Nordost vs NBS

NBS Statement: body, fullness; slightly rounded attack with few edge or bite harmonics; a choral, singing "open" quality; warm, powerful, punchy bass without a loss of definition; clear, defined strings and cymbals; slightly highlighted, intelligible voices that do not fatigue; reduced noise floor with a corresponding increase in detailed sonic material without the detail becoming un-musical; distant surrounding room reverberations on recordings reproduced in full dimensions, sometimes with a sense of over-extension and giganticism. These features of the NBS Statement were apparent whether the amplification was SS (Ayre) or SET (Vaic), and whether the speakers were floor-standing (Avalon) or monitor (Arcus Cello, Dynaudio), supporting the theory of an NBS "house brand" sound.
--Nordost Valhalla: less contoured, shallower, but more focused bass; a colder, more metallic midrange; sharp attack with noticeable edge and bite harmonics; despite what appeared to be detailed sonic material, there was a stopped or covered sound (not a veil or distance, but a closedness, a compactness) that led some to say that the Nordost cables were "harmonically substractive" even though this sound contributed to their "muscularity."

slawney: i have no idea what some of your descriptions mean; for example: **a sense of over-extension and giganticism** so, tell us, did you buy either pair? -kelly

Sorry kelly, it is late at night, maybe "asa" can help me out, since he was the previous owner of one of the NBS Statements in my system, and he has always found better words to describe their sound. I mean by "over-extension" something like "spatial over-extension": the NBS Statement gives the illusion that it is overexaggerating the reproducion of space, making venues and applied reverb, even individual instruments and voices expand to a size bigger than they should be perhaps (an effect, by the way, that can be enhanced through the addition of NBS Statement power cables for a while). "Giganticism" just reinforces this remark: the cable, especially when first installed, gives rise to a gigantic, very "up-front" sound image without much depth until it breaks in and lays back a little. A story: there was an audiogoner from Hong Kong, I think, who recently bought a pair of the new, top-of-the-line NBS Omega power cables and immediately was trying to sell one of them on audiogon because (his explanation) two were "too powerful" for his system. This is an effect that I can easily imagine as an owner of 7 NBS Statement power cables.

Thanks, slawney. How you doin? Well, I think slawney doesn't need my help; he describes it perfectly. I especially like the breakin part. NBS Statement, upon first listen without proper settling or breakin, places diffuse halos around images, particularly voice, that are also more apparent because the cable's soundstage "loosens" backwards towards the rear and releases a subtle tension as it settles. "Giganticism" is a good metaphoric term to describe a huge, voluminous soundstage endowed by the Statement. We can not call this lacking in nuetrality because it is still smaller than that we experience in live music. Its the most natural cable in spatial rendition, excepting in the bass where a plumminess can overload some systems on the lowest end frequency. This low "plumminess", in conjuction with the large spatial presentation, leads some people to the "power" observation. Same thing that slawney said, just a different way. Hope it helps. What you need to see, Rlf, is the continual observation of natural-ness from people here.

On Nordost. When you say metallic, I think you are referring to the denuded harmonics from the upper mids on up, and, not commented upon by reviewers, the space which imposes on any system a clear, unnatural, void-like air that places the sound images in greater relative relief (and because humans cognitive abilities are evolutionarily geared towards identifying objects at the expense of space, you are drawn to). Nordost is, in my opinion, unnatural cable for ears who believe that a stripping of space that promotes easier image identifiction is somehow synonymous with the illusion of dimension, both in the image AND in the surrounding space (which is not "surrounding" because in real space, space, or dimension, inter-penetrates objects at infinite angles. But that's a story for another day...)

With NBS, and especially Statement, you fall into the music and it flows through you; with Nordost, you observe the music, even when it hints at the flow.

Now I know everyone needs a stiff drink after that self-indulgent rant! Good luck. Prayers for the fallen.

Help has arrived! "Asa," thank you! If the excellence of a component is the capacity to define it, then your comments on the NBS Statement just made it even more excellent. The image of the "diffuse halos around images, particularly voice" is wonderful. Please, it is already another day, more of your thoughts about "space interpenetrating objects at infinite angles."