This makes no sense, but yet....

I had the sprung cables between my CDP and amp and they were unbearibly bright -

Try flipping them end for end and listen to them again.

how old is each pair ...meaning was one bought used and one pair bought brand new ?

They're all used. I believe I had the other pair in with the arrows pointing the right way, but I didn't look. This pair sounds a world better though. I can swap them in and out to see if I can duplicate the tizz. Good simple fix though if thats the case.

All things occurring with the performance of audio systems are not guaranteed to make sense. If everything made sense, man would this be simpler.

That is silly. Directionality of a cable is determined from a few purposely defined characteristics. I hate to say this and sound rude...but the quality control must be lacking if you experience an obvious difference. There is absolutely NO reason why a well designed cable would do this. Now if the plugs are the only difference as you state, then possibly this would be more of a hint as to what may be causing the difference. Still, they would have to be composed of different materials in order to be that obvious. If you use a cable that has no indication of directionality, except for drain wire purposes, it should NOT sound different plugged in either way. I only know of two designers who know how to manipulate this phenomenon. One can be found in a 6moons review (just look for the only award in the cable category), and the other is who specifically designed the cables for my systems.

You may already know this but just in case, the arrow on the Nordost cable points to the source, not the direction of flow like every other cable.

You may already know this but just in case, the arrow on the Nordost cable points to the source, not the direction of flow like every other cable.
11-06-09: Rhljazz

Rhljazz, I believe at one point Nordost changed their mind..... Early cables arrow toward the source, then newer versions away from the source.
http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.mpl?forum=cables&n=20705&highlight=direction+arrow+on+the+Nordost+cable

That is silly. Directionality of a cable is determined from a few purposely defined characteristics. I hate to say this and sound rude...but the quality control must be lacking if you experience an obvious difference. There is absolutely NO reason why a well designed cable would do this. Now if the plugs are the only difference as you state, then possibly this would be more of a hint as to what may be causing the difference.
11-05-09: Vandermeulen

AQ quote from the 1990s

"While cable directionality is not fully understood, it is clear that the molecular structure of drawn metal is unsymmetrical, which does provide a physical explanation for the existence of directionality."

Bob Crump

>http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.mpl?forum=cables&n=12332&highlight=rcrump+wire+direction


http://www.stereophile.com/features/368/index8.html Quote from article

"The revelation that digital interconnects and their direction can introduce large differences in measured jitter was quite a shock. The differences heard between digital interconnects—and in their directionality—have now been substantiated by measurement."

.

That's very interesting and of course doubly confusing which may explain the difference in sound the OP is experiencing between the two sets of interconnects. Good job Jea48!

Could the offending pair possibly be counterfeit?

Muzikat: You may have hit on something? Do the ones with the spring clips sound better? These are "lively" cables to start with...

No, the ones with the spring clips were the harsh ones. I haven't had a chance to swap them out again since I started this post. That's interesting about the direction of the arrows though. I'll have to try it and see.

Jea48, thanks for the info. Though this explanation can be used to desribe almost everything made by man or nature. Also, the problem inherent to the subjectivity in the audiophile's world cannot be measured and reproduced with statistical significance. Of course electronics can as you pointed out. But, that does not necessarily prove anything in the audiophile's world either. So we are basically back to the beginning again.

Well, I was unable to duplicate the tizz and now have the old cables back in and they sound fine. However, I did move the speakers about two feet further apart, toes in to cross axis just in front of my chair. That seemed to help with the brightness AND made the soundstage bigger. So I guess that's a bonus.

Good deal Grimace.

Nordost is my least favorite cable because they don't sound remotely like music. For yucks some time, get a monster M1000i to try against them and see what you think. I've found more and more variability in high end cables over the years and few of them actually offer a more musical experience.

I fixed this by putting in a set of KCI Silkworms. They dust the Blue Heavens right out of the box.