quote:

3 core mains cable just doesn't sound the same as Indigo in my system.

Mains cable is sadly underrated, I find

Do you find Signature better than Epic for speaker cable?

quote:

Originally posted by Geoff P:
I think it is a case of 'different' rather than 'better'

I have been revisiting Chord Signature (old version) spkr cables with the 500 and my Kharma's and was getting pretty enthusiastic about it with the HiLine....but....I put the NACA5 back for a check and as before it was better. Same story as Nigel.


regards
Geoff

is there a new version of signature ?

quote:

I'm also using Chord Signature speaker cable and tri-wire links. Perhaps having Chord from source to speaker keeps the timing correct, rather than mixing Indigo with naca5?

Graham,

Geoff brought his Chord Signature speaker cable to Paris and we tried them on the Amati's last Sunday, both Geoff and I found that some magic was lost with the Chord, with the Naca 5 the Amati's really sing, whereas with the Signature the sound became suddenly dull in comparaison.

When the Euro gang had his get meeting at Geoff in Holland last year, to listen to the Geoff new purchased Kharma, we tried the Kharma speaker cable, the Naca5 and the Chord Signature and we found that the Kharma cable worked the best, the Naca5 were almost as good and the Chord quite behind. I know that since then Geoff has moved his speakers and he is playing again with the speaker cable, switching Naca and Signature.
BTW I answered to your question about the Amatis being tipped back, I don't know if you had a look at the thread again, I posted some pics of the Amati's base and spikes.

Regards,
Edouard

quote:

Originally posted by Graham Russell:

quote:

Originally posted by Rui Marques:

All i know is that i will change naim cable only with new naim cables! The rest i don't care anymore.

I obviously don't have the same brand loyalty as lots of you guys

3 core mains cable just doesn't sound the same as Indigo in my system.

I vote with my ears.

Brand loyalty, well yes, but after listening to a LOT of cables, and messing around.

As you, i decided based on MY EARS.

Graham just shown up at mine with the aforementioned wires. A happy evening beckons!

Blimey - a very interesting two hours.

These Indigos are cheeky cables

Blimey indeed.

I have to say we went back and forth with different combinations of Indigo and Naim. The different/better conundrum continues. However, both Rachel and I wanted to leave the Indigos in place when Graham left. Watching "Waking the Dead" which we recorded while Graham was here, the sound was equally changed. Richer and fuller, with, in Rachel's words "much clearer low notes".

Music we played when Graham was around included "La Grange" by ZZ Top (now one of our standard test tracks), "Beyond the Blue" Beth Nielsen Chapman, "Sympathy for the Devil", "Midnight Rambler" and "You Can't Always Get What You Want" from the SHM versions of "Beggars Banquet" and "Let It Bleed". The immediacy of the music, the expanded soundstage, hearing nuances which before had gone unnoticed, the sense of an expanded frequency range all were revelatory.

Whether or not this is just the shock of the new or whether we will tire of it will become clearer in the coming days. Is this the "Naim sound" or are we just total heretics? Frankly my dear I don't give a damn. If the music speaks to me more clearly then I am getting what I demand from my system, and tonight, like it or not, the music spoke to me.

Chris/Graham,

All that matters is YOURs heretic EARS

Enjoy
Rui

Rui

We are fully expecting a visit from the Witchfinder General at any moment!

Chris

quote:

the Witchfinder Genera

"The Whichfiddler General" surely?

quote:

Originally posted by Chris Kelly:
Rui

We are fully expecting a visit from the Witchfinder General at any moment!

Chris

Worse than that, you will get a visit from the Bear

quote:

Worse than that, you will get a visit from the Bear

Always welcome chez nous Mr Bear, though given my seafood allergy victuals might be a bit sparse. We might be able to rustle up a sealburger though! Next time you head south to less bear-friendly climes you must let us know.

I thought polar bears prefer southern climates!!

No. They are strictly North Polar. Seals, fish and heretics are their staple foods.

And of course heretics are the ultimate luxury food up there, since supply is usually very limited!

The Devil's henchman (aka the Dealer) is now threatening to show up next week with a fistful of Chord mains leads to completely Chordify the system while the demo Indigos are still in place. That will be a very interesting exercise!

After two weeks of running hiline and standard Naim cables from 552 to 300 I have the Indigos back. Wow - the music has returned and is no longer clamped between the speakers. There is certainly something special about an all Chord set up.

They are a lot cheaper than a 500 I can't believe I said that!!

quote:

I can't believe I said that!!

Depends upon whom you were addressing! By coincidence my soundstage has shrunk considerably! We put on some Dire Straits live stuff last night after we got home from an amazing Mark Knopfler gig and it sounded small somefow. Thursday will be an interesting evening. We might even be able to test your 500 theory!

Last night our friendly dealer Mr Nelson heroically fought his way through the the rain and the trafic up to Sunbury from the south coast, stopping via Epsom to collect a demo 500. He also had with him a selection of mains cables from Chord and from Isotek.

Graham also showed up, bringing with him the Chord Indigo cables which have been wowing us both for the last couple of weeks.

We set up the 2 500 boxes side by side on an oak coffee table and set them to warm up while we had supper. An excellent Chinese meal later, our first move was to connect the 552 and speakers to the 500. "La Grange" from ZZ top's exceelent Rancho Texicano compilation was teed up and off we went. Immediate huge grins all round. I thought things boogied well with the 300 but the 500 seems to move things to another gear.

Switching to Shelby Lynne's wonderful cd "Just a Little Lovin'", the room fell very quiet as the raw emotion of ""Anyone who had a heart" followed by "You don't have to say you love me" absolutely gripped us all. It was genuinely moving. Phil Ramone's sparse but intimate production and her voice were simply spellbinding.

We then switched from Hiline and Naim interconnects to the Indigos. The sound got much bigger, with a much fuller bass but the emotion had been drained from the music. I think at that moment the difference between hifi and music was ore apparent than it has ever been. We a/b tested several other albums, switching between Indigos and Naim wire. The Naim wire won hands down every time. Not the result we expected at all.Norah Jones and Beth Nielsen Chapman gave us the same results.

Time to try the mains cables. First we tried the Chords with the Indigos. If anything, they just exaggerated the effect even more and were swiftly discarded. We then restored the Naim interconnects. The Chord mains sound was slightly different than the standard mains cables but the changes were subtle and I was a bit underwhelmed. They were taken out and put next to the Indigos on the thanks but no thanks pile.

Graham and I agreed that we were heretics no longer! John smiled quietly and put on the the Dire Strais "Sultans of Swing" HDCD compilation. After listening to "Sultans" and "BinA" he and Graham then put in the Isotek mains leads. Bloody hell! No wonder he was smiling. The music simply leapt from the Audiovectors. The character was still very much what we had come to like via the Hiline etc, but simply more in every department. Several more tracks confirmed it.

We finally reverted to the 300 (ie my system as it stands) and reconnected with the Naim mains leads throughout. Back to the sound with which we started the evening, which was, lest we forget, not too shabby. Finally, we Isoteked the mains throughout.

I already use an Isotek multiplug with an entry level Isotek cable to the wall. The latter was exchanged for a high end cable and the rest of the system had Isotel leads attached. Good grief! All the Naimness of the music was there but palbably bigger. No emotion was sacrificed, but the bass in particular became better articulated and the sound was fuller.

We finally called it a night at well gone midnight. Graham has borrowed the 500 til next Wednesday and I have a set of Isotek leads on order. The Indigos have gone for good.

Would I like a 500? As if you eed to ask! It is a truly brilliant piece of kit. However, in a year when I am already facing the cost of a wedding and a honeymoon I simply cannot afford it. But in the meantime, a few humble cables will take my current system to a new level.

Should I have waited for Powerlines? Maybe. But they are not available here yet and they are more than twice the price of the Isoteks, so I am a very happy chap now and the Powerlines will not feature here.

Huge thanks to John N, who was probably expecting to go away with orderes for lots of Chord stuff but who was enterprisinfg enough to bring the Isotek stuff with him. Graham, enjoy the 500 - I fear a large hole in the bank account is looming for you!

Chris - thanks for hosting another great evening. I am looking forward to my time with the 500 over this weekend. Will be interesting It was amazing just how much emotion the 500 brought to the party.

John - thanks for bringing all the "toys". I agree with Chris that the Isotek power cables are a no-brainer. I think I'll be ditching the hydra very soon.