The QBASE Mark III is an elegant yet simple concept that provides the solid foundation that audio components require in order to create and expand upon any high-performing two-channel system.
The Nordost QBASE QB4 Mark III – AC Distribution Unit is a high-performance power distribution solution designed to provide clean, stable, and interference-free AC power to high-end audio and home theater systems. As part of Nordost’s QRT power management line, the QB4 Mark III is engineered to deliver superior power quality by employing advanced grounding techniques and optimized current flow, ensuring that your audio components receive the best possible power for enhanced sound clarity, detail, and dynamics.
Overview
The QB4 Mark III is the latest iteration of Nordost’s popular QBASE power distribution series. It features four high-quality outlets arranged in a compact, yet robust, chassis designed to minimize noise and provide a low-impedance, star-earthed ground path. This allows for a more consistent and stable power supply to each connected component, which helps reduce noise and interference that can degrade the performance of your audio system. The QB4 Mark III is specifically designed to maintain the integrity of the power supply, allowing your equipment to operate at its full potential.
Key Features
Star-Earth Grounding Topology: The QB4 Mark III utilizes Nordost’s unique star-earth grounding system, which provides each connected device with a dedicated ground path. This reduces ground loops, minimizes hum and noise, and ensures a clean and stable ground reference, resulting in improved sound quality.
Optimal Current Flow: Unlike conventional power strips, the QB4 Mark III is designed to provide optimal current flow across all connected devices. This prevents one component from adversely affecting the power supply to others, ensuring consistent and reliable performance throughout your audio system.
Direct Connection Design: The QB4 Mark III features a direct connection design that minimizes internal wiring, reducing impedance and maintaining the purity of the AC signal. This ensures efficient power delivery to each connected component.
Compact and Robust Chassis: The unit is housed in a durable, compact chassis that not only protects the internal components but also minimizes vibration and resonance, contributing to a cleaner power supply.
Versatile Compatibility: The QB4 Mark III can be used with various types of high-end audio and video equipment, making it an excellent choice for audiophiles, home theater enthusiasts, and professionals who demand high-quality power distribution.
Benefits of the Nordost QBASE QB4 Mark III AC Distribution Unit
Enhanced Sound Quality: By providing a clean, low-impedance power supply with reduced noise and interference, the QB4 Mark III enables your audio components to deliver clearer, more detailed sound with improved dynamics and a more natural soundstage.
Improved System Efficiency: The star-earth grounding and direct connection design ensure that each component receives the power it needs without being affected by the demands of other devices, resulting in more consistent and efficient system performance.
Flexible Integration: The QB4 Mark III is compatible with a wide range of high-end audio and video equipment, making it a versatile addition to any system.
Ideal Use Cases
High-End Audio Systems: The QB4 Mark III is perfect for audiophiles who want to ensure that their high-fidelity audio components receive the cleanest possible power supply, resulting in a more immersive and detailed listening experience.
Home Theater Systems: For home theater enthusiasts, the QB4 Mark III provides clean power to all connected components, enhancing both audio and video quality for a more engaging viewing experience.
Professional Audio/Recording Studios: The QB4 Mark III is an excellent choice for studios or professional audio setups where power quality is crucial for maintaining the integrity of the audio signal.
How to Integrate the QB4 Mark III into Your System
Integrating the QB4 Mark III into your setup is straightforward:
Place the QB4 Mark III near your audio or home theater equipment and connect it to a high-quality wall outlet using a premium power cable.
Plug your audio and video components into the QB4 Mark III’s outlets. For optimal performance, connect the most sensitive and critical components (such as preamplifiers, DACs, or source components) to the outlets closest to the power input.
Combine with other Nordost QRT products such as the QV2 AC Line Harmonizer, QK1 AC Enhancer, or QWAVE AC Line Harmonizer for even greater improvements in power quality and system performance.
Who Should Consider the Nordost QBASE QB4 Mark III?
The QB4 Mark III is ideal for audiophiles, home theater enthusiasts, and professionals who want to maximize the performance of their high-end audio and video systems. If you have invested in quality components and want to ensure they receive the cleanest and most stable power supply, the QB4 Mark III is a valuable addition to your setup.
Comparison with Other Nordost QBASE Models
QB4 Mark III vs. QB8 Mark III: The QB8 Mark III offers more outlets (eight compared to the four in the QB4), making it suitable for larger systems with more components. However, both units offer the same star-earth grounding topology and optimized current flow, ensuring clean power delivery.
Integration with Other QRT Products: The QB4 Mark III works seamlessly with other QRT products like the QV2, QK1, and QWAVE, allowing you to create a comprehensive power management system that delivers unparalleled audio and video performance.
Technical Specifications
Outlets: 4 high-quality grounded outlets with star-earth grounding topology
Voltage Compatibility: Suitable for standard AC voltages worldwide (100-240V, 50/60Hz)
Construction: Robust, anti-resonant chassis designed for durability and performance
Dimensions: Compact design that fits easily into most audio setups
The Nordost QBASE QB4 Mark III – AC Distribution Unit is a top-tier power distribution solution that offers significant improvements in audio and video performance by delivering clean, stable, and interference-free AC power to your equipment. Its star-earth grounding topology, optimized current flow, and direct connection design make it an essential component for anyone looking to maximize the performance of their high-end audio or home theater system.
By integrating the QB4 Mark III into your setup, you will experience enhanced clarity, detail, and dynamics, allowing your equipment to perform at its absolute best. Whether used alone or in combination with other Nordost QRT products, the QB4 Mark III is an investment that will elevate your entire audio/visual experience, making it a must-have for serious audiophiles and home theater enthusiasts seeking the highest quality power distribution.
The QBASE Mark III is an elegant yet simple concept that provides the solid foundation that audio components require in order to create and expand upon any high-performing two-channel system. Nordost’s AC Distribution Unit 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 in-line filtering or active circuitry.
QBASE Mark III units are comprised of a mechanically tuned, extruded aluminum body, outfitted with highly durable connectors which have been specifically engineered to maintain excellent connectivity after extended use. The Mark III model features a dual-level PC-board configuration which separates all ground connections from the line and neutral traces, consequently minimizing any interference or crosstalk between live/neutral and ground currents. Additionally, the construction and trace geometry of each PC-board has been vastly optimized to include enhanced trace sizes, further maximizing current flow and crosstalk, and each QBASE Mark III is internally wired with Nordost Mono-Filament wire. Lastly, a resistance “sink” adds protection and more effectively damps eddy currents.
The QBASE Mark III impacts every component connected to it, improving each one in unique ways. The 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.
• 4 outlet design
• Focused star ground for superior sonic performance
• No in-line filtering or active circuitry keeps the lowest possible AC supply impedance
• Primary Earth grounding
• Optimized multi-level PC-board configuration to further minimize interference, maximize current flow, and more
• External ground post for connection to separate clean ground
• Dedicated Fuse (Comes with two replacement fuses)
• Available in US, EU, and AUS configurations
▶ Add €20 retail for additional replacement fuse
Available Accessory:
STAND MOUNT
Use to easily support your QBASE unit with Nordost Sort Kones, mount it to the wall, or stabilize and lift it higher off of your floor or rack. Works with all Mark II and Mark III QBASE Units.
“[The QBASE Mark III] is restorative, bringing to light low-level details and mirco-dynamic shifts that have been obscured. The sonic results make themselves known immediately and consistently.”
“The latest QB8 should open the window on your recordings wider than ever before, not least because its benefits spread across every component in your system, allowing every single one to work better.”
“So, here we have that happy occasion when the product under review performed beyond expectations and is a genuine bargain to boot…The QBASE is as neutral as the day is long, in the optimal sense of the word. Delightfully free of any sonic signature and so even-handed, you’ll be hard pressed to . . .”
“Reviews sometimes assume a life of their own. This review or at least the idea for this review began when a friend (Sherri) brought a number of Nordost QKOIL models (QV2/QK1) to my home one afternoon so that I could hear them in my system. I had previously visited her home for a demonstration of the QK1 and QV2 and really liked what they did in her system, but was not sure how they might affect my own system. The effects of each. . .”
“For years it was cables, but these days there is little that rattles the cage of the committed audio puritan like mains conditioners and equipment support cones. Reviews of either is almost bound to elicit a rise in blood pressure and a trip to the keyboard to fire off an indignant mail to some audio forum or other. As for tiny, resonating metal bowls that sit on the wall? Don’t even . . .”
– Chris Thomas, Hi-Fi+
Additional information
Model:
US, US-20, EU, EU-16, AUS, AUS -16
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