Heimdall 2 vs. Frey 2

Although this thread is old, I've had a few more experiences, so I am posting that experience.
I bought two Heimdall 2 power cords in the past month, and then my dealer had a 20 amp Frey 2 power cord for a customer that wasn't broken in. Since I had a 20 to 15 adaptor, I offered to keep it for the  weekend and break it in for 48 hours.
One thing I notice - and I heard another Frey2 in their showroom - is that an all-Nordost power cord setup allows the music to "dance" in a way it does not if even one cord is not Nordost.  This means all the dynamic inflections, at different volume levels in say, Stravinsky's Firebird will all have their own, articulate energy, instead of all the instruments playing mezzoforte, for example.
Putting the Frey on my CD player was eye opening and it was the same in their showroom: Frey is a superior power cord to Heimdall to even an untrained ear. More body, more weight, and the music "surges" more powerfully. Frey is a very, very, good cord and quite a bit better than Heimdall. Having said that, Heimdall is still very good or I wouldn't have purchased it. It's just that the Frey seems to have a lower noise floor, less of a "scrim" between you and the players, and - particularly in the bass - instruments separate themselves out much more fully, so that you can hear the "air" around the instruments in the bass, whereas with Heimdall, it's there, but not as clear. 
Given that I have Frey 2 interconnects, I found the whole experiment very eye-opening. I'd considered Shunyata cords (I've owned Shunyata since 2003 and have gone through periods with the original Nordost (Valhalla, Tyr, Frey interconnects and speaker cable, and Shiva, Vishnu, Brahma and Valhalla power cords), but was never quite "sold" on them. I am now. The newer generation of Nordost fills in that "dip" in the upper bass/lower midrange and is quite a move forward. The first generation, as another poster put it, was too "thin"- sounding. That's gone. And the dynamics, since the power range has been filled in (100-400), gives it more power and majesty. It's quite, quite good, and unless you have a $20,000 system, you'll be quite happy with Frey2. Heimdall2 also, but Frey is the magic point, to my ears.

Gbmcleod,
Interesting read on your experience.  I see  a year has passed since my last post.

Patience and timing finding deals has allowed my system to now play through a complete mix of Frey2/Heimdall 2. Table has Frey2 -phono amp to speakers are Heimdall2. Power cords/IC's also H2. The cable  makeover now has my system performing as I expect. Also  did wall to  PS Audio Power Plant which feeds everything. 
All music simply sounds more realistic. 

"It's quite good, and unless you have a $ 20,000 system, you'll be quite happy with Frey2. Heimdall2 also, but Frey is the magic point , to my ears."

Your system clearly is at/near that cost/performance level to appreciate Frey2.
Im not so sure I would experience the considerable improvement heard since last years post. Frey2 at the source(table) is the limit for me. Very rare at least for now finding a private seller liquidating his Frey2 setup at least 50% off retail.
H2 can be found for reasonable prices.

I wouldn't hesitate to splurge on Odin2 if my system were at that level. 
The H2 should hold me over until I'm ready for a substancial$$$ gear overhaul, but that requires powerball winnings. 

Tablejockey, I’m actually listening thru a modest integrated right now. My Hurricanes blew and although I’ve had the problem taken care of, I haven’t put them back into the system yet, so I’m listening thru an NAD.
After living with the Heimdall 2 power cord on the CD player, I’ve concluded that the best placement for the Frey 2 power cord is at the source. Of course, that means I have a Frey 2 power cord on the CD player and Frey 2 interconnects coming out of the CD player. I’m sure that lifts the performance as a whole.

Roy Gregory’s belief is that putting the best cord at the wall improves the whole system, but my belief is that works only if you have a highly resolving, dynamic system. I didn’t find it to be the case at all when I had all Shunyata cords, even when I upgraded the power cords from ZiTron Cobra to ZiTron Alpha. The sound was surprisingly the same. (Again, modest system probably played a part in that.) With the Nordost I have now, I first put the Frey 2 at the wall, where the Heimdall was, but it didn’t light my fire that much, and I went into the experiment with no expectations. The magic came with Frey 2 on the CD player, Heimdall 2 on the PS Audio P300, and Heimdall 2 going from the PS Audio to the NAD. No other combination produced the same results. And I didn’t have to strain to hear the difference the first time I got the Frey 2 to break it in: as soon as I hit play, I heard the ambient field increase and I could hear the bass instruments separated out, as I mentioned in my previous post.

HOWEVER, that power cord I was breaking in for a customer of the dealer couldn’t have had more than 150 hours on it (they don’t seem to believe how long it takes for full break, because I walked in several times after I returned it, and they weren’t playing music on it), and my experience with Nordost is that it sounds brighter - and more colorful - at the beginning, when it is breaking in. There’s a distinct brightness starting in the upper midrange that is not harsh, but accentuates the upper midrange/lower treble frequencies in an appealing way, although, given the equipment I’m using, this is also due to the NAD’s somewhat less resolving and less dynamic upper midrange and highs. ( I remember listening to a Supremes Anthology CD and it was literally unbearable - at any volume. Yet, when I played Ella Fitzgerald sings Cole Porter, none of that brightness interfered. I concluded Motown, even the reissues, are just very bright CDs). When the Nordost smooths out (at least the interconnects. Not sure about the power cord), it sounds just as transparent, but distinctly less "exciting." (Have you noticed that?) I noticed it several years ago when I first got Frey 2 interconnects. A conductor friend was visiting and it was exactly 27 days after I’d put it (the Frey 2) into the system, and when I hit play, I immediately noticed the forwardness of the Frey had lessened and I was sitting at least 5 rows further back (doesn’t sound like much, but in Carnegie, 5 rows sounds noticeably different). And while I heard some of the harmonic information was less obvious, my conductor friend commented that he wasn’t using to hearing so much harmonic information from my system (he’d heard it with different equipment and power cords). I imagine placing a separate, high quality preamp into the system would then bring back some of the excitement, not a euphonic excitement, but more of the dynamic quality/harmonic information that is easily heard in live music in a good concert hall. Of that I am sure.
But I think you have the Frey 2 in the best place, which mirrors my using it on the CD player and finding that placement producing the most superior results.
I’ve placed more emphasis on room treatment (resilient channel and ASC Wall damp 13 years ago) as well as 35 tube traps, and also good outlets and dedicated circuits. It certainly make the music come alive in a way that mimics live music, of which Carnegie hall is my regular reference - and SOME seats in Carnegie, even in the 2nd tier, aren’t all that great. One time, I decided to sit closer, moving from the balcony to the 2nd tier as part of an experiment to see how much better it sounded and I have to say, the difference was less rewarding than I expected, given I was 20 rows closer to the stage. Carnegie has done something in the hall that has pushed the sonics the wrong way, to my ears, and those of my friend, who regularly attends the Bushnell in Hartford. We both noticed it, so it wasn’t just my ears having a bad day. And this was in the course of attending 3 concerts at Carnegie, months apart. I can’t visually tell what they did, but I can sure hear it. Maybe someone else who goes there could explain that.

But back to the Nordost: I could live with just the Frey2 power cord on the CD player and Heimdall power cords elsewhere, just as you have.

I have h2 speaker cables n h1 interconnect from dac to preamp, when I replaced my cardas digital to D60 illuminati I felt, I upgraded to Tyr.