I agree about the Nordost Vishnu
Originally, I thought it was thin, as in "lightweight sounding," not as in lean. However, I concur with Togo: after a change of tubes (no, the tubes didn't make it sound richer: they were simply old), I found it quite airy, transparent and, most of all, dynamic sounding. And now that togo mentioned it, yes, there IS an "ease" to the sound, which is pretty nice.
I've heard many dealers (even a couple of my own) don't like it, but I think they're far off the mark, although I can understand WHY they might not like it: it's not "powerful" in the traditional sense, like, say, an NBS. It simply doesn't add "weight," much the same as is the case with any Nordost products (I think the midbass in Nordost products ARE, however, slightly "lightweight," but only slightly).But it is, nonetheless, quite clean (in the good sense, meaning, not having distortion grafted onto instruments), and it is a very good cable for tuning one's system, in contast to say, "thicker" sounding cables, which many all "richer" but which also make it harder to determine correct VTA, azimith or setup in general. It (the Vishnu) will appear thinner in comparison to some cables, but it's quite fast, and it allows the harmonic series to develop completely. It does not overshoot or elucidate transients at the expense of the decay component of an instrument. I like it veddy, veddy much.
Oh, and it doesnt "lean out" the orchestral colors, either. I hate that effect veddy much, too. Probably it's best, as Roy Gregory pointed out, in tthe airiness, speed and staging of the musical experience.
I can tell you, it's better than I thought it was for the first 3 months I owned it. It wasn't until my turntable was working that I really heard what I could do!
