QKORE Reviews

We’ve received some fantastic reviews and awards over the years for our products. When we get new reviews, we do our best to make sure that everyone knows. We spread the word through social media, blogs, emails, and tell anyone willing to listen! However, once the press starts piling up, and new products start to get their time in the spotlight, these amazing reviews can tend to be forgotten.

While you always have access to these great reviews, thanks to the Reviews Page on the Nordost website, we want to make sure that if you are considering an upgrade, or just want to learn more about a specific product, you can do so easily. This is especially true with a product like the QKORE. Nordost QKORE Units are parallel grounding devices, which provide an artificial, “clean” earth for hifi audio systems by drawing stray high-frequency noise and voltage-generated magnetic fields to a manufactured earth point through using both an electrical and mechanical approach. There is A LOT to learn about our QKORE units, and the in-depth reviews that these products have received are a great starting point to understanding how they work, and what their benefits are! 

This blog puts together some of our favorite QKORE and QKORE Wire reviews, so that you can access all of these informative articles at once! 


The Absolute Sound: Nordost QKORE Grounding System – Silence is Golden 

“…the elegance, the poignancy, the fragility of a musical line is what conveys the emotion at the heart of music. This is what the Nordost QKORE does so well. I can’t help thinking that to achieve the most from any high-end stereo Nordost QKORE is an essential product to consider” – The Absolute Sound 

The Absolute Sound Editors' Choice Awards 2021
The Absolute Sound Golden Ear Award 2018

Stereophile: Nordost QKORE and QKORE Wire – System Grounding Accessories 

“I can’t imagine that anyone who’s invested considerable time and energy and money in a high-end system would want to be without the markedly ‘blacker’ backgrounds, increased transparency and detail, more vivid colors, and greater overall veracity delivered by Nordost’s QKore Ground Units…The law of diminishing returns does not apply; the differences were cumulative, and anything but subtle.”  – Stereophile


Hi-Fi+: Nordost QKORE Ground Units 

“The QKORE was like a quick lesson in ‘time coherence’, giving any sound (even speech) a more accurate sense of rhythmic beat and metre (we often just lump this together into saying it ‘times’ well). There are other benefits, too; the almost clichéd ‘darker backgrounds’ and wider soundstage with better separation of images applied here, too. The treble seemed to integrate slightly better with the midrange and bass as well, but it’s that bass and temporal correctness that wins you over. It’s like your system no longer has to apologise for itself, even if it had little to apologise for before you QKORED it!” – Hi-Fi+

Hi-Fi+ Award 2017

Part-Time Audiophile: Nordost QKORE Ground Units and QKORE Wire

“When the time came for me to remove the Nordost QKORE grounding units from the system, I noticed the difference immediately… I felt my system lost just a bit of its edge and clarity.” – Part-Time Audiophile


Positive Feedback: Nordost QKORE Ground Products

“In advance of installing the QKORE Ground Units, I had imagined what such a product might accomplish. Those daydreams were prophetic—the only surprise was how significant it turned out to be…  it did more to improve my sound than any alternative I can think of at that price.” – Positive Feedback

PF Writers' Choice Award 2020

Positive Feedback: Nordost Premium QKORE Wire

“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.” – Positive Feedback


High Fidelity: Nordost QRT QKORE6

“…connecting all elements in our system to the artificial ground is equivalent to replacing any of its elements with a superior one. But – and here it starts to be interesting – we get more of everything that we already have in the system, not something completely new. In other words, the sound we worked for, polished and refined, will be improved, not changed.” – High Fidelity 

High Fidelity

The Audio Beat: Nordost QKORE Grounding System

“[The] purist recordings of small ensembles…made plain QKORE’s contributions, as the recording venue sounded bigger and the musicians more in-the-room present, no ‘maybe’ about it. This occurred across recordings and components, QKORE expanding musical horizons and making everything in them sound more vivid—more grounded, you could say.” – The Audio Beat 

Audio Beat Award

Soundstage! Australia: Nordost QKORE 1 Ground Unit

“What the QKORE1 then does by giving a musical blood transfusion to each and every audio component, and to so clearly and audibly ‘AC lift’ the performance of my entire system, is genuinely astounding.” – Soundstage! Australia 


NOVO: Nordost QRT Power Products Review. Part 2 of 3: QKORE Ground Unit and QKORE Wire

“…the Nordost QRT QKORE6 and QKORE Wires provided enhanced benefits on a scale I would be hard-pressed to live without; benefits that could not be described as anything-less-than significant.” – NOVO 


Le Magazine Son & Image: Nordost QKORE: Benefits of Parallel Grounding

“With either the QKORE1 or QKORE3 unit in place, listening becomes engaging. There is better precision and fluidity along with a less veiled sound. A significant improvement of the sound and musical rendering emerges, an unexpected but very real effect. The results are immediate…Clarity improves across the board, very noticeable in instrumental harmonics. Vocal presence is improved, along with overall musicality from the audio system. Dynamic contrast is heightened, and a more natural and coherent rendering of sound and musical content permeates the listening room.” – Le Magazine Son & Image

Nordost 2022 Awards

Even though 2023 is already in full-swing, we can’t help but take a moment to celebrate some of the success that we enjoyed throughout 2022. We are very happy to share that over the past year, Nordost has been presented with awards from publications spanning the hifi industry!   

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!


Hi-Fi Choice Recommended

Hi-Fi+ – Winner 2022 – Digital Component: Network Switch – QNET

“Thanks to Nordost QNET, network audio just took a leap forward in listenability.” – Alan Sircom, Hi-Fi+


StereoNet-Heimdall 2 Tonearm -2022

StereoNet – Applause Award / Product of the Year ’22 – Heimdall 2 Tonearm Cable +

“[The Heimdall 2 Tonearm Cable +] should be top of your audition list when next shopping for an upgrade for your high-end vinyl system.” – Jay Garrett, StereoNET 


Blue Heaven Analog Interconnect review - 2022

Hi-Fi Choice – Hi-Fi Choice Recommended – Blue Heaven Interconnect 

“This interconnect offers superb detail, a full soundstage and really refined performances … ★★★★★” – Neville Roberts, Hi-Fi Choice


Audiophilia Review - Nordost Frey 2 Speaker Cables, Interconnects, and Power Cables

Audiophilia – Star Component – Valhalla 2 Ethernet Cable

“My time with all the Valhalla 2 cables was musically intensive, instructive and, at times, mind blowing from their wonderful effect on my system.” – Anthony Kershaw, Audiophilia


theAbsoluteSound-EditorsChoice-2020

The Absolute Sound – 2022 Editors’ Choice Awards – PURPLE FLARE / HEIMDALL 2 USB / FREY 2 / TYR 2 / VALHALLA 2 / ODIN 2 / QKORE

“…transformative. That is perhaps the ultimate thing I can say about any experience. It takes us to another place, another level of understanding—and, in this case, another level of longterm musical pleasure.” – Wayne Garcia, The Absolute Sound


Enjoy The Music Award

Enjoy the music.com – Great Audiophile Gift 2022 – QVIBE (QV2)

“In the familiar surroundings of my own listening room it was easy to hear the difference it makes. …an affordable introduction to the benefits of improved power for your rig. ” – Rick Becker, Enjoy the Music.com


Mono & Stereo – Best Buy Award – Valhalla 2 Ethernet Cable

“Nordost Valhalla V2 Ethernet offered a different, clearer, and more focused imagery, sounding less like a mechanical pulsating narrative and more like a tenacious non embellished sonic momentum.” – Matej Isak, Mono & Stereo

Positive Feedback Reviews the QNET Network Switch

We are pleased to share yet another great QNET review, published last month by Positive Feedback. Marshall Nack, who has been working his way through the Nordost QRT product line, couldn’t wait to get his hands on our new ethernet switch. In his review, Marshall almost couldn’t believe the impact that the QNET had on his system, “…it was clearly a move forward with small improvements across the board, and one major shift. The transformation of soundstage depth was extraordinary, as flat space became deep. The impression of 3D was so great it caused me to question, could this could be an artifact?”. However, after listening to track after track, he was assured that it was not an artifact at all, just clear improvement.

“When Nordost released their QNET Ethernet Switch, I was immediately interested. I suspected it would impact the sound in similar ways as their QSOURCE Linear Power Supply, and heard it do exactly that. Both components are particularly good at resolving atmosphere, low-level detail, and timbral finesse. The QNET is amazing at reproducing space and dimension…using them in tandem brings you better sound. ” – Marshall Nack, Positive Feedback

You can now see Marshall’s QNET Review on the Reviews Page of the Nordost website, or read it in its entirety here: Nordost QNET Ethernet Switch

Sort Systems Reviews

We’ve received some fantastic reviews and awards over the years for our products. When we get new reviews, we do our best to make sure that everyone knows. We spread the word through social media, blogs, emails, and tell anyone willing to listen! However, once the press starts piling up, and new products start to get their time in the spotlight, these amazing reviews can tend to be forgotten.

While you always have access to these great reviews, thanks to the Reviews Page on the Nordost website, we want to make sure that if you are considering an upgrade, or just want to learn more about a specific product, you can do so easily. So… let’s take a look at Sort Systems

This blog puts together some of our favorite Sort reviews, so that you can see all of these informative articles at once! 


Nordost Sort Kone – Review by K.E. Heartsong, AudioKey Reviews 

“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.” – AudioKey Reviews


Nordost Sort Isolation System—A Trio of Options by Kirk Midtskog, The Absolute Sound

Sort Kone: “All three [Sort Kones] reduced haze between images and throughout the larger soundscape. They helped contribute to a more organized and less splashy presentation… As a result, images were more focused and the whole listening experience became more relaxed and involving.”

Sort Füt: “The Sort Füt helped ratchet up my system’s performance across the board without any apparent downsides.”

Sort Lift: ” …Sort Lift reduced background noise and enhanced upper-frequency information… [it] also notably increased liveliness, transient crispness, and overall musicality and resolution.”  

– The Absolute Sound


Nordost Sort Kone BC Resonance Control by Edgar Kramer, SoundStage! Australia

“Ranging from the subtle in some areas to the easily distinguishable in others, the Sort Kone BCs nevertheless made an overall undeniable improvement to my system’s levels of transparency, harmonic decay, detail retrieval and soundstage presentation.” – SoundStage Australia 


Sort Kones—A Skeptics Backflip by Marc Rushton, StereoNet

“Track after track delivered more emotional renditions of familiar music, clearer harmonics in acoustic pieces, and an overall feeling of a system that had just found perfect phase. The width and depth of the soundstage had increased and the ever-telling foot-tapping had started” – StereoNet 


Nordost Sort Kone, Füt, and Lift System Components by Alan Sircom, HiFi+ 

“Whether Sort Systems is the start, mid-way, or the end point in your Nordost journey, these components work, work in harmony with one another, and combine perfectly with Nordost’s more commonly thouhght of system compnents. Highly recommended.” – Hi-Fi+  


New Methods For Quantifying Sonic Performance by Charles Zellig, The Absolute Sound 

“[With the Sort Kone] An emotional threshold was crossed with involuntary toe-tapping and singing along with the music, greater clarity, vocal articulation, harmonic detail and overtone structure, ambiance retrieval, stage width, and focus of soloist, choir, instruments consistent over 7 different high resolution recordings…” – The Absolute Sound


Nordost Sort Kone Review by Fred Crowder, Dagogo

Until now, the Finite Elemente Cerabasa… have been for most purposes my favorite solution to the vibration problem; however, the Nordost Sort Kones provide a very substantial competition at a much lower price… I can wholeheartedly recommend the Nordost Sort Kones as a major step forward in improving sound at a reasonable cost.” – Dagogo


Nordost Sort Füt by Paul Leung, Audiotechnique 

The effect is not limited to the amount of details revealed. It also substantially improves the three dimensional effect and the stability of the audio images. When I play chamber music…the sound of the piano becomes clearer and more transparent after Sort Füt were installed. Every note appears to be more pleasantly shiny…I can easily tell the musical instruments “look” clearer and sharper.” – Audiotechnique

Stereophile Reviews the QNET Network Switch and QSOURCE Linear Power Supply

We are excited to share a highly anticipated QNET article which was printed in the most recent edition of Stereophile. Jason Victor Serinus’s QNET and QSOURCE review is an undisputed standing ovation for our network switch! At Nordost, our ultimate goal is to deliver the pure, unadulterated reality of a live performance to the comfort of a home sound system, and this review is a testament to our achievement. We are thrilled to spread Jason’s enthusiasm for this amazing product with you, and hope you can experience what the QNET and QSOURCE do for your own sound system. 

“I can honestly say that the QNet/QSource pairing transported me closer to my ultimate goal, which is to move closer to the source of artistic creation and the artists I love.” – JVS

You can read this review in its entirety here: Nordost QNET and QSOURCE Network Switch and Linear Power Device

For this, and many more fantastic Nordost reviews, visit the Reviews Page of the Nordost website.

Hi-Fi+ Reviews the QNET Network Switch

We are excited to share our first review featuring our newly released QNET Network Switch. The results are in, and they confirm what we already knew: according to Hi-Fi+, “Nordost’s QNET is very much made of ‘The Right Stuff’”!

At the High End Show in Munich this past May, editor of Hi-Fi+, Alan Sircom, sat down for a QNET demo and was so blown away by its effects that he couldn’t help but write up a full review! Alan was able to try both the QNET alone, and with the QSOURCE as an upgrade, and was very impressed by both results, saying, “…the QNET on its own is a strong product in and of itself. I’d argue that even without the power supply, it is already in the top percentile audio-grade network switches. But as soon as you move from the plug-top power to the QSOURCE, there’s a jump to be had.” Alan praises the QNET for making his music more ‘believable’…more than any other network switch he has come upon, and states that it even caused him to rethink the order in which he recommends people upgrade their home network! 

“Thanks to Nordost QNET, network audio just took a leap forward in listenability.” – Alan Sircom, Hi-Fi+ 

You can now see Alan’s QNET article on the Reviews Page of the Nordost website. 

Or, read it in its entirety here: Nordost QNET Network Switch

Power Cord Reviews

We’ve received some fantastic reviews and awards over the years for our products. When we get new reviews, we do our best to make sure that everyone knows. We spread the word through social media, blogs, emails, and tell anyone willing to listen! However, once the press starts piling up, and new products start to get their time in the spotlight, these amazing reviews can tend to be forgotten.

While you always have access to these great reviews, thanks to the Reviews Page on the Nordost website, we want to make sure that if you are considering an upgrade, or just want to learn more about a specific product, you can do so easily. So… let’s start with power cords! 

This blog puts together some of our favorite power cord reviews, so that you can see all of these informative articles at once! 


Purple Flare: 

DAR Reviews the Nordost Purple Flare Power Cord

Cutting to the chase: the Nordost cable sounds better. It shines a light into music’s murkier corners exposing greater subtleties, most notably lengthening the tail of each piano note’s natural decay And yet, paradoxically, the additional intensity brought by the Nordost wire also sounded more relaxed. Joining the dots between amped up fervour and greater repose…” – Darko Audio  


Blue Heaven: 

Hi-Fi Choice Reviews the Blue Heaven Power Cord

The overall performance is clear and refined with a very low noise floor. The Blue Heaven is certainly a very good value-for-money, high-quality power cable option.” – Hi-Fi Choice  

NOVO Reviews the Blue Heaven Power Cord

“With the Nordost Blue Heaven power cord connected to the amplifier, I was immediately rewarded with a lower noise floor and an improved sonic experience…There’s no question that as far as cables go, power cables play a fundamental role in the performance of an audio system. Even an affordable cable like the Nordost Blue Heaven power cord can make a significant contribution to improving your music listening experience.” – NOVO


Red Dawn: 

Hi-Fi Choice Reviews the Red Dawn Power Cord

“This is certainly a high-quality power cable worthy of any top-end system.” – Hi-Fi Choice


Heimdall 2: 

Hi-Fi Choice Reviews the Heimdall 2 Power Cord

“With the Heimdall 2 in my valve preamp power supply … All the instrument images are perfect and the double- bass, which is taut and full, balances perfectly with the piano and drums.” – Hi-Fi Choice


Frey 2: 

Audiophilia Reviews Frey 2 Speaker Cables, Interconnects and Power Cords

“The Nordost cables get out of the way of the music and the environment in which it was recorded. The focus is in the quality playback and not the cables elbowing for top billing. As such, they have outstanding synergy.” – Audiophilia


Tyr 2:  

SoundStage! Ultra Reviews Tyr 2 Speaker Cables, Interconnects, and Power Cords

“There’s no question in my mind that the Norse 2 Tyr 2s sound superb. Inserting them in an already great-sounding system previously lashed up with their little brother Freys, I clearly heard consistent gains in all categories of sound.” – SoundStage! Ultra


 Valhalla 2: 

The Absolute Sound Reviews Valhalla 2 Interconnects, Speaker Cables, and Power Cords

“While the cumulative effect of having an all Nordost cable system is always the most pronounced, the effect of merely replacing one single power cable to your amplifier—for example—is something to be experienced.” – The Absolute Sound

Hifi Critic Reviews Valhalla 2 Interconnects, Speaker Cables, and Power Cords

“V2 power cabling saw timing and swing improved dramatically, bringing greater drive and dynamic realism. Stereo focus also improved, with layers now more secure and solid, and the whole system seemed to breathe more deeply, with heightened shading and colour.” – HiFi Critic


Odin 2

The Audio Beat Reviews Odin 2 Interconnects, Speaker Cables and Power Cords

“The Odin 2 power cord replaced a Valhalla 2, which I had ample experience with; the difference — again, with just one power cord — was, in my own words, ‘Astounding.'” – The Audio Beat

Hi-Fi Choice Reviews the Blue Heaven Analog Interconnect

We are pleased to share another great, 5-Star, award-winning review from Hi-Fi Choice! Neville Roberts’ most recent Nordost review is a great example of what you can expect from introducing our Blue Heaven Interconnects into a sound system. As you will see when you read it, you can expect to hear nothing but positive changes! 

“This interconnect offers superb detail, a full soundstage and really refined performances.” – Neville Roberts, Hi-Fi Choice

You can find Neville’s Blue Heaven Interconnect review on the Reviews Page of the Nordost website, or read it in its entirety here: Nordost Blue Heaven LS Analog Interconnect

StereoNET Reviews the Heimdall 2 Tonearm Cable +

Nordost offers audio cables in multiple product ranges so that customers can find the perfect solution to fit their systems and budgets. “Step-up” reviews, like the series of tonearm cable reviews that StereoNET is conducting, offer a helpful way to better understand the improvements that are gained by moving up through our range of offerings.

In his latest review, StereoNET’s Jay Garrett focused on the Heimdall 2 Tonearm Cable +. Thanks to Jay’s previous review on the Blue Heaven Tonearm Cable +, he was able to make direct comparisons between the two cables and speak to the upgrades found between them.  

In his article, Jay describes the Heimdall 2 Tonearm Cable + as “ …a definite step-up from what the Blue Heaven Tonearm Cable+ was capable of. With the Heimdall 2 Tonearm Cable+, the music appeared more immediate and distinctly layered while remaining remarkably cohesive.” Jay was so impressed with our Heimdall 2 Tonearm Cable + that he gave it StereoNETs Applause Award!

You can read Jay’s Heimdall 2 Tonearm + review in its entirety, HERE

For this, and many more fantastic Nordost reviews, visit the Reviews Page on the Nordost website. 


Audiophilia and Mono & Stereo review the Valhalla 2 Ethernet Cable

We have recently received two great reviews on our Reference-level, Valhalla 2 Ethernet Cable. The reviewers, Matej Isak from Mono & Stereo and Anthony Kershaw from Audiophilia, were so impressed with this transformative digital cable that BOTH publications presented our Ethernet Cable with awards— the Mono & Stereo Best Buy Award and the Audiophilia Star Component award! Here is what they had to say about this very decorated cable:

“Nordost Valhalla V2 Ethernet offered a different, clearer, and more focused imagery, sounding less like a mechanical pulsating narrative and more like a tenacious non embellished sonic momentum.” – Matej Isak, Mono & Stereo 

“My time with all the Valhalla 2 cables was musically intensive, instructive and, at times, mind blowing from their wonderful effect on my system. A glorious set, echoed in the marvelous Nordost Valhalla 2 Ethernet Cable. If you have a musical, revealing setup with room and system synergy in place, I dare you to hear them in your system. Very highly recommended.” – Anthony Kershaw, Audiophilia

If you would like to read these reviews in their entirety, you can do so here: 

Audiophilia Valhalla 2 Ethernet review

Mono & Stereo Valhalla 2 Ethernet review

Or, you can find these reviews and many more on the Reviews Page of the Nordost website.