How to Position Your Sort Kones to Get the Best Sound From Your Components

By Michael Taylor

We all know that Sort Kones are fantastic tools to help get the most from your system.  Getting rid of vibrations that degrade the signal path is essential for clarity and proper imaging.  What some people don’t know is that you can maximize performance just by achieving the best placement possible.

Many people place Sort Kones under components uniformly, essentially using them as new feet.  However, since they are acting as mechanical diodes, their specific placement becomes important. You want them as close to the things that are causing the vibrations as possible.  How do you do that, you ask?

Easy, jump onto your computer and enter the brand and model number of the component you are looking to support into the search bar.  Click images after the results come up and you will inevitably find a picture of the component without its top on, showing the inner workings.  Look inside to see where the parts are located and search for the parts you think would vibrate the most (i.e. power transformers, filter capacitors, hard drives, motors, etc).  Then simply shift the Sort Kones to line up underneath those vibration prone parts.  Once your Sort Kones are in place and the unit is stable, you’re all set.

This one little tweak will allow you to get the most out of your Sort Kones and have your components sounding their best!

By the way, this little trick works for our QPOINTs also.  Just look for the board location and tweak your QPOINT placement based on what you find.

AUDIOKEY REVIEWS Auditions the AC Sort Kone

When we were contacted by Kermit Heartsong of AudioKey Reviews to audition our Sort Kones, we were thrilled to hear that after receiving our three Sort Kone models (AC, BC, and TC), Kermit decided that they were all so impressive that each one merited its own article! The first in this series of reviews is a fervent testimonial of the impact of our AC Sort Kones. In it, Heartsong insists that our Sort Kones be considered a new subcategory of audio component, akin to audio racks, that makes music more enjoyable and involving, and promotes a whole lot of “chair-dancing”. 

Heartsong writes: 

“The Nordost AC Sort Kones are far more than a tweak, and that to even consider them tweaks denies their stunning music-freeing abilities. We very highly recommend the Nordost Sort Kones as an amazing, stand-alone, portable rack system, that will allow one’s music to sing at a level above.”

At the end of his review, Heartsong dares readers to incorporate Sort Kones into their systems and then remove them, calling such an act impossible. To solidify his praise, Kermit has given our AC Sort Kones the AudioKey Reviews “High Nines” Award for exceptional price to performance ratio, mentioning that the Sort Kones represent the first ‘tweak’ to have ever received one of their awards!


You can read AudioKey’s review in its entirety here: Nordost Sort Kone Review

You can find this review and more great Nordost reviews on our Reviews Page.


Dealer Spotlight: The Audio Solutions

By Mike Marko

Since 1995, Audio Solutions has served customers in Indianapolis. Located in the Broad Ripple community, near Butler University, this pedestrian-friendly area of town is the perfect location for a hifi shop. 

The Audio Solutions team, led by Graham Lundeen, showcases some of the finest brands in audio from their new, custom-designed building. Shoppers can be confident that they are hearing products properly by conducting auditions in one of Audio Solutions’ four sound rooms. From insulation and soundproofing to room dimensions, these sound rooms were tailored-made for critical listening. However, if you would rather hear components in your own sound system, they even offer in-home demonstrations before purchase.  

Audio Solutions is more than just a great building. The team is what makes this company special. Victor Gazorek, the store manager, has been with the company for over ten years.  Originally a customer of the store, he brings decades of experience to the team (especially in the realm of audio and digital distribution, networking, and streaming!). They even offer an on-staff service tech, Scott Gleason, to take care of any problems and to assist with warranty service, further proving that customer care is a top priority. 

Custom home installation for whole-house audio and video is a very important part of the business, but their hearts are truly rooted in high-end audio performance. Audio Solutions carries the entirety of Nordost’s extensive product range, from Leif to Odin 2. They even have the brand-new QNET Network Switch available for audition (one of our first dealers to have one). Don’t worry, cables and audio enhancers aren’t the only things on offer! From the best, new streamers and DACS, turntables and electronics, to a large selection of previously owned gear (now accepting trade-ins), you are bound to find what you are looking for, along with the service and expertise you would expect of a hi-end audio retailer. 


The Audio Solutions

6340 Ferguson St

Indianapolis, IN 46220

www.theaudiosolutions.com

audioreference@aol.com

(317) 255-4434

 

Nordost Playlist – March 2022

Nordost products are designed to allow you to enjoy your favorite performances as they were intended to be heard. All of us here are passionate about great music, and want to share our passion with you. Each one of us has our own style… We listen to a wide variety of artists and genres but, in a way, we appreciate them all. We thought that we would share a few of the songs on our own personal playlists with you each month. Some may be classics, some may be brand new, some may not even be to your tastes, but we hope that there is something here for everyone.

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


You can now listen to our monthly playlist here:  TIDAL  | SPOTIFY  |  QOBUZ


  1. Mariella—Khruangbin, Leon Bridges—Texas Moon
  2. Lonely Sometimes—Oh He Dead—Oh He Dead
  3. My Babe—Spoon—Lucifer On The Sofa
  4. The Waters Of March—Susannah McCorkle—From Bessie To Brazil
  5. Show Me Your Pretty Side—Tamar Aphek—All Bets Are Off
  6. Life On Mars—Miguel Atwood-Ferguson—Modern Love
  7. Do I Ever Cross Your Mind—Chet Atkins and Dolly Parton—Chet Atkins-The Master And His Music
  8. Let’s Go Get Stoned—Big Mama Thornton—Stronger Than Dirt
  9. All the While—The Pines—Dark So Gold
  10. The Loop—Toro y Moi—The Loop