Audiophilepure

Although chunky, meaty, well-paced, and foot-tappingly rhythmic, the cable sounds steadier and more relaxed than the Jorma Unity or my affordable favorite, the Driade Flow Link Reference 808. Both are leaner but also nimbler and subjectively faster, and both are airier and more refined. But while the Jorma is more impactful and timbrally convincing than the Driade, neither has the “live”-like robustness, stance, tonal saturation, “meat on the bones”, and overall weight that exemplifies the Mad Scientist cable.

As a final test, I connected the Black Magic Gold interlink with a dCS stack that happened to be on visit at this time: the Paganini Clock/USB interface and Puccini CD player/DAC. This turned out to be a particularly well-working combination, the Black Magic Gold’s body and tonal saturation marrying beautifully with the dCS combo’s slightly lean and highly detailed nature. The dCS combo’s inherent purity and cleanness were expressed well without leaning toward clinicality. But it must be said that, here, too, the treble did not quite have the level of nuance, air, and ultra-high resolution that the combo can produce with the Driade or the Jorma. Nevertheless, the combination sounds articulate yet energetic and, again, timbrally very natural, harmonically rich, and overall very convincing.

https://www.theaudiobeat.com/equipment/nordost_blue_heaven.htm

If you want to build a Nordost Blue Heaven loom but do so in installments, start with the QBASE and Blue Heaven power cords. I am firmly convinced that electronic devices cannot work to their full potential until power cords and power distribution/noise reduction are addressed. While power cords may not be as thrilling as purchasing a new electronic component or speaker, my experiences suggest that mixing and matching power components can result in poor performance. It’s also notable that the Blue Heaven power cords and QBASE were used on the listening tour, replacing cords and distribution pieces costing far, far more, yet the sound retained the same level of bass slam and the low noise floor I associate with good, clean power management. This was fairly remarkable for one of Nordost’s “budget” cable lines.

Next, purchase interconnects and then the speaker cables for their clarity and drive. With these two in place, you have the Nordost signature sound. Adding the speaker cables will bring the speed of attack and clarity I’ve discussed, while the RCA interconnects are more neutral, having less effect on the sound of my system.

Provided your DAC needs a USB cable, the Blue Heaven is a fine choice at a budget-friendly price. In my system, the USB cable gave excellent results and was an easy recommendation. Substituting an expensive, well-reviewed USB cable from a competing brand lessened my interest in listening. Timing was confused and the soundstage shrunk. A bit of dullness crept in. The USB swap was definitely more dramatic and clear-cut than swapping RCA interconnects. Even if you have opted to use various brands of cabling in your system, I encourage you to give the Blue Heaven USB a try.

Finally, for those vinyl users needing a DIN-terminated phono cable, the clever engineering Nordost included in their design is easily appreciated. While I’m not plagued with audible hum in the phono stage, the ability to add extra paths for grounding is a nice touch and could be a lifesaver in many systems.

https://www.soundstageultra.com/index.php/equipment-menu/1202-crystal-cable-art-series-monet-speaker-cables

Down low, the Monets sounded great. Good, tight, tuneful bass. That said, both my Audience and Nordost cables excel in the bottom octaves, and the Monets were more alike than different in this regard. This is still high praise, as I’ve been digging some of the best bass of my experience with both of these cables, and having the Monets keep up is a triumph.

More alike than different. That doesn’t mean identical. I just listened right through to the 1995 reissue of John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme remastered by Michael Cuscuna (LP, Impulse! GR-155), and despite years of familiarity with this recording, it’s still as fresh to me as ever—triumphant and soaring, crisp and snappy. As with most olde-tyme jazz recordings, the bass suffers most, but there’s still that thick, twangy intro to “Acknowledgement,” which feels like it’s coming out of a deep hole in the ground. It’s an easily hummable anchor that carries through the piece, and the Monets kept all of the weight (any loss of grounding here would be fatal to the integrity of this track) while adding just a small amount of detail to the sense of Jimmy Garrison’s fingers on the strings themselves.

https://www.soundstageultra.com/index.php/equipment-menu/1202-crystal-cable-art-series-monet-speaker-cables

Circling back to Rich’s BIL, in this system the twenty large would definitely be better spent on speakers, amp, or source, but the reviewing lifestyle makes for strange bedfellows. That said, my basement is a dark dungeon compared to Rob’s living room, so it took until now, the last minute, to really get the full effect of just how elegant these cables are.

I guess at this point it goes without saying that there’s value here in the admittedly intimidating retail price of these cables, but it’s not just in sound quality. If you were to purchase the Monets for use in your system, you’d also be buying elegance and exclusivity. These cables aren’t for everyone, but man, oh man, do they stand out in a crowd.

Before the AudioQuest Thunderbird and Firebird XLR interconnect cables arrived, the Wind was my go-to for AQ XLR connection. Aside from the Mythical Creatures cables, the Wind was the only AQ interconnect I had with the DBS technology. I’ve been using them a lot over the last few years.

The Wind, along with the other AQ XLR interconnect cables I have on hand, all belong to the Rivers & Elements series. It uses AQ’s Solid Perfect-Surface Silver (PSS) conductors.

While the Thunderbird and Firebird were downright triumphant when it came to disappearing within my system, the Wind wasn’t far behind. (In fact, I’ll venture to say that the Wind and the Thunderbird were fairly close in this respect, but still distant from the Firebird.) I also found that the Wind could approach the quiet, revealing nature of the Mythical Creatures cables when used with other grounding and noise-reduction products–such as those GroundGoody grounding wires. The Firebird and the Thunderbird, however, easily accomplished those goals with little or no assistance.

The triple dual-helix wiring is then encapsulated in three layers of dielectric chambers to become the final product. The innermost dielectric chamber is a commercial-grade vacuum at 675HG. The next layer is made of the company’s proprietary alloy, named HDA. Stage III claims this layer provides the bundled AeroStrandUltra conductor a 100% shielding from EMI. The third, outermost dielectric is a weave of plated copper and conductive carbonized nylon strands named, ASPIS, for its resemblance to the skin of the African venomous viper.

The XLR connectors named, Hyperion, are made of silver alloy and are also similarly, cryogenically treated as the AeroStrandUltra conductors. The company claims that the assembly of the connectors to the cables is done individually using proprietary elements not seen in other products

With the first pair of Ckahorn XLR staying put and adding the second, longer pair of the Ckahron XLR between the Xs Preamp and the XA200.8 monoblocks, alternating with the Bricasti Design M28 monoblocks, there’s a substantial sense of purity in quietness of noise in the Ckahron’s demeanor. In the rarefied space, music takes on the most palpable presence with the signal path laid out by the cable itself from either the Bricasti Design DAC or the Xs Phono to the Xs Preamp, and onwards to the monoblocks.

Playing the Proprius Cantate Domino LP, the Stage III redefined the experience. In speed, the Stage III was expedient and utterly composed. In dynamics, the contrasts between the choir, the brass and the pipe organ were at its most startling and engaging. In tone, it showed the Stage III XLR was every bit as supremely vivid and uncensored as the A.R.T. RCA. I could at once relax and entrust the Stage III in bringing some of the finest music into my life. It was the first time two pairs of balanced cable in my system were showing me how vast the record was in context and emotions. Though featuring a lone trumpet and a pipe organ, the two pairs of Stage III XLR together conveyed unprecedented effectiveness and persuasiveness of palettes of tonal richness, at same time rendering the performance as tonally harmonious and supremely easy on the ear.

AudioQuest ThunderBird

In fact, my biggest dislike in ThunderBird is that I hear the Thunderbirds theme tune as an earworm every time I discuss the cable (because Gerry Anderson wrote at least part of the soundtrack to my childhood). Note that nothing about this has any actual bearing on the performance of the cable and is more to do with life as a reviewer being one long fever dream.

I wasn’t expecting a sea-change in cable performance to come at this sort of price point. Normally, the big changes happen when the really big tickets come out. But ThunderBird really does make a big change to the performance of a system, even one that is in the attainable rather than ‘stratospheric’ price and quality level. I can’t wait to hear what the full loom can do and what the likes of FireBird and Dragon will do. These might be Mythical Creatures, but what they do to sound is more than just fantasy.