Auditioning audio cables is probably an important part of your buying process. You deserve to know what you are buying, understand the differences between the products you are considering, and hear how those differences will impact the performance of your sound system.
At Nordost, we have a wide variety of products which incrementally improve as you move up our range. By visiting our website and talking with your authorized Nordost dealer, you should have a good understanding of specific technologies incorporated into each of our product ranges. However, when it’s time to sit down and evaluate how each one of those technologies impacts your sound, you may still need more direction.
In order to help you make better sense of what you’re hearing, we have listed some of the technologies used in our cable design with notes on how they can be identified from a sonic perspective.
Solid Core Conductors (as Opposed to Stranded)
Look for increased textural aspects in the music, especially in the mid-tones. You will find that the instruments sound more life-like. Another thing to notice is a perceived increase in volume, especially when comparing power cords.
Adding Conductors / Increasing Gauge Size
Pay special attention to timing. This can sometimes be heard in the drive and dynamic realism of your music.
Mechanically Tuned Lengths
This brings a darker background to the table and a smoothness to the sound. It strips artifacts and gives the music a sense of “correctness” that wasn’t there before.
Micro Mono-Filament
Higher signal speed means less time traveling through the cable, and as a result, less loss of information. This translates to an increase in detail and nuance in the music. You may notice this in the emotion that comes across in a performance, particularly in the vocals. Also pay attention to the soundstage, which will start to lose its defined boundaries.
Dual Mono-Filament
Even faster signal speed means even more information. Listen for decay times in instruments, as well as additional realistic qualities of both instruments and vocals. You will also find the rhythm and pacing of the music to be more precise.
HOLO:PLUG® Connectors
Pay attention to your system’s soundstage. You should notice a much wider and deeper soundstage, as well as an overall smooth tonal balance. This can also be heard as spatial awareness of the instruments and singers. There may be a 3D element to your music and soundstage.
TSC Shielding
With 100% silver shielding, TSC provides even more defense against EMI and RFI. There will be a blacker background and noticeable noise reduction that will especially affect the low-end. This often translates into more realism and coherence in the performance. You may notice that small nuances in the music start to come to life.
Hi,
I have a Tyr1 and Heimdell2 speaker cables (same length).
How would you suggest that I bi-wired by 3-way floor standing speaker?
(they are both Mono-Filament and the guange different between them are not that much different).
1) Heimdell2 to the mid and high + Tyr1 to the low freq drivers, or
2) Tyr1 to the mid and high and Heimdell2 to the low freq drivers?
For either option, what would be the impact or differences ??
(spk is SF Amti Tradition and Amp is Gryphon Diablo 250).
Thanks in advance.
You are correct, the gauge difference between them is minimal, 12 AWG compared to 13 AWG. Unfortunately our recommendation would be to try it yourself since the result is going to depend on the speaker itself as well as the crossover and how they react to the gauge difference.
I would however suggest starting with the Tyr on the bass unit since the lower resistance will help in regards to the timing. Since we increased the individual conductor gauge on Heimdall 2 to the same gauge we used on Tyr 1 the differences are much smaller than if you had Heimdall series 1.
The differences typically exhibit themselves in soundstage since the drivers are being controlled better, meaning width and depth of soundstage.
quite simply an excellent article. i look forward to many more.