Should I upgrade to Nordost Frey Tonearm Cables?

joe1515 -- Thu, 08/19/2010 - 08:24

Hello,
I am considering upgrading my tonearm cables from the VPI Tonearm interconnects to the Nordost Frey Tonearm interconnects. Does this make sense? All of my other cables in my system is are Nordost.

Here is my equipment list;
Turntable- VPI Classic / Audio Research PH5 / Benz Micro Glider S M / VPI SDS / Periphery Ring Clamp and Center Weight
Fronts- B&W CM9 / Subwoofer- REL B2

Cables- Nordost- Blue Heaven speaker cables / Dreamcaster Analog Interconnect / Vishnu power cord / Bass-Line Interconnect / Shaman Digital Interconnect / VPI tone arm cable
Thanks,
Joe

Steven Stone -- Thu, 08/19/2010 - 12:53

Why not compare the stock cable with the one you're thinking of buying?

That's what we do here...compare stuff and reach a conclusion.

That's what we audiophiles call "fun"

:)

Steven Stone
Contributor to The Absolute Sound, EnjoytheMusic.com, Vintage Guitar Magazine, and other fine publications

joe1515 -- Thu, 08/19/2010 - 13:18

Of course that is what I will do, I was just curios if it is worth exploring and if any one has any experiance with the nordost cables.

Joe

Cemil Gandur -- Mon, 08/30/2010 - 06:08

To be honest, it is *really* difficult to get hold of tonearm cables to compare. Most are only available on special order - that's where reviewers would do a great job to help :) C'mon Steven, you would do us all a huge favor by having a nice comparative with a bunch of exotic tonearm cables (Nordost Odin, Transparent Opus, PAD etc...) , and some not so exotic vs a stock cable :)
I've had the opportunity to try the stock SME 20/12 cable (vDH I believe) compared to an Opus tonearm cable, and I preferred the stock cable in my system. I would love to hear an Odin in there, but not possible without buying one. I have an PAD (can't remember the name - the top of the range one) which I used to use with my balanced ASR phono stage, but cannot anymore with my single-ended input ARC Perhaps I should get some XLR-RCA plugs and give it a shot. Fwiw, I am still using the stock SME.

John Renzetti -- Mon, 08/30/2010 - 11:57

Hi, I just replaced the tone arm cable that came with the used Basis turntable w/ Graham 1.5t tone arm. The cable looked like an older Graham cable (IC-50?) with silver wire and WBT RCA's. I'm using an AR PH7 for Phono. I bought a Crystal Cable Standard from Jay Kaufman out at Audio Revelation. Don't know what Crystal does but the sound out of the vinyl was greatly improved. I might switch back just to get a better idea of the differences. Audio Rev might have something you could try out, I think they are a Nordost dealer also so you might be able to compare the two.
take care,
John