December 2017

Great Audiophile Gift Ideas For The 2017 Holiday Season
Enjoy the Music.com celebrates our 12th annual gift ideas to give your audiophile!

Nordost Qv2 AC Line Harmonizer

  Nordost, out of Holliston, MA, not Norway, is one of the premier cable manufacturers in the world. They often run comparative demonstrations of their products at audio shows that I've found instructive on several occasions.

It was there that I first encountered their Qv2 AC line harmonizer. I listened intently with the Qv2 both in and out of the AC power strip, but I could hear little difference. Sometimes it takes a while to pick up on minor differences when you don't know exactly what it is you should or should not be hearing. In my case, it would be years before a friend brought one over for me to try in my system. In the familiar surroundings of my own listening room it was easy to hear the difference it makes. Nordost's Qv2 AC Line Harmonizer is not a power line conditioner. Rather, it is an AC line harmonizer that creates a series of pulsed frequencies based on the 50 or 60Hz waveform of your electrical line. It effectively lowers the noise floor, bringing about a greater sense of the soundscape and allows the music to have more presence in the room.

It also has beneficial effects on video. You simply plug it into an outlet on your circuit or power strip. In my case, it went directly into an open outlet on my power conditioner and I also tried it directly on an open outlet of my dedicated line with similar, if not equal results. At $350 it is an affordable introduction to the benefits of improved power for your rig. Doubling up with a second Qv2 created an even greater effect, but before you go wild and acquire more than that, you should be considering a good power conditioner if you don't already have one. Nordost has numerous products that can help you there, too.

Recommended by Enjoy the Music.com's Rick Becker.