detail, clarity, spaciousness, natural sound, and reverberation

none for this price

I am very fond of Nordost cables. I was in my quest for an interconnect cable for my home theater which consist of: Speakers: Martin Logan Theater I (center), Martin Logan Ascent (Mains), and Martin Logan Scenario (rear) Sub: Infinity HPS 1000 watts Processor: Rotel RSP 1066 Amplifier: ATI 2007 DAC: Musical Fidelity Upsampling DAC CD/DVD: Pioneer Elite DV-C36 I am a tweak –a-holic when it comes to audio and home theater. Prior to this interconnect, I have used Straightwire Level 2 Chorus and Monster M-series. Straightwires are good cables based on my experience partnered with my electronics. However, after few months of service, I decided it was time for an upgrade. I have never tried Nordost products so I decided to audition them. In the first few days living with the Nordost Solar Wind, I noticed that the sound was good but a little lacking. After about 80 hours of use, my opinion had changed. The soundstage opened up and the subtlety became apparent. The details that I am looking for where presented in a smooth fashion all of a sudden. The bass of my Martin Logan Ascents were now tight, clean and accurate. The voice of Nora Jones, SADE, and Diana Krall became very clear and natural. The sound coming out of my speakers became non-fatiguing and entertaining. Now, I can locate instruments in the soundstage with accuracy. There sound is airy and it really makes the singer come alive. At times, when I listen to my Doors CD, the effect is just fascinating. There is also improved reverberation in the presentation of guitars and other musical instruments. I was so delighted with these interconnects that I decided to buy 4 additional pairs to power up my ATI 2007 7 channel amplifier and for my Musical Fidelity A324 DAC. The Martin Logan Ascents are very revealing speakers with cables and components and what I heard is just pleasing. I became a fan of Nordost now so I am upgrading my digital interconnects, power cords and even thinking of maybe buying either Nordost Red Dawn or Blue Heaven. Overall, very smooth, detail and natural sounding cable. A very good cable indeed.

Similar Products Used:

Straightwire, Nordost, and Monsters

Pretty good soundstage and musical definition with my Lexicon/Rotel/Energy setup. Smooth, enjoyable sound at a reasonable cost. If feel somewhat humiliated running a Lexicon with $80 connects but all in all,they sound really good in my system. I feel for $80 pr. that they are hard to beat.

None noted yet in my system but could make an already bright system unlistenable. This is not really a weakness but the increase in definiton could certainly show weakness in the front end components. An example of this would be my DVD player that I was using for CD playback. The sound quality out of the DVD player was crap but I never noticed it until installing the Solar Winds. Now I have had to purchase a good CD Player in order to enjoy my cd's.

All of the following opinions are based on my system and your mileage may vary. For comparison purposes, my system consists of the following: Rotel RCD 991 cd player, Lexicon DC-1 v.4, Rotel 1075 5-channel amp and 4 Energy C-4 for mains/surrounds, Mirage MC2 center channel and a Mirage FRX-s12 sub.I have Blue Heavens between the 991 and the DC1 and use the Solar Winds between the Lexicon and the 1075. I use Audioquest F14 speaker wire to all speakers. I feel this is a good cable for the price. There is a noticeable improvement in soundstage and detail over my old Nordost Black Knight's. The bass is well defined without being muddy or boomy. Mids and highs are smooth and fairly neutral in my system. These I/C's are great for my system but if your system tends to be bright, there is a good possibility that listener fatigue could be the result. These interconnects might be a little light on bass if running speakers full range without a sub. With a sub, I have no complaints.

Similar Products Used:

Nordost Blue Heavens(Rotel 991 to Lexicon),Nordost Black Knight, Monster Reference2, AudioQuest Copperheads,Diamondbacks, and Viper. My system is too laid back with all but the cheapest AudioQuest cab

Open soundstage, clean highs and tight bass.

Lacking body of music, bright.

This cable has open soundstage, clear mids and highs and tight bass but it sounds thin and the body of the music is missing. I can see that some reviewers compare it to Blue Heaven but I doubt that these two are comparable.

Similar Products Used:

Silver co-axial DIY cable - better in my system.

details soundstage clear top bass

electronic sound

Compare to Homegrown which has the same sound style,I think my Nordost is better than homegrown .Homegrown is too quick but it has better trable.Anyway,I like my nordost This is very good cable.If you doesn't care about electronic sound,This cable is your choice.

Similar Products Used:

Mit terminator 4 VDH D 102 MKIII Transperent music link plus Homegrown super silver

Smoooth sound, proper balance, soundstaging

None as of yet

This is a five star product in sound and value. Take the time to audition these in your system. They blow away the Monster References and cost the same. You might just have to look a little hard to find them (not that many dealers), but you can get them on-line, as well.

I had purchased Martin Logan SL3s about 4-5 months ago and was not really very happy. The sound was forward, lacked a little bass, and the soundstaging was not very deep. It actually occured to me that all the naysayers about M-Ls were right. They were hard to place and hard to live with.

So, my quest to improve my soundsystem led me to research separates and I was shocked by the price I would need to pay. I scaled down my thinking and started to look at cabling as a way to upgrade the sound. You should also know I have never payed more than $14.99 for any cable before. I was one of the curmudgeons who did not believe you could "hear the difference in cables."

I tried the Monster 400 II and they were somewhat better than the M series, but when I tried the Reference 2's, I was initially blown away. The system seemed to find dynamics and bass that had been missing, but I still did not find myself listening very much. It was still harsh. The sound was in my face.

Enter the Nordost Solar Winds. I have never had an investment in audio pay off this well. Suddenly, where much had been wrong with my system, now everything seemed right.

Let's start with the bass. Where the Monster Refs had emphasized the bass, it now seemed balanced and natural. The Nordosts will produce bass and plenty of it, if the cd has it recorded. You see, the Monsters made the bass somewhat disconnected from the rest of the music. Monsters made the bass call attention to itself. The Nordosts just make it another part of the music.

Female voices. I consider this a very tough test and I listen to a lot of female voice from classical to pop and jazz. Suddenly, those lovely tones had texture and grace. Where I had onced grimaced at some of Kiri Te Kanawa's high notes, now all was rounded and clear. The Nordost's don't mask the high end to perform their miracles. They just let the natural qualities of her voice come through.

Smoothness of sound. I can only say that my system now sounds "muscial" with the addition of the Nordosts. There is every bit as much treble as with the Monsters. It just has the proper delacacy. Things like cymbals shimmer and ring instead crash and echo. And strings now have a warmth and resonance that the Monsters lacked.

Soundstaging. This is probably the area of greatest improvement. The sound of the SL3s (pre-Nordost) was very much coming from the front of the speaker. Now the sound comes from the front of my room. The spatial imaging is very accurate and rock solid. It just doesn't seem to be coming from the front of the speaker. The Nordosts have allowed my M-Ls to "disappear." This was the exact characteristic I was hoping and that I had heard in the store and read about in the reviews.

In short, I am thrilled with the sound of my system. Yes, I need to upgrade electronics and my cd player, but I am satisfied with my speaker investment, and can wait for the next upgrade until more money finds its way into my bank account.

I only gave the cables a four star (actually a 4.5, but the system doesn't allow that)rating because I assume there is some merit in the $500+ cables out there. I am pretty sure, however, that the return on investment will not be as sonically/financially rewarding as the Nordost Solar Winds were.

Equipment:

Denon 2700 receiver
Martin Logan SL3 (plus other junk for surrounds)
Denon 360 cd player
Monster Cable Speaker Wire (that is going too!!!)

Similar Products Used:

Monster M series, Monster 400 MKII, Monster Reference 2 Interconnet

Open, engaging, well balanced, articulate sound across the spectrum. Great value.

none

This cable changed me from skeptic to believer that cables make a difference. I had been running Monster 400 Mk II interconnects and liked them better than the thin-sounding Radio Shack Golds. But the midrange was too laid back and and bass was too heavy and a bit congested.

Then a local dealer suggested I try the Nordost Red Dawns and Nordost Solar winds. Difference with Solar Winds was immediately and clearly evident, not just to me, but to my wife (a music teacher) and friends (casual audio listeners). The midrange opened up, the bass tightened, and their was a better sense of air in the top end. Rhythm and pace improved (that toe-tapping factor). Overall, a very engaging, musical sound. It's easy to listen to this system for hours on end.

I also tried the Red Dawns (at 4x the cost!), but it was too much of a good thing: the treble got brighter, but at the expense of an edgy, gritty "in your face" sound. So back to Solar Winds between the D/A, preamp, and power amp and we've been happy ever since. They've been in the system about two months; over that time, the sound seems to have mellowed nicely and integrated even further.

Bottom line: Solar Winds are a great value -- high end performance at near mass-market price.

By the way, the interconnects are of ultra-low capacitance design. There's solid engineering reason why this makes sense for interconnects -- just as there's solid engineering reason why HIGH capacitance cables are the proper choice for speaker cables.

My system:

Nakamichi MB-10 CD player
Aragon D2A2 D/A
McCormack TLD-1 Deluxe preamp (active output)
Aragon 8008BB power amp
PSB Stratus Gold(i)
Alphacore Goertz MI2 speaker cables
Helmholtz tube resonators (homebrew room acoustic treatment)

Similar Products Used:

Nordost Red Dawn; Monster 400 Mk II; Radio Shack Gold

here i only want to say that this cable is full of transparency when comparing with MIT3, but it is totally a loser is using in a high output system. it's too thin! and without shielding he is put into a dillemma when ur equipment r not perfectly earthed( especially ur mains cables, frankly, in the price range, i think u won't have chance to choose the replacable mains cable which employs good screen.) he indeed improves a lot, but not enough, it turns out to be suffering to catch when in the busy music. sound stage is not especially huge when comparing with the Siltech, and in high power handling the weakness of the thin structure is vital.
it is a great cable, which let me believed that there's none in this price range could do a better job. now, i don't!

Similar Products Used:

MIT3, Siltech ST-18 G3

Great transparency, detail, and terrific three dimensional soundstaging. Particularly so, with singing voices

Kickdrums can be sometimes be a shade light. Although this may not be a criticism at all

In my system, the cables i currently have are the Cable talk Monitor 2 interconnect, and Nordost Solar Wind Speaker cable.

I wanted to try the solar wind interconnect to see how it compliments the speaker cable. I also listened to the Van Den Hul, as its had so many rave reviews.

After first impressions, I was keen on the Van Den hul, Bass was very extended, and the sound was full bodied. When hooking up the Norsdost, I was thinking "well whats the difference in sound from my cable talk?" However, after a few days listening, the cable has seriously grown on me.

Bass, is more extended, and the midrange is very fluid and musical sounding. The three dimensional soundstage is very lifelike, while voices are clearly projected into the room.

If I had to describe the overall sound, I would say its a delicate, and very fine/civilised sound. Its certainly not a cable that ruthless in any one area. It does however, draws you into the music.

Some may say that the cable does not have strong enough bass, but I found it to be ample enough. The only criticism (if you can call it one) is that bass drums can somtimes sound a bit light. But you must ask yourself, is this the cable or the record? The cable is so neutral sounding its hard to decide.


Anyone after a very clean, and life like sound this is your cable. Recommended.

Similar Products Used:

Cable talk Monitor 2, Van den Hul DB102m3, Chord company Cobra.

Clarity, evenhandedness

None apparent

This cable is used between phonostage and integrated amp. The sound is clear and balanced across the frequency range, whereas the Van den Hull had a fatter, exagerated, bass in comparison. Rhythmic integrity is perfectly respected. As for soundstaging, this is not a quality to which I pay enormous attention, varying too much between recordings to be of too much importance to me.

I'm now considering the partnering loudspeaker cable, either the flatline gold or the solar wind.

Similar Products Used:

Van den Hul