September 2016


Best Of 2016 Blue Note Equipment Awards

Nordost Cables – Complete Nordost System Approach
Price: $199 on up
Click here to read the complete review.

  Today, Nordost Cable has substantially more classifications of cables than years ago as they have created a hierarchy of products. The highest classification relates to the product’s range. There are four of these classifications, Leif, Norse 2, Valhalla 2 and Odin/Odin 2 and they range from entry-level to cost-no-object reference cables respectively. Within both the Leif and Norse 2 classification, the hierarchy continues with further breakouts into smaller families of products. These smaller families also contain cables such as USB, HDMI and 4k UHD cables many of which only exist in one group.

"The Red Dawn product line consists of audio interconnects, speaker cables and power cords. These satisfied about 80 percent of my requirements for the review," says Brett Rudolph. The remaining cables came from other Nordost families. The USB, digital and HDMI cables were part of Nordost’s Blue Heaven collection within the same Leif class of products. The headphone cable came from their Heimdall 2 collection that is part of their Norse 2 classification. Finally, to complete the complement of cables, Nordost provided me with their Qb8 power distribution system.

Although the speaker cables still rely on their original flat wire construction, they have benefited from the experiences over the years. They share the same cable insulation material and component metal, though with a slightly different configuration, and benefit from the same build techniques. Additionally, as with their older counterparts, they have unique Z-plugs available that seem to work far better than many on the market today.

"My experience with the Nordost cables leaves me speechless, if that is even possible," says Brett Rudolph. "Overall, the difference is nothing short of spectacular. In fact, during the review several friends and colleagues remarked that the reference system for this review has never sounded nearly as good. Personally, I have to agree with them wholeheartedly. I thought the old cables made a huge difference in my system, but the new ones overshadow them exponentially. In conclusion, if you are looking to build a new system or upgrade an existing system, you owe it to yourself to audition these cables. They represent a serious value and stellar performance within their price range. In my case, they have left me with the unchanging fact that I need to upgrade my cables to at least this level, because anything less would be unthinkable."

Click here to read the complete review.

Previous Annual Blue Note Awards

Product of the Year Awards 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, and 2001.