Nordost has launched a dramatic upgrade to its QBASE AC Distribution Unit: The QBASE Mark III.
At its core, the QBASE will stay true to its original design: a passive distribution block comprised of a mechanically tuned, extruded aluminum body, durable contact points, and internal Mono-Filament wiring. However, the significant upgrades made to its internal composition offers a substantial leap forward in terms of audible performance.
Like its predecessors, the QBASE Mark III addresses the noise-inducing, conflicting flows of signal and ground paths within a hifi system by using a unique method called “star-earth topology”. Star-earth topology connects all outlets from one central point (or outlet) to the input. In the QBASE, we do this while additionally lifting the impedance level on every outlet, except for the one deemed “Primary Earth”. Elevating the ground in this passive manner achieves three indispensable effects: it creates an uninterrupted, straight-line AC distribution path from the wall to each individual component, isolates each component by deterring the ground flow between them, and eliminates conflicting flow between signal and ground paths all without any form of inline filtering or active circuitry.
Nordost’s QBASE Mark III is a significant upgrade compared to its previous iteration.
Improvements include
- Newly designed, dual PC-board configuration
- Increased separation of all ground connections from the line and neutral traces
- Further minimized interference/crosstalk between live/neutral and ground currents
- Enhanced trace sizes to maximize current flow
- Revised resistance “sink” to add protection and effectively damp eddy currents
- Pre-QKORE Grounding
- QBASE-MKIII-email-image
- Nordost’s QBASE Distribution Unit has been an essential component in hifi systems ranging from modest to reference-level for well over a decade. Now, with the crucial developments implemented in the design of the new QBASE Mark III, the benefit it brings to system performance has only been amplified. The QBASE Mark III impacts every component connected to it, improving each component in unique ways.
The cumulative effect it has on a system is all encompassing— enhancing the 3D imaging on the soundstage, pulling out tonal richness and sustained decay time in the music, and imparting a clear increase of power while maintaining a neutral and effortless delivery of the performance.