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Nordost Cable Listed in Order of Importance

Nordost, one of the world leading cable makers, has a very peculiar (at least to me) take on which cable is most important in an audio system.  See below.  I tend to spend the most money on my speaker cable which to Nordost is the least important.  Power cables seem to take the lion’s share in their model.  They did say that it’s not written in stone in the note, but to me it has always been the speaker cable. Although in my current system, the power cord from the wall to the Synergistic conditioner is the most expensive but not by choice, that’s how Synergistic configures them.  Where do you stand?

CABLES LISTED IN ORDER OF IMPORTANCE (NORDOST)

1. Primary Power Cord (From wall to conditioner such as QBASE Mark II AC Distribution).

2. Secondary Power Cords (From conditioner to components).

3. Interconnects.

4. Speaker Cables.

(Note: Every system is unique. There is always a chance you may benefit from deviating from this guide.)

spenav
fastfreight
782 posts
 

I started with the Power Cables and thought they made the most difference.

Especially on the power conditioner (had one then) and now the amps (direct to dedicated outlets).  Everything helped as I finished interconnects and speaker cables. I have Kubala Sosna Elation, and I tried many.

But this was interesting:

My friend wanted to try his DAC in my system and is not a huge cable believer.  So I inserted his DAC with average interconnects.  Not so great.  Then I used my Elation interconnects to  try his DAC and BIG improvement.  It seems subtracting a nice set of interconnects made more of an impression than adding them!

So a good test if you need to reassure yourself; put an old interconnect or PC into your full loom and see what you miss!  Kinda like turning off your subwoofers!

Ken

daveyf's avatar
daveyf
2,871 posts
 

@mikelavigne   +1. This is my experience as well. 

clearthinker's avatar
clearthinker
1,582 posts
 

Nordost's list is taken from Linn, which from the very beginning said the source is the most important element, i;e turntable, arm, cartridge, phono amp etc.

I am surprised so many believe power cables are the most important.  I have said this before but the cable you can pay $25,000 for and more is just the last 6 feet of 10 miles or more of cabling that comes from the power station to your wall socket.  What about the other 9 miles and 5,274 feet?   Power conditioners are different because they interface actively with the power.

spenav OP
424 posts
 

@clearthinker 

You are wrong in both counts. Nordost thinks power cables are the most important cables. The list they provided has nothing to do with components. Second, think of power cables as filters. It doesn’t matter what is before them, least of all how many miles of it, as long as they can clean it before transmitting it to the component. If you have a spurious signal coming through your electrical system, you can filter it with a 2 inch filter. Length has nothing to do with it.  At any rate, this post is not about whether cables make a difference or not. Thanks for your response anyway. 

clearthinker's avatar
clearthinker
1,582 posts
 

@spenav 

I am not wrong on the Linn count.

I cannot see how a passive conductor that passes current can act as a filter.  The current simply passes through it.  How does it filter and where does the filtered out element go?  If you want to 'clean' electrical current, you need an active component.

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