After a long hiatus, it’s time to go back to AXPONA! Come and see Nordost April 22nd-24th, at the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel & Convention Center, Chicago in the Schaumburg F room. We are bringing together some of the leading brands of in the industry to give Axpona attendees a truly world-class listening experience. With top-of-the line equipment from Stenheim, VTL, Wadax, VPI, and of course, Nordost, you don’t want to miss this impressive reference system. In addition to our showcase system in Schaumburg F, featuring a full loom of our Odin 2 cables, Nordost will also be performing our renowned live demonstrations and product comparisons in room 739. It’s been a long time since we have been able to visit the AXPONA audience in Chicago, and we can’t wait to see you all again!
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 April.
You can now listen to our monthly playlist here: TIDAL | SPOTIFY | QOBUZ
Satellite Man—Satellite and the Harpoonist—Satellite Man
Summer Nights—Lonnie Liston Smith, The Cosmic Echoes—Visions of a New World
Love You Inside and Out—Pat Van Dyke, Melinda Camille—Nautilus / Love You Inside and Out
All About You—Sophie Zelmani—Soul
Flat Beat—Mr. Oizo—Flat Beat
It Happens Suddenly—Kaito—Trust
One of These Days—Bedouine—Bedouine (Deluxe)
Le soleil levant (house of the rising sun)—pijama land—le soleil levant (house of the rising sun)
RHODODENDRON—Hurray For The Riff Raff—LIFE ON EARTH
Today—Tom Scott, California Dreamers—The Honeysuckle Breeze
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.
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!
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.
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
Mariella—Khruangbin, Leon Bridges—Texas Moon
Lonely Sometimes—Oh He Dead—Oh He Dead
My Babe—Spoon—Lucifer On The Sofa
The Waters Of March—Susannah McCorkle—From Bessie To Brazil
Show Me Your Pretty Side—Tamar Aphek—All Bets Are Off
Life On Mars—Miguel Atwood-Ferguson—Modern Love
Do I Ever Cross Your Mind—Chet Atkins and Dolly Parton—Chet Atkins-The Master And His Music
Let’s Go Get Stoned—Big Mama Thornton—Stronger Than Dirt
We’re delighted to share a recent review which is especially helpful, since it looks at the QSOURCE as a product in its own right, and not just as an upgrade for the QPOINT (or QNET for that matter)!
In his review, Marshall Nack from Positive Feedback, describes the improvements in imaging, soundstaging, and presence that he experienced when connecting the QSOURCE to his network switch. He was impressed that the QSOURCE was able to “couple deep resolution, transparency, and relaxation”.
“To introduce intangibles like atmosphere and timbral finesse, along with tangibles like deep resolution and transparency out to the corners, you might consider the Nordost QSOURCE… the level of refinement the QSOURCE LPS brought exceeded my expectations; my quest for a Hi-End LPS ends here.” – Marshall Nack, Positive Feedback
Our Dealer Spotlight this month centers on Nordost’s most southerly audio store in the world, Soundline of Christchurch, New Zealand. Soundline was founded by industry legend, Frank Denson in 1979. At the time, there was very little quality HiFi equipment available in New Zealand. As a result, Frank began building his own turntables and speakers from kits. These initiatives were complemented by also building various amplifier designs under license.
In the early 1980s import duties and tariffs began to be relaxed in New Zealand, so Frank started to attend international audio shows, such as CES in Las Vegas. He had a particular focus on wanting to import hi-end equipment and made such an impression on the likes of Accuphase, Audio Research, Kimber Kable and Meridian Audio that he began importing these brands – brands that are still part of the Soundline family some forty years later.
By the late eighties, home theater had come along. As with the two-channel brands, Soundline were passionate about importing high-end video brands that they believed in. And so the likes of Stewart Filmscreen, Runco, Harman Kardon and Yamaha joined Soundline’s impressive portfolio. Such brands were perfect for the bespoke custom home theater designs that Soundline were now offering their customers. Soundline invested in their home automation department, and their professionalism and reputation for the high standard of install work meant that they were well placed, as this area of the business naturally expanded into distributing audio and video throughout the home. The ‘wow factor’ of integrating lighting into these installs further strengthened Soundline’s reputation across New Zealand, as clients preferred to only deal with one installer.
These days, Soundline in Christchurch is run and co-owned by Terry Wyatt. Terry has had a long-standing interest in music and audio equipment. In his teenage years in the mid-1980s he would frequent the hi-fi shops in Wellington and read the American and British hi-fi magazines. He was in awe of all the reviews and pictures of equipment that he could not afford. Two months after Terry left college, he had scraped together enough money for a deposit on his first separates hi-fi system – a Denon CD Player and Amplifier with Acoustic Research speakers to enjoy listening to the likes of Pink Floyd, Peter Gabriel, Dire Straits, and The Cure. He wasn’t old enough to have a line of credit, so his mother acted as his guarantor. He thanked her by playing the likes of Dark Side Of The Moon until neither she or the walls could handle it anymore. He continued to spend any spare time in music shops and hi-fi shops. He was offered a job working as an audio consultant for Absolute Audio, which he embraced with typical enthusiasm. He was conscientious enough to borrow equipment from the store and began to build up his vast knowledge of audio manufacturers and their respective sonic signatures.
In 1995, after six years working at a couple of hi-fi stores in Wellington, Frank Denson asked Terry to join his Soundline team in Christchurch. Terry didn’t need asking twice, as he had admired how Frank had built Soundline up as a company, and it was considered the premier hi-fi store in New Zealand. Frank already had enough faith in Terry to be out of the country when he joined! The faith was well placed, as Terry subsequently bought into the company in the early 2000s.
Nordost has been a feature in Soundline in Christchurch for the last three years. This came about by Terry’s tried and trusted methods of taking products home to evaluate in his own system. On this occasion, this was thanks to my friend and colleague, Bjorn Bengtsson, who had left Terry with a QB8 distribution block and a range of Nordost power cords to try, after visiting him all the way from Sweden. This was over the Christmas break of 2019/2020, so Terry had a little more time than normal to audition these items at home. Terry isn’t easily impressed but he was taken aback by the difference that the QB8 distribution block and the Nordost power cords offered over the distribution block and power cords that he was previously using.
He quickly placed two Nordost orders, firstly a QB8 and power cords for his own system, and then the same for demonstration purposes in the Soundline store for their many customers to audition in their own systems at home. Three years later, on a rare day off you will find Terry enjoying the likes of Vasily Kalinnikov’s beautiful 1st and 2nd Symphonies conducted by Neemi Jarvi through his fantastic Accuphase electronics and TAD speakers, with the veins of the system being a loom of Nordost Valhalla 2 cables.
Soundline’s longstanding database of happy customers is a testament to the values instilled by the company’s founder, Frank Denson, and the encyclopedic knowledge that Terry and his trusted Lieutenant, James Heal, have of their customers’ systems. They are both firm advocates that you should always upgrade your power cords before interconnects and speaker cables in your system. To quote Terry, “It’s incredible what one or two power cords can do for the sound of your system and for audio components that you thought you knew well”.
While the team at Soundline has very much embraced new technologies, they remain very much focused on their customers’ needs in buying the right system for their respective tastes and requirements.
SOUNDLINE CHRISTCHURCH
329 Madras Street Mon-Fri 9am to 5pm Saturday 10am to 2pm (03) 379 5695
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 February.
You can now listen to our monthly playlist here: TIDAL | SPOTIFY | QOBUZ
Answer Me, My Love—Swamp Dogg—Love, Loss, and Auto-Tune
Everybody Knows—Leonard Cohen—I’m Your Man
Even If It Hurts—Tei Shi, Blood Orange—La Linda
Cry Everything—Kindness—Something Like A War
It’s Your Thing—Christian McBride, Dee Dee Bridgewater—Conversations with Christian
Murmuration—GoGo Penguin—v2.0 (Deluxe Edition)
Better By Now—Abby Holliday—Better By Now
Club Nine—Nicolas Godin—Contrepoint
One Fine Morning—Bill Callahan—Apocalypse
Giorgio by Moroder—Daft Punk—Random Access Memories
At Nordost we have always maintained that auditions are a BIG part of the audio cable selection process. Cable demonstrations can be a fun and informative experience, and is an integral part of determining what’s right for your home system. However, when conducting at-home auditions, there are often a lot of questions. We have compiled some of our most frequently asked questions here, to help you make the most of your own auditions!
Q: How can I try Nordost products in my system?
A: Most Authorized Nordost dealers have a demo case available so that you can borrow cables and audio accessories and try them in your system. You can find a Nordost dealer near you in the Where To Buy section of the Nordost website.
Q: How
should I do an at-home cable audition?
A: There
are several things that you can do in order to maximize your at-home audition experience. Some of these things include refamiliarizing
yourself with your system before you start to make any changes. Do some
critical listening (rather than passive) so that you can appreciate the
improvements you are about to hear. Another thing you could do is identify your area of interest. It’s better to concentrate
your audition instead of doing a system-wide
change (as tempting as that is!). For more pointers and greater detail on ways
to enhance your at-home demonstration, read our previous blog, Six Steps to
Successfully Audition HiFi Cables in Your Home Sound System.
Q: What music should you use when auditioning cables?
A: When
auditioning cables, we suggest that you play whatever tracks that you are most
familiar with! One of the most enjoyable aspects of comparing and upgrading
audio components and cables is discovering nuances that you’ve never heard
before in a piece of music that you have listened to a countless number times.
However, if you’d like recommendations for tracks that will help you identify
specific sonic changes, such as imaging, harmonics, bass
definition etc., we have created some playlists with specific songs that will
help you do that. You can listen to these tracks here: Qobuz, Tidal, Spotify.
Q: What
type of audible changes should you expect when auditioning cables?
A: At Nordost, we have a wide-range of audio cables. Each cable has a certain set of technology and manufacturing techniques that are integrated depending on where they stand in our line-up. Each one of these technologies and production practices has a sonic impact on the cables. In order to help you during the audition process, we have listed how these cable design elements can be identified from a sonic perspective, which you can read here: Sonic Perspectives of Nordost Technologies. We have done a similar thing for those of you who would also like to audition our QRT products, here: What to Expect from a QRT Demonstration.
