Datasheet

The sound of a Naim
system is not just
down to the
equipment. The
cables that connect
it all together have a
huge influence too.
That’s why we’ve
consistently argued
the benefits of DIN
connectors and why we so strongly
recommend that systems are
connected using our specially tailored
interconnects. At the same time,
we’ve always viewed some of the
more esoteric cable constructions and
techniques out there with a little
scepticism. Cables can add nothing to
the performance of a system, they
can only subtract, and minimising the
loss is an engineering challenge, not a
mystical journey.
So how come with the launch of the new
Hi-Line cable and Air-PLUG we’ve
introduced our own take on the esoteric
interconnect? Because it better meets the
engineering challenge, that’s why.
Development began during the design of
the CD 555 CD Player. Was the existing
interconnect holding the performance
back? Was there time to develop
something totally new? The chance to
start with a clean sheet was tempting but
at the same time continuous improvement
often delivers more. The clean sheet
approach won the day however, driven
by some radical ideas that our Technical
Director Roy George had been thinking
about for a while. After a R&D brainstorm
session the ideas began to gel and it was
obvious that a new cable also needed a
new plug.
Audio interconnect plugs are surprisingly
significant transmitters of mechanical
vibration (although even standard DIN
plugs are far better than Phono plugs in
this respect). Vibrational energy from one
piece of equipment, or picked up by the
cable, is transferred to sensitive electronics
by the plug and raises the electronic noise
floor. The Air-PLUG, however, along with
providing a near perfect electrical
connection, mechanically decouples the
interconnect from the equipment -
dissipating the vibrational energy in the
process. It does the job through its novel
“lossy flexible section” construction that
allows each element a limited degree of
movement while the whole assembly still
securely restrains the cable. Even the
connection pins are allowed by the plug
construction to float. The cable itself is
soft-clamped by the Air-PLUG’s end
section in such a manner that the
conductors are not squashed and the
impedance characteristic not altered.
Between each Air-PLUG, the exclusive
new Hi-Line cable offers extremely low
capacitance and resistance thanks to its
construction from 80 litz conductors
surrounded by PTFE, Kapton and PTFE
covered by a semi-conductive shield to
reduce static charges. This assembly is
then wrapped by two spiral wound
copper shields and lapped PTFE tape. Two
of these assemblies side by side are then
further 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.
There’s probably never been so much
engineering effort expended on a simple
audio interconnect cable (as witnessed
by the Air-PLUG being the subject of a
patent application), and an interconnect
has probably never brought such an
improvement in system performance.
There are some times when a clean sheet
approach to design is best - Hi-Line and
Air-PLUG was one of those times.
SIX • news summer 2006
One thing
leads to
another...
naim news summer 16pg 13/6/70 12:35 AM Page 6