I have been a Nordost supporter for years now and I use Valhalla powercables a Thor power distributor and Frey2 speaker cables and this hooks up a fairly simple system consisting of a Devialet D-Premier and a pair of Watt/Puppy 5.1s.
I know that Nordost and Transparent cables have a very different sound and I've always loved the detail, air, microdynamics and openness of the Nordosts but I did recently get to try a pair of Transparent Super MM2 speaker cables and the bass and calmness I got all of a sudden was very surprising to me, so much deeper and more powerful and overall a much richer and fuller sound. The downside was the treble and air was just gone, and the timing seemed off too.
However I just can't forget that rich bass foundation I got and that was from a relatively simple Transparent cable.
Now I am thinking about upgrading to either a pair of Valhalla speaker cables or possibly try Transparent Reference in the MM2 version.
Does anyone have experience with these cables? I feel a little lost at the moment as I would like to get the best of both world, I know that my D-Premier is fairly lean and would probably benefit from the extra fullness and bass of the Transparent but I am worried that it won't be good enough in the midrange and treble.
I don't know much about Nordost, other than looking at pictures, but my knowledge of Transparent is that their cables are VERY similar to the concept that MIT Cables is doing. The thing is that first it's wise to get the cables matched up in terms of impedance, unfortunately, most cable mfg don't post this information or any guidelines to assist us in matching cables to components. MIT Cables is the only one that I know of that has actually addressed this concept on any level. At least to my knowledge.
The other thing that's not done is showing the response curves of cables so we have some clue as to how the cable is going to pass through the analog signal. Again, MIT Cables has addressed this to some extent because they first brought up the concept of measuring the articulation curves to show that cables do pass analog signals differently. The concept behind MIT Cables,and Transparent is that as you go up the cable food chain, they design and implement more filters to essentially smooth the articulation curve. Then, with MIT Cables, they put in impedance switches in some of their products so that you can change the impedance of the cable to closer match to the components that you are using. Apparently this does have a noticeable affect on the sound quality.
Then there is the subjectivity of what the listener wants. Some people just like a certain tonal quality for whatever reason they have. Some like bright sounding high end, some don't. I guess the only way to tell is go to your dealer, tell them what equipment you have and ask for them to loan you some demo cables (that have been broken in). I would consult with several different dealers because I've found that unfortunately, some dealers sell what they personally like and it may not be what you like.
I'm a big proponent of buying and evaluating cables until you get used to what the cable can and can't do and how well it badly it performs. One thing to note, cables do need some amount of break in time, especially cables like MIT Cables and Transparent, largely because they implement passive electronics in those boxes and they do need some time to settle before evaluating them.
I personally wish there was an independent source that had the best test equipment and performed as many tests possible to show us response curves, impedance and gave us a guide as to what equipment they would be best suited for, but unfortunately there isn't this sort of resource for us, so we have to rely on other people's recommendations, reviews, etc.
I would simply try to get some loaner product and give yourself a couple of weeks of serious listening with a variety of content to formulate in your own mind what works best on your system to your ears.
One thing I will tell you is that Wilson Audio has for many years used MIT Cables not only during their own listening tests, but they also used MIT Cables internally. I know they've also been using Transparent cables as well, but I don't know who they are using for internal wiring, but I would probably go the route of MIT Cables or Transparent Cables with the understanding that Wilson uses those cables quite often in their own listening tests so that might help you formulate a decision. Unfortunately, no mfg can test their product with every conceivable combination, it's impossible. So each speaker, amp, pre amp, etc. mfg uses whatever cables they use when they design their own products, and that might be a reason why some cables just simply work better for certain combinations.
But, most of the higher end mastering, recording studios like Gateway, SkyWalker Sound, and various other high quality studios that do a lot of reference recordings are using MIT and Transparent, so either one will probably do well for the Watt/Puppies. But I think the Watt/Puppies might actually perform their best with MIT Cables if you want a neutral cable, but you might have to play around with different models as they put more filters in those boxes to help produce a more neutral articulation response curve.
Again, that's just going by my approach to cable selection. I would talk to the mfg of the equipment and see what they recommend. One thing about both MIT Cables and Transparent Cables is that you can upgrade from one model to another over the course of owning the cables, which is great since as you get more money, they'll give a way to spend it and upgrade the cable.
But if you want a neutral sound with a smooth high end that's not harsh, I would probably go with MIT or Transparent. Again, I haven't heard the Nordost so I can't comment on those cables. but if you can audition them and compare against the MIT's or Transparents, I would highly recommend doing so. Bottom line is that it's your money, your system and you have to be happy with the end result.
BTW, i like those Devialets. I would love to own the 240 someday. I like their concept for a simple system. I think that's growing trend these days. I see more and more all in one units that have plenty of power to drive most speakers without having spend a bloody fortune on huge power amps, pre amps, etc. just to get good sound..
Best of luck to you, let us know what your final decision is.