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.