Home Demo Faceoff: Nordost / Audioquest / Transparent


I have just received home demos of 4 popular sets of high-end cables: Nordost Valhalla 2 and Frey / Audioquest Firebird Zero and Bass / Transparent Reference.  I'll be determining what to pair with my existing gear:
-B&W 803 D2-Gryphon Diablo 300, with internal DAC module and Phono Board-Mac Mini (soon to be replaced by an Innuos Zenith Mk III)-Audioquest Diamond USB cable-Van Den Hul D-352 speaker cables (while great for the price, these are why I am upgrading)

First up: Audioquest Firebird Zero Single Wire with Jupiter Jumpers and Audioquest Hurricane High Current
Definitely far more high end sizzle and an improvement over my cheap "reference" Van Den Hul cables.  Far, far more high frequencies come through but not at all harsh or shrill.  Everything at the top end has opened way up.  Sound is immersive with instruments fully formed in 3 dimensions.  Bass is incredible - lots of low end growl and detail as well.  Would describe the sound as "lush".  While everything sounds good as you can tell, overall nothing wowed me.  It was simply a few degrees better than my current cheap cables.  There was one negative aspect:  vocals did not sound quite as solid or natural as with my cheap cables.  Vocals were not "focused".  Also, there is an overall smidgen of a sense of the sound being mechanical - not organic.  It is more of a sense than something I can hear and pinpoint, but it is not 100% natural sounding.  Would still take these over my current cables, but they are not perfect.  Thought it may have been rooted in my speakers or Mac Mini, but then I heard the Nordost cables and realized my gear was not causing the slight off-ness I was detecting.  But before getting to the Nordosts, I tested the Audioquest Firebird Zero + Firebird Bass in biwire configuration.  Guess what?  More natural sounding, slightly, with overall more confident and solid tones, including vocals but apparent across all frequencies.  Bass is tighter and punchier.  Overall no change in transparency or detail, or dynamics.  While bass was more solid and punchier, as were all tones, there was not actually any more bass than the single wire version.  Overall control seemed tighter.  Is it worth the cost to biwire the Firebird?  Hell no.  The difference is incredibly subtle, and I would not suggest that people pay the money (although things could be different on your gear vs mine).  But the difference is one that I notice and it mostly solves the one weakness I sensed in the single-wire Firebird.  My wife also described that she noticed all the same differences I heard between the single-wire and bi-wire Firebirds, and she didn't know which configuration she was hearing (it was "blind").

Next up:  Nordost Valhalla 2 with Valhalla 2 Jumpers and power cord
Holy crap.  Now these wowed me.  First and foremost - I get very focused (and stressed) with testing gear and questioning and testing the validity of my own thoughts on what I hear.  Because of this I never get out of "testing mode" when I am testing.  These cables made me forget I was testing.  I just got into the music and wanted to try more and more songs that were not even in my test queue.  How do they sound?  Shockingly full of high frequency detail and treble openess, with a warm full, inviting mid and low end.  AND:  shockingly fast sound.  There is just so much high end detail coming through - and it is cool and crisp, not sharp and harsh.  The overall sound is just so natural - this combined with the fastness of the pace made it seem like the beat was faster than I recalled for each track.  Listening to these all of a sudden made me realize how artificial and awkward my system sounds with the Audioquest gear.  With the Nordost's, it is just so free flowing and natural - analogue-like.  Vocals are way better centered, and it gives a better impression that the vocalist is actually in front of you.  Sibilants in vocals are so much more pronounced, as are all upper frequencies, however there is absolutely nothing harsh about them and they are in fact very satisfying to listen to.  They are balanced by a warm and inviting midrange, with good bass.  It took some time to get used to all that upper end transparency, and actually "trust" that the sound would not become grating or harsh.  But it NEVER did, and I quickly learned to appreciate the high end detail rather than cringe and be afraid that suddenly things might get shrill sounding, which again they never did!  I just can't get over how different these sound.  Because of the fastness and high end detail, vocals have so much more life and energy.  Completely energized, as if the vocalists are actually more into the performance!  The one slight quibble is that the Nordosts don't have as much bass as the Audioquests.  Next I thought of pairing the Audioquest Hurricane power cord with the Nordost Valhalla 2 speaker wire to see if I could claw some of that Audioquest bass back while keeping the benefits of the Valhalla 2's.  The bass came back!  It was absolutely stronger and more present with the Hurricane power cord.  However.  A slight bit of the unnaturalness I mentioned also came back when using the Hurricane.  While the bass was great, overall I much prefer the natural sound when using the Nordost Valhalla 2 power cable. It is just overall easier to listen to and more satisfying.  So far the Nordost Valhalla 2's are leading the race by a longshot.  Not to mention, the Nordost's are far easier to install and are way more forgiving than the super stiff and unweildy Audioquest Firebird cables.

I have not yet tested the Nordost Frey's or the Transparent Reference cables.  I will shortly and will post my findings in the next few days.  But now I'd be shocked if the Valhalla 2's can be topped.  One final thing I would say:  the base gear in my system is quite rich and full sounding (Diablo 300 and D2 version of B&W 803's), so it is possible the Nordost's are the perfect balance for my system.  I could also see it being possible for the Nordost cables to become too much of a good thing in a different system to mine, in particular a system that already emphasizes high frequencies.  But on my system these cables sound fabulous.













nyev
Post removed 
Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately I’m rather limited in trying demo cables with my equipment at home because of where I live. For that reason, I cannot try cables from Wywires or Townshend. In fact, there are only a couple of other brands I could try which are not of interest. Cableco’s lending library doesn’t help, as I live in Canada and according to their site they only lend in the US.

I’ve now completed my testing of the Nordost Frey 2 and the Transparent Reference. Here are my findings:

Nordost Frey 2: First thing I tried was pairing the Frey 2 power cord with the Valhalla 2 speaker wire to see the difference from the Valhalla 2 cord. For the first minute or so, I couldn’t hear a difference between the power cords. But I realized I was only focusing on frequency response at first. I went back and forth and found that with the Valhalla 2 cord, vocals and other tones were far more open and 3D. Overall however, when I switched to a full Frey 2 power cord and speaker cable, I was impressed! Much better than the Audioquest Firebird (biwired!) to my ears. I am thinking I am becoming a fan of Nordost. I would be happy with the Frey 2’s. Good bass, natural and relaxed sound, not harsh, good timing. However, when I switched back to the Valhalla 2’s, everything opened up, and I realized the Frey’s sound is a bit compressed in comparison. Vocal energy increased with Valhalla 2’s and everything was more lifelike and 3D. More like the singer is in the room with you. But still. You can’t go wrong with the Frey 2 for the money, and to me it beats the more expensive Audioquest Firebird/Hurricane hands down in terms of being more natural and enjoyable. Still, I cannot unhear the Valhalla 2’s now.... I’m just glad I have not tried the Odin 2’s!
Transparent Reference: Right off the bat I was impressed. Much more natural sounding than the Audioquests. Overall, these produced the "largest" sound of the cables I’ve tested. Better bass than Nordost, and high frequencies are completely open and not harsh at all. After listening to the Transparent’s across a variety of music types, I was very impressed with how big, open, and natural they sounded. One aspect that I found quite shocking is just how "clean" everything sounded. I don’t know how else to explain it; maybe the noise floor was lower or something? I just kept noticing this quality - I’d say this was the Transparent’s most striking quality. However, I did notice that some music with a lot of upper mids and high frequencies could take on a slightly harder sound. Almost too clean of a sound perhaps? In thinking about what I was hearing, I believe the Transparent cables may actually be the most "transparent" of all the cables I’ve tested, in terms of actually just disappearing and letting the source material, amplifier, and speakers speak. I definitely have a high appreciation for these cables. At one point, I was dismayed as I was thinking this race would be very, very close between the Transparent Reference’s and the Nordost Valhalla 2’s, which would mean a lot of work A/B testing.But. When I went back to the Valhalla 2’s, wow. Immediately it was a comforting, inviting, warm and detailed sound that was just SO musically satisfying. Not as much bass, and not as big of an overall sound, and maybe not as squeaky clean, but who cares. These are just engaging and during the testing, these were the cables that made me want to quit testing and just listen to music - which as I said is exactly what I did until 6am last night. One reason I think I like the Valhalla 2’s so much, and moreso than the Transparent’s, is that there is a definite warmth and smoothness to the midrange, despite being insanely peppered with "inner detail" and lightning quickness. Maybe this warmth and smoothness means the cable is doing more than it is supposed to in terms of adding its own signature. But I really like these qualities so I’d rather have them there. One thing I hadn’t mentioned about these: the dynamics and slam of midrange percussion is the best of the cables tested. There is a rhythm, impact, and drive to the midrange, while also being velvety smooth, and this just enhances overall musicality.

In short the Valhalla 2’s seem like an old, warm, inviting, favorite pair of jeans. The sound is both welcoming and inviting.

So there it is. Results:
1st place: Nordost Valhalla 2
2nd place: Transparent Reference
3rd place: Nordost Frey 2. Because of the price and also the overall sonic presentation, I’d likely pick these over the Transparent References. But the Transparent’s are undoubtedly more capable.

4th place: Audioquest Firebird (biwire) and Hurricane. This was the big surprise. Audioquest was WAY behind all the other cables I tested. And I wanted to like them. One thing I am wondering: I’m told these were among the first cables to be subjected to AQ’s new factory burn-in process. I am wondering if either 1) dealer was mistaken and these were not actually burned in, or 2) this new burn-in process doesn’t quite go all the way, meaning that these cables may not actually be fully burned in? I guess I’ll never know, but I was rather disappointed in these.
I’m sure there are many other cables out there that I would like, but I don’t have access to trying anything else, and the Valhalla 2’s actually give me far more than I was ever expecting. I was not actually that excited about upgrading cables until I heard what these can do. Now I am excited. Just not about the cost...




Also Inna, you raise a good point about a potential future upgrade of my speakers, and having to change the cables again.  I did consider this, and I have a couple of thoughts:
1)  You can say the same about the amplifier and other components.  Everything has to be matched.  So, the way I am looking at it is, if and when I upgrade my speakers, I need to find some that match ALL other components in my system, and that includes cables.
2) This next sentiment will probably pass: After listening to my system with the Valhalla 2's, not to sound cliche but to me this seems like audio nirvana.  It actually makes me NOT want to upgrade my speakers for fear of losing the qualities I am currently enjoying so much.  Of course, this will only last until I hear something better, but that's the way it goes.  Like I said, I'm just thankful I have not tested Odin 2.  It briefly crossed mind to ask the dealer for an Odin 2 demo power cord, but NO!  Not going there lol!  It's a slippery slope.
Either way, I don't actually think I'll need to upgrade my speakers for quite a while now.  I'm extremely happy with the sound with the Valhalla 2's.  And I still have an Innuos Zenith Mk III streamer that is on the way (back-ordered), so I'm expecting an improvement over my Mac Mini when this finally ships.
One of the very few here who did things right in comparingentire sets, the only way to hear cables as manufacturers intend.  :)
Thanks Douglas.  But I have to credit one of the three dealers that lent me the cables for insisting that I test full sets from each manufacturer!