advertisement


Naim speaker cable : what do you do with the spare length?

cctaylor

pfm Member
Just wondering what folks do with the spare speaker cables on their Naim systems? After all most people will have their speakers less than 7m apart.

In our last house I managed to hide the spare under the floor. I now have an active system and was wondering about putting a hook on the back of the Isobariks and leaving loose loops.
 
In my case the hifi isn't between the speakers. The small amount of spare cable is shoved under a sofa that happens to be 'en-route' between amp and speakers. Works fine. Only problem I had was with the DBLs physically ratting the speakers cables near to the speakers when the bass 'was giving it some'. A bit of 'dressing' sorted it out.
 
Just roll /coil -up the excess as you wish, even as tightly as you may need to hide it..

Contrary to popular belief, it has no significant effect on adding inductance - because the twinned-pair are much closer, and the result cancels really well. I measured this once long ago - will see if I can dig it out...

EAT: found my saved text - once posted on a.n.other place; pics long lost:

Posted: Wed Mar 7th, 2007 07:56 pm
Edit Quote Reply

Yes coiling a single cable will increase loop inductance. But if the cable is a shotgun-pair, or indeed any paired geometry, the increase will cancel - because the current flow is balanced in opposite senses. Increased capacitance between the close turns will tend to counteract this increase in impedance of course.

Anyway, seeing this thread has just prompted me to actually (shock! horror!)..actually try to measure the effect.

(deep breath) Here's 4M of NACA5, one of the more inductive cables on the market, because of the wide spacing between the conductors. Laid out straight, shorted one end...:3.7uH. Coiled into the tightest flat coil I could arrange (total 8inch diameter)..: 4.1uH. So the cancellation isn't perfect..but 0.4uH at 20Khz into 8ohms makes a difference of 0.02dB. Very, very insignificant IMO.
 
Old Naim amps might freak if too short, google Naim + Zobel

Found it here: https://forums.naimaudio.com/topic.php?oid=3819189062263093&coid=159503632588889

Naim power amplifiers do not have extra inductance networks in the output, Naim prefer to use the speaker cable to provide the correct inductance and capacitance.

To do so a minimum of 3.5 metres of NACA4 or NACA5 cable is required – although the optimum is around 5-10 metres.
We find the supplied Naim speaker plugs to be an optimal match for the 4mm sockets we use on our amplifiers.

In addition, the plugs are designed in such a way as to prevent them being accidentally inserted into European mains sockets - hence the warning in your Owner's Manual "The Naim loudspeaker connectors supplied are designed to comply with European safety legislation and must be used."

Cable length for left and right channel should be of exactly equal length – even if one speaker is closer (as is often the case) to the power amplifier.

It is advised that you position the system away from between the speakers, either off to one side of the room or at the opposite end.
As such, longer lengths of cable are ideal and will work without significant information loss.

Spare speaker cable should not be coiled – excess cable may be tidied up in a way similar to that employed in the “Jumping Jack” firework.
 
So glad I'm not using NACA5! I have Witch Hat Phantoms. If I didn't have them I think would be using K20 as I have 2m X 3 cables to hide on each side. NACA5 is so inflexible. I do however admire some of cable dressing in some the earlier posts.

I'll probably coil up the spare neatly under the speakers. Some time I'll try making up infill panels for the stands to hide them.
 


advertisement


Back
Top