Product Reviews

NORDOST LEIF RED DAWN 3 AND BLUE HEAVEN CABLE BUNDLE REVIEW

These cables ... improve and finesse what’s already there. It’s like pouring purer petrol into a performance car to simply enable it to perform as it should without restriction.

Publication: Audiograde
Date: November 21, 2024
Reviewer: Andrew Simpson

NORDOST BLUE HEAVEN INTERCONNECTS, SPEAKER CABLES, AND POWER CORDS

Their sound invited long listening sessions, and the well-sorted soundstage aided in following complex musical lines...Blue Heaven's clear, clean sound is a joy.

Publication: The Audio Beat
Date: September 19, 2023
Reviewer: Mark Blackmore

BLUE HEAVEN LS ANALOG INTERCONNECT

This interconnect offers superb detail, a full soundstage and really refined performances … ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Publication: Hi-Fi Choice
Date: March 2022
Reviewer: Neville Roberts

3 COMPLEMENTARY AUDIO PRODUCTS TO INDULGE YOUR STEREO SYSTEM

Publication: Audio Video Reviews
Date: 2/25/2022
Reviewer: Anton Kaminsky
Language: עִברִית (Hebrew)

NORDOST BLUE HEAVEN TONEARM CABLE + REVIEW

Right from the off, this Blue Heaven tonearm cable proved an improvement over the original. It produced an even more musical, engaging and detailed soundscape, no doubt in part due to the lower noise floor, which encourages you to turn the music up, as well as making listening at lower volumes much more rewarding.

Publication: StereoNET
Date: November 23, 2021
Reviewer: Jay Garrett

NORDOST BLUE HEAVEN RCA INTERCONNECT CABLE

The Blue Heaven certainly lives up to its manufacturer's claims of offering accurate signal transfer at a relatively affordable price… with especially impressive detail and sound staging. Value-wise it punches well above its weight, so it is well worth auditioning.

Publication: StereoNET
Date: November 4, 2021
Reviewer: Neville Roberts

NORDOST RED DAWN POWER CORD

The full force and power of the performance shine through my system with a wide and spacious three-dimensional soundstage. This is certainly a high-quality power cable worthy of any top-end system... ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Publication: Hi-Fi Choice
Issue / Date: May 2021
Reviewer: Neville Roberts

KLARE STRUKTUR

Das Lautsprecherkabel Red Dawn von Nordost schafft Ordnung und bringt damit Licht ins Dunkel . . .

Publication:hifi & records
Date: January 2021
Reviewer: Olaf Strum
Language: Deutsch (German)

NORDOST BLUE HEAVEN POWER CORD

The overall performance is clear and refined with a very low noise floor. The Blue Heaven is certainly a very good value-for-money, high-quality power cable option. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ . . .

Publication: Hi-Fi Choice Date: December 2020
Reviewer: Neville Roberts

NORDOST BLUE HEAVEN TONEARM CABLE

With the Blue Heaven installed music had substantially more clarity, more detail, more refinement, more dynamic contrast, and more musicality. And, as mentioned above, hum gone in a flash! … the Blue Heaven made an appreciably positive difference, no if's, and's or but's about it. I have no hesitation . . .

Publication: Positive Feedback
Date: May 1, 2020
Reviewer: Michael Corsentino

הלהבה הסגולה של Nordost, או הכבל האודיופילי הראשון שלי

, היה אפשר להרגיש בכל אחת מהן יותר פרטים ושקיפות, ללא אפקט הקרירות בסאונד, היה ניתן גם לשמוע הוספת רכות ון לצליל. הבס יותר מהודק, הצלילים האמצעים לא קיבלו הבלטה מיותרת,

Publication: Audio Video Reviews
Date: 10/7/20
Reviewer: טולה
Language: Hewbrew

NORDOST RED DAWN KABELFAMILIE IM TEST: Nordost hat die Kabelfamilie für Fein-Hörer

Passt dann alles, darf man sich an einem ungemein stimmigen, balancierten Klangbild freuen, in dem nichts quietscht, kein Bass wummert und auch sonst nirgendwo „Anschub“ geleistet wird. Der fulminante britische A-cappella-Achter Voces 8 zeigt auf seiner CD In the . . .

Publication: Fidelity Online
Date: January 29, 2020
Reviewer: Hans von Draminski
Language: Deutsch (German)

NORDOST ‘LEIF’ WHITE LIGHTNING CABLE PACKAGE – FULL REVIEW!

Needless to say, the Nordost designers left no stone unturned when designing and evaluating the unadulterated musicality of these products. If you carefully listen to them while not being aware of their cost or ‘entry level’ designation, you would not believe the quality of the sound they produce. They are . . .

Publication: The Sound Advocate
Date: December 31, 2019
Reviewer: Howard Milstein

NORDOST PURPLE FLARE USB CABLE

Transparency and coherence are the name of the game with Purple Flare USB. Hi-hats glisten and dissipate effortlessly into a black background. Drums are authoritative and lifelike. Vocals are realistically rendered in size and tonality. Transients race across the soundstage with precision and flare (pun intended). Purple Flare gives . . .

Publication: Hi-Fi+
Issue: 171
Reviewer: Mike Mercer

NORDOST LEIF BLUE HEAVEN TONEARM CABLE

Swapping our regular interconnects with the now ready Nordost ones, the difference was immediately discernable. In fact, we swapped the cables back and forth quite a few times to make sure we weren’t merely ‘wanting’ to hear a difference. The opening piano bars of Eat The . . .

Publication: Stereonet UK Edition
Date: June 27, 2019
Reviewer: Jay Garrett

NORDOST PURPLE FLARE USB

I’m an implementation junkie. I confess loving products that are well executed. With so many garage builders entering the cable industry, with shoddily produced goods packaged like they came from a scout troop bake sale or estate sale, Nordost produces cable that feels great in your hands. And thanks to their extensive dealer network, they . . .

Publication: TONE Audio
Date: October 2018
Reviewer: Jeff Dorgay

THE JOURNEY TO HIGHER QUALITY AUDIO WITH NORDOST LEIF CABLES: PART 3 – USB AND SPEAKER CABLES

With the Blue Heaven USB cable in place, between my laptop and the DAC, I was rewarded with a further lowered noise floor, which resulted in a wider soundstage, with more precise positioning. This improvement was most noticeable with well recorded acoustic albums, jazz and classical music. The ability of a music system to . . .

Publication: NOVO
Date: October 27, 2018
Reviewer: Suave Kajko

WHITE LIGHTNING SPEAKER CABLE BY NORDOST

I’ve talked to so many audiophiles across the world that are looking for a modestly priced upgrade to their system. I can’t suggest the Nordost White Lightning speaker cables highly enough. If you’ve been to a Nordost dealer event, or hifi show demo, they put a pretty compelling argument for their cable that’s easy to hear. And thanks to . . .

Publication: TONE Audio
Date: October 2018
Reviewer: Jeff Dorgay

THE JOURNEY TO HIGHER QUALITY AUDIO WITH NORDOST LEIF CABLES: PART 2 – INTERCONNECTS

You may not spend much time thinking about the cables behind your music system because they remind you of a snake pit from an Indiana Jones movie. If you grab the wrong cable it just might bite you. Or maybe your thoughts are less imaginative and you don’t think about the cable nest because it’s out of sight, out of mind. What a lot of novice music listeners don’t . . .

Publication: NOVO
Date: June 26, 2018
Reviewer: Suave Kajko

NORDOST KABELSERIE „BLUE HEAVEN“ – AUF DEM BODEN GEBLIEBEN

Blue Heaven“ oder auf gut Deutsch „Blauer Himmel“. Üblicherweise assoziieren wir hierzulande gerne bei diesem Begri entweder, daß jemand übertreibender- weise das „Blaue vom Himmel herunter“ verspricht, oder eben tatsächlich einen strahlend blauen Himmel. Trug oder Wahrheit? Im Falle Blue Heaven aus . . .

Publication: HIFI-STARS
Issue / Date: 18967-5166 Ausgabe 38 März 2018 – Mai 2018
Reviewer: Alexander Aschenbrunner
Language: Deutsch (German)

THE JOURNEY TO HIGHER QUALITY AUDIO WITH NORDOST LEIF CABLES

Let me tell you a little secret about building a high-end music system: Cables play a much more important role in your hi-fi system than you might realize. Cables are the “fabric” that connect each of your components to the power grid. Cables also connect all of your components and loudspeakers together. If you think about it, there are more cables in your system than hi-fi components actuall . . .

Publication: NOVO
Date: February 8, 2018

NORDOST LEIF PURPLE FLARE SPEAKER CABLES AND INTERCONNECTS

I’ve never been fussy about audio cables. When I moved into my present house more than a decade ago, I bought an enormous spool of Monster Cable S14-2RCL, a 14-gauge, two-conductor speaker cable specified for in-wall use. What was important for me was that I could safely run it under floors and through walls to reach other rooms while minimizing the cables’ . . .

Publication: SoundStage! Access
Date: November 15, 2017
Reviewer: Al Griffin

HEADPHONE CABLES — NORDOST BLUE HEAVEN AND HEIMDALL 2

Nordost needs no introduction in the high-end audio world, but enthusiasts whose interests center on loudspeaker-based hi-fi systems may be surprised to learn that the Holliston, Massachusetts, company is now offering two ranges of specialized headphone signal cables. The top offering is the Heimdall 2 headphone cable (or headphone cable system), while . . .

Publication: the absolute sound
Date: October 2017
Reviewer: Chris Martens

NORDOST SPEKTAKULÄRA SUPERKABLAR

Högtalarkablar lever farligt. De har ett rätt knivigt jobb jämfört med de lugna arbetsbetingelserna för lågnivåkablar med sina väl definierade impedanser och signalnivåer. Där kan signalöverföringen göras hyggligt förlustfri. För högtalarkablarna är det precis tvärt om. Här är det mer som hela havet stormar med svajig högtalarimpedans . . .

Publication: Hifi & Musik
Date: May 2017
Reviewer: Mats Meyer-Lie
Language: Svenska (Swedish)

NORDOST – BLUE HEAVEN HEADPHONE CABLE

Now in their 25th year, the American company Nordost stands apart with their long tradition of developing and marketing high-fidelity audio cables. Their extensive range of cables covers the entry level (Leif), the intermediate (Norse 2), the high-end (Valhalla 2), right up to their reference range (Odin 2). Nordost has also . . .

Publication: TONEAudio
Issue / Date: No.76 March 2016
Reviewer: TONE Staff

SPRUCE UP YOUR SONOS CONNECT WITH NORDOST’S PURPLE FLARE

Poor old Sonos Connect. In desperate need of an internal refresh, old faithful struggles to cut it on sound quality when compared to the best digital audio streamers on the market today. Its internal DAC can’t match the resolution and tonality of the AURALiC Aries Mini Nor can it match the Chinese alternative as a . . .

Publication: Digital Audio Review
Date: April 2016
Reviewer: John H. Darko

NORDOST- BLUE HEAVEN HEADPHONE CABLES - TERRIFIC VALUE AND QUALITY AT AN AFFORDABLE PRICE

Nordost first entered the high end cable market in 1991 with their flatline speaker cables that became internationally accepted and were well received. The success of Nordost over the last two decades is through the efforts of CEO Joe Reynolds and his team who continue to evolve with innovative designs and . . .

Publication: Headphone Guru
Date: February 28, 2016
Reviewer: Frank Iacone

COMPLETE NORDOST SYSTEM APPROACH — NORDOST CABLES LEAVES ME SPEECHLESS

Several years ago, at the beginning of my career as a reviewer, I had the opportunity to work with audio and video cables almost exclusively. At the time, it felt like regardless how amazing a cable sounded there was always another to take its place. Very few of them really stood out within my mind. Even those that stood out rarely became part of my . . .

Publication: Enjoy the Music.com
Date: September 2015
Reviewer: Brett Rudolph

UNE FAÇON DE RESTER BIEN BRANCHÉ

La corporation Nordost a été fondée en 1991 et elle se définit au départ comme un manufacturier de câbles de haute technologie spécialisé dans le domaine de la médecine et de la microchirurgie. Sa technologie est basée sur l’utilisation de matériaux et de conducteurs développés pour l’aérospatiale et la NASA. Son . . .

Publication: TED (Tendances Électroniques & Design)
Issue / Date: Volume 23 numéro 01 février - mars 2016
Reviewer: Michel Dallaire
Language: Français (French)

AUDITIONING NORDOST CABLES: DO SPEAKER CABLES HAVE A 'SOUND'?

It's a safe bet that your speaker cables don't look like Nordost's ultra-flat cables. Founded in 1991, Nordost is a high-technology cable manufacturer using conductor technology that was initially developed for the aerospace industry. Nordost designs and builds all of its audio, digital and video cables in its facilities in . . .

Publication: CNET
Date: July 25, 2015
Reviewer: Steve Guttenberg

THE HARD WAY: NORDOST’S BLUE HEAVEN HDMI CABLE

Cable companies are easily the most misunderstood and maligned audio manufacturers. From audiophiles who bemoan the price of top-level cables, conveniently overlooking the lower cost of those further down the line, to those who think that their one DIY project -- pulling a few feet of cable from a spool, stripping the . . .

Publication: The Audio Beat
Date: May 2015
Reviewer: Marc Mickelson

HI-FINEWS GROUP TEST - USB CABLES

As a key player on the specialist cable scene, Nordost was bound to offer a USB option. Sensibly, the company looks to have adhered to a high/full-speed USB configuration while using top-quality materials. Beneath the blue jacket (which clamps the cable geometry tight) is a dual-layer foil and braid screen that surrounds the +5V and . . .

Publication: hifinews
Date: July 2014
Reviewer: Paul Miller

2013 SPEAKER CABLES AND INTERCONNECTS OF THE YEAR: NORDOST PURPLE FLARE

Nordost Purple Flare is a rung below the current incarnation of its Blue Heaven but you'll hardly notice a difference. The overachieving PF-dressed in classic Nordost flat-line style really shines in the midband with a slightly forward, driving energy that imparts a dynamic liveliness to all genres of music. The PF offers significant macro-dynamic punch, resulting . . .

Publication: The Absolute Sound
Date: January 2014
Reviewer: Dennis Davis

NORDOST PURPLE FLARE CABLE - MY BLUE HEAVEN

The original Nordost Blue Heaven cable was, for many years, one of my budget reference wires. It debuted in 1994 and featured Nordost's now iconic Flatline cable design. I knew this cable backwards and forwards – its many strengths (excellent transparency and detail) and its modest weaknesses (a slightly upward frequency tilt and a hint of opacity and edge in . . .

Publication: The Absolute Sound
Date: October 2013
Reviewer: Neil Gader

CABLES SECTION: THIS MONTH PAUL RIGBY LOOKS AT NORDOST CABLES

"You love 'em or hate 'em. Cables raise some people's hackles, but Hi-Fi World readers tell us repeatedly cables improve their sound and are a great upgrade. So here we are with Loudspeaker cables, interconnects and mains cables, as well as accessories such as connecting blocks in a dedicated section. If you hate 'em - don't look. But if you love 'em you . . .

Publication: Hi-Fi World
Date: August 2013
Reviewer: Paul Rigby

NORDOST WHITE LIGHTNING ANNIVERSARY

White Lightning Anniversary has the toughest job in the Nordost catalogue, because it wears more hats than the brand’s other cables. The suffix ‘Anniversary’ is there for a reason. White Lightning is the spiritual heir to the original Flatline speaker cable from 20 years ago. Flatline needed big shoulders, because it revolutionised loudspeaker cables and was the . . .

Publication: Hi-Fi+
Issue / Date: Issue 89 June 2012
Reviewer: Alan Sircom

BLUE HEAVEN

A cable review is always an interesting proposition as it provides the writer with an almost infinite amount of holes and pitfalls that can be plunged into headfirst. Even in these more enlightened times cabling is still, surprisingly enough, a contentious subject. I find it hard to see why myself but it would appear that nothing causes the audiophile angst level to rise quite . . .

Publication: Hi-Fi+
Date: Issue 87
Reviewer: Chris Thomas