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Random Noise 9
Polytheistic audio
 Finally!
– stem-to-stern Nordost. The recent addition
of two BlackNoise line filters from Systems
and Magic (photo right),
www.systemsandmagic.com, allows me to use
the five Nordost power cords I’ve on hand for
evaluation: four Vishnus and one Brahma. (My
association with NuForce, Systems and Magic’s
US distributor, casts a shadow over my good
opinion of these Italian imports. I’ll say no
more about them.)
The Nordost presence: two quartets of Quasar
Points elevate a pair of NuForce Reference 9
SE amps from the low wood cabinet on which
they and the Integris CDP sit (for Integris
info,
www.aurumacoustics.com). The Brahma power
cord links the CDP to the Modelo Extreme
BlackNoise filter. Two Vishnu power cords link
the amps to the Modelo 2500 BlackNoise filter.
The remaining two Vishnu power cords link the
filters to their respective wall outlets.
Linking CDP to amps, balanced Valhalla
interconnects; the Tyr speaker cables stop at
Series 8 Wilson WATT / Puppies. A third
quartet of Quasar Points has been replaced by
a trio of steel spikes Derrick Moss, the CDP’s
designer, included with an upgrade of a
remarkable component.
 So
what’s all this about polytheism – paganism
even! – over at Nordost’s HQ? The names say it
all. Vishnu is a top-shelf Hindu deity. The
Brahma power cord owes its moniker to the
third member of the Vishnu-Shiva trinity. But
wait! Lest we suspect that Nordost’s
principals hail from South Asia, a change of
scene brings us to Valhalla, home of the
Nordic gods, for the fate of which, try
sitting through Wagner’s Götterdämerung.
Prominent among this superhuman crew is the
war-god Tyr, Thor’s second-in-command. The
locale shifts for Quasar, the immortal
destroyer who, with Lipitor, stomped through
one of those Saturday-morning TV cartoons my
kids used to watch. I could be wrong. The
memory’s not what she used to be and even the
kids are getting on.
Ask any philosopher. Belief in the existence
of immortals is an article of faith. (A survey
reports that a large number of Americans
believe in angels.) Anyway, confining our
remarks to the sweet spot, faith takes a back
seat.
The Valhalla interconnects and Tyr speaker
cables have been in the system for some time.
To repeat an earlier observation, they’re
superb. As mentioned, with the arrival of the
BlackNoise filters, I’ve been able to employ
the full review complement of Nordost power
cords. Before my amps acquired their Version 2
circuit boards, NuForce’s standard-issue power
cord came with a ferrite (a toroidal collar
for RFI suppression). The two after-market
Aurum-Cardas power cords I’d been using with
the amps are also fitted out with ferrites.
(The Cardas Golden Reference power cord’s
Aurum difference resides in the wall plug and
IEC connector only.) NuForce’s V2 boards
render ferrites less of an issue, allowing me
to go with the ferrite-free Nordost Vishnus.
In first checking out the BlackNoise filters,
I used the ferrite-clad Aurum-Cardas power
cords from amps to filters, making several
Vishnu substitutions over the course of time.
At an early point along the way I became aware
– for want of a better term – of a dullness, a
slight thickening of the sound. It was
distracting. I removed the filters, going from
the CDP and amps directly to the wall. That
wasn’t the problem. Reinstating the filters, I
continued alternating between the Aurum-Cardas
and Vishnu cords, deciding finally that the
system truly flourished in Nordost’s
start-to-finish embrace. I can characterize
the difference in terms of resolution and
tonal balance. In matters of taste, my
preferences tend toward exquisite detail.
Nothing pleases quite so much as “entering” a
recording’s world.
 As
a postscript, really, to a sweeping
impression, I heard similar differences in
comparing the CDP’s ferrite-free Aurum-Cardas
power cord with the Brahma, my preference
settling once again on the latter. The Cardas
Golden Reference power cord has a deservedly
excellent reputation. I don’t mean to imply
night-and-day dissimilarities. For the
audiophile, perceptions of improvement – of
playing to one’s listening tastes – however
subtle, leave a powerful impression. My heart
belongs to Brahma, here and in the afterlife.
While it certainly might have been the
ferrites that muddied the waters, I’d still
like to venture a generalization. There’s a
consistency to the upper reaches of Nordost’s
product line. Interconnects, speaker cables,
and power cords conform to a standard that
places maximum value on openness,
transparency, and air – in a word, lucidity,
sacrificing nothing of midrange liquidity and
low-end songfulness.
Finally, when you’re listening for differences
with however many subject cables in the mix,
you are listening to a system, an entirety, a
whole. Nordost cabling, wall to Wilsons,
leaves me utterly satisfied, and I’m close to
seeking psychiatric help. I mean, really, this
is no way for an audiophile to feel. Where
would I get the cheek to spout next time out
about something better yet?
Hello, doctor….
***
More years ago than I care to think about, I
began my adventures in hi-fi as a tutored
skeptic. I was encouraged to believe that
audiophiles were a loopy, restive lot given to
exotica at which my coach laughed loudly and
long. Wandering among the rooms of a hi-fi
show in a New York City hotel, we stopped at a
table on which lay a high-end version of a
lowly power cord. Coach sneered so lustily
heads turned to check out the source. A power
cord?! And look at the price!
Yes, a power cord. In the sweet spot, most
everything matters, emphasis on most. And that
raises a question. Was Will Rogers serious?
(“I bet you if I had met him and had a chat
with him, I would have found him a very
interesting and human fellow, for I never yet
met a man that I didn’t like.”) You’ve
probably wondered, as have I, about
subjectivist audio journalists who find
something to love in everything they cover.
Brace yourself, reader. I offer me, an
authentic, board certified, generally
supportive subjectivist, as a countervail.
Acoustic Revive is one of those Japanese niche
enterprises specializing in audio-video
oddities, typically the work of a modest,
soft-spoken fellow the cognoscenti revere. I
earlier reviewed three Acoustic Revive items I
liked enough to buy: a digital-disc
demagnetizer, negative-ion generator, and
virtual ground. For information about Acoustic
Revive, link through its American distributor,
www.lotusgroupusa.com, where you can read
headman Joe Cohen’s remarks. They’re
interesting. Joe’s a true enthusiast.
The two Acoustic Revive items here covered are
the PSA-100 Pure Silk Absorber, consisting of
a wad of silk fluff, and the QR-8, an octet of
adhesive-backed smoky quartz resonators about
the size of thumbtack heads. I had two
packages of these to play with, and one of the
silk.
I don’t lay claim to extraordinary hearing.
(Had I a pair of young man’s ears, he’d
probably want to kill me for what I’ve done to
them.) I distributed little white clouds about
the room, under and around the speakers,
cabling, electronics and elsewhere during
several listening trials, positioning the dots
likewise where the leaflet suggests. (I took
my cue from the illustrations. The texts are
in Japanese, my command of which resides on
the dark side of the moon.) I heard no
difference for better or worse. As a practical
matter, were the silk wool a ticket to sonic
paradise, I’d still be reluctant to mess up
the listening-living room with a scattering of
dust-friendly puffs. Yes, the silk can be
concealed, but not entirely. The quartz dots
are another matter. Too small to intrude.
So there you have it, a report no one could
possibly characterize as positive. Or
negative, really. Perhaps folks in their
twenties and thirties would hear an effect –
something. If you’re curious, see what Joe has
to say.
***
Brahma Power Cord, 2 meters, $1500
Vishnu Power Cord, 2 meters, $660
Nordost Corporation
200 Homer Avenue
Ashland, MA 01721 (USA)
Telephone 1 508 881 1116
Fax 1 508 881 6444
www.nordost.com
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