Nordost Sort Kone BC

Up for sale is a set of three pieces Nordost Bronze Sort Kone in perfect conditions like new.

The Sort Kone is a directly coupled and mechanically tuned resonance control device, using a sophisticated new approach to the problem of supporting sensitive electronics.

Whereas most equipment supports are referred to as Isolation Devices, this actually completely misunderstands the nature of the problem. The most harmful mechanical energy doesn’t enter the equipment from outside; it’s generated internally by the audio circuits and their power supplies. Transformers, power supply capacitors, even the active devices themselves, all vibrate as they operate – and those vibrations occur right where the fragile signal is, creating timing errors that smear and distort the music. The Sort Kone is designed specifically to deal with this threat to audio fidelity.

Sort Kones provide a “blacker” background to your music. With it comes greater focus, instrumental color, depth, transparency and dynamic range. Your system will sound more natural and more lifelike, your music more lively and engaging, the musicians like better musicians – simply because you’ll finally be able to hear the notes they’re playing, the way they play them and precisely when. So, release the hidden performance that’s lurking in your equipment.

• Three-part construction employs superior materials in a mechanically tuned configuration.
• Bypasses soft feet fitted to equipment to provide a direct mechanical ground path for internal energy.
• Can be used in triplets, quartets or even larger numbers.
• Height: 56mm

BC – bronze post and base elements combined with an upgraded ceramic coupling ball.

The Sort Kones are designed to support your equipment at three or more points, effectively replacing the feet which came with the component. You place them under the component, point against the bottom surface of the component, locating them directly underneath transformers, power supplies and motors (i.e. anything that may vibrate). Nordost provides a detailed installation guide, but some experimentation can be helpful.

Insertion in the Little System

The effect of insertion the bronze Sort Kones with the ceramic ball again was easy to hear: imaging was very stable with a lovely top end. The bells and cymbals moved the stage little back and had more color and dimensionality, the lower notes of the piano were very rich and full, bass was a bit more prominent, but not overemphasized. Bass in general and the lower mids improved, becoming fuller and more robust. Leading edge was still quite good and the top end was less brittle. The sound was less forward with a suggestion of depth. It was easy to tell the difference between a violin and a viola.

Insertion in the Big System

The “big system” was comprised of Avalon Eidolon speakers driven by Conrad Johnson tube electronics, using an EMM Labs CD player as the front end. The EMM Labs CDSA normally rests on three Finite Elemente Cerabases. The sound is rich and warm (perhaps a tad overly so) with a realistic sense of the bottom end of a Steinway D concert grand or the sound of a bow being drawn across the strings of a violin.

Insertion of Bronze Sort Kones under the CDSA immediately raised the image height and moved the image farther back on the stage. Images on the stage were arguably better defined, but a bit edgier with somewhat less richness. On a recording of the Renaldo Hahn Piano Quintet on the Naïve label, the piano was farther back on the stage with a better defined image and a wider stage. Leading edge was also better defined. The sound was rich, warm and very pleasant. This was a sound that I would find very inviting after a hard day at the office.

I can wholeheartedly recommend the Nordost Sort Kones as a major step forward in improving sound at a reasonable cost.