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NACA5 in non Naim system. What is best alternative

monty said:
Hi,

I'm still using white NACA5 in my system. Is NACA5 a good choice?.Thanks
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Personally I feel the NACA A5 is a great cable and is quite neutral. I'm using it for 4 years and I don't feel the need to replace this to other cable.
 
I feel that Naca5 is absolutely fine within a Naim system and is excellent value for this purpose but if you are using non naim amps then there are better alternatives at a cost.
 
NACA5 for me was pretty good but I prefer Black Link (not a massive difference, but it's far easier to install and live with as NACA5 is too bleeding stiff!)
 
hammeredklavier said:
Am I missing something or do you guys really think £16/m is a reasonable price for what can't possibly be worth more than 50p/m? It's copper wire, FFS!
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Suggest you make your own, then. £16 per metre is cheap in hifi terms for grown-up speaker cable. Even t & e mains cable is not cheap nowadays, and copper must cost at least ten times what it cost two decades ago.
 
Mike Reed said:
Suggest you make your own, then. £16 per metre is cheap in hifi terms for grown-up speaker cable. Even t & e mains cable is not cheap nowadays, and copper must cost at least ten times what it cost two decades ago.
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It's madness. The profit margins on the stuff must be absolutely astronomical!
 
Hi guys, I'm new to this forum. I have used NACA5 in a variety of rooms and with a variety of equipment, but mainly with a Rega Luna amp from the 1990's through Ruark Epilogue standmounts. I found tremendous clarity, separation and detail, but I've never found a situation with it that didn't lead to uneven bass response. Basically if there was a bass trap in the room the NACA5 cable found it. This has been the case with rooms large and small. I currently use QED XT40 (£10p/m) with my all-Rega system (RP8/Exact/Aria for vinyl, Elex-R amp, Apollo R CD and R3 speakers - soon to be replaced by RS5's). Everything that the Rega's are renowned for is all intact - communication, refinement, pace, rhythm, timing, separation, detail etc.... but with a far more even bass response.

I heard Rega's new RX3 speakers on demo (with all the other components the same as mine) in a well-known Rega/Naim chain who insist on NACA5 to demo everything and as soon as John Mayer went into the Apollo I thought oh, here we go... boooooom (+overhang), just ignore that and focus on everything else!

Having researched this a bit (cos I seem to be one of the few who doesn't swear by NACA5) it seems that Naim used to recommend 2x3.5m lengths of NACA5 with all their amps, and wouldn't necessarily honour a guarantee on an amp if a fault arose and other cable had been used. Something about inductance I believe, but also about squeezing every conceivable pound from the hi-fi lover I rather fancy! Whilst this may no longer be the case there is no doubt that NACA5 and Naim amps are fine tuned for each other. I haven't owned anything Naim apart from this cable - but I've demoed some amps. I put the Nait 5i (I think!) against a Rega Mira 3 back in 2006 and whilst there was a good deal of solidty and togetherness about the Naim, I didn't like the boom/tizz of it. I thought that would get tiring and stress out the neighbours too much! The Mira 3 felt more neutral - perhaps bass light - and this has proven to be the case after a number of system upgrades - but it does agility and atmosphere in spades. I could "see" Jamie Cullum running around and tapping on the piano wood during Fascinating Rhythm and smell the incense during a couple of Kula Shaker tracks, experiences that were diminished on the Nait. So the cable did its job of revealing the differences between each amp - it seems very warts and all and I just found the warts and decided to go with a different option that minimises them!
 
Pete MB&D said:
Hi,

I got rid of my NACA5 best thing I ever did.

Try some cheap 79 strand from maplins for a simple check.

Pete
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I'm a fan of the Maplin 79 strand too, I think it's good value @ £20+ per 20 mtr roll.
I bought this to begin with and later changed to Nac a5 and was sorely disappointed I'd spent £300 on the Naim cable.
 
I would be tempted to keep the NacA5 as it's slightly dry and lean character often works well with the lush sound of many valve amps.
 
Some say NACA5 is broke ;-)

I does seem to filter the extremes which it makes lower systems sound better.

Pete
 
diybry said:
Yes it made my system sound better, but only when the system was placed on the floor. Anybody else noticed this? :D
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I have found Supra Classic 6 to be a good alternative to the NACA, and bonus, it is even flexible!
 
Depends on the system but outside of a Naim system several cables better than NACA5 IME. Mogami very good, cheap and will work with lots of systems.
 
I wouldn't bother changing it unless you need more wire. I did and bought Van Damme tour grade black which is what audio pros use. I can't say I noticed a difference. Mind you I tried 3.5m Naim one side and two 4m lengths of Exposure twisted together on the other before I bought the Van Damme and that sounded that same too. Must be deaf.
Horror of horrors the two bits of Exposure were 'directionally' back to back, I'm surprised any music got out at all!
 
I found a reel of 16mm csa wire in the skip so I used that.
It's 10mm diameter and needs a blowtorch to solder it but it is rated at 90 amps continuous.
Sounds wounderful much more open than naca5.

Pete
 
On a more sensible note, i'd advise leaving it alone, but if like me, you can't resist the tempttion, try some cheap alternatives. 69 strand. linn K20. Various Van Damme etc etc. It's the experimentation that's the fun!! Go for it.
 
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