By Alex Brady
At Nordost, we love working closely with our retail partners and hosting musical evenings for their clients. These events are enjoyable for everyone involved, and it’s always interesting to hear how a listener’s system evolves over the years. Learning about someone’s system helps us offer more relevant, bespoke advice on which Nordost products will be the most effective in improving system performance.
Some of these recommendations can be short-term improvements, while others might be mid- or long-term upgrades. A phrase that we often use at Nordost is “unlock the potential of the system you already love”. Someone may already own their dream amplifier or loudspeakers and simply want them to sound as good as possible. This is where Nordost can help–and in so many different ways! Often, that’s by identifying improvements to a part of the system that hasn’t been addressed yet, such as power cords, or in the case of the study below, resonance control.
I recently used a Lumin T3 streamer for a Sort Kone demonstration during an event with a Nordost retailer. Three TC Sort Kones dramatically lifted the product’s performance. The T3 retails for $5000 USD, so three TCs are an ideal upgrade, especially if the T3 is the primary source in the system.
The demo system that we used consisted of the Lumin T3, Accuphase E-700, Sonus faber Olympica Nova III and a loom of Tyr cables, all underpinned by a QBASE Mark III AC Distribution Unit. And the principal demo tracks that night were Leonard Cohen’s ‘Nevermind’ and Nick Cave’s ‘Red Right Hand’.
The benefits of the Sort Kones were immediately apparent: a more believable soundstage, greater energy and presence, better decay time, and it was easier to place individual instruments in the space. The reactions in the demo room said it all– they had expected an improvement but were blown away by the performance they heard! Most of the sonic improvements held up well when we switched to three AC Sort Kones, too. But, as expected, TC outperformed AC. That said, three ACs were still much better than none!
The T3 also proved to be useful for demonstrating the effect of substituting a TC or AC for a BC under the power supply. As expected, this introduced a bit of top-end ’rounding off’–which might be appreciated in a system with more forward balance.
As always, the most persuasive part of the demo was the deconstruction. We removed the Sort Kones from both set ups and in both instances, the system suddenly sounded flat. It’s amazing how quickly you can get used to something! Deconstructing also gives you a more rounded demonstration–some listeners notice performance improvements more when they are added, others when they’re taken away.
The red dots in this picture illustrate the optimum placement for each Sort Kone. This is where a Google Image search can be your friend. Simply type in your source or amp model (with the lid off) to help identify ideal Kone placement. Areas you want to pay attention to are typically under toroidal transformers, densely populated circuit boards, or in the center of CD transport mechanisms. Like with speaker placement, finetuning your Sort Kone placement is key. In both instances, the improvements can be more than you might expect and all it costs you is your time!
So, where should you add Sort Kones in your system first? That depends. If a streamer or CD player is your only source, start there. If you use multiple sources, placing them under your pre-amp or integrated amp may give you improvements across the board. Though, in practice, listeners eventually place Sort Kones under most components in their system over time, since the benefits are cumulative.
Remember, audio components all contain parts that vibrate. The mission of a Sort Kone is to dissipate these unwanted vibrations by acting as a mechanical diode. So, whether you’ve spent $1,000 or $25,000 on a component, Nordost Sort Kones will help you achieve a higher level of performance from what you’ve already invested in.
