NORDOST Purple Flare

TR19.11.2011

Speaker cables

The Purple Flare should outperform the Nordost's own White Lightning, at least according to the Nordost’s hierarchy. The simple question therefore is: if I spend extra 100€ on a set, how far I can get?

Function and form

78%

Ease of use

37%

Sound

88%

Appearance

I like one thing about Nordost: the logic and consistency with which they build their product lines. With Nordost one can be sure that more money equals more music and more sophisticated technologies. The same logic applies to the Leif series: all the cables use solid core 4N OFC wires in FEP insulation: the White Lightning has 10 wires, the Purple Flare has 14 wires, the Blue Heaven has 14 with enlarged cross-section area and the Red Dawn has 20.

As far as the comfort of use is concerned, anything I wrote about the cheaper White Lightning holds true about the Purple Flare too. Unlike the snowhite Lightning the Flare is violet. It is also directional and it also uses Nordost’s Z-plugs, that is lightweight hollow bananas made of a thin and expandable metal foil (beryllium and copper combination). The mechanical properties of the Purple Flare are identical to the White Lightning, which means ease of bending (10mm bend radius) and possibility to hide the flat cable invisibly below a carpet or other flooring.

Bass management

Weight

Slam

Articulation

This review is a part of The Low and Mid-tier Speaker Cables Megatest that includes 18 different speaker cables. The pilot article is available at SPECIAL EDITION REVIEWS section of Audiodrom.

Clarity & delicacy

Detail

Air

Transparency

Tonal accuracy

Timbre

Dynamics

Temporal resolution

The Purple Flare is sonically a very mature cable. In its past life it could have shared a position with Super Flatline MkII, in its present life it is better. The Purple Flare is a very open and transparent cable with competent soundstaging and a firm bass fundament. Unlike the White Lightning it is the typical Nordost: clean, extended, precise and fast. Plus the forementioned lows and this is very different from what we had heard from the Flare’s predecessors. The cable reached the depths of the Vincent Premium speaker cable, however, with better contours and finer dynamics. It is still far from being overly romantic, so the direct comparison to the Audioquest’s CV-4 reveals less focus on colors and more focus on transparency and openness.

Spatial resolution

Holography

Soundstage width

Soundstage depth

In my review of Nordost Heimdall (that is a few steps higher in the Nordost’s catalogue) I wrote that ‘it is like jumping into sparkling morning air. The cable has an immense depth focus and tactile quality to the sound, with images precisely locked in their positions. It lets you hear not only the music but the recording venue as well...’ For the Heimdall, two years ago, among others I used the very same recording - Loreena McKennit’s wonderful a cappella Gloucester Wassail. If you expect that I say the Purple Flare was as good as the Heimdall you will be disappointed: it isn’t. However, it manages to keep ca 80% of the Heimdal’s performance at a fraction of its cost which is already a good news.

Price as reviewed:10 000,- Kč

Recommended resellers

Gaia Connections, Praha, tel. +420 286 885 599

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

Associated components

Sources: Primare CD32, Luxman D-05 and Accuphase DP-510
Amplifiers: Primare I32, Luxman L-590AX a Accuphase E-560
Interconnects and speaker cables: Krautwire Fractal, Cardas Clear, Homegrown Audio DNA
Loudspeakers: Audio Physic Virgo V, Dynaudio Confidence C1 and Xavian Giulia, Chario Constellation, Xavian Preludio, Revel Ultima Studio2, B&W 805 Diamond and Atohm G 1.0
Power conditioning: Nordost Thor (modified), Snakeblock, Nordost Valhalla

Gallery

39%

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