Nordost Tyr Cable

Taking a Step Back From Valhalla

There is one small irritation, the Brahma leads are quite fat, somewhat stiff and rather springy, which makes cable dressing a bit like arranging a box full of puppies. So if you’re concerned about cables touching walls, or twisting themselves out of their sockets (they can, and do) then leave a decent space behind your supports and don’t attempt this when you’re short of time or patience.

The Tyr interconnect shows its superiority over Valkyrja, a quieter noise floor, less hash, and a better sense of space are the primary, obvious benefits, but coupled with them, and crucially in the context, is much improved bass definition. People who don’t know Nordost cables will claim they are bright; those who do counter-claim that they just don’t lose as much treble energy as other cables. What is not disputed is that what you tend to notice first is the treble. Then, when you acclimatise, you realise that the effect is broad-spectrum after all. But you do still notice the treble, rather like you do when you first hear a speaker with a topnotch tweeter, but now as something you previously lacked. Tyr is different, but possibly you’d only be aware of this coming from a lesser Nordost cable. Bass gains a significant degree of weight, tunefulness and control, while treble gains sweetness and loses grain. I found myself wondering if Valkyrja was voiced more towards the top end, but switching back, it is clear that Tyr concedes nothing in terms of treble energy. The overall effect is of a far better balance. The Tyr loudspeaker cable further underlines the beneficial effects which is why, I think, Nordost occupies such a special niche. Other high-end cable makers also have a hierarchical system but few exhibit such consistency of performance across mains, interconnects and speaker cables such that each complements the others and adds to the strengths, with such a coherent sonic signature.

The nay-sayers still maintain that cables (by which they mean interconnects and speaker cables) are, at best, expensive tone controls. And my experiences here would suggest that they have a point, up to a point. Certainly, exchanging the lesser cables for expensive Nordost ones wrought far less benefit initially than might be expected for the price. Until the mains was addressed, that is: that done, everything started to make much more sense. The difference between the two sets of cables is not just obvious, it is fundamental to the ultimate performance of the system. All of a sudden, the expense of the high-end cable is justifiable. It seems we have another hierarchical approach to consider and it starts way in front of the source. On the evidence of my own ears, properly designed mains leads and distribution boxes are crucial to getting the best performance out of your chosen hardware. Further upgrades, whether to componentry, interconnect or speaker cables, are pointless, until you know how your existing equipment sounds with a properly sorted mains feed. Front end first? You betcha, but only if you go right to the very front.