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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
nyev OP
1,020 posts
 
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.

nyev OP
1,020 posts
 
So unexpectedly Thecableco may be shipping me a demo of the Audience au24sx cables, which I didn’t think was possible as I am in Canada.  These cables along with the Clarus Crimson’s are the only two cables left that I’d really like to try before committing to the Transparent/Nordost combo.  Seeing as it seems I will get to test the Audience cables, I think I need to find a way to demo the Clarus Crimson’s...
4425
861 posts
 
Just a few comments regarding Valhalla 2 cables. Against my better judgement I recently was enticed by a big discount to purchase two power cords and 2 interconnects. The Valhalla replaced a very fine set of AQ Fire interconnects. I thought the Fires were the end of the road until I put in the Valhalla. The overriding difference was very easy to distinguish. The Nordost produced a larger vocal image that was projected forward with respect to the soundstage. This effect simply made vocals and the sound in general quite exciting to listen to. Frankly I was a little scared of Nordost because of prior general comments that their cables were lean and not that musical. This would never be said of V2. Never.
I mixed the two power cords with Shunyata Sigma to great effect. However one big caveat. The V2 is demonstrably less weighty sounding than the Sigma. No doubt about it. Therefore breaking the rules I mix and match in order to get weight and excitement. It took some time but I have it set up to my taste. I personally think that using all V2 power cords would be to lightweight to satisfy.
So summation is that V2 makes music more fun to listen to by projecting vocals forward in a natural way much like some tube amps. All audiophile boxes are checked. Would I recommend anyone spending this kind of money on cables? I can’t do that even though they are the best I’ve ever heard. Just too expensive. But they are really good as they absolutely should be.


nyev OP
1,020 posts
 
Hi 4425, wow, you described the EXACT same experience I had comparing the Valhalla 2’s vs others. I didn’t phrase it that way but you are spot on describing the slightly forward presentation while still being warm and musical but with less bass.

I found that replacing the Valhalla 2 power cord with other power cords while keeping the Valhalla 2 speaker cables completely solves the bass issue, at the expense of losing a hair of detail in the mids and high frequencies.

I am now testing a few more cables from TheCableCo - Audience au24 SX as I mentioned, and at their recommendation Synergistic Research Atmosphere Euphoria X. With these two sets including matching power cords, I will also be testing one power cord model up from both brands.

Synergistic is interesting as they said they (TheCableCo) have first hand experience with it being paired with Gryphon at shows. And, it is quite interesting in that you can tune the shielding with different attachments to change to a cool, balanced, or warm presentation. Also it only costs $200 more to upgrade to biwire.

For Clarus Crimson it may be difficult for me to test. I found a dealer who can help, but Clarus told him I’d need to buy the cable, at list price, and then return it. This is not a problem in itself, but as I’m in Canada I’d need to pay import duty. If I return it, I don’t know that I’d get back the import duty. Not to mention, I’d lose the 5% deposit from TheCableCo for borrowing their cables and then not purchasing from them.

To to make matters a bit more complicated, Clarus told my dealer their pricing is going up by 50% June 1st as they have not raised prices in 5 years. So while I’d really like to test Clarus it may be too difficult.


cheche9's avatar
cheche9
43 posts
 
I listened to the top of the line nordost power cord  (17k) in axpona being compared to audioquest storm (800$)
Just like you guys describe nordost , very transparent but definitively too much treble. The system was vandersteen quatros driven by audio research. Without a doubt a more musical system than B&Ws which to me are a little on the analytical side. 
I would take the audioquest any day!!!!!
thank u for the report
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