Nordost Sort Kones

Chris Thomas posted a review of the Quantum QB 6 power conditioner and Nordost Sort Kones in last month’s issue of Hi-Fi+, The Absolute Sound’s sister publication in the UK. Here’s what he had to say when shifting from the AC aluminum/ceramic cones ($79.99 each) to the TC titanium/ceramic versions ($349.99 each):

Wow, the improvements were much greater than I had expected and Nordost’s prophesy of black backgrounds was coming true. The sheer range of that amazing voice now had a gentle sweetness and the drops and rises in pitch had a fascination of their own. The magic was coming from deep within her. The tonal inflections and way she shapes her words, flowing some into each other, leaving others resonating by themselves brought home with a bang why she was one of the greatest female singers ever. Now you can appreciate that her tasteful vibrato, gently caressing and modulating the tails of the lyric is nothing short of magnificent because, at this level, you become very aware of her breathing and physicality. The music itself had grown, but, in true Nordost tradition, it was also obvious that the system’s presence and balance had also become a lot more full on. The aluminium/ceramic Kones are good but these are way better in every way…The TC versions are expensive but the improvements they bring are not subtle. These are things you need to hear for yourself.

Mind you, these are cones he is talking about. If you are up for the full review, you can find it here. I’m really interested in knowing what Chris’s system is comprised of such that these cones could make so dramatic an improvement.

For those of you who may be unaware of it, Roy Gregory, Hi-Fi+’s former editor-in-chief, is now the VP for Sales and Marketing for Nordost. Although he still does reviews of other components for Hi-Fi+ while employed by Nordost, he obviously couldn’t review his own company’s power conditioner and cones. It would have been a conflict of interest.