Anyone heard nordost baldur speaker cables??

Bobrock,

The Baldur is a more balanced cable than the Red Dawn, but not as fast and transparent. The more lean of the two is the Red Dawn. For some reason, these two cables didn't match well with one another. At least, this was what I experienced when I had the Baldur ICs with the Red Dawn ICs in my system.

Things took a dramatic turn for the good when I changed the IC at the source with Stereovox BAL-600 interconnects. So I was using the BAL-600 at the source, the Baldur from preamp to amp and the Red Dawn speaker cable. This strange mix surprisingly produced a much more transparent and balanced sound than using all Baldur ICs with the Red Dawn SCs.

Two independent dealers highly recommended the Baldur to me. They both said that it is the best value for the money in the Norse series. They pointed out that their specs are closer to the Tyr specs than any other cable in the Norse series.

I never had a chance to compare the Baldur and the Tyr side by side, but I've listened to systems using all Baldur cables and all Tyr cables. I don't remember the Baldur being veiled, but I don't think it is as transparent as the Tyr or the Red Dawn.

I can't say how my system sounds with all Baldur cables since I decided to go for the Stereovox Reference series for my entire system. I still keep some Baldur ICs and the Red Dawn SC as a backup though, even though I'm not using them.

I personally don't think that the Baldur is a better cable than the Red Dawn. If your system can reproduce the lowest octaves, I would suggest to go for the Red Dawns. This is assuming that your system is not lean, in which case you can perhaps look into the Baldur.

I did quite a bit of research and spoke with a few dealers about Nordost Cables. Initially I was going to get entry level cables, but ended up moving up the line in the used market. Currently I use Quattro Fil XLR's and Red Dawn rev II speaker cables.

Reading from the specs, the Baldur just doesn't seem like it's much of an improvement over the Red Dawns and most folks I talked to agreed. I think if you are in the Norse line, the Heimdall would be the ones to get. They are the first in the nordost line to use micromonofilament technology and are not very expensive like valhallas.

In my system, the RD's do not sound lean at all. I would suggest you try the RD's and if you don't like them, move up to Heimdalls, instead of Baldur's.

I've heard the Baldur speakercables and XLR interconnects, on some C.E.C. equipments and Dynaudio 52SE speakers. And it sounded very good. It was very dynamic to me, but I have never compared them to Red Dawn.
My dad have the Red Dawn, and I have to say that it's an amazing cable. Details and clarity, but it's also a very fast cable. It could maybe be a bit too cold to some. Try listen to it.

I just auditioned both Red dawn and Baldur speaker and the Baldur is definitely smoother. Red Dawn was to aggressive, lacked finesse. Bass on Baldur was good too. For long-term listening it's a superior cable.