When
to isolate, when to couple
June
12, 2020
Marc,
I
put four 2"-square anti-vibration pads between my daughter's Target stands and
Paradigm speakers. They certainly keep the speakers from moving, which is great, and I
suppose they will absorb some vibration. But aren't metal stands designed to drain the
vibrations and resonances from the speakers down to the ground? Would it be better to use
the blue dots?
Jeff
Levine
You
answer your own question. You want to couple the speakers to the stands, not isolate them
the stands. This way energy from the cabinets goes down into the stands and then into the
floor. So, yes, you should use some Fun-Tak or similar to attach the speakers to the
stands, which will facilitate the draining of unwanted energy. -Marc Mickelson
Nordost
Valhalla 2 phono cable
June
7, 2020
Marc,
I
read your review of the Nordost Valhalla 2 cables with great interest, as I
am in the process upgrading my Nordost Tyr 1 tonearm cable. What caught my eye is that I
have almost similar components as your reference system, the Atma-Sphere amps, Audio
Research preamp, Graham tonearm and Dynavector cartridge.
Your
analysis has pushed me in the direction of the Valhalla 2 phono cable. My question is,
have you found a better phono cable than the Valhalla 2? One of my upgrade possibilities
is the Synergistic Research phono SX Galileo.
There
were past reviews in other magazines that found the Nordost Valhalla to be lean-sounding.
I am wondering if the latest Valhalla 2 exhibits improvements in this area.
I
appreciate your views when you have the time to respond.
Morgan
Hew
Nordost's
Valhalla 2 phono cable is certainly special, and what makes it so is the sheer amount of
musical detail it passes. This is especially important with analog, because the signal is
so tiny and the LP is inherently a high-resolution medium. You want to hear every bit of
music in the groove. There is one cable I've heard that's better -- Nordost Odin 2 -- but
it costs more than many tonearms. It might also make a bigger difference than most
tonearms. It's definitely worth an audition, but we warned that doing so may cause you to
want to buy it. -Marc Mickelson
Add
me
June
1, 2020
Marc,
Please
add me to the e-mail list.
Merrill
Reich
You've
been added to the list. To join TAB's e-mail list and find out about new articles
first, send e-mail to rl@theaudiobeat.com.
-Marc Mickelson
