High End 2017 in Munich – Recap

As always, Nordost had a great time in Munich this year seeing our wonderful friends and distributors! Attendees of The High End Show were among the first to see our exciting new ground unit, the QKORE, and really experience what it can do to a system. Guests certainly left our demonstrations with a new appreciation for how truly effective grounding can transform the music they listen to! If you weren’t able to come to Germany, here are some of our favorite photos from the show! 


The Nordost Room


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The Audio Physic, Auris, X-Odos Room


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The dCS Room


 

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Thanks to all who came out!

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– Alex, Johann, Dennis, and Meredith

 

Nordost Customer Testimonial

Nordost is always thrilled to receive and share glowing reviews from journalists and experts in the industry. However, when we get testimonials from our devoted and satisfied customers, it means that much more! Thank you to Paul from North Carolina, who shared his journey with Nordost products, and what they have done for his stellar system!


Unknown-2“I have always considered an audio system as a collection of components – and that consideration includes cables. I see them as such an important part of an audio system that their use can either elevate, or denigrate a system’s sonic performance.

When I tried my first Nordost cable, a Tyr 2 speaker cable, I was astonished at how the sonic presentation was improved. Better definition and clarity, better dynamics and impact, lower more powerful bass— these improvements were most noticeable.

Eventually, I decided to populate the entire cable loom exclusively with Nordost products. Looking beyond cabling, I make extensive use of the QRT product line. I even replaced a $5,000.00 power conditioner with a QX4 power purifier and a QB8 power distribution block.

Today, my system is comprised of Nordost cables and power management products exclusively. On the digital side, all of the interconnects are Odin, from the music server to the amp. On analog, Valhalla 2 from the tonearm cable to the preamp and Odin to the amp. Power cords are about half Valhalla 2 and Odin.  I recently upgraded the speaker cables to Odin 2 and the improvements they yielded were startling.

What I see in Nordost cables is an exceptionally fast product that remains true to the musical signal. By the same token, they are incredibly revealing of transient detail. I think their best attribute is that they in no way hinder other upgrades, such as new speakers or a component. If one such upgrade is undertaken, the user can rest assured that the cable will not stand in the way.

I think that Nordost products come as close as any cable product I have tried in accomplishing what every cable should be trying to do – not change the signal in any way. Put differently, they do a great job of doing absolutely nothing.”


Paul is a happy customer of Liquid HiFi in Charlotte, North Carolina.


What’s your Nordost story?

Dealer Spotlight: Pure Wave Audio

By Jon Baker

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Jim Pavett, producer/engineer and owner of Pure Wave Audio, is one of the most respected pro audio retailers in the country.  However, that isn’t Jim’s whole story. For over 30 years, Jim has run Southern Arizona’s premier commercial recording studio: Allusion Studios. Since an early age, Jim has had a passion for the very best in electronics. This passion keeps him searching for the latest technologies, which in turn has helped Allusion Studios to maintain its edge and continue its long-standing reputation. From this passion, Jim decided to take his vast product knowledge and use it to grow a boutique, pro audio, consulting/sales business, by the named of Pure Wave Audio. By building trust in the marketplace, fostering client loyalty, and carefully selecting vendor partners, Jim has grown Pure Wave into a leading specialty pro audio hub in the Southwest.


Screen Shot 2017-05-09 at 1.12.42 PMAbout Jim:

Jim holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and is an experienced educator and clinician.  He is also the creator of the video tutorial series, The Studio Edge: Pro Audio Recording Series. Throughout his career, he has served as a panelist for the PotLuck / TapeOp Recording Conventions, and has written for national audio magazines. Additionally, one of his many recording projects, Beyond Words by Gentle Thunder, was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2007. In 2010 Jim recorded and mixed Jack Gladstone’s Native Anthropology, which won Gladstone the award for Native American Historic Recording Artist of the Year.  Most recently, Jim has produced and recorded Muscle & Blood with Marc Storace (Krokus), Barry Sparks (MSG, Yngwie), Pat Travers, Les Dudek (Steve Miller), and Frank Mario. He is currently performing this album live with vocalist Marc Storace / Bret Kaiser (Madam X), Rudy Sarzo (Ozzy Whitesnake, Quiet Riot) on bass and guitarist Robby Lockner (Jack Russel’s Great White).


In 2015 we were happy to welcome Pure Wave Audio to the Nordost family, giving them the distinction of being our very first Ax Angel dealer.

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Nordost Playlist – May 2017

Nordost is lucky to have a wonderful team of representatives and product trainers who travel around the world educating and demonstrating the effects of Nordost’s products. As part of these demonstrations, it is our job to find an interesting and diverse selection of music to showcase our cables, power devices, sort system and accessories. Whether at shows, visiting our dealers and distributors or even in our own listening room in our headquarters in Holliston, we are constantly getting asked what music we are playing (or if our audience is not so bold to ask, we can see their Shazams working overtime). So we thought this would be a perfect opportunity to share our favorite songs of the moment. Some may be classics, some may be brand new, some may not even be to your taste, but one thing is for sure …it’s all great music.

Here are some of the songs that we will have on rotation this May.

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  1. Forever (feat. Joseph Chilliams & Ravyn Lenae)—Noname, Joseph Chilliams, Ravyn Lenae—Telefone
  2. Gassed-Stripped—WESLEE—Gassed (Stripped)
  3. A Devastation—Nick Pope—Howl and Flood
  4. River—Leon Bridges—Coming Home
  5. The Glow—Sylvan Esso—What Now
  6. A Case Of You—James Blake—Enough Thunder
  7. Hoochie Woman—Tori Amos—The Beekeeper
  8. Mother Of A Dog—Eno●Hyde—Someday World
  9. Boxes and Squares—Tanks and The Bangas—Think Tank
  10. Biggy—Warpaint—Warpaint

Nordost introduces the QKORE: Ground Unit

QKORE front and back_style

A great deal of the electrical noise in hifi systems is
caused by imperfections in the power domain. These imperfections may be generated by airborne pollution
on the AC line that are induced, in part, by increasing
amounts of Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and cellular signals. Airborne pollution can take the form of high frequency interference, noise, and stray magnetic fields, which lead to AC line contamination. A poor, or “unclean”, ground causes more performance imperfections than most people realize. Without an effective ground point, the entire foundation of your sound system becomes jeopardized—and unfortunately, most listening rooms simply do not have access to a designated line, attached to a ground rod. In these instances, a simple, effective, and internal option is needed: Nordost’s QKORE Ground Unit.

The QKORE is a parallel grounding device, which provides an artificial, “clean” earth for hifi audio systems using both an electrical and mechanical approach. This unique product combines Nordost’s patented Mono-Filament technology with purpose-built, Low-Voltage Attractor Plates (LVAPs), constructed with a proprietary metal alloy and a passive electronic circuit, in order to draw stray high frequency noise and voltage-generated magnetic fields to a manufactured earth point, leaving a clean reference behind. This passive system is contained in a mechanically tuned housing, and outfitted with gold-plated, WBT binding posts, which easily connect each component to an artificial ground. By providing for a balanced and very “clean” ground point, by-products of electrical balance imperfections between voltage and ground are no longer added to other pollutants, dramatically increasing high quality audio circuit performances.

QKORE system_style

Nordost’s QKORE is available in three distinct models. The QKORE1 is specifically designed to serve as a parallel ground for use with Nordost’s distribution block, the QBASE. By connecting the QBASE to

the QKORE1’s singular binding post, it provides an effective, alternative ground on the primary side of the power supply. The QKORE3 is named for its three available binding posts, which can be used to ground any component in your system on the secondary side of a power supply, where the audio circuit is. For audiophiles who have monoblocks in their system, or are searching for an all-in-one unit solution, Nordost offers The QKORE6, making it possible to ground all elements of your sound system on its 6 binding posts, including one ground for your distribution block, two grounds for the left and right channels of your monoblocks, and three grounds for additional audio components.

In order to complete this comprehensive grounding system, Nordost has also designed a designated QKORE Wire, which is constructed to provide the path of least resistance to ground, for the stray, high-frequency, low-voltage potentials that can affect the performance of your sound system. The QKORE Wire is a mechanically tuned cable that utilizes Nordost’s patented Micro Mono-Filament technology, combined with extruded FEP insulation, and constructed with a 16 AWG, silver-plated OFC, solid core conductor. The QKORE Wire can be terminated with the following connectors: spade, banana, male-XLR, female-XLR, BNC and RCA (further termination options available).

The QKORE grounding system is the most effective, comprehensive grounding solution in the consumer electronics market. When introduced to a hifi audio system, the results are immediate and dramatic— the noise floor drops, the increase in harmonic accuracy and clarity is unmistakable, and the overall musicality in system performance is elevated. Every aspect of Nordost’s QKORE grounding system is thoughtfully designed and manufactured in the USA to the highest standards in the industry, in order to ensure product quality and customer satisfaction. 

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