Recently, many of you may have seen systems that use cable lifters. But what purpose do they serve? Are they just aesthetically pleasing? They may highlight the cables, and make them look organized, but do they make a sonic difference?
Sure cables have the potential to create quite a “mess” when just thrown behind the rack, and organization is always a good thing… but there are more to cable lifters than meets the eye.
Organization: This is the easy one. By utilizing cable lifters you can create organized pathways for cables to follow. The big benefit here is that you can create these pathways so that the cables are sufficiently spaced apart to avoid noise contamination between them. Also, by creating these pathways, you can avoid coiling excess cabling, which actually hurts the performance of the cable by changing its electrical properties.
Dielectric charge: Another lesser known issue cables face is a buildup of a charge on the dielectric (the cable jacket). The outer jacket can actually store an electrical charge that it can pick up from laying on a floor, especially if they are set on carpet or rugs. Sometimes you can help control the impact of this charge depending on the material from which the cable jacket is made. For example, Nordost uses FEP as our chosen dielectric, which stores less of a charge than other materials (like PVC). The larger the charge on the dielectric, the more the electrical signal traveling beneath it is affected. By lifting the cables off the floor (i.e. stopping the contact between dielectric and an electrically charged surface) you minimize the possibility of building up that charge, lessening any negative effects on the electrical signal.
Resonance: Cable lifters actually improve the overall sound of the cable itself. This doesn’t work for some cable brands (especially brands that utilize stranded cable designs), but it does benefit the sound of Nordost cables! When you build a cable that is designed to resonate in a specific way, cable lifters can help facilitate that desired resonance. If you look at the Nordost Sort Lifts in particular, you can see that the design is intended to suspend the cable so that movement is possible, allowing the cable to naturally resonate. Whereas, when cable is simply laying on the floor, that contact “deadens” or “compresses” the signal.
Even though it’s a new year, we still have some great reviews to share with you from 2021! This articles spends some time on an often overlooked, but important upgrade. Marshall Nack takes readers through the process of trading up their QKOREs by swapping out our original QKORE Wire for the Premium QKORE Wire. According to Nack, the improvements were immediate and impressive.
“The major impact of the Premium QKORE wires is purity of the high frequencies. Secondary effects include increased image mass, a boost in dynamics, and dialing in focus. On the subjective side, there’s more drama and impact… If you’ve already invested in the Nordost QKORE solution, this one’s a no-brainer.” – Marshall Nack, Positive Feedback.
As another crazy year comes to a close, we can’t help but celebrate the success that we have enjoyed throughout 2021. We are very happy to share that over the past year, Nordost has been presented with awards from publications spanning the hifi industry in categories that include Best Products, Most Recommended, Star Components, Innovation Awards, and more!
As a company, Nordost strives to provide hifi enthusiasts with the means to bring life into an audio system in order to truly enjoy music as it was intended. We take a lot of pride in the audio cables, power products, and audio enhancers that we produce, so we are always honored to be recognized by reviewers, industry leaders, and prominent publications for our work. We thought that you might like to celebrate with us!
“The Blue Heaven certainly lives up to its manufacturer’s claims of offering accurate signal transfer at a relatively affordable price… with especially impressive detail and sound staging. Value-wise it punches well above its weight, so it is well worth auditioning.” – StereoNET
“The Norse 2 [Bi-Wire Jumper]…matches its task very well, offering all the refinement you would expect from a set of high-end cables and so is a sensible upgrade to the metal links fitted to so many speakers.” – Hi-Fi Choice
“The timing, transparency and resolution of the cables are astounding. So, while everything in the orchestra is laid clearly before you, the sheen and tactile effects from the V2’s design, construction and materials make every musical choice a delicious event. This is playback way beyond technique.” – Audiophilia
“For the last 30 years, Nordost has been at the zenith of cable design and development, and throughout that time it has stayed true to its core; producing low-mass cables with optimal signal transfer speed and ideal impedance matching.” – Hi-Fi+
“So, transparency, precision, purity, depth, texture, openness, expansiveness… Nordost’s Tyr 2 loom brings all of this and more to the listening experience. Yet as I wrap up these thoughts another word now pops to mind that perhaps best sums up my analogy between wine and audio: transformative.” – StereoNET
“The Nordost AC SORT KONES are far more than a tweak, and that to even consider them tweaks denies their stunning music-freeing abilities. ” – AudioKey Reviews
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 January.
You can now listen to our monthly playlist here: TIDAL | SPOTIFY | QOBUZ
Bottle Tops—Ritual Feat. Mononoke—Every Night Another But Not You
Stimela (Coal Train)—Hugh Masekela—Still Grazing
After Hours—The Velvet Underground—The Velvet Underground
Delores’ Boyfriend—Allen Toussaint—American Tunes
Cotton Fields—Harry Belafonte—Belafonte Sings The Blues
Love Ain’t Enough—The Barr Brothers—Sleeping Operator
cloud castle—Luna Li—jams EP
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?—Bing Crosby, Lenny Hayton & His Orchestra—They Essential Bing Crosby
When we were thinking of a nice way to start 2022, we thought…why not give the people what they “liked” most throughout the past year, all in one spot! This 2021 blog round-up includes our posts from this past year that received the most engagement, whether it be likes, shares, comments, retweets, Instagram reactions, or however you feel like measuring now-a-days. Here are our favorite blogs, back by popular demand!
Nordost’s QRT products are easy and effective to demonstrate in any system. But while their performance improvements are immediate, we recognize that people appreciate knowing what to listen for when they sit down to a product audition. In this blog, we list some of the sonic effects that you can expect to hear when introducing each of our QRT products into your sound system!
Did you know that not all ground is not created equally?!? Well, it turns out that there are two typs of grounds in your system: Natural and Artificial Ground. This blog explains what both types of grounds are, as well as how you can address them when making improvements to your sound system.
Bi-Wired Loudspeakers can be tricky to set up correctly. However, when done right, they could mean a wonderful audible enhancement for your system! This blog tells you what having bi-wired loudspeakers mean, describes three different ways they can be wired, and lets you know the advantages or disadvantages of each option.
Correctly mounting and aligning your cartridge is a multi-step process that involves several tools and some patience…but the results are well worth it! In this blog, we have simplified this process to six easy steps so that you can minimize tracking errors and achieve the most accurate sound from your turntable.
We all know that cable design makes a difference. But what aspects of cable design should you pay attention to when looking for a digital cable upgrade? This blog highlights the top four characteristics high performance digital cables must have, and explains how each of these characteristics affect the cable’s performance.
There are several simple tweaks and changes that you can make to improve the performance of your turntable. This blog shares five easy adjustments and modifications to upgrade your turntable in order to get the best sound from your analog system.
The spotlight continued to shine on our Blue Heaven range last month, thanks to a new StereoNET review on the Blue Heaven Tonearm Cable +. In his article, Jay Garrett used our entry-level tonearm cable between the VPI Prime and YBA PH1 phono stage, working his way through the different grounding options possible with this versatile cable. Once he found the optimal grounding solution for his system, Jay found a BIG payoff and was able to get much “more than usual when playing LPs…”
“Right from the off, this Blue Heaven tonearm cable proved an improvement over the original. It produced an even more musical, engaging and detailed soundscape, no doubt in part due to the lower noise floor, which encourages you to turn the music up, as well as making listening at lower volumes much more rewarding.” – Jay Garrett, StereoNET
Real music lovers can find the melody in everything. From the park to the concert hall, our friend Nelson Brill is always on the hunt for great sound. In this blog, Nelson joins a fully-vaxxed audience to enjoy a much missed live music concert, with the Tedeshi Trucks Band. He also recommends how to relive this same vibrant experience in the comfort of your own home.
A BUCKET OF ROCK N’ ROLL JOY: TEDESCHI TRUCKS BAND IN CONCERT AND NEW LIVE RECORDINGS TO SAVOR
By Nelson Brill | DECEMBER 5, 2021
On November 30th, the Tedeschi Trucks Band (“TTB”) opened a four-night stand at the legendary Orpheum Theatre in Boston and from the first note, there was glee and celebration in the return of live music in all its glory.
The TTB sustained a creative musical statement that teemed with bluster, soul and communal spirit with its adoring (fully vaxxed!) capacity audience. The TTB is composed of Susan Tedeschi on guitar and lead vocals, Derek Trucks on guitar, Gabe Dixon on keyboards and vocals, Brandon Boone on bass, Tyler “Falcon” Greenwell and Isaac Eady on drums, Elizabeth Lea on trombone, Kebbi Williams on saxophone and Ephraim Owens on trumpet – all backed by the stellar vocal cast of Mike Mattison, Mark Rivers, and Alecia Chakour. There is a special bond between these players, palpable in every song they explore. Its an easy-going democratic companionship where, without fuss, lime-light or artificial gestures, each member of the band gets their chance to shine within the spirited collective.
TTB- Orpheum – photo by Steven Levine
This easy-going spirit and companionship was fully on display at TTB’s Orpheum opening night concert, packed with special musical treats. The concert opened with the slow-boogie optimism of the Beatles’ “I’ve Got A Feeling!” with Mattison leading the vocal charge with his steadfast presence, augmenting Tedeschi’s luminous calls with his bluesy husk (with the audience joining in on Tedeschi’s urgent choruses of “Oh Yeah!”). From his rear stage position, Mattison pelted his deep vocal swagger (and falsetto leaps) on his pulsating original “Life Is Crazy” and crowned Taj Mahal’s charging “Everybody’s Got To Change Sometime” with powerful vocal ardor and deep bluesy pounce.
TTB with Mike Mattison – Orpheum Theatre, Boston Globe
The gospel soar and audacious pulse of TTB’s “Bound For Glory” and their propulsive “Made Up Mind” brought out the splendor of Rivers and Chakour’s vocals. Each took a solo in which they displayed their individual styles by utilizing their fluid vocal ranges and their great feel for gospel, gliding soulfulness – holding the audience transfixed with their expressive force.
Tim Bugbee
Tedeschi’s vocals too were as strong as ever: smoothly gliding to her highest calls (with a bit of husk up top to emphasize her high calls and blues passion). The quality of her voice always nailed the essence of the songs she sung. This included a riveting and quiet version of John Prine’s “Angel From Montgomery”; a radiant version of Neil Young’s “Helpless”; a breezy romp on The Four Tops’ “Lov’in You Is Sweeter Than Ever” and a deep bluesy plunge into her chestnut, “Just Won’t Burn” – a slow blues fireball from Tedeschi’s youth when she would play with her power trio to small gatherings in Boston at lunch time or grace Boston’s intimate clubs with her questing blues.
Forbes
Tedeschi has found a life-long creative partner in Trucks, and together, backed by their concussive drum partners and Boone’s ever-creative bass, they have become a legendary force. The sound at the Orpheum this evening was fantastic (kudos to the sound team!) with every layer of color from Tedeschi and Trucks’ searing guitar dialog captured punctual and distinct, in nice sonic balance with the rest of the band. The second set opened with barn-burning energy from Trucks on his electric guitar, grabbing hold of TTB’s blistering “Anyhow” with urgent high spills and amplified trills (punctuated with blasts from the TTB shining horn section). Trucks continued his carefree abandon on a spikey-sweet version of Derek and the Dominos’ “Why Does Love Have To Be So Sad” where he joined Tedeschi and the band in a locomotive romp that melded into a tranquil plateau of lilting colors, resonant guitar string bends and soft chord holds.
This quiet, slow-evolving play also highlighted Trucks’ special moments on stage with his rhythm section and Dixon’s twinkling keyboards, experimenting on John Coltrane’s “Afro Blue”. On this adventure, Trucks moved from sitar-drenched effects to deliberately loosening his guitar strings and letting them roar in oblique resonant drops and amplified holds. Tedeschi and the full band then joined Trucks for a pressurized version of Bobby Blue Bland’s “That Did It”, in which Tedeschi took command with her expressive guitar attack, weaving with Trucks a tapestry of hot stinging bent notes and pummeling strums. All of this heat and drama concluded with a TTB romp on the upbeat Coasters’ song, “Let’s Get Stoned”. The band danced and swayed on all cylinders with the crowd roaring their approval – the epitome of rock n’ roll joy.
To relish a vibrant slice of the TTB in live performance, grab a copy of their superb new live recording re-imagining the legendary Derek & The Dominos‘ Layla. The TTB’s Layla Revisited (Live At Lockn’) [Fantasy Records; www.tedeschitrucksband.com] captures a performance of TTB at the LOCKN’ Music Festival in Arlington, VA. in August, 2019 with the band joined by inspired guests – guitarists and vocalists Trey Anastasio and Doyle Bramhall II – with JJ Johnson joining Greenwell on drums.
The recording is reference audiophile quality, delivering the natural images of each player in the TTB on a wide and layered deep soundstage, with each player’s image natural, dynamic and tactile in the airy venue.
Goldmund Telos 590 Next Gen. II Integrated Amplifier
My reference system, anchored by Ensemble Audio Dirondo CD Player [www.ensembleexperience.com] j Goldmund Telos 590 Next Gen. II Integrated Amplifier [www.goldmund.com) Seidenton loudspeakers (www.seidenton.ch) and cabling by Nordost (www.nordost.com) was a glorious conduit, inviting me into this live performance with aplomb. The Dirondo’s special trait as a CD player with excellent “continuousness” (that rare quality of never a break or sputter in its natural flow of music), partnered with the Goldmund Telos 590 integrated ampifier, (with its ability to portray music with great dynamic headroom and naturalness), involved me immediately in the whorl and roughhouse of TTB’s spirited LaylaRevisited live performance.
In the first set of Layla Revisited, The TTB are off to the races with blistering versions of “Keep On Growing” (with each guitarist getting the opportunity to improvise their bold and propulsive statements) and “Nobody Knows When You’re Down And Out”, a searing blues highlight. “Anyday” is another toe-tapping and rumbling highlight, building from Mattison’s vocal strides and Tedeschi’s buoyant guitar and vocals. The second set takes the energy even higher with a striding “Key To The Highway” to a fiery “Little Wing” (with layered background singers entwined with tons of bold guitar blasts). The title track gallops forward with pell-mell guitar solos and leaping creativity from all members of the band. Just as on the original, “Layla” is followed by the quiet moment of “Thorn Tree In The Garden,” re-imagined here in a studio setting with Tedeschi and Trucks in supple acoustic rapport.
Inspired by TTB’s galvanizing Orpheum concert and their spectacular Layla Revisited recording, I recommend for your listening pleasure one other “best-of-the-year” live recording mining the rock n’ roll and blues of legendary songwriter Peter Green and the music of Fleetwood Mac.
Peter Green – guitar.com
On February 25, 2020, just days before the first COVID cases were discovered in the UK, a concert took place at the legendary Palladium in London, organized by Mick Fleetwood and friends in celebration of Green and his music. We now are gifted with Mick Fleetwood & Friends Celebrate The Music of Peter Green [BMG; www.BMG.com], another stellar live recording from start to finish.
Jonny Lang- Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
The “house band” for this concert was tight-knit and glorious, most notably guitarist and singer Jonny Lang and guitarist Rick Vito. Their guitars teem with blues heat and rapid-fire twists in many highlighted moments on this live recording, propelled by the robust drums of Mick Fleetwood and Zac Starkey and the pungent bass of David Bronze. This band’s kinetic versions of “Homework”, “Sandy Mary” and “Need Your Love So Bad” are dazzling power blues with great freewheeling and funky glory.
The guests that appear with this radiant band at this Mick Fleetwood And Friends concert are clearly inspired to be on stage to salute Green: John Mayall with his swaying, pulsating Otis Rush “All Your Love”; Billy Gibbons torching “Doctor Brown” with his husky vocals and guitar swagger; Steven Tyler stinging “Rattlesnake Shake” with his funky vocal power and Pete Townshend (“Are we plugged in lads?”) cavorting on Jeremy Spenser’s “Station Man” with spirited vocal calls and reverberant blasts from his electric guitar- filling the airy hall with swathes of radiant heat.
Pete Townshend – Berkshire Eagle
Act II of this concert brings other fresh and dynamic treats. David Gilmour delivers his deep, soulful guitar meditation on the slow blues of “Oh Well, Part 2” and joins Tyler and Gibbons on a raucous rock n’ roll party on “Oh Well, Part 1”. Bill Wyman and Jeremy Spenser glitter on a deep Delta version of Elmore James’ “The Sky Is Crying” with Spenser’s guitar sly and assured in all its tactile heat. Following these delectable treats are propulsive versions of Elmore James’ “I Can’t Hold Out” and Green’s feisty “Green Manalishi” – delivered in thunderous fashion with Gibbins’ craggy vocals and Kirk Hammett’s ricochets of electric guitar (utilizing Green’s original guitar for this earthshaking performance). The curtain closes on this spectacular concert with a joyous “Shake Your Money Maker”from the entire crew that is swinging and irresistibly ebullient – another crackling rock n’ roll catharsis for our times.
Innovaciones Acústicas is a High End Audio/Video/Automation boutique based in Quito, Ecuador. Established in late 2009, Bryan Moyano (CEO) always focused on sound quality, whether it be for distributed audio, home theater, or, his personal favorite, two channel HiFi. Bryan took on a difficult task when starting a high end focused company in a non-existing market, where people thought the typical commercial brands were all that existed. Over the years, he has educated the market, creating demand, pushing to improve sound quality, and constantly raising the bar of the brands and products Innovaciones Acusticas proudly represents. With brands like Raidho, Moon by Simaudio, VPI Industries, and Nordost, there’s no doubt that quality is the company’s main focus.
This journey has led the company to have an Experience Center with 13 different listening and viewing “areas” in Quito, partnership in Guayaquil, as well as their new Experience Center in Miami. Bryan’s strategy of having an “Experience Center” rather than a showroom, with many different products piled on top of each other, is one of the reasons that the company has been able to flourish in an inexperienced market. Bryan explains, “We try to avoid talking about specs. We take our customers on a tour through the 13 different areas we have, just enjoying music and some movie clips. Great sound with beautiful decoration and lighting, focused on every minimal detail. After enjoying that, we recommend the most suitable equipment for each client, depending on their taste and budget. We have an upgrade program that permits our clients to constantly improve their systems, little by little, at their own pace, so there are no limits!”
Innovaciones Acústicas has established itself as a HiFi pioneer in Ecuador as well as all of Latin America. And now, they have taken it to the next level, being the first in the world to purchase VPI Industries Flagship model: THE VANQUISH. A beautiful Ruby Red (for the 40th anniversary) magnetic direct drive turntable with Nordost wiring, it’s not only arguably the best turntable in the world, it is a sculpture, a true masterpiece.
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 December.
You can now listen to our monthly playlist here: TIDAL | SPOTIFY | QOBUZ
Made of Gold – Edit—Ibeyi, Pa Salieu—Made of Gold
Color in your Cheeks –Ibibio Sound Machine—I only listen to The Mountain Goats
Red Right Hand—Nell Smith, The Flaming Lips—Where the Viaduct Looms
The Melting Of The Sun—St. Vincent—Daddy’s Home
Tiffakonkae—Kamasi Washington—Heaven and Earth
Under the Sun—Mia Doi Todd
Chain Gang—Otis Redding—The Soul Album
The Christmas Song (feat. Wanya Morris)—Dionne Warwick, Wanya Morris—Dionne Warwick & The Voices of Christmas
We have a new review for you this month, and this time it’s all about the Blue Heaven Interconnect! StereoNET reviewer, Neville Roberts, got a chance to see what so many of our customers already know about one of our best-selling cables. Roberts had nothing but good things to say about the cable and what it did for his system’s performance. He found it both balanced and dynamic, was taken by the resulting changes in sound staging it was responsible for, and was completely impressed with its impact on vocals. In fact, he was so impressed that the Blue Heaven Interconnect received the StereoNET Applause Award!
“The Blue Heaven certainly lives up to its manufacturer’s claims of offering accurate signal transfer…with especially impressive detail and sound staging. Value-wise it punches well above its weight…” – Neville Roberts.
You can read StereoNET’s Blue Heaven Interconnect review in its entirety HERE. And, as always, you can find more great reviews on the Reviews Page of the Nordost website.
