NORDOST Odin

PW03.04.2016

Speaker cables

The familiar sound of brushed cymbals gets totally new meaning with the Odin. For the first time ever I can hear not only the circular movement of the brushes on the cymbal's body, but also individual bristles - if I exaggerate a bit I can say that it was possible to count the bristles. It is hard to believe that a loudspeaker cable can make such a difference.

100% reference

Function and form

82%

Ease of use

94%

Sound

100%

Appearance

The Odin is the top-of-the-range cable of Nordost. It inhabitates its own category, the Supreme Reference. The geometry of the Odin is the typical Nordost's ribbon, which look less like a ribbon and more like a highway with several lanes. It looks silvery (and actually most people I talked to believe that it is silver), but this highway is made of 24 copper solid core conductors, that are silver plated with 85 microns of polished silver.

Each conductor is wrapped in a dual filament to ensure an air gap between the conductor and FEP (Teflon) dielectrics. The idea is quite simple, the execution flawless - this technology is impossible to replicate in domestic conditions.

Bass management

Weight

Slam

Articulation

The Odin uses Nordost's Z-plugs, that are lightweight bananas that are split in zig-zag pattern. By inserting the bananas into speaker or amplifier terminals they expand and make a reliable connection inside. Nordost also offers Furutech spades (copper and beryllium, or rhodium).

Despite that the Odin is a thick and heavy cable, it is actually quite easy to route behind a rack or speakers. Thus you can save buying extra lengths which is more than welcome at its asking price.

Clarity & delicacy

Detail

Air

Transparency

The sound of the Odin is clean. It is pristine clean. There is no room for ambiguity. There is no background noise. There is no that little electromagnetic smog that you perhaps do not hear with other cables, but after auditioning the Odin you know it is there. The Odin is not shockingly better than your cables but when you swittch back from it, it becomes so easy to spot the drawbacks of any other cables. The music is so natural and tangible that, aside of usual goose bumps, one has a tendency to put on a heater to prevent Diana Krall's breath to condensate on window panes.

Tonal accuracy

Timbre

Dynamics

Temporal resolution

The Odin digs out from any black or silver media everything. The imaging is holographic, instruments and interprets are locked in their positions with beautfiul and concrete outlines, there is mesmerizing tangibility to music.

I loved the Odin's bass so much. It was deep and articulated, it had both weight, slam and authority. The set ups that had too much bloom in lows before, became wonderfully articulated with the Odin. Maybe not everything is due to acoustics or speaker anomalies, like we usually think.

Spatial resolution

Holography

Soundstage width

Soundstage depth

Vivaldi's concertos for basson and strings are typical Vivaldi. Under Sir Neville Mariner and Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields the basso continuo creates a fundament of the recording and is a kind of canvas on which other isntruments are painting. The Odin helped each single instrument show its textural beauty and tonal richness. The communication within the orchestra was among the best I have ever experienced. And what about the ambience of the recording venue? Do I really need to say that the Odin managed to replace the ambience of the listening room with what was recorded? I will miss this cable so badly...

Price as reviewed:520 000,- Kč

Recommended resellers

Perfect Sound Group, Praha, tel. +420 722 960 690

Manufacturer's website: http://www.nordost.com

Associated components

Does it matter? The Odin is a cable that elevates perfromance of any audio set up. It is the real ultrahighend component. During the several weeks I had the Odin for this review it resided between many amplifiers and speakers. The outcome was always the same: it became the most wanted cable ever.

Gallery

39%

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