Seen for the first time at the recent Hong Kong High End Audio Visual Show (how we miss shows in this corner of the world…) where they were formally launched, Nordost’s new flagship Odin Gold take signal transmission to an extreme new level of excellence.
The Odin Gold sits above the Odin 2 – which will still be part of Nordost’s cable offerings – and is the company’s all-out assault on the cable über high-end space. As the name obviously suggests, Nordost has developed a bespoke conductor metallurgy for its Odin Gold cables which employs… gold. Nordost states the new conductor materials improve “stability, conductivity, and tolerance yield transformative enhancements in audio performance.” The company claims the specific application of gold to the conductors at the manufacturing process results in “natural resonance properties” said to enhance sonic performance while also empirically improving resistance, impedance and inductance parameters.
The Odin Gold line will feature Nordost’s HOLO:PLUG proprietary connectors – now all gold-plated – which have been made to couple with the new cable design to provide optimum conductivity and signal transfer integrity. The line will feature interconnecting cables with both XLR and RCA terminations, a loudspeaker cable (HOLO:PLUG spade or low-mass Z-plug banana terminations), an AC power cord and a Phono cable (or Tonearm Cable+ in Nordost speak) with 5-pin DIN (straight or 90 degree gold-plated HOLO:PLUG), floating ground cables (small spade connector) and a choice of either RCA or XLR connectors.
All Odin Gold cables feature Nordost’s proprietary Dual Mono-Filament conductor topology. For those wanting to upgrade their bi-wire terminal loudspeakers, Nordost is offering the Odin Gold Bi-Wire Jumpers which use a similar formula to the loudspeaker cable albeit with 14 x 20AWG conductors. HOLO:PLUG spade or low-mass Z-plug banana terminations are available as options for both the loudspeaker cable and the Bi-Wire Jumpers.
The Odin Gold interconnect cables use gold plated solid core six ‘9’s OFC copper conductors with a high purity class 1.003 extruded Fluorinated Ethylene Propylene (FEP) insulation scheme. All are 100 percent shielded. The interconnect cables employ ten 23AWG conductors, the loudspeaker cable features 28 x 20 AWG and 8 x 14 AWG conductors, the Tonearm Cable+ adopts four 23AWG conductors and finally the AC Power cable uses seven 14AWG conductors.
Nordost told SoundStage! Australia, “Odin Gold audio cables are a revelation to the highest echelon of two-channel systems available in the audio world, producing a realism in playback that erases any confounds of an audio system and provides you with a hyper-realistic audio experience that has to be heard to be truly appreciated.”
Nordost Odin Gold cables will be available for personalised audition at select “Supreme Reference dealers” around the country.
Nordost Odin Gold Cables
Price: Interconnect 1m AU$61,995, Loudspeaker 1.5m AU$86,995, Tonearm Cable+ 1.25m AU$34,995, AC Power 1.25m AU$54,995
Australian Distributor: Advance Audio Australia
+61 2 9561 0799
www.advanceaudio.com.au
