A question for those who've chosen a Valhalla PC..

Gbmcleod,

I think some of the character you're attributing to the Valhalla power cords can be blamed not on the cords themselves, but on the sonic character of other components in the chain, such as AC outlets, power conditioners and IEC sockets. I've heard the 'whitening' of sound with power cords, and it usually can be ameliorated by upgrading/eliminating power conditioning, and using high-grade, cryo-treated AC outlets and IEC sockets. Many high-end manufacturers 'cheese out' on their IEC sockets, and replacing them with audio grade sockets really seems to reduce/eliminate this whitening of the sound, as well as eliminates a coloration in the midrange that tends to mask upper-bass detail. I'll speculate that the Valhalla power cord reveals the aforementioned AC shortcoming, while the Shunyata offsets them due to its' sonic signature.
Just another system matching issue I guess...

TP:
could be, but I'm inclined to think otherwise. I've heard the Nordost in several systems that vary dramatically, and the effect is rather obvious. One component that would not 'whiten' the sound is the JVC XL-Z1010 CD player. Its' sound is anything but 'white.' With the Nordost plugged into it, the noise floor is lower, but leaner, which, as I recall, is a function of the midbass, a frequency where the Nordost is, I would say, DEFINITELY a bit on the lightweight side. In this frequency, the Nordost compensates by being very 'fast' and defined, but I doubt it's an effect of the conditioners, since in several of the systems I placed it in, there were no line conditioners. As for the outlets, I use PS Audio, FIM and the FIM super outlets, and the effect is still there. Add to that the fact that a cello is MOSTLY upper bass/lower midrange, but it does not sound thin in real life. I've heard it performed in drawing rooms, where I'm no more than 10 feet away, and the sound is quite familiar. The Nordost absolutely portrays the dynamics, but planes off some of the richness of the color (of course, it COULD be the recording, but when it does this to the majority of recordings, one must, by nature, suspect the component that shows its' 'colors' by what it does as much as what it does NOT do. And the Nordost does lightne the upper/midbass. This has been noted in many of its previous incarnations. Just read the reviews of the Quattro Fils, SPMs, etc., especially in TAS. It's pretty plainly laid out.
I think the Nordost is by far the most transparent interconnect, but as pointed out, that transparency comes at a price (after all, nothing is perfect) and the price is a lightweight sound. I am not the first to notice this. Stereophile pointed this out in its review several years ago; it's a pretty obvious trait.
As for Shunyata adding a sonic signature, ALL components do that. Every last one in existence. If, say, an audio component did not color the sound in some way, it would be perfect, and that simply does not exist in anything made by man.

...and, 2 years later, who weighs in on the Nordost, but HP, who only NOW realizes that the Nordost is "somewhat threadbare." Hence the Odins. I would guess this does settle the uncertainty of whether or not Nordost "whitens" the sound for those of us not quite sure if it was the Nordost or our system....