The quality of our listening protocols led Nordost to offer to let us test a complete Heimdall 2 power cable, a Frey 2 power cable and a Qbase 8 mkIII power strip for several months. As one of our main systems already had exactly these components, along with a Qbase 8 mkII, we took advantage of these tests to review our entire installation and revise the contribution of each of the cables to our system, in addition to comparing the mkII and mkIII strips with each other, with and without the addition of decouplers (AC, BC, TC) and harmonisers (QRT Qv2). Thanks to this update, we have been able to re-identify all the reasons that led us at the time to invest in this treatment of the sector by Nordost.
Nordost Norse 2 cable series
Positioned between the Leif entry-level range and the Reference and Supreme Reference ranges, Nordost’s Norse 2 range is already taking listening to a high level of fidelity, without reaching the prices of the Valhalla and Odin products. Comprising three series, the Norse 2 range starts with the Heimdall 2 products and continues with the Frey 2 and Tyr 2. Designed to meet almost every need, these cables are available in RCA and XLR, speaker, coaxial SPDIF, RJ45, USB, 4k UHD or even RCA, XLR or DIN phono turntable arm modulations. But for this issue, we have chosen to draw only the preliminary sap: that of mains cables, with Heimdall 2 cables ranging from 1 to 3 m, plus two Frey 2 cables of 2 and 3 m.
Founded in 1991 with an initial focus on the medical sector, as well as audio, Nordost has used research carried out in conjunction with NASA to maximise the reliability of its cables. Now refocused on high-fidelity, the American company continues to develop numerous processing devices, with a recent shift towards Internet data via Qnet, or increasingly refined development of current harmonisation with the new QRT Qwave, QKoil and QSine. However, it is keeping in its catalogue products that have been benchmarks for over a decade, including the mains cables in its Norse 2 range. With a monofilament construction to create a virtual air dielectric, silver-plated OFC conductors and FEP (Fluorinated Ethylene Propylene) insulation, the Heimdall 2 offers ultra-fast current and voltage transfer with low impedance and strong mechanical control. The more advanced Frey 2 uses conductors with a diameter of 5 x 16 AWG, compared to 3 for Heimdall 2. Its resistance drops from 4 Ω per 1000‘’ to 2 Ω per 1000‘ – the Tyr 2 going even further to 1.33 Ω per 1000’ – for a velocity of propagation of 85%.
Nordost QBase 8 MKIII power strip
The latest addition to the power strip range, the Qbase 8 MkIII replaces the MkII after more than ten years of service. The MkII itself arrived after the first version, incorporating better sockets and offering the option of being switched to 20 A. Now laminated at both ends, where the MkII was still edged with aluminium to frame the main piece in extruded aluminium, the MkIII still exists in the QB4 or QB8 version for the USA and Europe, as well as in QB6 for the United Kingdom. Mechanically, it adds passive resistance to raise the impedance level on the seven sockets around the main one, thus forcing all the earths to centre on the latter, indicated as ‘Primary Earth’. This star-shaped process provides perfect isolation of the components while eliminating any conflicting flow between the signal and earth paths. But Qbase MkIII also innovates with its internal current transport board, as it no longer contains just one, but two well-separated ones, which separate the earth connections from the voltage and neutral lines, resulting in minimised interference and crosstalk. Optimised in width and weight, the tracks are even more effective when using a large amplifier, such as Wavac or CH Precision monoblocs.
The set-up
Already in possession of some of the components, with a Qbase 8 MkII, we first dismantled everything and reconnected all the system devices with the original cables, on a Legrand power strip. Then we gradually added the Nordost cables, first Heimdall 2, then Frey 2, and finally integrated the Qbase 8 MkII strip, which was later interchanged with the MkIII. Using an Accuphase E-600, Mark Levinson 5101 and various power supplies to make the Kuzma turntable and internet data more reliable (Forrester F1 and Ferrum Hypsos), the tests were developed on a smaller system with an Atoll ST300 source and a Luxman SQ-N150 tube amplifier. Once the sound was properly calibrated, two QRT QV2 current harmonisers (€430) and TC (€460), BC (€195) and AC (€110) decouplers were integrated, with the facility on the MkIII version of being able to remove the rubber feet and screw on a pair of QRT Stand Mounts (€150) instead, on which to attach the decouplers.
The sound
This is not the first power strip we have tested, far from it, but it had been a long time since we had dismantled the entire block to reassemble it as we went along… and rediscovered the sensations experienced several years ago, through the integration of superior elements to make the audio system’s power supply more reliable. A few days after receiving the components, during an installation in Brittany in a much purer environment than Paris, a few kilometres from the Rance tidal power station, the fact of having incorporated only the Qbase 8 mkIII into a system already had a direct impact on the concentration of sound elements and the reduction of background noise.
In Paris, where the environment is much more polluted, the integration of Heimdall 2 cables instantly increases the brightness of the sound and the contour of the musical elements, both when connected to an amplifier and to a source, the best being to use several to touch all the elements. Even on the power supply of the Kuzma turntable, as advised by Franck Kuzma himself, the result is real, with a more fluid analogue sound, simply due to the improved precision of the rotation.
With the addition of the Frey 2 on the amplifier, the difference is even more impressive, as if the speakers had changed volume, in addition to having modified their loudspeakers to better colour the timbres. All the components benefit from this, although we are still dealing with an audiophile-type musical transcription, which tends to improve the substances of the sound without making them perfectly realistic.
In order to achieve this result, the bar must be added, and while the Qbase mkIII goes even further than the mkII in reducing noise and thus darkening the soundstage for the benefit of relief and realism, the most obvious difference is when listening with and without the bar. For while our primary system has been on Nordost for more than five years and the new bar, which is simpler to isolate thanks to the Stand Mount, goes even further than the previous version, it is clearly on our second system, previously on an Oelbach audiophile power strip, that the lightening and ventilation gained by the introduction of a Qbase explode to the ear, and finally do justice to all the tracks played by eliminating all the disturbing resonance effects.
Our conclusion
Already evident in a healthy environment, adding mains cables and reproducing the protocol in a polluted environment such as Paris, by adding a power strip upstream of a system, demonstrates the importance of making the current processing of a hi-fi system more reliable, an undeniable know-how of the American brand in this field. And if the problem always arises of knowing when you should invest in a cable costing around €1,000 to power a hi-fi product, the answer with a power strip and an upstream cable is more obvious, because the improvement instantly affects all the elements of the system, rather than one product in particular. This is a real investment (Qbase mkIII at €2,600 + 2 x Heimdall 2 at a minimum of €840) that cannot reasonably be made for a system costing less than €5,000, but in view of the gain in clarity and reduction in noise, even on a small Luxman tube amplifier or Sugden headphone amp, we highly recommend it because of the significant contribution it makes to the music!
Author: Vincent Guillemin
Technical sheet: Nordost Heimdall QBase 8 MkIII
Nordost Qbase 8 mkIII
- Origin: United States
- Price: €2,600
- Specific features:
- 8 Schuko sockets
- Separation to earth
Nordost Heimdall 2
- Origin: United States
- Price: from €840 (1 metre; €275 per additional metre)
Nordost Frey 2
- Origin: United States
- Price: from €2,245 (1 m; €420 per additional metre)
