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
It also proves how much performance one can get out of reasonably good speakers with great electronics and cabling. Even with the same source.
I hid my credit card and forgot where it is because there is still previous generation Gryphon Diablo 250 for sale here for $6.5k or less. The alternative to it for similar price could be old Gryphon preamp and old Mark Levinson Class A amp. Hmm..which one would be better ? Would probably depend on speakers and taste.
Yes, I was surprised that I didn’t “max out” the performance of my speakers.  Before my cable testing I thought that I may not hear that much of a difference between high end cables if my speakers (and source for that matter) were limiting performance rendering differences in cables irrelevant.  But that appears to not be the way it works, as the differences were very, very noticeable between all cables I tested.

There seems to be a problem with my Innuos order; the company does not seem able to ship their new streamers anymore.  Also, online they stopped selling them.  Seems they are having major issues with production of their new models.  Dealer said they have quality issues on the faceplates (they are catching the issues in production QA before being released).

Because of this, it may free up some funds to put towards my cable purchase.  My back-ordered Innuos is the same dealer as Nordost which makes things easier.  I know traditional theory says it makes sense to upgrade the source before cables...  But you guys didn’t hear the difference the Valhalla 2’s made.  I know upgrading from my Mac Mini will make a difference too, but I’ve not seen anyone reporting a difference on the scale I’m seeing with the Valhalla’s when they move to a dedicated streamer.

Part of the reason I’m so stuck on this upgrade now is that it is not just an increase in performance.  The overall sonic presentation just matches what I specifically am looking for.  Perfect mid bass and mid range slam with great rhythm, warmth and presence, with very crisp detailed and open highs with high energy vocal presentation.  With sibilants you get a pleasant “ssss” instead of a harsh “shhhh”.

Just found out the power cord costs more than I thought!  Not good.  I may choose to go with the Nordost Reference jumpers instead of the expensive Valhalla 2 jumpers to save some cash.  I will test the difference tonight as my dealer confirmed I can keep the demos one more day.






A very good write up!Your descriptions were easy to understand and really relatable.Many of us I imagine were nodding our heads in understanding when you mentioned "a cleaner sound".Congrats on finding just the right cables that allows you to relax and enjoy the music:)
Nice review nyev.  I have an all Nordost system with a mix of Valhalla2 and Odin1.  While you are at it you should ask your retailer to let you demo Sort Fut and Sort Kones (TC)....I also have an Innuos Zenith mk2 SE that I really like.  I had an Aurender but sold it and much prefer the Innuos.  It's worth the wait.
Okay, with multiple individuals, on a HiFi equipment forum of all places where people discuss gear that costs more than cars, basically going “whoa dude, slow down, that’s too much money”, that is giving me a reason to be concerned :)

As such I tried pairing the Transparent Reference power cord with the Valhalla 2 speaker wire.  The  Transparent cord is WAY less expensive than the Valhalla 2.  And guess what, it worked!

While I definitely heard a bit less space and breath around vocals, the bass and focus that was missing with the Valhalla 2 cord came back!  And I still had the accessible warm sound from the Valhalla 2.  I actually think I like the sound slightly better this way.

I did not notice a difference switching between the “cheap” Nordost Reference and expensive Valhalla 2 jumpers, after switching back and forth a few dozen times and imagining I was hearing differences.  Maybe I did hear some differences but I couldn’t quite  pinpoint them.  It is possible the much cheaper Reference jumpers were thinner in the mids, which made them seem like there was actually better separation of tones.  Again not sure if I was imagining this.... So another place I can save.

Finally, I did one last test of my Audioquest Hurricane cord vs the Transparent Reference cord to further pinpoint what I don’t like about the Hurricane.  In short I found the Hurricane to be a bit bloated by comparison.  Bass not as tight, upper frequencies were missing, and there was a slight accentuation in the mids that can be annoying.