After Nordost Superflatline

@milpai Thank you for your feedback and suggestions.

I have used the similar 4Flat form Nordost and here is my journey:

Nordost 4Flat (2005) -> Signal Cable Silver Reference (2007) -> Clear Day Double Shotguns (2014) -> Inakustik LS-2404 (2020)

There were a few I "tried", that did not make meaningful upgrades and hence returned them. But I suggest that you try to experience them in your system. In a friend's system we tried my Clear Day and Audio Envy cables and the Envy cables were really close to the Clear Days. Mind you, the AEs were not even broken in. So that would be a good upgrade.

Based on what you mentioned, I would suggest to try bi-wiring.

@jjss49 I suppose that is possible as well.

i would concur that nordost ribbon type speaker cables do lean out the mids and bass compared to comparable level cables of other designs

remember... what the music sounds like is a composite of changes in the whole frequency range... many after a while realize the highs sound 'clearer' BECAUSE the mids and bass have been leaned out...and so on...

@akg_ca That's great feedback. Thank you for sharing that information. It's a shame because the upper-mids and highs are so nice now. I'm actually considering bi-wiring them with the old cables to see if it can retain the upper beauty but regain the meat of the lower. Or maybe that'll just muddy up the highs again.

@ratboysr
Post Script: a couple of litmus tests for you to ponder that your current flat-ribbon and comparatively very thin cables may be lacking a synergy match to your system….,

(1) NORDOST cables can sound fabulous.,.. for sure. There is a reason why many of audio exhibitors use NORDOST VALHALLAs - or better - at audio expos ,… along with CARDAS CLEAR or better. But please bear in mind that these models are the high end “Reference” offerings ,,, not any of the lower or budget strata models.

(2) I upgraded my entire cables loom from NORDOST FREY to CARDAS CLEAR cables. The following rang true: speaker cable diameter can matter. And my FREYs were already shotgunned ( 4x4 doubled up to 2x2 ….along with shotgunned jumpers ) and not just single runs.

e.g.
- Going from LEIF to NORSE models equates to > a doubling of available cable ferrules and a thicker cable gauge diameter ergo… effective thicker D cables bulk.

- Going next from the flat ribbon multi ferrule but very thin gauge wire NORDOST FREYs to a much thicker diameter CARDAS CLEAR was the next performance step up for me that was not subtle….more slam, presence, and dynamics.

AUDIO: SPEAKER CABLES - From Alan Shaw (owner and designer of HARBETH in support of experimenting with established speaker cable diameters)

The following excerpt echoed that beefier diameter CARDAS speaker cables were a better match for me than my very thin and flat ribbon NORDOSTs for my HARBETHs,

AUDIO SPEAKER CABLES

” … So, the moral of the story is this: the most important factor of the loudspeaker cable that you should select is the amount of metal in the cable core. More metal means lower resistance.

If the core is round (as most are) then the correlation is simple: the fatter the diameter of the metal core the better because the electrical resistance between amp and speaker-will be lower.

Thin and really thin cores should be avoided regardless of how exotic the metal material is claimed as the lack of metal in the core conductor will increase resistance. That will reduce amplifier damping, affect the frequency response of the speaker and give unpredictable results that will vary from amp/speaker combination.

Do not be fooled by the diameter of the external plastic sheath: what matters is the metal content of the core. The more the better, without exception….”

I’ve owned NORDOST LEIF models ( PURPLE FLARE) and NORDOST NORSE models ( HEIMDALL and FREY), so I know their strengths and warts very well.

ive auditioned all of the models in both .

in brief: Don’t  bother with the LEIF strata and just stick to the NORSE or higher. As you found out, the LEIF are overpriced (IMO) lightweights and I dumped mine.
 

Initially I drank the KoolAid that they would work well.

my take: anything but = a hard pass for me = either move up or move on.

FWIW …

Do a blind listening test between the Nordost and a generic power cord to determine if these differences really exist. You might be surprised!