I sold Nordost for over 9 years of time. I owned the Nordost Valhalla loudspeaker cable for 12 years of time. I also sold a lot of Valhalla in the past.
You need to understand the properties of each brand to have an idea what it does.
First of all each brand builds the stage differently and also in sound the differ a lot.
I work in the world of audio of almost 18 years. I have done many tests, because this way I learned to think and work in properties.
I think and work by Tru-Fi. These are all the different properties sound can own.
What are the properties of Nordost?
When I am at a show and they use Odin, you can audition often that the stage depth and width is not that big. Compared to brand like Audioquest, Transparent and MIT the stage is less wide and deep. This property you will find in each different Norodost cable you compare and test.
Instruments and voices are in real very small and direct. When you judge cables on individual focus, Nordost is not that direct and sharp compared to brands like Audioquest, Taralabs and Transparent.
In the time I sold Nordost I always used Kimber interconnects. Why? Very simple, first of all in blind shootouts clients prefer this combo always compared to only Nordost.
Why did people prefer this combo instead of a full Nordost combo.
It is very easy to explain. You add different properties to the Nordost cables what they don't do well.
When I add Kimber interconnects, the stagte became wider and deeper. The indivdual focus of instruments and voices became sharper and more palpable. The mid frequencies became more diverse and richer.
This is way I always said to all my clients; Nordost is incomplete. But....you still can use the parts and properties they fill in the right way.
Based on my knowledge now and the way I work I could not sell it anymore. Because based on the properties of Audioquest I can create a much higher endresult.
Because I sell a sound instead of brands and products. I am only interested in the properties of each part in a set. I collect these properties and with them I build mu sound based on Tru-Fi. I have proven to many people that this way you can outperfrom any set created by the ’old’ fashion way of creating a audio system.
When an audio system owns more different properties sound is build of, it owns more emotion and intensity during listening. That is why you need to be aware of all the properties each part of your system owns.
All these properties together including the acoustics is how the stage and sound of your system is build.