, like cables carrying both the audio signal and DC are perhaps outside of that expertise. Which makes better SNAICS and Burndies simply harder to obtain (talking of Naim here).

Will this hold back the performance of a otherwise Super Lumina wired system? Most likely yes, I'd say. On the other hand, referring back to the last paragraph, the low cost options aren't bad at all.

Having said that, I would very much like to see an upmarket SNAIC (from Naim, of course - warranty etc.). As nice as the demo Superline was, I can't help wondering what if...

It's a nice thing about the 272 - there are no snaics. Even with an upgrade power supply the signal still goes straight from preamp to power amp. 

Mulberry/HH - good points. Thank you.  

I think my original point has been missed. I am not saying cables don't make a difference.

What I was saying is it's a joke the number of people that said they don't. Because naim said the standard ic is OK.............. Until they jumped on the cable bandwagon and now ooooo all these people now say cables make a difference.

I knew they did already but didn't need nails approval to justify it and the marketing machine. Just trust my ears

True Blue - Naim never said cables didn't make a difference.  What they said was that at that point was that the standard wires they offered were the best they had found up to that point but they would continue to look at it. 

Naim always is prioritizing the rhythmic and timing aspect so that must be preserved at any cost

I think Mr Strat and Analog are right .... 

Richieroo posted:

Borrowed a Super Lumina interconnect and tried it between nds and 552 .... omg sounds fantastic... everything is better .... makes my hi line sound thin and harsh. It is a keeper!!! .... I am so impressed ... I was skeptical but i have to say wow....

Why can't they make a shorter version?

In my system they certainly will touch the floor behind the Fraim. Better keep the good old (and shorter) hiline. At least it hangs free and touch nothing.

there are cable stands, and maybe DB has suggested to loop the cable to avoid it touching the ground?

This is the answer...

Thanks, HH. I am tempted to borrow one from my dealer. Right now I am running in a pair of Kudos T-707, so better wait a few weeks.

Perfectly happy with mine and it doesn't touch the ground. I had a mixture of Chord and Naim cables and with the exception of a Chord Signature between the Oppo 203 and the 252 am all Naim including the coax cables to the NDS.

Hi Oldneil .... it is a dangerous!!! - you end up digging deep ..... I managed to buy the dem version in the shop - well run in and got a reasonable discount. It is still flippen expensive ..... but for me the result was much like a box change.... so I keep telling myself that!

keep telling yourself that 

I do but I am still smarting....

The Strat (Fender) posted:

True Blue - Naim never said cables didn't make a difference.  What they said was that at that point was that the standard wires they offered were the best they had found up to that point but they would continue to look at it. 

So for decades no other cables could be sourced to improve Naim's lineup. Bring in Chord, and others, with their obscenely over priced offerings and low and behold Naim find improved cables. No I think True Blue has it spot on. Naim realised Chord were making a killing and they jumped on the bandwagon. Let's be honest who can blame them.

Well you'd hardly flog a Statement system with lampflex and 80 quids worth of Lavender would you?

Ravenswood10 posted:

Well you'd hardly flog a Statement system with lampflex and 80 quids worth of Lavender would you?

Put some fancy over braiding on it and you'd never know 

It's easy to be cynical. If people don't want to buy these expensive cables, then don't. But why moan about their very existence?