NORDOST QBASE QB8 Mark III – AC DISTRIBUTION UNIT

Description

The Nordost QBASE QB8 Mark III – AC Distribution Unit is a premium power distribution unit designed to provide high-end audio and video systems with a clean, stable, and interference-free AC power supply. As part of Nordost’s renowned QRT line, the QB8 Mark III is engineered to optimize the power flow to your equipment, ensuring that each component in your system performs at its highest level. This unit stands out for its advanced grounding technology, low-impedance design, and ability to deliver exceptional improvements in sound quality, clarity, and detail.

Overview

The QB8 Mark III is the flagship model in Nordost’s QBASE series and offers eight high-quality outlets, making it ideal for larger audio and home theater setups. It is designed to serve as a central power distribution hub that enhances the overall performance of connected components by providing a stable, low-noise power supply. The QB8 Mark III employs Nordost’s star-earth grounding system and direct connection design, which ensures that every device plugged into the unit benefits from a consistent and pure power flow, free from the noise and distortion commonly introduced by standard power strips.

Key Features

• Star-Earth Grounding Topology: The QB8 Mark III uses Nordost’s unique star-earth grounding system, which ensures that each of the eight outlets has a dedicated ground path. This significantly reduces ground loops, hum, and noise, resulting in a cleaner and more stable power supply for your audio and video equipment.
• Optimized Current Flow: The unit is designed to provide optimal current flow across all connected components, preventing one device from affecting the power supply to others. This ensures consistent and reliable performance throughout your entire system.
• Direct Connection Design: Nordost’s direct connection design minimizes the internal wiring and connections within the QB8 Mark III, reducing impedance and preserving the integrity of the AC power signal. This ensures that power is delivered efficiently and without degradation.
• Passive Filtering: The QB8 Mark III incorporates passive filtering to eliminate high-frequency noise and electromagnetic interference (EMI) from the power line. This ensures that your equipment receives a clean, interference-free power supply, which is essential for achieving the best possible audio and video quality.
• Heavy-Duty Construction: The unit is built with a robust, anti-resonant chassis that minimizes vibrations and mechanical interference, further contributing to the delivery of clean power to your components.

Benefits of the Nordost QBASE QB8 Mark III AC Distribution Unit

• Enhanced Audio Clarity and Detail: By providing a clean and stable power supply with reduced noise and interference, the QB8 Mark III allows your audio system to deliver clearer, more detailed, and dynamic sound, with improved bass response and a more expansive soundstage.
• Improved Video Quality: When used with home theater systems, the QB8 Mark III contributes to a sharper, more vibrant image with enhanced contrast and color accuracy by reducing power-related noise and interference.
• Greater System Efficiency: The star-earth grounding and direct connection design ensure that each component receives the optimal power it needs, leading to more consistent and efficient system performance.
• Scalable Solution: The QB8 Mark III can be used on its own or combined with other Nordost QRT products, such as the QV2 AC Line Harmonizer, QK1 AC Enhancer, or QWAVE AC Line Harmonizer, to create a comprehensive power management system that maximizes the potential of your high-end audio and video setup.

Ideal Use Cases

• High-End Audio Systems: Audiophiles looking to elevate their listening experience will benefit from the QB8 Mark III’s ability to provide clean, stable power, resulting in improved clarity, detail, and dynamic range.
• Home Theater Systems: For home theater enthusiasts, the QB8 Mark III ensures that all components, from amplifiers to projectors, receive interference-free power, resulting in a more immersive and detailed audio-visual experience.
• Professional Audio/Recording Studios: The QB8 Mark III is an excellent choice for studios where clean power is essential for maintaining the integrity of audio signals during recording, mixing, or mastering.

How to Integrate the QB8 Mark III into Your System

1. Position the QB8 Mark III near your audio or home theater equipment and connect it to a high-quality wall outlet using a premium power cable.
2. Plug your components into the QB8 Mark III’s eight outlets, prioritizing the most sensitive and critical equipment (e.g., preamplifiers, DACs, or source components) in outlets closest to the main power input for optimal performance.
3. Combine with other Nordost QRT products such as the QV2, QK1, or QWAVE to further enhance your system’s power quality and performance.

Who Should Consider the Nordost QBASE QB8 Mark III?

The QB8 Mark III is ideal for audiophiles, home theater enthusiasts, and professionals who demand the highest level of performance from their high-end audio and video systems. If you have invested in premium audio components and want to ensure they operate at their full potential, the QB8 Mark III will provide the clean and stable power necessary to achieve optimal results.

Comparison with the QB4 Mark III

• Number of Outlets: The QB8 Mark III offers double the number of outlets compared to the QB4 Mark III, making it more suitable for larger systems with more components.
• Same Core Technologies: Both units feature the star-earth grounding topology and optimized current flow, ensuring high-quality power distribution. The QB8 Mark III, however, provides greater flexibility for larger setups.

Technical Specifications

• Outlets: 8 high-quality grounded outlets with star-earth grounding topology
• Voltage Compatibility: Suitable for standard AC voltages worldwide (100-240V, 50/60Hz)
• Construction: Heavy-duty, anti-resonant chassis designed for durability and optimal performance
• Dimensions: A compact design that fits comfortably within most audio setups, despite offering eight outlets

The Nordost QBASE QB8 Mark III – AC Distribution Unit is a top-of-the-line power distribution solution that significantly enhances the performance of high-end audio and video systems by delivering clean, stable, and interference-free AC power. Its star-earth grounding topology, direct connection design, and passive filtering make it an essential component for anyone looking to achieve the best possible sound and image quality from their system.

By incorporating the QB8 Mark III into your setup, you’ll experience improvements in clarity, detail, dynamics, and overall system efficiency. Whether used alone or as part of a broader Nordost QRT power management system, the QB8 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.

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.

“[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.”– Neil Gader, The Absolute Sound

• 8 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.

VAILABLE CONNECTORS

INPUT:

OUTPUT: