Ever wonder why your high-end system doesn’t deliver the musical experience you know it’s capable of? The answer might be right under your nose–and vibrating under your components!
Sound exists because of vibrations, yet these same vibrations can be its worst enemy. The signal you’re sending through your carefully chosen components is fighting a constant battle against unwanted resonances. While your system works to reproduce the delicate overtones of a violin or the subtle decay of a piano note, both external and internal vibrations threaten to mask these precious details, leaving you with substandard sound.
When your system suffers from these unwanted vibrations, the cost is substantial. The expansive soundstage you invested in collapses. Natural textures in vocals and instruments become smeared. Those subtle micro-details that make recorded music feel alive vanish into a veil of mechanical resonance. The three-dimensional imaging that places each performer in precise spatial locations becomes flat and uncertain.
How Can we help?
Our detailed white paper, “The Importance of Vibration Control,” offers the insights you need to unlock your system’s full potential. In it, you’ll discover…
The science behind vibration control
Professional techniques for optimal component placement
The clear distinction between coupling and decoupling strategies
Real-world solutions for both internal and external vibration management
Last week’s Toronto Audiofest was a blast! For people interested in Nordost products, TAF was the place to be. As one attendee put it, “Nordost was everywhere you looked!”
From our new, introductory Leif 3 line, to our Supreme Reference audio cables, there was a Nordost-wired system for every level of audiophile imaginable. Show-goers who made it to Nordost’s official room, 437, were treated with live cable and QRT demonstrations from Nordost expert, Michael Taylor.
If you didn’t have the opportunity to attend the Toronto Audiofest, we have some of our favorite Nordost-centric pictures of the event here!
Nordost
In the Nordost room, we showcased both our new Leif 3 cables and our high performance Norse 2 line.
Executive Stereo
The Executive Stero room featured Nordost’s Norse 2 cables including Tyr 2 Interconnects and Speaker Cables and Frey 2 Power Cords.
Audio By Mark Jones
Audio By Mark Jones complemented their Magico and CH Precision system with Nordost reference Valhalla 2 cables.
Sonic Artistry
Sonic Artistry featured Nordost’s Supreme Reference Odin 2 cables with the QBASE Reference AC Distribution Unit and other QRT devices for top tier sound.
Audio Eden
Audio Eden’s stellar system was also connected with Nordost’s Supreme Reference Odin 2 cables.
Corby’s Audio
Reference Valhalla 2 cables completed the system in the Corby’s Audio room.
Come and see Nordost at the Toronto Audiofest! Please join us, October 18th – 20th, at The Westin Toronto Airport Hotel. Throughout the show, our sales representatives and product specialists, Atma Maraj and Michael Taylor, will be in the Nordost room (437) performing live demonstrations featuring our new introductory line of audio cables, Leif 3! This is the Canadian debut of our Leif 3 cables, which include our White Lightning 3, Purple Flare 3, Blue Heaven 3, and Red Dawn 3 cables. This is your chance to hear how combining optimal materials, unique geometry, and filter-less technology into hifi audio cables unlocks dynamic, low-loss, and lifelike performances from any sound system.
In addition to Nordost Leif 3 audio cables, QRT audio enhancers, and Sort resonance control products, Room 437 will also feature components from Moon by Simaudio and loudspeakers from Audio Vector.
But Room 437 is not the only place you can experience Nordost products at TAF… Here is a list of all the rooms that will be featuring Nordost in their systems:
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 October.
You can now listen to our monthly playlist here: TIDAL | SPOTIFY | QOBUZ
On Sum — TOKiMONSTA, Anderson.Paak, Rae Khalil — On Sum
What A Diff’rence A Day Made — Dinah Washington — What A Diff’rence A Day Makes! (Expanded Edition)
Love you Inside and Out — Pat Van Dyke, Melinda Camille — Nautilus/Love You Inside and Out
Nessun dolore — Lucio Battisti — Una donna per amico
Voyage voyage — Desireless — François
This Feeling — Alabama Shakes — Sound & Color
Moments In Love — The Art of Noise — (Who’s Afraid Of) The Art Of Noise? [Remastered]
The adaptive nature of a city like Paris can be felt everywhere, every day. Just last year L’Auditorium Parisien, a HiFi store that has been part of the heart of the bohemian Marais neighborhood since 1996, became part of our French distributor, PPL’s, network of retailers.
Conveniently located just 100 meters from the Chemin Vert subway station on Boulevard Beaumarchais, among dozens of highly respected high-end shops or boutiques, as the French would call them, L’Auditorium Parisien is a two-story establishment that houses several demo rooms with a huge assortment of equipment for all tastes and budgets.
The listening rooms are top notch. While they have been recently renovated, they kept a classic French style and feel to them. Everything is meticulously organized and labeled for their customers, so all you have to do is sit back and focus on enjoying the musical experience, be it 2 or multi channel.
Nordost is prominently featured in the store and Didier and Cyrille are extremely well prepared to make recommendations, answer your questions, and provide great insight into what Nordost products are all about and how they can help your personal system reach new levels.
Listening to your home set up is great, but there is something special about going out to visit a store like this and having the opportunity to listen directly, not just to our cables and accessories, but to the system as a whole, and appreciate how Nordost products elevate so many different systems and combinations of equipment. So, next time you happen to spend a few days in Paris, do not miss the opportunity to have a very enjoyable experience and have a good time or, as they say over there, prends du bon temps.
“The Toronto Audiofest is made available to audio companies who believe that supporting the audio industry and its community, including the many enthusiasts who come to attend shows, is important to the industry’s development and overall vitality.These shows represent the only way dealers and manufacturers can meet so many audio enthusiasts face-to-face in one place, people who have come to see, hear, and shop hundreds of brands and products in a festive, quality environment that can’t be found anywhere else, and to share their findings with others.”
We invite you to the biggest music and video event of the year in Croatia. Enjoy the best sound and images, listen to your favorite music, attend world premieres, musical performances, workshops and presentations.
AUDIO VISION SAN FRANCISCO – 25TH ANNIVERSARY EVENT
“Audio Video Show is an exhibition of audiovideo and home cinema equipment, which will have its twenty-sixth edition in 2024. With 2,000 square meters of exhibition, it is the second largest event of this type in Europe.
…
Audio Video Show is the only place where you can personally listen and objectively compare so many excellent devices from virtually all price levels. In one place, without seller pressure, without asking, without obligations. It is also a unique opportunity to learn about the capabilities of the most expensive devices from around the world, many of which were imported to Poland only for the duration of the exhibition.“
Since 2008 this show, organized by Hi-Files Magazine, has featured distributors and manufacturers of hi-fi equipment from Serbia, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, and North Macedonia.
Our product specialists receive questions on a daily basis about Nordost products, their application, and hifi in general. We thought that we would take a minute to share some of our most recent and frequently asked questions here so that everyone can get the answers they are looking for!
Q: How can I know that a Nordost cable I see for sale online is a real Nordost product? If I buy second hand, will my purchase be covered by warranty?
A: Unfortunately, there have been several attempts to counterfeit our products that have appeared online. Counterfeit cables are often easy to spot as Nordost cables use distinctive technology, precise lengths, serial numbers, and connectors. Be aware of any falsely branded Nordost cables being offered for very low prices, especially on auction sites, as they are normally counterfeits. Counterfeit cables are never covered by warranty.
Be assured that Nordost has never sold its cables through websites like Amazon, Alibaba, or AliExpress. Cables from those sites are not manufactured by us; they do not contain any of our technology, and in some instances, they are unsafe to use (especially power cords).
To make sure that you are purchasing an authentic Nordost cable, make sure you are purchasing our products from one of our authorized Nordost dealers. Find a Nordost dealer near you on the Where To Buy page of our website!
Q: I recently bought and installed some Frey 2 Loudspeaker Cables. After installing them and playing the system for an hour, I realized that, based on the directional arrows on the cables, I connected them in the wrong direction. Did I damage the cables or the system, does everything correct itself after you fixed the direction? Do I need to re-buy/replace this cable?
A: Don’t worry. Unlike with analog interconnects, speaker cable directionality is simply a memory function. The cables break in over time with use in whatever direction you installed them. Speaker cables (based on use) usually take a month or two to properly break in. Since you only used the cables in that direction for an hour so, virtually no break-in occurred. Going forward, just keep them in the position they are now, and everything will self-correct.
Q:The QSOURCE power supply that feeds my QNET Network Switch is running hot. Is that normal?
A: Yes, this is normal. The QSOURCE does run at a pretty high temperature. To keep the unit as quiet as possible, the QSOURCE is air cooled, instead of fan cooled. This means that it will act more like a class A amplifier, releasing the heat on the heatsinks (in the case of the QSOURCE the heatsink is the chassis of the device itself).
Just make sure the unit is well-ventilated, and that it has plenty of clearance, both underneath and above the unit. There is an optional Stand Mount you can purchase to help with this clearance as well.
The device is designed to have two methods of protection for overheating. If they don’t kick in, the unit is working within its heat range.
Q: Last year I began to upgrade my power cords, 2 speaker cables (R/L front and center), and interconnects to the Red Dawn LS series, and am happy with the noted improvement. I still require 2 more power cords and a pair of XLR pending any further purchase of components to complete the project. Would you recommend I stay with a “loom” of the LS or go to the Red Dawn 3?
A: You can either stick with the existing series or upgrade to the new series and still maintain a cohesive loom of cables. Leif 3 cables will have the same sonic signature as the LS series, they just introduce some better attributes. You can almost look at it like the new Blue Heaven 3 sounds like the old LS Red Dawn. You can mix and match any LS series cable with any Leif 3 model and keep all the benefits.
For the past 21 years, Audiotechnique has organized and hosted an annual HiFi Show in Hong Kong. Last month, it was showtime once again! During the show, Nordost was featured in one of the largest rooms at the show, Room 421. This has been Nordost’s homebase at the Hong Kong AV Show since we began our partnership with Radar Audio, our premium HiFi distributor in Hong Kong and China, led by the friendly and dynamic Michael Wong.
Given the spacious room, Radar Audio made expert use of the space by setting up three dedicated systems. Each system was given a 30-minute slot, two presenters from Radar Audio, and a special manufacturer representative in order to impress attendees. Due to language constraints and the fact that the Hong Kong/China audience is more interested in the sound quality rather than lengthy explanations of technical solutions, we kept our speech to a minimum and focused on letting the music speak for itself. This approach has proven to be very effective in maximizing the exposure of all the manufacturers’ products, with a lot of music played.
This year, Nordost’s system featured a combination of MSB Technology for digital front-end and amplification, Vertere Acoustics for the analog front-end, and British speaker manufacturer Kudos to bring the air into motion. Everything was wired with Nordost cables, of course, using predominantly Odin 2, and Valhalla 2, with a few precious positions connected with Odin Gold. All power for the system was routed through our latest reference AC distribution unit, the QBASE Reference. Its unique, filterless technology ensured there was no loss of energy, which was crucial given the size of the room. Every ounce of power was essential for maintaining control while filling the vast volume of air with high-end performance music.
Over the three-day duration of the show, the Radar Audio crew remained attentive, helpful, and on their toes throughout the long hours. For instance, when a visitor became a bit too eager to appreciate the build quality of an Odin Gold power cord, which was securely fastened to a display box, the frame of the box was accidentally damaged. The Radar team responded with, “No problem,” and by the next morning, the box was sturdier than ever, with no visible signs of the damage. Professionalism at its best!
Leaving the Hong Kong show is always bittersweet, as working with the Radar Audio crew is such a pleasure. However, the show will return in 2025. Less than a year to go, and of course, Nordost will be there!
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 September.
You can now listen to our monthly playlist here: TIDAL | SPOTIFY | QOBUZ
We’re excited to share our latest review, released last month in hi-fi+, featuring the QBASE Mark III AC distribution unit. Since reviewer Steve Dickinson does his listening in the UK, we provided him with our QB6, the six-outlet version of our QBASE. But for all music lovers located outside of the United Kingdom, its construction is identical to the QB8s available in the rest of the world! Once Steve was able to have some quality time with our QB6, he admitted that it would “be hard to get this much improvement for a similar outlay anywhere else.” He even got the chance to experiment with pairing his QBASE unit with our QRT Stand Mount, and Sort Kones, which proved to be a great upgrade. As he described, the combo “elevate[d] familiar recordings to the level of ‘newly-discovered’ all over again.”
“The Nordost QBASE QB6 Mark III builds on the considerable strengths of the units that went before it, bringing significant benefits to timing and the resolution of fine but musically important detail.” – Steve Dickinson, hi-fi+
