Cable Asylum: REVIEW: Nordost Blue Heaven Speaker Cable Cable by hexenboden

Model:	Blue Heaven Speaker Cable
Category:	Cable
Suggested Retail Price:	$600 10 ft.
Description:	Biwireable
Manufacturer URL:	Nordost
Manufacturer URL:	Nordost

Review by hexenboden on August 30, 2001 at 11:04:51
IP Address: 212.127.8.109

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for the Blue Heaven Speaker Cable

I have a view on audio cables, which you may or may not agree with. Most audiophiles buy expensive cable as a form of insurance. The aficionado who has just spend $5,000, $15,000 or more does not want his (or her) listening enjoyment --after such a significant investment has been made-- to be compromised by the quality of the cable he uses. Dealers are particularly smart at scaring the newbies by hinting that using Radio Shack or Monster speaker cable with the 5 grand Martin logans or B&Ws they have just purchased will not deliver all of the gear's capabilities. Therefore you usually end-up spending an extra 10 to 20% of the value of your system on cables, just in case. How many audiophiles actually try cheaper cable options before gradually moving on to the expensive stuff? Only a small percentage of audiophiles ever have the patience to do serious cable comparisons, and of those who do, few have the adequate set-up or skills to reach any valid, extrapolable conclusions. Not to mention that most dealers are quite reticent to loan you their $5,000 cable set unless you are a huge customer. But even if you can get your hands on a couple of demos, analyzing cable performance is fraught with challenges. For starters, each time you change the cable during a review, a significant time elapses before you can hear that reference musical passage again, and when you do get to it, your memory of how the passage sounded may not be that accurate, and the critical electronic balance between the components of a system will have been altered. Hence, although cables do indeed sound different from one another, any conclusions reached by the average amateur about their relative merits are highly subjective and in most cases questionable. This might even be considered at least partially true for even the most seasoned professional reviewers.
Another issue with reviewing cables is that all the characteristics of each particular cable do not become apparent until after several weeks of settling into a system. This could have human/psychological or technical reasons. But the fact is that until you have listened to a number of different sources and music material over several days --even weeks, you can't reach any definitive conclusions (even if the cables had been previously broken-in on another system). This is of course also true of audio equipment in general, but even more so with cables, where the differences in performance are usually subtle.
That is the context in which I write this review (and other cable reviews I have posted). So, having said that, I can heartily recommend the Nordost Blue Heaven. They have given me a satisfactory listening experience on my Silverline Sonatas with solid state electronics for the last few months, and provided many clues to upgrade the sound without the need for more expensive cables.
I purchased this speaker cable without really having listened much to it, and mainly because it has been recommended for years by reviewers at both Stereophile and TAS (those same reviewers usually tell you to keep away from the more expensive Red Dawns). To give you my impression of the Blue Heavens I'll start by referring to what one well-known audio pro, Harry Person of TAS, has said of the Blue Heavens. HP quite likes this cable, which he considers musical and forgiving. But I don't think he is right about the latter. HP has a preference for (mostly tubed) electronics with rolled-off top ends. If you mate a Blue Heaven with that sort of system the sound may indeed be be too mellow. But with speakers and electronics with good treble extension these cables are very revealing, and not in the least forgiving. You'd better have top notch equipment or you'll hear it. This cable's transparency is most noticeable when listening to poorly recorded CDs which will just sound the way they are. But drop a great CD in your first rate player, such as MA Recordings' "Sera una Noche", a DAD from Chesky or Classic, or your favorite SACD, and the Blue Heavens will take you pretty much as high as your system can go. At least, I don't think that buying a more expensive cable would make sense for me right now, since the Blue Heavens are already telling me a lot about my system, and hinting at what may be improved by making certain changes.
I guess am admitting that I am in this category of audiophiles who buys expensive cable as insurance to get the most out of expensive gear, without going through lengthy (and usually futile) cable comparisons. I have therefore not listened to my system with either Radio Shack, Monster or cost-no-object cables, nor with a myriad of mid-priced cables. I don't think I'll ever do that. I prefer to listen to a good piece and relax. In my cable selection I have been guided primarily by price constraints and by professional reviews. I can't therefore say where the Blue Heaven's exactly fall compared to other cables out there. But after using them for several months, I still can heartily recommend these cables. They are not cheap, but I doubt you can go wrong with them. If your system is of the revealing, true the the source kind, these speaker cables should enhance your listening pleasure.

Product Weakness: None
Product Strengths: Excellent performance at mid-price, revealing, musical

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Marsh
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Bryston
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	CD, DVD
Speakers:	Silverline Sonata
Cables/Interconnects:	Nordost, Analysis Plus
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	all types
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	None
Product Strengths:	Excellent performance at mid-price, revealing, musical