[buson160man]

 I recently borrowed a older nordost  eldorado power cable from a friend and tried it in my system on my cd player.I liked what I heard it seemed to be a better match than the cord I am using now which was an emotiva power cord which at $69.95 was a wise purchase.I was using the outrageously expensive kubala sosna emotion cable(no I am not confusing the two power cords one is the emotion and the other is the emotiva) and I was exploring the emotiva website when I discovered that they had a power cord offering.Well when I saw the price which was about seventy dollars for a two meter cable.I said what the hell it might be worth a try at the inexpensive price.Well I was totally shcked at how good this cable was compared to my thousand dollar cable(I wished I had heard these first).
 I found the kubalas to be too warm sounding and there was a lack of clarity and excitement to the sound with them in my system.
The emotivas were quicker with more clarity and better dynamics at least in my system.I have since purchased three of them in total.
I am still using two of them in my system.
  Well to get back to the nordost brahma power cord and my observations of what they sound like on my cd player.
I was checking out the nordost cables on the music direct website and I saw that they were clearing out the brahma power cords they had in stock because this model has been deleted in their current line.When i saw the pice I checked out some reviews of the cable and the consensus was vey positive.I was at first gunshy after spending a lot for my two kubala emotion cables.But based on my impressions of the older eldorado I took a chance and bought the last one meter cable they had in stock.The salesman assured me that I was getting a great cable at an outstanding price if you consider $725 a good deal for a one meter power cord.
 Well I got home and opened the carton which contained a nice wood box with the nordost symbol and name engraved on the top.
The cable within was very stiff and not very flexible not unlike my kubala cords.
   The salesperson said that the cable takes a long time to break in and be patient.So I hooked up the cable to my onkyo cd player.
This is absurd I am hooking up a seven hundred dollar cable to a seven hundred dollar sacd/cd I bought off of amazon for three hundred and fifty dollars.Well I haerd a huge difference right off the bat with a much more dynamic sound which seems to have lightning fast sound with excellent clarity and that was with no time on the cable.Well I have had the cable in my system now for  four days.On the second day things seemed even more dynamic sounding.On day three things seemed possibly more dynamic sounding and there seemed to be a slight improvement in the soundstaging performance of my system.This is now the fourth day and I am perceiving further improvement in my soundstaging.I also think things are sounding just a bit more relaxed at the same time.There is a presence to the sound that seems vey lifelike with excellent clarity and very lifelike dynamics.Things sound much more real now and even after four days I am finding listening to music much more involving.Things are much more exciting but at the same time things do not sound bright at all things just sound more natural.I am perceiving non of the digital edge that I had thought were the artifacts of the recordings.
 I had read that the cable takes weeks to break in so the break in proccess is just started.I do not know the full effect of the break in but things sound extremely promising so far.I have to say at least from my experience that this cable has had a pronounced effect on my source that is anything but subtle.The improvement in my system has been very educational with respect to the dynamics of live music.
Things in my system have never sounded so lifelike and dynamic before.It has made me much more aware of the aspect of dynamics as a property of live sound reproduction.I do attend live classical concerts from time to time and although it is difficult  if not impossible to recreate the dynamics of a live performance my systems sound is a lot closer to what I hear at those concerts.
 That is all I have to say now about the nordost brahma power cord at least for now.

 

[mell]

Hi--   Just curious, how has that Brahma turned out?  Still in your system?  Wondering how this cord might compare to a shunyata zitron cobra.  Anything else in that price range or below that you've tried and liked?  Thanks,   Mel   P.S.:  A zillion cords out there and everyone claiming there's is the best ever.  A ridiculous "hobby."

 

[stainless824]

been looking into the zitron and nordost as well. curious. I don't think many people have extensively tested both. Usually the average enthusiast will buy one brand then tout that what they bought is the best thing ever. A bit hard to find any truth in these things

 

[buson160man]

  Hi--   Just curious, how has that Brahma turned out?  Still in your system?  Wondering how this cord might compare to a shunyata zitron cobra.  Anything else in that price range or below that you've tried and liked?  Thanks,   Mel   P.S.:  A zillion cords out there and everyone claiming there's is the best ever.  A ridiculous "hobby."

 Well like everything else in high end audio. The results turned out to be somewhat of a mixed bag. The brahma for one took absolutely forever to break in, easily the longest break in period for anything I have owned. So if there was a trial period before you could return it you can pretty much forget it. I can  not even guess how long this cable took to break in eventually it did get better. The results were also very dependent and component specific. In some areas like noise the cable was excellent. The cable is also good at producing dynamics . The soundstage was not
that great the cable tended to sound somewhat two dimensional in my set ups. I have other cables that are superior to it in soundstage reproduction. There just did not seem to be that much depth with the brahma in my set up.
   I had mentioned that the cable was component specific. On my denon 3931 universal player the video performance was greatly enhanced the picture became noticeably cleaner looking and more vivid. This is one area where this cable really excels. It also worked well with my onkyo  sacd/cd player making things sound quieter. It was also a good match for my burson ha-160 headphone amp things became more dynamic sounding and it tightened up the sound of the burson as well which tends to be a bit warmer sounding.
   In the end I expected more of this cable than I got. Oh well that is the high end for you. At least I got a break on the price because they were discontinuing the cable. I got it for half off but 700 usd is still no bargain for this cable. I have other cables that I felt offered more performance for what I spent for them. Some where a fair amount cheaper than even the 700 usd that the brahma cost me.
    For the most part I plan to use this cable on my denon for as long as that player lasts as I mentioned the video on my denon was greatly enhanced with this cable feeding it.
 And you are right this is a ridiculous hobby. Especially the pricing on high end components these days. You would think you could grow money in your yard based on the ever escalating prices of high end equipment and acessories these days.

 

[Happy Camper]

If people will spend the money, you have to give it a shot. That's what capitalism is all about. If you won't pay the price they can't get it and it will either come down or not be made. And then there's always the value issue. I believe in cables and cords but the value finds me a hard sell. I am about to drop a bit on silver signal cables though. My one power cable upgrade did improve the dynamics. I guess it's removing the high frequencies so that the power supply can be more robust with 60~.

 

[lushadonggo]

It was also a good match for my burson ha-160 headphone amp things became more dynamic sounding and it tightened up the sound of the burson as well which tends to be a bit warmer sounding.

 

[buson160man]

 This is my latest observation about the nordost brahma power cable. I have this cable for awhile now and recently I purchased a new interconnect from cable pro. The vitality interconnect is terminated with a rca termination . So I guess this would be a observation of the brahma with this interconnect on the source. I had my brahma on my desktop set up with my teac ud-501 dac . I have been breaking in my vitality and it is sounding very nice indeed, So I thought I would give the brahma another shot in one of my regular headphone set ups. I used it on my Ray Samuels raptor headphone amplifier. I was very pleased to hear how much better it was than before with my older interconnects. The brahma sounds much tighter and more dynamic with the vitality cable. I always felt that the brahma was always signature towards the accuracy camp of power cables. Well it still is but now it is sounding more dynamic than ever at least with my raptor. I use a peachtree decco 2 as a dedicated dac . There may be more resolved dacs including my teac ud-501 but the decco 2 has a very beguiling almost vinyl like quality to its sonics. It is possessed of a very atmospheric quality that makes  for very inviting and fatigue  free listening sessions.
   Well getting back to my reevaluation of the brahma power cord. The brahma is sounding very natural with a very neutral quality but not with the irritating brightness that it had before. While soundstage depth has never been a strongpoint with the brahma it is sounding a bit more spacious now It at least for the time being the power cord of choice with my raptor headphone amp. The raptor is sounding more resolved than ever and with my new vitality interconnect better than ever.

 

[THAY BRAN]

That's the thing about the brahma can change quite drastically on what it's feeding , worth every penny as far as I am concerned. The level of detail it gives is perfect once it has settled in a system a couple hundred hours. I had it attached to a Lehmann black cube head amp and it sounded great very detailed with less brightness than the Vishnu or shiva and the bass present is perfect. I was never big on forced soundstage and overseperation of instruments as I find myself more critical of what is performed rather than just enjoying the music.the brahma is definitely the bargain of the mk1 range. I also have a heimdall2 to compare and I must say it is equally as good but much smoother and fuller in its presentation and a bargain at the right price, I paid half the UK asking price , if anyone pays half the original price for the brahma it is more than worth that especially given how close it gets to the Valhalla.

Great review by the way , the better the source the better the brahma performs.