Acoustic Zen vs. Nordost

Judy426, you state:

Nordost cables and Valhalla in particular impart an edgy or grainy character I find fatiguing. I don't want to hear all of the resolution and revealing crap espoused by Nordost advocates who use these cables as tone controls to ameliorate other deficiencies in their system.

HUH?!! You can't have it both ways! The one thing that you CAN'T do with Valhallas is use them for "tone controls"! They are merciless for their resolution and micro-dynamics. Edgy or grainy...NO WAY! You've got other problems in your system that the Valhallas are revealing. It is you, who are in fact, are seeking to use cables as a tone control. Not that there is anything wrong with using cables to compliment the synergy of a system, or that the other cables you mention are "inferior".

The complaint voiced most often about Valhallas is their thinness in the bass region. I have not noticed this to be true, but again "system synergy" is the key.

I dont buy the revealing statement, that the cable is exposing the system problems.
An experiment can be made. Put a record with one or two instruments that you know the timbre very well. First listen with a cable like the AZ and there is a violin and a cello. Then enter the Red Dawn a the violin and cello are gone. It's like - now you have it, now you dont. And you say that the Red Dawn is telling the truth! Strange.
If we put a better uncoloured cable, we shoul have a more truthful violin and cello, not a fizzi tizzy little thing.
The Red Dawn can do good things in the TIME departement, but others do it too without the TIMBRE problems.

Fatparrot, I am with you. Judy426's system must be edgy or grainy, as all Valhalla does is let in the inherent strengths or weakness of your system shine.
Valhalla in my system sounds warm, dynamic and musical - just like my TT and VTL/cj amps. I have heard Valhalla sounding brittle and bright, however that was something else in the system that was not balanced.

Most other cables have a "sound" that is imparted to the system when ever you insert the cables. Whether that is bass wamrth, treble extension or wahatever it is always consistent to a degree.
These I am afraid are more tone controls than Valhalla ( not that there is anything worng with that :)

See I told you, anytime someone doesnot like Nordost Valhalla the fans of this over priced/praised wire always retort that the "bright/thin/kinda-in-your face" quality is because the Valhalla is revealing whats wrong with your system. The only systems that I ever heard Valhalla sound good in was with tube gear, where their a tone control decreasing the fat/overly warm sound of the tubes. I believe that Nordost is one of the "scared cows" of high end audio, if you don't like it in your system, its not the cable, but something is wrong with your gear upstream.

Seurat, I was referring to the Valhalla not the Red Dawn [which I have also used]. The Valhalla is in another league way above the Red Dawn. However, using either the Red Dawn or Blue Heaven will give one a sense of the sonics of the upper echelon Nordost cables. I have heard that the Red Dawn Revision 2 is superior to the original Red Dawn. BTW, I have heard that Acoustic Zen is also a highly regarded cable in the audio community.

Teajay, have you actually tried the Valhallas [I was somewhat confused by your post]? I tend to agree that Valhallas probably may be more tube friendly. However, I disagree with your premise! At the risk of starting another war, most SS rigs that I have heard have a grainy. etched, or brittle sounding high end when compared to tube rigs. At my last CES [2004], Nordost Valhallas were everywhere! And while reviews should always be taken with a grain of salt, there seems to be a majority of reviewers who rave about the Valhallas. As for your comment that these cables are "overpriced", might I remind you that price and value are relative concepts, and the manufacturing process of Valhallas is rather labor intensive.

But as we all know, synergy is that great elusive "missing link" that transforms a good system into a great one!