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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?) 

ritter06
oldelectricalinspector
65 posts
 

Excellent question,ritter06

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
8,181 posts
 

 

ritter06 OP

70 posts

 

How would Nordost selectively reduce just those frequencies, leaving everything else?
 

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. 
This is less apparent in Tyr2 as it’s a bigger gauge cable and sounds much smoother than the Heimdall 2. Nordost cables are awesome if that sound signature works in your system and you prefer a faster, leaner or sound, or it just balances the dark sonic signature of your electronics. 

oldelectricalinspector
65 posts
 

Excellent answer Audphile1.  Might be correct!

mclinnguy's avatar
mclinnguy
1,126 posts
 

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. 

Is that like, if you stub your toe and it hurts, to make the pain go away smack your head harder on the counter? 

moto_man
460 posts
 

In my system (ARC REF6, Pass 250.8, MSB Discrete DAC, Wilson Sabrina X spkrs, Everest conditioner) I found that the Shunyata Alpha v1 sounded better that the Nordstrom Red Dawns that I had on hand.  Much better.  Then I went to the Sigma v1 speaker cables and that was a real sweet spot in my system and a nice improvement over the already good alpha v1’s.  I have a full loom of Shunyata Sigma v1’s now.  Very happy with Shunyata.

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