The Focal Sound is the fruit of their love of music. For more than 40 years, it has been growing and maturing.

IsoAcoustics Inc. has been manufacturing and distributing isolation products in the audio industry since January of 2012. The patented IsoAcoustics technology is based on years of experience in the design and construction of radio and television studios.

The driving force is Dave Morrison, closely involved in planning and building radio and television studios at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for close to 20 years. Dave Morrison was part of the design team faced with the challenges of building the world’s largest multi-media center in Toronto: over 1.72 million square feet, with recording studios for drama, music, and chamber ensembles, special effects, radio and television shows.

Aperta Sub

With a sculpted aluminum frame and patented IsoAcoustics integrated isolators, the Aperta Sub introduces a new standard in acoustic isolation for subwoofers.

The Aperta Sub decouples the subwoofers from the supporting surface to prevent the physical transfer of energy that excites the supporting surface, causes room rattle and disturbs your neighbors.

For more information visit the IsoAcoustics website.

Founded in 1991, Nordost Corporation is a high-technology cable manufacturer specializing in the audio and medical fields, using precision conductor solutions first developed for the aerospace industry and in conjunction with NASA for the space shuttle program. The first Nordost audio product, launched in 1992, was Flatline Gold, a revolutionary flat profile speaker cable whose toughodin analog interconnect extruded FEP insulation made it ideal for under carpet or in-wall installation, but its astounding sonic performance soon established the flat array of solid-core conductors as something very special indeed. 

Further development of the technology and concept quickly established a range of products across different price points, products whose performance challenged existing notions of the price/performance equation. Nordost also adopted a unique approach to sales, openly demonstrating the performance of their products against the competition.

Heimdall 2

Nordost’s Heimdall 2 cables are the first tier in our mid-range, Norse 2 family. Using the same core design as our entry-level products, Heimdall 2 cables maintain consistency with the Leif ranges. This continuity ensures similar sonic signatures between our cables, allowing for a seamless transfer as one upgrades throughout Nordost’s lines.

Leif

Nordost's entry level cable ranges are perfect examples of quality cabling set at an affordable price range. The Leif family uses scientifically proven methods and technology derived from the development of our Valhalla and Odin ranges and applies their basic principles to create cables which evoke dynamic, low-loss and realistic performances from even modest components and loudspeakers. The Nordost Leif Series includes:

• White Lightning - Interconnect, Balanced Interconnect, Loudspeaker Cable
• Purple Flare - Interconnect, Balanced Interconnect, USB 2.0, Fig-8 Power Cord, Loudspeaker Cable
• Blue Heavan - Interconnect, Balanced Interconnect, iKable, Tonearm Lead, Headphone Cable, Ethernet Cable, 75 Ohm Digital Lead, USB 2.0, HDMI, Power Cord, Loudspeaker Cable
• Red Dawn - Interconnect, Balanced Interconnect, Power Cord, Loudpseaker Cable

Norse 2

With Norse 2, Nordost brings the technologies and performance benefits of Valhalla and Odin to a range of real world products, developed to release the performance potential that exists in real world systems – systems owned by real world listeners. Refinements to conductor dimensions, spacing, arrangement, and quantity. Mechanical characteristics fully match the already superior electrical performance. Incorporates genuinely state of the art AC and signal transmission technology into any audio system. Combines high technology, precision conductors and precision construction with the best, low-mass and mechanically optimized terminations. Use with today’s high-quality integrated CD players and amplifiers – or HD sources, high-performance processors and multichannel amps and you’ll be astonished by the musical performances that result. The Nordost Norse 2 series includes:

• Heimdall 2 - Interconnect, Balanced Interconnect, iKable, Tonearm Lead, Headphone Cable, Ehternet Cable, 75 Ohm Digital Lead, 110 Ohm Digital Lead, USB 2.0, 4K UHD HDMI, Power Cord, Loudspeaker Cable
• Frey 2 - Interconnect, Balanced Interconnect, Tonearm Lead, Power Cord, Loudspeaker Cable
• Tyr 2 - Interconnect, Balanced Interconnect, 75 Ohm Digital Lead, 110 Ohm Digital Lead, Power Cord, Loudspeaker Cable

Valhalla 2

Nordost Valhalla 2 cables remain true to the Nordost design philosophy, using silver-plated, OFC solid core conductors, extruded FEP insultation, a mechanically tuned construction, and asymmetrical grounding, the advances made from that jumping-off point are astounding. Valhalla 2 cables use Dual Mono-Filament technology, along with an innovative, proprietary connector called the HOLO:PLUG, designed to be the best possible interface between the cable and component. The combination of these two ground-breaking technologies allows Nordost products to perfectly match our philosophy of low mass design, optimal signal transfer and perfect impedance matching. Valhalla 2 cables transport listeners into a live-listening experience, imparting a 3d image to the musical performance that seems almost impossible.

• Valhalla 2 - Interconnect, Balanced Interconnect, Tonearm Lead, 75 Ohm Digital Lead, 110 Ohm Digital Lead, 4K UHD HDMI, Power Cord, Loudspeaker Cable

Odin

The name Odin implies greatness, and our Supreme Reference cables deliver the divine qualities that their name suggests. The Nordost Odin range actualizes the music that is fed into your system, so that you are no longer left with a convincing reproduction of sound, but rather you are able to experience the equivalent of the real performance in the comfort of your own listening room. Odin cables use every tool available in the Nordost arsenal to ensure that every inflection and nuance of musical detail, uninhibited full-range dynamics and explosive impact of a great crescendo are delivered with ease.

• Odin - Interconnect, Balanced Interconnect, Tonearm Lead, 75 Ohm Digital Lead, 110 Ohm Digital Lead, Power Cord, Loudspeaker Cable

Odin 2

Today, after years of extensive research and development, great ingenuity and a sweeping application of industry knowledge, Nordost can firmly state that Odin 2 is the pinnacle of cable design. In unleashing every facet of a live performance - the delicate nuances, the booming crescendos, the instantaneous reaction of a staccato and even the precision in space and timing between notes themselves - Odin 2 cables are unmatched. Such performance must be heard to be believed. Norse Odin 2 doesn't just set the standard; it blows the standards away.

• Odin 2 - Interconnect, Balanced Interconnect, Tonearm Lead, 75 Ohm Digital Lead, 110 Ohm Digital Lead, Power Cord, Loudspeaker Cable

For more information on Nordost cables visit the Nordost website.

Alternating Current (AC), is a far-from-perfect power source. AC power technology is well over a century old and was never designed to meet the exacting standards of today’s high resolution audio-video components. AC noise is present at the utility source, and is then exacerbated by radio frequency noise that is induced (picked up by the AC power cord) and coupled to the component power supplies and to circuit ground. This creates distortion and low-level signal losses via the “masking effect.” Further, power amplifiers can require immense reserves of transient current for their power supplies to react to and then stabilize during dynamic audio passages. Most AC power cords and power conditioner-regenerators, though helpful to a point, are simply not up to the task.

Power amplifiers present a real challenge for any AC power source, as the transient current requirements (though short in duration) can be many times that of the average (RMS) current consumption.

Power amplifiers are also unique from all other components in that the current draw is dynamic, not constant, and it changes with volume and audio signal content. Though many AC power cords may feature low DC resistance to allow for some of this requirement, the characteristic impedance of the AC cable is equally responsible for assuring uncompromised performance. Many premium AC cords constrict or compress the audio transient as their characteristic impedance restricts the transient current.

For more details on the line of Audioquest Storm Series Cables visit their website.

AudioQuest's Folk Hero Series, comprising two models—Robin Hood and William Tell—are available with either Solid Perfect-Surface Copper+ or Solid Perfect-Surface Silver conductors. While the Mythical Creatures are all-out assaults on the state of the cable art, the Folk Heroes use all of the same technology with fewer conductors.

Building on a solid base of tried and true AudioQuest technologies, the design team of Garth Powell and Bill Low specifically focused on addressing one of the most vexing issues plaguing speaker cable design: the mismatch between the amplifier’s source impedance and the speaker’s load impedance. 

By eliminating the speaker cable’s characteristic impedance (ZERO Technology), current compression and distortion of the signal/current transient are significantly reduced. The result is dynamic contrast, transient response, and bass slam that are rendered seemingly without effort, because the cable is not electrically impeding the music.

With the introduction of the Mythical Creatures series of speaker cables, AudioQuest has pushed significantly beyond even its own very high standards.

The same team responsible for the groundbreaking new series of AudioQuest AC power cables—AudioQuest's founder, William Low, and Director of Power Products, Garth Powell—has created what are simply the most transparent, get-out-of-the-way immersive speaker cables ever made. The Mythical Creatures series—ThunderBird, FireBird, and Dragon—are not merely an incremental evolution; their introduction represents a category advance in speaker cable design.