Brent: Thanks for the response and clarification. I can see how Nordost's might be of value in a multi-channel music and / or HT system. They definitely sound very sharp, precise and focused, which would aid in better localization and a reduction in congestion / blending of imagery. After all, with 5+ speakers throwing sound at you from every which way, a simplified presentation will increase intelligibility.
Having said that, i found Nordost's to strip away the harmonic structure aka "density of layered sounds" that acoustic instruments produce. With less harmonic information presented, you can now concentrate on the primary notes, which now stand out and sound incredibly pronounced from one another. There is a tremendous sense of speed and detail, but it is achieved at the cost of natural musicality, warmth, body and air. To me, the Nordost is not "a bit more accurate in its determination of musical note decay", it is much poorer in this regard.
If i might read a bit into your post here, i think that you thought the same thing, but chose poor wording to convey your experiences. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been able to say "but the Xindak gold was so obviously superior in creating air around musical notes , lingering into the back of the soundstage , that I found its presentation more realistic and was subsuquently sucked into a suspension of disbelief that the Nordost simply did not give me". After all, if the Nordost was more accurate in harmonic structure and note decay, it would have sounded "more realistic" and "believable" as you noted with the other cable. I hope that you don't take that as criticism of what you wrote, as in a great sense, i'm agreeing with what i think you were trying to say* : )
In my experience, Nordost is a cable that helps achieve "hi-fi" type sonics / increased intelligiblity, which is great if that is what one is looking for. To me, the guys at TAS are all about "hi-fi fluff", hence their love affair with this type of presentation. To me, it is not a natural sounding cable even though it sounds very impressive when you first hear it. The fact that you chose a cable that offers greater "air" ( harmonic structure ) and density of spatial information for a 2 channel based system tells me that we are hearing similar things and desire similar sonic traits from our systems. The fact that you chose Nordost to help "reduce clutter" and "increase intelligibility" in a multi-channel presentation tells me that you've really got a good ear and sense of what goes where. Keep up the good work. Your hands-on experience seems to be paying off quite well : ) Sean
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* If i was wrong in how i interpreted your above comments, please plant your boot firmly and spare no mercy. I don't want to put words in anybody's mouth or lead to further misinterpretation of someone else's comments.