Nordost blue heaven interconnect

[stephennic]

Hi,

My first time on the What hi fi forum. I'm checking out the Nordost blue heaven interconnect. It seems very fast, punchy open and detailed. Its new its a little hard sounding in the mids will that improve with burn in? How many hours does it need? what kind of change would I expect.

Also how does it compare soundwise with Kimber Hero, Chord Chamelon, and Supra EFF-I interconnects ?

Regards,

Steve.

 

[John Duncan]

I bought an ex-dem one and couldn't tell 70 quids' worth of difference between it and the Chord and Cambridge ICs I had lying around, so took it back.

I'm not going to comment on burn-in, lest a war ensues........

 

[Anonymous]

I have Nordost Blue Heaven between my transport and DAC. I sourced it from eBay, and it wiped the floor with my existing (entry level) interconnect).

I'm happy with it but if I paid full RRP, I'd perhaps be questioning it's VFM against my £15 Gotham's purhcased from eBay....

 

[fr0g]

JohnDuncan:I bought an ex-dem one and couldn't tell 70 quids' worth of difference between it and the Chord and Cambridge ICs I had lying around, so took it back.

I'm not going to comment on burn-in, lest a war ensues........

My personal belief is that you can get a pretty transparent cable for budget money. Most changes after that are colourations engineered in...much like using a graphic equaliser.

 

[Anonymous]

I agree with frOg - a case in point, the Gothams interconnects I just purchased! I've decided to keep this and get rid of the QED Silver Spiral which is now on E-Bay.

 

[Anonymous]

What about the Gotham subwoofer cable. Has anyone used and would you buy again?

 

[stephennic]

Hi,

Thanks for the feedback. I hear about this Gotham cable - is it better than the Nordost. I hear that chord chorus is nice too.

Regards,

Steve.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

stephennic:
Hi,

Thanks for the feedback. I hear about this Gotham cable - is it better than the Nordost. I hear that chord chorus is nice too.

Regards,

Steve.

Gotham is good but it's not that good! Some people are getting a little bit carried away on this site. It's brilliant for the money and can live with Chord Crimson and even Cobra. No one can tell me that it's better than that. I know fr0g doesn't think that there is much difference in cables and fair enough, that's his opinion. I was sceptical before I listened with a really good cable - the first Anthem from Chord. Different planet. I then got a deal on the Anthem 2 and couldn't notice much difference although it was more flexible - still brilliant clarity. I then downgraded to keep in line with my equipment and add to my new AV receiver fund. The Chord Chameleon is very nice indeed - not quite as exact as the Anthem 2 but very nice tight bass. The Gotham isn't on the same level and rightly so considering the price difference.

As John said, he couldn't notice £70 difference between the cables. That sounds to me that he noticed a difference but couldn't justify the outlay. It doesn't mean that the Gotham is as good as the Nordost.

 

[Anonymous]

I compared the Blue Heaven and Chord Chameleon Silver Plus before buying the latter. I found the Blue Heaven too bright for my system. A friend also commented that it robbed his system of a little of the bass warmth and size.

My lodger who is not into hifi (but playing the piano) commented within a few seconds of swapping from the Chord to the BH that he disliked the brightness. Pretty damning given that he didn't know I changed anything.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

igglebert:I compared the Blue Heaven and Chord Chameleon Silver Plus before buying the latter. I found the Blue Heaven too bright for my system. A friend also commented that it robbed his system of a little of the bass warmth and size.

My lodger who is not into hifi (but playing the piano) commented within a few seconds of swapping from the Chord to the BH that he disliked the brightness. Pretty damning given that he didn't know I changed anything.

That sounds about right - I reckon your mate would have noticed a difference with the BH and a Gotham too.

 

[John Duncan]

Gerrardasnails:As John said, he couldn't notice £70 difference between the cables. That sounds to me that he noticed a difference but couldn't justify the outlay.

I did notice a difference (I think), just not necessarily a good one, and certainly not good enough - maybe a bit brighter, less smooth, spittier. Difficult to say, I didn't have them long enough to let my ears burn in.......they just didn't make me want them straight off, which isn't good enough for my money

Gerrardasnails:It doesn't mean that the Gotham is as good as the Nordost.

And actually, I think it probably is*, but agree that that's about the limit of the Gotham's ability - I think that I could get genuine improvements if I started paying stupid money (that 250 quid is still going begging), I'm just not sure I want to jump on that merry-go-round.

Edit: *in my system

 

[Anonymous]

JohnDuncan:Gerrardasnails:As John said, he couldn't notice £70 difference between the cables. That sounds to me that he noticed a difference but couldn't justify the outlay.

I did notice a difference (I think), just not necessarily a good one, and certainly not good enough - maybe a bit brighter, less smooth, spittier. Difficult to say, I didn't have them long enough to let my ears burn in.......they just didn't make me want them straight off, which isn't good enough for my money

Gerrardasnails:It doesn't mean that the Gotham is as good as the Nordost.

And actually, I think it probably is*, but agree that that's about the limit of the Gotham's ability - I think that I could get genuine improvements if I started paying stupid money (that 250 quid is still going begging), I'm just not sure I want to jump on that merry-go-round.

Edit: *in my system

With 250 quid to spend, I wonder if an upgrade in amp/cd-player in stead of better cable wouldn't yield better results?
It's almost crazy so many people are considering such expensive cables in comparatively modest systems. Remember the WHFS&V 10%-15% rule? Counting in speaker cable (at +- 250), a 5000 pound system would be appropriate!

 

[John Duncan]

Rules schmules. But yes, that's what I mean about the merry-go-round - I think that I can spend 250 quid more productively elsewhere. Once I think I can't really get better amp, cd player and speakers, then I'll worry about that Chord Indigo......

 

[stephennic]

Hi Igglebert,

I had a lend of the Nordost BH new, when I first switched it on I noticed it was bright then I let it run in overnight, and it seem to improve - lost some of its hard edge.

Regards,

Steve.

 

[fr0g]

Solomon1:JohnDuncan:Gerrardasnails:As John said, he couldn't notice £70 difference between the cables. That sounds to me that he noticed a difference but couldn't justify the outlay.

I did notice a difference (I think), just not necessarily a good one, and certainly not good enough - maybe a bit brighter, less smooth, spittier. Difficult to say, I didn't have them long enough to let my ears burn in.......they just didn't make me want them straight off, which isn't good enough for my money

Gerrardasnails:It doesn't mean that the Gotham is as good as the Nordost.

And actually, I think it probably is*, but agree that that's about the limit of the Gotham's ability - I think that I could get genuine improvements if I started paying stupid money (that 250 quid is still going begging), I'm just not sure I want to jump on that merry-go-round.

Edit: *in my system

With 250 quid to spend, I wonder if an upgrade in amp/cd-player in stead of better cable wouldn't yield better results?
It's almost crazy so many people are considering such expensive cables in comparatively modest systems. Remember the WHFS&V 10%-15% rule? Counting in speaker cable (at +- 250), a 5000 pound system would be appropriate!

I agree. I think the Gotham is at least as good as any cable below silly money.
It's engineered colouration I think you get, not improvement. (But of course if a cables colouration makes you enjoy your system better, then that cable is better!)

 

[Anonymous]

If you knew the electrical characteristics of the Nordost it would be easy to make a DIY version for a tiny fraction of the cost. That's if it really is better than a readily available cheapie, which is moot.

 

[Anonymous]

stephennic:
Hi Igglebert,

I had a lend of the Nordost BH new, when I first switched it on I noticed it was bright then I let it run in overnight, and it seem to improve - lost some of its hard edge.

Regards,

Steve.

Yeah, understood. I had this on demo for a week and left it in with the CDP running for quite a few consecutive and non-consecutive hours. Whether such 'burn in' changed the sound would have been too subjective to quantify, i.e. there wasn't a good enough change to make me happy.

My approach is to be fairly decisive about this stuff these days as all decisions made quite quickly I prefer to those that I hum and ha about for a while. If it's right you'll know fairly quickly. If there's any doubt from the outset then it'll always be there, even if it's just a psychological nag!

Thanks for the post though.

 

[professorhat]

Jim Highfield:If you knew the electrical characteristics of the Nordost it would be easy to make a DIY version for a tiny fraction of the cost. That's if it really is better than a readily available cheapie, which is moot.

I do like these posts as it paints the picture of the manufacturer rubbing its hands with glee as they fleece hundreds of pounds of profit from each person that buys their cable. It conveniently forgets that the manufacturer probably spent an extremely large amount of money paying highly specialised engineers to come up with those characteristics in the first place which make the Nordost a good cable. And all the money they spend to actually keep the company running. Hence the high prices to recoup these costs and then pile yet more money into R&D for the next cable etc. etc. This is all before any profit is made.

 

[Anonymous]

professorhat:
I do like these posts as it paints the picture of the manufacturer rubbing its hands with glee as they fleece hundreds of pounds of profit from each person that buys their cable. It conveniently forgets that the manufacturer probably spent an extremely large amount of money paying highly specialised engineers to come up with those characteristics in the first place which make the Nordost a good cable.

You're funny.

 

[professorhat]

Thanks!

 

[stephennic]

Thanks for all the replies thus far.

Has anyone else used Nordost BH on their system - how did they find it soundwise?

Regards,

Steve