Interconnects

Improvements in Naim's cable manufacturing technology have meant that several of our interconnects have taken on a new guise.

The SNAIC 4 and 5, along with the Burndy cables for the NAC552, NAP300, CDS3, CDX2 and SNAXO, along with those for older models, have all been upgraded and now have smart black outer sleeving to differentiate them from their predecessors.

The new improved Black SNAICs use a new cable, which is custom manufactured to Naim's specification, that provides superior impedance, capacitance and conductivity. Each interconnect is meticulously hand-built in-house using newly developed techniques. The result is more - more music.

Hi-Line interconnect

During the development of the CD555, a special project ran in parallel; to develop a new signal cable which would exceed the performance of Naim standard cable.

The brief was to investigate all parameters of a signal carrier: to improve the whole rather than just improving the cable as is the more normal development practice.

Given the opportunity to start with a ‘clean sheet’ the R&D team decided to develop a much improved plug as well as a new cable.

The Air-PLUG (patent pending) is designed as a decoupling device to stop vibrations from one product being transmitted, via the cable, to another product and to stop airborne vibrations being picked up by the cable being transmitted to the products it is connected to.

The many different rear sections of the Air-PLUG are clipped together to form a lossy flexible section. The cable is clamped compliantly to the end of this flexible section. Other detail elements of the Air-PLUG include: a significantly reduced metal content to lower electromagnetic effects; a design to reduce eddy current effects and a cable clamping mechanism that doesn’t squash the cable and affect the impedance.

The cable also benefited from a complete rethink. It had to be low capacitance, low resistance and flexible. It had to work superbly in DIN to DIN connections but it also had to perform when used in other configurations.

The cable, exclusive to Naim, is manufactured from twisted pairs of 80 litz conductors surrounded by PTFE, Kapton and PTFE tape all then covered by a semi conductive shield to reduce static charges. This is then wrapped by two spiral wound copper shields and lapped PTFE tape. Two of these assemblies side by side are then wrapped in layers of PTFE tape and finally a rubber outer covering. This gives a two-channel cable where the signal and RF grounds are held in a static position relative to each other negating any difference in field between them.

Speaker Cable

Connections between all the components, including those to the loudspeakers, are crucial to any audio system performance.

NACA5 is our multi-strand loudspeaker cable, consisting of two separated 4mm square conductors. Its design is optimised for use with Naim amplifiers and loudspeakers by ensuring that its capacitance, inductance and resistance are entirely compatible.

We strongly recommend its use, along with our right-angled, twin loudspeaker plugs, which provide a safe, convenient and very effective connection. Even their plating has been the subject of research and development work.