Nordost Blue Heaven AC Cord Review

[misureaudio]

Cables are just an aspect of the whole business.

'QPOINT RESONANCE SYNCHRONIZER​

The QPOINT Resonance Synchronizer emits a subtle field which manipulates all electromechanical resonances within its immediate proximity so that they resonate in unison with each other. By syncing these resonances, the QPOINT eliminates internal electrical noise, enhancing the coherency and timing that is typically lacking in even the most high-end audio systems.


In order to accommodate its effects to all of the various electronics in the industry, including but not limited to solid state or tube amplifiers, digital or analog source components, traditional line stages or modern digital processors, and even to tailor results to the personal preferences of the user, the QPOINT has been designed with two modes. Mode I and II each generate unique resonances, which emphasize different musical characteristics as they lower the noise floor. Users can switch from Mode I to Mode II instantaneously to evaluate which sonic properties fit the needs of each unique electronic device in their hi-fi system.


The QPOINT is modular in nature. Its effects are cumulative and are best used alongside other Nordost QRT products. Nordost’s QPOINT Resonance Synchronizer ensures your electronics are all working in concert, in order to enhance the coherency, articulation, and musical structure of your system.'

What the Hell does the first paragraph mean?

How does one 'manipulate all electromechanical resonance'? By means of what?

Last paragraph is fantastic: 'effect is cumulative'. One can add Qpoints at a modest price step nearing 1k$ each.

 

[ocinn]

Safety certification is the first thing I care for and replicas and fakes don't do good to anyone.
Reminds me of dirty Prada T-shirts 1 dollar a day underpayed,exploited kids wear.
It's plain sad.

And you are entitled to your opinion, I totally respect it. I only sent that here to show that it exists to those who may be unaware, not as a “go buy it right now” recommendation.

And, FYI a bit of an apples to oranges comparison. Besides the fact that art and fashion are subjective and not objective mediums, Prada is a label which has immense heritage in couture etc. Even if you are buying a “cheap to produce” screenprinted T-shirt from them, they are still a well respected fashion house, and their increased profit margin on T-shirts is what partially funds their higher end lines and drives innovation.

Nordost’s business model is corrupt from the core and based on using pseudoscience as a weapon to drive sales. It’s totally different.

 

[Sokel]

And you are entitled to your opinion, I totally respect it. I only sent that here to show that it exists to those who may be unaware, not as a “go buy it right now” recommendation.

And, FYI a bit of an apples to oranges comparison. Besides the fact that art and fashion are subjective and not objective mediums, Prada is a label which has immense heritage in couture etc. Even if you are buying a “cheap to produce” screenprinted T-shirt from them, they are still a well respected fashion house, and their increased profit margin on T-shirts is what partially funds their higher end lines and drives innovation.

Nordost’s business model is corrupt from the core and based on using pseudoscience as a weapon to drive sales. It’s totally different.

Totally agree with that by the ones these poor kids wear are not real Pradas.is just their way of wearing something just stated as such.
And that's the sad part of the story.
Same with these fake stuff,they give this "hi-end" feeling visually but what they actually do is flatter Nordost,as mimicking is the highest form of flattery.
I appreciate an all Mogami cable system 1 million times more,at least it oozes honesty.

 

[amirm]

If you don’t care about safety certification and you just want the aesthetics of fancy cables (which is totally valid IMO) aliexpress has thousands of replicas of these. For 1/10,000th the price.

I have a couple pairs of “nordost” XLRs from aliexpress and they look identical, and check out fine on my scope (at least, not broken, and no excessive interference even when held next to EMI nightmare devices)

I don’t like to condone supporting replica markets but in this case I have no empathy towards a company scamming consumers with lies, support the factories that probably make all of the parts that go into them anyways.


View attachment 291745

Given those custom connectors, I have to believe whoever makes the authentic parts is also supplying them for these fake ones.

 

[TonyJZX]

yes but does this have the edge over GR Research's $400 version?

also the Nordost copies on aliexpress seem to be $40-$60? so 10% actual and there's still margin for the chinese maker?

Nordost is making some pretty decent gains.

 

[ocinn]

Given those custom connectors, I have to believe whoever makes the authentic parts is also supplying them for these fake ones.

Yup. And this pretty much confirms it:

There is also not enough demand for these to prompt Chinese manufacturers to invest in creating custom tooling and production lines to replicate them, as they do with replica watches and fashion.

It’s pretty comical that BOM for these is likely hovering around $30 and they are able to actually make sales at $50k+. I cannot think of another industry with those margins, outside of Pharmaceuticals of course.

 

[KenA]

Amirm, when testing had you taken the Velcro straps off? I found that was the reason why mine didn’t work. After that easy trick, I mean, wow, an unveiling like none before.

 

[pma]

"...But you have to actually listen to it. Measurements are pointless for evaluating a power cable. Also, you do need for a high end system to point out the difference. Certainly, this 500$ Chinese crap is not revealing enough..."

 

[TonyJZX]

There is also not enough demand for these to prompt Chinese manufacturers to invest in creating custom tooling and production lines to replicate them, as they do with replica watches and fashion.

It’s pretty comical that BOM for these is likely hovering around $30 and they are able to actually make sales at $50k+. I cannot think of another industry with those margins, outside of Pharmaceuticals of course.

so many words to avoid saying "made in china"


and in reality... who cares? its copper cable. I mean at this point its deprecated technology to draw wire.

I've been living the life of a network engineer for decades and there too you see a lot of high priced cables... usually unusual rarely used stuff like Cisco stacking cables and there to you see massive markup... in that you pay the asking price because using a chinese copy would be fine except in that 0.0001% chance where it isnt fine and you lose data.

BUT funny thing is there are no specialist IEC cables for any switch, not even $100,000+ core switches so if they dont care there, why would you care anywhere else?

 

[Vict0r]

I'm amazed people still buy these things in 2023. One google prompt will teach you to just put your money elsewhere. I must be overestimating my fellow man.

 

[HarmonicTHD]

… and yet after all this and other cable tests (eg GR etc) with all the solid facts there are still one / a few people here which vote “great”

No matter what one would do, they never would be convinced. It’s like convincing “flat earthers”.

For all others, who want to see facts, this is great and valuable to make an informed decision on where to spent their money.

 

[Ler0ck]

I’m waiting this day for a long time. Thanks Armir

 

[misureaudio]

… and yet after all this and other cable tests (eg GR etc) with all the solid facts there are still one / a few people here which vote “great”

No matter what one would do, they never would be convinced. It’s like convincing “flat earthers”.

For all others, who want to see facts, this is great and valuable to make an informed decision on where to spent their money.

May be it's even more interesting that some (real) flatearther calls us skeptical (*) 'flatearthers'.

(*) I'm not just skeptical, I use some Nordost blue haven signal cable (I got it used for the 15% in price). The best thing I can say about is that it's 2 metres long, which is useful in my context.

 

[AndreaT]

Fancy cable manufacturers exploited a fundamental human weakness: the mental association between looking good and performing well, looking better and performing even more, and looking the best and achieving a god-like status. This has been known since antiquity: both Aeneas and Odysseus were good looking, Emperors and Queens, since Julius Cesar and Cleopatra, were usually portrayed (we would say today photoshopped) according to the Canon of Beauty. It took millennia to discover a process to graph with light the real appearance, and even then, thanks to progress in lighting and make-up, the control of the image soon took over again…Nordost (and many other manufacturers, Chord is another example) had the intuition that bling is often associated with competence in at least a linear fashion. ASR offers to us a fundamental tool to get real beyond this game of mirrors, at least for the reproduction of recorded Music, and it is therefore a positive example of itinerarium ad verum. Thank you Amir!

 

[milosz]

There needs to be a parallel review of double-blind listening tests for all of these articles, maybe then the subjectivists would shut up. The first A/B test would be with the Topping DAC vs. one or two of the most revered / expensive DACs out there. I'd bet dollars to donuts that **NO ONE** could hear the difference.

 

[BR52]

Yup. And this pretty much confirms it:

View attachment 291752


There is also not enough demand for these to prompt Chinese manufacturers to invest in creating custom tooling and production lines to replicate them, as they do with replica watches and fashion.

It’s pretty comical that BOM for these is likely hovering around $30 and they are able to actually make sales at $50k+. I cannot think of another industry with those margins, outside of Pharmaceuticals of course.

The manufacturer some there in the world is producing the customer (Nord Ost) is asking for. It’s Nord Ost “design” and marketing. They bring it to the market.
Customer protection?

 

[sarumbear]

Nordost (and many other manufacturers, Chord is another example) had the intuition that bling is often associated with competence in at least a linear fashion.

The thing is bling is a criteria that many wants to be associated. Swiss watches, Hermes & Lois Vuitton bags are bling but they are also high quality. They don't advertise them on how strong their bracelets or handles are, etc.. They sell it for exclusivity and visual quality of the product. Nord Ost's cable looks good, they could have marketed on looks alone but instead they lie.

 

[ocinn]

I use some Nordost blue haven signal cable (I got it used for the 15% in price).

This reminds me of when I was like 14-16yrs old. My side hustle outside of my real job was buying audio gear at estate sales/flea markets/online auctions from people that didn’t know what they had. I would repair any issues and then resell them.

In the process I amassed a pretty incredible collection of audiophool pieces (cables, equipment feet, cable risers, etc) that I got for dirt cheap.

They (aesthetically) looked amazing in my system, and I wasn’t preoccupied about the cost because I paid so little.

One morning I woke up with the revelation I am sitting on components with insane resale value that I paid next to nothing for, and they provide no real benefit to me except aesthetics which no one besides me ever saw, so I made a plethora of audiogon listings and then used that profit to fund tangible upgrades to my setup and investments.

 

[Sokel]

Nord Ost's cable looks good

That's highly debatable for the one tested here,is off by any look standard.

 

[BR52]

Nord Ost's cable looks good, they could have marketed on looks alone

And show’s they’re “competence”