Nordost vs Shunyata speaker cables- and the winner is . .
I purchased a pair of Nordost Heimdall 2 speaker cables for a different system but this weekend compared them back to back in my ref system cables - Shunyata Alpha V2.
System is Wilson Watt Puppy 50th Anniversary spkrs , McIntosh amp/preamp, Jay’s Audio CDT2 MkIII transport and Revox B77 rtr.
Switching back and forth between the 2 the Nordost bested the Alphas in several key areas but mainly overall resolution with no tradeoff losses (aside from the substantial cost difference).
It wasn’t day and night, but to my ears it is a noticeable incremental gain in transparency. I’d be happy with either cable but the Nordost are staying with the WWPs.
Perhaps I’ll try the same comparison with the other system (KEF Blade 2s, Burmester, Revox, Jay’s).
So it seems spkr cables do make a difference afterall- who knew.
(I’d like to post a pic of the 2 cables - how do I do that?)
I would agree that Nordost adds ’nothing’ to the signal, but it does subtract from the signal. It is still "lightweight" in the upper bass and lower midrange, although far better than the first generation, top of the line Nordost cables (circa 2001). I’ve had Shunyata (still do), Nordost (still do) and Alpha Core Goertz cables, which are remarkably similar to the Nordost. Shunyata has the lowest noise floor, Nordost is the most transparent, and the Alpha Core resembles Nordost in many ways. |
it doesn’t. But because it is silver plated copper it has increased conductivity. On top of it, the very low capacitance reduces the filter effect. Both of these design choices push/prioritize high frequency and tilt the sonic balance towards lean. There is no reduction in bass or mids. It’s just the highs that are more prevalent. |
