Nordost Frey interconnect hum


I bought a pair of used Nordost Frey unbalanced interconnects here and i noticed they induce a hum through my speakers when my preamp is off or when the cables are only plugged into the power amp. The strange thing to me is that my Nordost Heimdall interconnects do not induce the hum under the same conditions nor do other shielded interconnects. They do the same thing on another system as well. I understand that both the Heimdall and Frey have the same 97% shielding and the only difference is 2 extra center conductors. I'm waiting for the seller to ask Nordost but i thought i would ask here if anyone can explain it.

Thanks for any advice.
pongagt
Daveyf - I never had the chance to listen to the original Tyr's. The only 2 Nordost cables I never heard were original Tyr's and Odin. Also I never heard the Leif series either. So you could be right. My reference at the time were my original Frey's. The series2 are very different. I will admit the Tyr2 ic kicked the Frey2's butt!! That being said the Frey2 is much better than the original. Speaker cables included. My favorite combo was the Frey2 ic and Tyr2 sc. My sc's are 4 meter and Tyr2's were way to far out of my budget.
Bo 1972, Wenn you use a REL sub, you have to make sure that it is dialed in
correctly; that way when you listen to it, it will blend into the mix...;0)
Bo1972 - Funny my first real ic purchase were the AQ vipers. I liked them a lot but there was no emotion (blurry - flat sounding and no 'air' between the instruments and vocals) to the music. Good low to high frequency response. Later I got the Cardas Neutral reference. More emotion in the mids but rolled off highs and lows. Next were the AQ King Cobra's. Another good one for frequency response but only a hair more emotion than the Vipers but not as good as the Cardas. Then the Fusion Audio Interlockers. Great frequency response and more emotion and focus than the Cardas but had a narrower sound stage. Then the original Frey ic. Great emotion - best 'air' between the instruments and vocals and a wider sound stage. These also had the best focus. I will agree the Frey's didn't have the best low end frequency response. But it didn't matter because I have a Rel B3 sub. So the low frequency was a moot point. If you have the opportunity listen the the Norse series demo case. The lows are there with these cables. Speaking of the sub the Rel B series is a great line up. But when I tossed the original Rel cable and had a Nordost Bassline made to Rel spec holy cow what a difference. Attack and decay like I never knew existed in my system.

For what ever it is worth I started with a Rel B3 and Bryston B100sst integrated and upgraded to an Octave V70SE tube integrated. Dynaudio C1's and upgraded to the C1 Signature. Started with and still have a Meridian G08 for a source. Added a Purepower 1050 regenerator to my dedicated lines.

That being said I always recommend AQ cables for beginners as a good entry level bang for the buck cable. System synergy will determine whether or not AQ - Nordost etc are right for your system. For me as I upgraded my system cables made more of a profound difference. Prior to that they made a difference but not as profound. Last when I audition cables I disconnect the sub.

That's my experience
I sold Audioquest in the past a lot, but I didn't see them for some years on my radar. I sold the vipers as well. They were alright, but not that special. 2 years ago I needed 5 new interlinks for my 5 channel poweramp. I had orderd 5 Kimber select interlinks. I had two wait 2 weeks before they came. So I borrowed 5 AQ Diamonback. I was surprised by the sharp focus and the deep stage. Then the Kimber Select came. After 1 week everything came in to place. AQ has done some great development in the last years. Mannnnnn...I missed something. People call me the cable expert overhere. Wenn I went back to the Kimber my stage became less deep and the focus was a little less sharp. So I bought the Colorado. The difference compared
to Kimber select was stunning. Now Audioquest was on my radar again I want to test more of there new cabels I did not know. I bought the AQ coffee hdmi. All cabels came direct from AQ Netherlands. If I would not like them I could send them back. The coffee was stunning as well. I did some testing also in HDMI cabels. But the AQ with silver sets new settings. My stage became deeper again, much sharper focus and my overwhole sound became much more real and musical. Now I play with the AQ Diamaond hdmi. Words are difficult to find how god it is. My Samsung PS64D8000 gave so much sharper image and black became more black. I always do many tests to compare them with the ones I used before. The AQ sub-1 was the next cable I wanted to test. Same results. Low freq. became more powerfull and better defined. But the silver in these cabels do a lot for the higher freq as well. I use my sub
to 120hz, and you could easily hear more resolution and space in the higher freq. of the sub. There is one thing AQ is not that good at. Powercabels. I test them as well, but competitors like Purist Audio and powercabels like Valhalla are still superior. Now I have the AQ Redwood to test. I have to do some changements before I can use it at home. So I connect them at a friend. I heard new things I never heard. The overwhole sound becomes a lot more authority. All parts of the recording are separated more than what I had witht the Valhalla. It is as if many light spots from above are foccused on every part. I never heard all parts that easy from recordings. During listening I can walk around and focus just on one part that easy. The cable can lock every part of the recording. Wenn you go back to Valhalla the parts are there but they never are locked. Like they are moving. I can see them but they are not in focus. I have to think many times of my New Sony A99, what locks fast and is sharp as a knife. All the tests I did for clients with only Nordost. I could convince them of getting a better focus with other brands. I never had a client who said I just want Nordost. I learned all these people what individual focus is. Wenn you know it you understand easily the flaws of Nordost. Soon I will give a lot of demo's and shows overhere. We will record it with professional cameras. When it works out later we will do it in english as well. I want peolple to get a higher level of sound. I am only interested in the best, for my clients I have the same goal.
Overwhole the AQ sub-1 is better than the bassline of Nordost. Which I sold a lot. It go's deeper and is better in the higher freq. as well cause of the silver it usses in the cable.