Norse 2: Valhalla-like Performance at a Lower Price

by The Audio Beat | January 23, 2012

ordost's original Norse-series cables were the first to introduce the company's Micro Mono-Filament technology to the middle market. The new Norse 2 relies on essentially the same construction and parallel, multiple solid-core conductors, first seen in Nordost's Valhalla cables, but features important refinements in the dimensions, number, spacing and arrangement of the conductors. Nordost states that the sonic improvements are down to mechanical factors and the new differential grounding topology introduced with these cables, refinements first seen in the entry-level Leif series, which has, in combination with superior conductor technology, delivered substantial gains in musical performance.

Norse 2 also borrows the family structure from the Leif series, covering all of the needs of a modern audio system -- from AC cables, interconnects and speaker cables to tonearm leads and digital cables -- in three distinct performance levels without compromising one of the company's central tenets: "cable coherence," or the use of the same cables throughout the entire system. All Norse 2 conductors are silver-plated copper with FEP (Teflon) insulation. Interconnects and speaker cables differ only in the number of conductors used and their gauge, with Heimdall 2 offering a full suite of AC, digital and tonearm options. Frey 2 also offers AC and tonearm leads, while the Tyr 2 is confined to interconnects and speaker cables alone.

Pricing begins at $899.99 for one-meter Heimdall 2 interconnects and extends to $2399.99 for Tyr 2. The range for speaker cables is $1799.99 to $5999.99 per two-meter pair. Power cords start at $799.99 per two-meter length and extend to $1899.99.

"Even we weren't ready for the step up in performance they deliver," Nordost CES Joe Reynolds said referring to the Norse 2 cables. Given this, can a new version of Valhalla be far behind?