Audioquest or Nordost for speaker cable


I have all Nordost IC but have been impressed by Audioquest power cable and am thinking of changing my speaker cables to Audioquest Thunderbird zero. I currently have Nordost Heimdall. Do you think that’s a good idea, Thanks.

couger4u

@audphile1 and @dougthebiker

+1 with an exclamation point. As with so many questions posted on this forum, the OP's hope for a recommendation that is remotely helpful for your system is just a crap shoot if we don't know the finer details. And that includes the quality of the OP's mains power.  If that's not their weakest link, the choice of cable mfr may make no difference. In my most recent upgrade (in which I educated myself before buying, see below), I experienced a huge improvement in SQ, but prior to that, random cable-rolling based solely on third-party opinions made no difference.

One thing to remember is that AudioQuest AC cables are designed to complement its line of higher-end power conditioners. In my case, I shopped for a conditioner first (an AQ Niagara) and then added the power cords. That produced a sonic upgrade of about 7 out of 10 (yes, no exaggeration!), and upgrading just the cables was a 4 and adding the Niagara w/o upgrading the cables was a 6.

Again, my experience may not match yours, but my point is that, at least according to Garth Powell himself, the AQ products are designed to work together, e.g., coordinating system-wide noise rejection. (Garth maintains that one of the greatest sources of line noise is other audio components plugged into the same circuit.) Every upgraded cable or condition can make a difference, but you’re more likely to get the most bang for your buck by taking advantage of the synergy among complementary products.  As Garth put it, improvements can be incremental, depending on how many holes in the dike you plug.

Not sure if this observation applies to Nordost products, but if you do go with AQ, and do elect to add a Niagara, consider upgrading to lower-grade AQ power cables on ALL relevant components, rather than adding higher-quality kilobuck AQ cables on only your most critical components.

Hope this is helpful, even if it does raise more questions than it answers.

 

 

Thank you all for great suggestions. I tried updating my system in Audiogon but seems there is a glitch in my profile which Audiogon staff is looking into so I will provide my system here if no one minds hopefully.

Amp: Parasound A21

Preamp: Cary SLP 05

Speakers: Focal Aria 936

Speaker Cable: Nordost Heimdall

Phono Pre: Aesthetix Rhea

CD: Marantz 6005

Turntable: Mitchel Guro SE and Technics SL 1200MKII

Conditioner: AudioQuest Niagra 1200

Using Nordost Tyr and valkyrja IC and AudioQuest Hurricane and Tornado Power cords.

Hope it is sufficient to get other great suggestions.

Have you ever used JPS labs just wondering why only those two but I didn't read all the other posts so there you go

Thanks for listing your equipment — most helpful.  If digital source performance is important I’d put a good DAC ahead of spending on new speaker cables as IMHO a decade-old $500 CD player (that you could continue to use as a transport) is outclassed by the rest of the gear in your system.  If digital is not important and you’re resigned to upgrading speaker cables it’d still be most helpful to know what improvements and sound characteristics you’re looking for with new cables.