Audiophilepure

https://www.stereophile.com/content/nordost-qnet-network-switch-qsource-linear-power-supply

Rather than listing example after musical example, I’ll simply say that it is now much easier to follow each line in even the most complex passages of Mahler or Strauss and to understand, musically, the reasons behind the complexity. Thunderous organ now resonates strongly, without inappropriate boom. Tonal color inside my music room is beyond acid-rush intensity. Outside, however, it remains Pacific-Northwest gray.

It’s been a long time since I ended a review with “I bought the review samples.” But I did. And once I realized how vital the QNet was to my system—how a simple network switch allowed me to achieve so much more of what high-end audio is about, and how much more silent and revealing the QSource was than my other linear power supply—I bought a second QSource for my etherRegen and AfterDark clock. I didn’t think a second QSource would make another huge difference, but when the soundstage suddenly expanded beyond the front and side walls, my pleasure expanded concomitantly. Don’t you love when that happens?

Over and above its astonishingly “cool” looks, the Tourbillon T-RX is a sonic wonder. I’ve heard a lot of tape decks over the years—from huge studio Ampexes and Studers to smaller-scale gems made by Nagra, ReVox, Otari, etc. I’ve also heard just about every iteration of Greg Beron’s marvelous United Home Audio Tascams, and (except for Greg’s latest, ultra-expensive SuperDeck), not a one of them outdoes the Tourbillon. It is the very quintessence of neutrality and completeness—those twin household audio gods that make ersatz sound like real. 

Alongside the UHA SuperDeck, the Metaxas Tourbillon T-RX is the highest fidelity audio component I’ve auditioned, consistently making the musicians on well-recorded tapes into near-visible presences and music sound as you hear it in life. Like my other Golden Ears, the Metaxas & Sins Tourbillon T-RX will also be a nominee for TAS’ annual Product of the Year Awards—and this one would be a Product of the Year in any decade, past or present.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/nordost-qnet-network-switch-qsource-linear-power-supply

When I ditched QNet’s switch-mode wall wart for the QSource, a touch of brightness I’d been hearing vanished and all the QNet’s positive effects increased. With more silence came more beauty and detail—and with it, more light and spiritual insight. Those insights aren’t always pretty—take Callas’s voice as Lady Macbeth—but they inevitably get me closer to truth, whose essence can be as terrible and earth-shaking as it can be beautiful and beneficent. I can honestly say that the QNet/QSource pairing transported me closer to my ultimate goal, which is to move closer to the source of artistic creation and the artists I love.

When I disconnected the Roon Nucleus+ server/streamer from the HDPlex 300 and powered it, as well, with the QSource, I heard even more color, detail, and clarity. As another veil lifted, images again grew in size and became more believable. Yes, I compared connector cable options. The Nordost premium QSource DC cables delivered more vibrant energy and subtle dynamic/ tonal shifts than the stock cables. The premium’s gauge is thicker.