NORDOST TYR 2 Review (Coax Cable)

[Chrispy]

Good grief if you need a cable "elf" you might just look at the portly Joe Reynolds?

 

[respice finem]

What about this business idea: Take this cheapo "Pro Snake" cables, rebrand them as "Snake Oil" (less modifications necessary and a very honest brand name), hire some marketing and texting people, create a nice website and sell it for a few hundred or thousend dollars.

Probably many "snake oil sellers" are really "manufacturing" by buying stuff on the cheap, ready-printed with their BS.
Including, but not limited to, cables.

 

[Doodski]

ready-printed with their BS.

When I wired instrumentation panels I would print labels using a PC with a printer that printed onto heat shrink whatever text and font that I wanted. It's easy to do with the gear at hand.

 

[respice finem]

When I wired instrumentation panels I would print labels using a PC with a printer that printed onto heat shrink whatever text and font that I wanted. It's easy to do with the gear at hand.

Yes, but, if you would decide to maximize profit, why bother? This day and age, you can outsource almost anything, and it is likely to be cheaper per unit, than doing it yourself.

 

[iv0]

Damm 1800 dollars for a cable that doesn't do anything ... how can these people hear differences?????

1800 dollars would help an orphan in Cambodia or else where i believe

It would be a shame of existence if these rich people don't donate but buy useless cables ...

Simple, bro! The difference is proportional to money spend. If the price is u known they will perceive no differences.

 

[Doodski]

Yes, but, if you would decide to maximize profit, why bother? This day and age, you can outsource almost anything, and it is likely to be cheaper per unit, than doing it yourself.

Not for one'off's like a water wellhead control panel or a oil well platform drill panel that is custom in-house and finished to perfection c/w up/down RF links for comms. The stuff I've done was all custom limited production direct from in-house engineering dept layouts. That's why I did it. The cool factor. This contracting out to Asian interests is for the birds. I am in a region where this sort of production and assembly work is daily and no Asian contributions occur. American know how and ingenuity abound. Otherwise for consumer/domestic mass produced items yes Asian contracts are beneficial. It's still for the birds though.

 

[pattox]

I am really glad that Amir is here to do these rigorous and objective tests of equipment. In the past we had to rely on a bevy of "golden eared" reviewers such as the following to help us with our quest for the perfect audio system.

Nordost Tyr 2 Interconnect, Speaker, and Power Cables - The Absolute Sound

Nordost Tyr 2 Interconnect, Speaker, and Power Cables -

www.theabsolutesound.com

Without pushing the idea too far, here are some other shared words that spring to mind: Focus, precision, depth, warmth, texture, open, tight, expansive, and, uh, frequently, expensive. Which brings me to the products under review here: a complete “loom,” as its maker likes to call it, of Nordost’s Tyr 2 cable.
.....

So, transparency, precision, purity, depth, texture, openness, expansiveness… Nordost’s Tyr 2 loom brings all of this and more to the listening experience. Yet as I wrap up these thoughts another word now pops to mind that perhaps best sums up my analogy between wine and audio: transformative. That is perhaps the ultimate thing I can say about any experience. It takes us to another place, another level of understanding—and, in this case, another level of long-term musical pleasure.

 

[DonR]

Masters of the thesaurus

 

[DanTheMan]

In truth, these companies that sell this crap are bigger charlatans than Danny Ritchie. He will at least make an attempt at making actual audible improvements and the cost isn’t this outrageous. He’s really only a 4-5 on a scale of 10. These guys go all the way to 11.

 

[audiotron]

What is interesting is that
1) Straight Wire is a pretty pricey “made in the USA” brand that was rebadged as JBL Synthesis cables in the US. JBL has a bigger brand than Revel in Asia. There are no clones on Aliexpress.

2) McIntosh sells very expensive cables that wouldn’t be hard to counterfeit. There are “McIntosh” labeled cables on AliExpress that look nothing like McIntosh cables.

I actually have a lot of respect for McIntosh. If you look at their cable marketing language, they are very truthful. Their cable language is likely the most truthful I have ever seen that it almost sounds silly.

https://www.mcintoshlabs.com/-/media/Files/mcintoshlabs/DocumentMaster/us/Cable-brochure-35015604.pdf?rev=5a69b322b3bb4e17b17543295e954eae&revision=5a69b322-b3bb-4e17-b175-43295e954eae

3) Nordost has admittedly very complex cable designs and those are perfectly matched at what is reasonably priced for audiophile jewelry at AliExpress.

4) As a bonus, I picked up some NOS speaker wire from Radio Shack at the price of generic wire. The marketing hyperbole is par for the course, but this speaker wire was actually Made in the USA. Even Monster Cable went to Taiwan and Mexico.View attachment 216848
View attachment 216849

I have a lot of respect for McIntosh too. They manufacture in house have SMT machines, reflow ovens, ... with proper electronics manufacturing and design. They even make their enclosures in house. But I have a problem when a company that has no IP, claims to be a high end audio manufacturer. Nordost owns 3 patents total (phono connector, vibration damper and cable holder) How can they charge $1800 for a cable? They are no Mogami, so their wires are not made in house and probably purchased from a third party manufacturer in China for very little money.

 

[Massimo]

It is a competent cable, very much like Rolex is a competent wristwatch.

You don't buy a Rolex for it's competent timekeeping. A $50 quartz watch is all you need. Rolex is an investment asset and appreciates over time. Not convinced. Check historical prices.

 

[NoteMakoti]

You don't buy a Rolex for it's competent timekeeping. A $50 quartz watch is all you need. Rolex is an investment asset and appreciates over time. Not convinced. Check historical prices.

You should never treat your hobbies as an investment vehicle. Better to put that money in an actual investment, rather than buying watches and sneakers to sell back to someone later. Even if you could turn a profit (and you rarely ever do for all the headaches), the mentality it puts you in can lock you into a FOMO trap or suck the fun out of the hobby in the long run.

 

[milosz]

I have obviously been in the wrong professions my whole life - I spent years working as a biomedical engineer, then more years working with hardware and software systems used by exchanges like the Chicago Mercantile, Chicago Board of Trade, Eurex and COMEX. Clearly I could have made more money selling 75 ohm cables with BNC's on them. After all, my work was only saving lives and then later letting trillions of dollars flow through the world's economy. Why would I ever expect that I should be compensated as well as someone who peddles wire?

 

[Blumlein 88]

I have obviously been in the wrong professions my whole life - I spent years working as a biomedical engineer, then more years working with hardware and software systems used by exchanges like the Chicago Mercantile, Chicago Board of Trade, Eurex and COMEX. Clearly I could have made more money selling 75 ohm cables with BNC's on them. After all, my work was only saving lives and then later letting trillions of dollars flow through the world's economy. Why would I ever expect that I should be compensated as well as someone who peddles wire?

You didn't realize that peddling magic is the most valuable thing to peddle. Also has some of the highest profit margins.

 

[James-F]

Sorry, but why Amir wastes his time with this?

 

[Azathoth]

@amirm has that covered with his headphones...

My colleague thinks Amir is a Topping shill and doesn't take ASR seriously so.. What a loss.

You will always be lacking something. Your equipment isn't revealing enough, your ears aren't good enough, you didn't compare it properly...

In the end they will just give you this look:

Exactly.

 

[respice finem]

Sorry, but why Amir wastes his time with this?

Maybe because no one is born with knowledge, and many too many are still being screwed by snake oil sellers each day?

 

[KxDx]

I have obviously been in the wrong professions my whole life - I spent years working as a biomedical engineer, then more years working with hardware and software systems used by exchanges like the Chicago Mercantile, Chicago Board of Trade, Eurex and COMEX. Clearly I could have made more money selling 75 ohm cables with BNC's on them. After all, my work was only saving lives and then later letting trillions of dollars flow through the world's economy. Why would I ever expect that I should be compensated as well as someone who peddles wire?

Coulda been a televangelist too. Peddle snake oil fantasies and make millions in recurring income.

 

[Katji]

Coulda been a televangelist too.

// or a puking emoji. //
I looked at one a week or so ago. Sh*t is contrary to the spirit of our Constitution. **** was walking up and down the stage like a rapper.

 

[BDWoody]

You don't buy a Rolex for it's competent timekeeping. A $50 quartz watch is all you need. Rolex is an investment asset and appreciates over time. Not convinced. Check historical prices.

Although if it didn't at least meet a decent timekeeping threshold, it wouldn't be nearly as attractive a purchase. I didn't buy mine as an investment, I bought it to be a nice watch. The fact that it is worth much more than I paid is virtually irrelevant to me, or my son who gets the next shift after I'm gone.