Synergy of ML and Nordost

[GW1800]

Most threads deal with one subject or issue. This post is about my journey with an audio Dealer and two of his products that in my opinion have great synergy.

My journey with ML started many years ago with a house addition. I was into audio as a youth continuing through college but once a family got started my system needs were put on hold. Eventually during a house addition a basement room was now available to get back into audio.

I heard my first electrostatics’ what I believe were Summits in Chicago and just fell in love with the sound. I’m preaching to the choir here a bit but I’m sure you know what I mean. The pureness of the sound particularly vocals was and is just stunning. Once I researched ML I found that the simplicity of design (as in a single crossover with only one or no cone), the see-through design that were nearly invisible in a room as opposed to others stats that were more like a door then a window, how light the film driver (and hence great speed) as compared to whatever driver you wish to compare it too just made a lot of sense to me and how well the bass cone integrated with the panel was just icing on the cake beyond the sonic pleasure they produced.

I searched for a dealer in WI that had these to listen to and Shawn from DaVinci Media had the latest model of Summit X’s at the time to audition. Eventually moved on to the 13’s with even better deeper bass and improved panel integration to currently having CLX art in my music room with the 13’s in the media room.

We all have had various electronic components as we feed our habit. I certainly have had my share over the years, but the one common component has been Nordost cables. I say component as I believe cables can in many ways meet or exceed a next upgrade of any component. I have found this to be true as I moved up their product line and have never been disappointed. Yes, some added more than others but never nothing. For some this is a controversial topic but this in not why I’m writing this post for, nor do I want this to descend into that topic as this thread will end quickly. I ask you to please honor my wishes.

What I do want to point out is what I believe is the great synergy of ML and Nordost that I have experienced over my many years. If you take a look at the specs of Nordost cables, they frequently list Velocity of Propagation of the signal within a cable or how fast it is. To me this one spec, started to really made sense as I thought just why does this sound so good with a stat? Nordost has a very broad line but what is most unique is their ability for potential customers to demo the cables with no purchase necessary. Shawn has various kits of cables that you can listen to on your very own system. What is better than to attach one, then another then another to compare to your current cables? Beyond that as most of us can’t afford to purchase several cables at once you can at least hear what your system could sound like in the future. Full loom is also one of Nordost’s topics and yes indeed if you get to that point your ears will be even further rewarded.

We all love our speakers I’m no exception. I would challenge you to take Nordost up on getting a demo set of cables. What do you have to lose but a bit of time and the very real possibility of hearing something you have never heard before in your favorite tracks!!

Check out my systems #503 and #504

 

[TiBoneFramer]

If I may state my opinion...

I'm very happy for you. You like your system and thats what is important. I do, however, have a strong dislike for Nordost. To me, it is highly marketed, jiberish, and dealers (not Shawn in particular) love them for their high mark up.

Yes they sound better than normal cables. But I will never buy another Nordost again. For me, Cardas does everything and way more for a much better price and has customer service. It is totally a no brainer.

For the record I owned a Full Valhala loom. It is not for me

 

[GW1800]

Well T not exactly the response I was looking for but you certainly have an opinion.

Let me ask you did you really have a full loom with several power cables, analog interconnects, maybe phono or digital cables plus speaker cables? Also was it Valhalla 1 or 2 that you had a full loom of? Also did you purchase all those cables at once or did move up from some lower in the line and slowly added until you had your full loom? Hard to believe you purchased a full loom of Valhalla all at once from the start not impossible but unlikely.

 

[Russr]

Back in the 80's and 90's I had the opportunity to try numerous cable sets (speaker & interconnects) on a multiverse of high-end components. While I believe to my core that everyone has the right to their own (subjective) opinions, I'd never be able to justify anything more than nice, thick OFC cables with solid terminations. I like to think I've been blessed with decent hearing, and there were some instances where I thought that the cables colored the music.... in the same way that I gave up vinyl (I only had about a dozen albums) in favor of CD for purely "logical" reasons, I have always preferred componenets that "give it to me straight"... MLs, Brystons, Nice thick cables, a decent digital source, and I'm a happy camper.

But, like I said, that is just me.

Enjoy your systems, whether they have $75.99 or $7995.95 cables!

 

[TiBoneFramer]

Well T not exactly the response I was looking for but you certainly have an opinion.

Let me ask you did you really have a full loom with several power cables, analog interconnects, maybe phono or digital cables plus speaker cables? Also was it Valhalla 1 or 2 that you had a full loom of? Also did you purchase all those cables at once or did move up from some lower in the line and slowly added until you had your full loom? Hard to believe you purchased a full loom of Valhalla all at once from the start not impossible but unlikely.

I didnt mean to dampen your thunder. If you liked transparent or kimber or whatever I could have stayed silent. I basically hate Nordost now.

I had V2 power cables to the mono amps, 15A, 34C, processor, 4k player and power conditioner. V2 XLR for LCR. Odin (2?) for speaker LRC. Vahlahla HDMI. A complete complete complete waste of money.

Purchased over 6 months. Have you ever tried Cardas?

 

[ejspain]

If I may state my opinion...

I'm very happy for you. You like your system and thats what is important. I do, however, have a strong dislike for Nordost. To me, it is highly marketed, jiberish, and dealers (not Shawn in particular) love them for their high mark up.

Yes they sound better than normal cables. But I will never buy another Nordost again. For me, Cardas does everything and way more for a much better price and has customer service. It is totally a no brainer.

For the record I owned a Full Valhala loom. It is not for me

Yo T which Cardas are you happy with?

 

[TiBoneFramer]

Yo T which Cardas are you happy with?

I told you before and you said you were happy with what you had

 

[ejspain]

I told you before and you said you were happy with what you had

Come on man I'm old...the time you wasted you could've answered the question

 

[DanR]

TiBoneFramer, I couldn’t agree with you more! I started down the Nordost road at the Heimdall 2 level. And thankfully didn't get far. I did not care for the sound at all. I have my system now cabled up with a 99.5% Cardas Clear Reflection loom. The only cable that isn’t a Cardas Clear Reflection is the power cable for my amp it’s a Shunyata Zitron Alpha HC. It sounds wonderful on my vintage Krell amp. The rest of the cables are Clear Reflection and I couldn’t be happier. And I agree with you as well as I wouldn’t try and change somebody elses mind on cables that they were happy with either.

 

[DaVinci Media]

Well as a Cardas and Nordost dealer, I’m gonna chime in here. I think they both do an excellent job with Martin Logan. I see some negative stuff about Nordost I’m here and I really find that disheartening. I can say no other cable company that I’ve dealt with through the years is more willing to put their cables out there for demos. Also, they’re one of the only companies I know that actually shares scientific measurements of the cables. If you don’t like the way they sound I can totally respect that. Everybody’s ears are different, and everybody system has different components. For the record I discount both Cardas and Nordost at least 20%, and the dealer markups are abasically identical. And I say basically because there are different mark ups for different products within both lines. Like everything else I sell, I basically split the difference between retail and cost. I feel like that’s a fair way to price things given the fact that I am an actual person and I know and support the products I sell. As everyone who’s dealt with me here knows, I make myself available pretty much 24 seven for my customers. I am honest and fair and I truly think about every transaction with me in you the customers shoes. If it were my money, how would I spend it. And that being said with Nordost, I have the cables available to be demoed at no cost. So if you would want to listen to them, you have nothing to lose.

 

[Tmort]

I went from basic 12ga OFC cables to modest Nordost slimline bi-wire cables and was pleasantly surprised at the difference it made for my classic 9’s…a cable / speaker pairing of sonic love!

 

[DanR]

I’m not sure I’ve read anything negative about Nordost here but maybe I’m wrong. Just because someone prefers the sound of one cable over another doesn’t mean they are saying anything negative about the other brand. They just like and prefer the sound of those cables in “their system”. When I was deciding on cables for my system I used the lending library at the Cable Company which is a great resource. I compared different cables from Audience, Audioquest, Nordost, and Cardas. And in MY SYSTEM to MY EARS the Cardas cables sounded the best and by a good margin so that’s what I went with. It’s nothing negative about the other cables the Cardas cables were just the winner in the process. I will say 2 things about the process. 1 the results surprised me, going into it without hearing any of the 4 brands I thought in my mind the Nordost would sound the best, so it was surprising that they didn’t in my system. 2 I communicated with each company on cable choices in my price range and this I will say. Cardas Audio had the best customer service of any of the 4 by a good margin, now that’s my opinion as well. I’m not going to say anything negative specifically about any of the companies customer service. People can deal with the companies themselves and see for themselves how they feel about any of the customer service.

 

[Duke]

I think Nordost is a great wire. The panels are fast and have inner detail. The Nordost adds to that.

 

[Robert D]

I’m not sure I’ve read anything negative about Nordost here but maybe I’m wrong. Just because someone prefers the sound of one cable over another doesn’t mean they are saying anything negative about the other brand. They just like and prefer the sound of those cables in “their system”. When I was deciding on cables for my system I used the lending library at the Cable Company which is a great resource. I compared different cables from Audience, Audioquest, Nordost, and Cardas. And in MY SYSTEM to MY EARS the Cardas cables sounded the best and by a good margin so that’s what I went with. It’s nothing negative about the other cables the Cardas cables were just the winner in the process. I will say 2 things about the process. 1 the results surprised me, going into it without hearing any of the 4 brands I thought in my mind the Nordost would sound the best, so it was surprising that they didn’t in my system. 2 I communicated with each company on cable choices in my price range and this I will say. Cardas Audio had the best customer service of any of the 4 by a good margin, now that’s my opinion as well. I’m not going to say anything negative specifically about any of the companies customer service. People can deal with the companies themselves and see for themselves how they feel about any of the customer service.

So all of the cables you tested were at the same price point? That's great you were able to test all of those cables like that. To me what you did is the gold standard. If I were buying more cables I'd want to do that.
What's "The Cable Company"? Is that an online store that sells and loans out cables for testing? I've never heard of that.

 

[Nuri58]

I'm more puzzled to know why one wants to bi-wire for passive mode. In reality it means you move the jumper from the binding posts on the LS to the amp except you skip the the jumper and merge the two cables. Of course the cross-section of the caple is important but buying one with double the cross-section of the caple would do the trick. Actually i have bi-wired my speakers but only because i used to bi-amping and had the cables already.

 

[DanR]

So all of the cables you tested were at the same price point? That's great you were able to test all of those cables like that. To me what you did is the gold standard. If I were buying more cables I'd want to do that.
What's "The Cable Company"? Is that an online store that sells and loans out cables for testing? I've never heard of that.

Yes Robert the cables were all very close in price point (my budget) And yes look up thecableco.com. You should find this there Cable Library. It’s a great program

 

[GW1800]

I think Nordost is a great wire. The panels are fast and have inner detail. The Nordost adds to that.

Totally agree!

 

[kach22i]

I think Nordost is a great wire. The panels are fast and have inner detail. The Nordost adds to that.

I agree when talking about the speaker wire, Nordost and Martin Logans compliment each other.

The Nordost interconnects are good, not great in my opinion. Cardas and Kimber Kable IC's provide a fuller fleshed out sound over the leaner flatter sounding Nordost IC's in my opinion.

I mean they are all good, and we are really splitting hairs, but that is what people do in forums, right?

 

[BigGuy]

A fellow audiophile with 13A's and I with CLX's feel similarly about the synergy of Anticables and M-L.
He is also pleased with their IC's and double-headed USB which allows separation of data and power connections...and even providing 5V with a supply of your choice.

 

[Duke]

I remember using Anticables when they first arrived. They were a solid core with a painted transparent red jacket. They look so different now. Which Anticables are you referring to and have you compared them to any Nordost? Which Nordost?