which is better speaker cable

"The Cardas will give you a richer, fuller sound, the Nordost a faster, more transparent sound. The downside is the Cardas can sound slow, while the Nordost can sound lean."

This too has been my experience however... my new Synergistic Accelerator cables do both and better then the two companies you mention. I just replaced Valhalla's with the Accelerators and I've had Neutral Reference in the past. Just my 2 cents.

Kenbo,
I agree with Nglazer, your equipment deserves some higher price spread. You've got some top drawer stuff there. It should be connected with same. As to brand, that needs to be your choice through auditioning. May I suggest The Cable Company (fatwyre). Discuss your system with them and try different cables from their lending library. Good cables can make a world of difference in your enjoyment.

For speakers like that, you really should move up the cable food chain, as othwerwise you are doing them a disservice. Try PAD Venustas, which I use and enjoy and used are not crazy expensive, or Nordost Valkyrje, which you can pick up at a good price used. There are others at this level of performance.

Neal

WOW! Talk about polar opposite's, you don't get much more different than Cardas vs. Nordost.

The Cardas will give you a richer, fuller sound, the Nordost a faster, more transparent sound. The downside is the Cardas can sound slow, while the Nordost can sound lean. Not knowing your musical preferences, I would have a hard time recommending one over the other. It's just unusual to see someone considering two such different cables.

Neither is better, just different. You will prefer one over the other, but that doesn't mean it's better, just better in your system, to your ears. That's all that really counts.

Considering your amp and speakers I think I would prefer the Nordost as the Cardas has always seemed a bit too laid back for my tastes.

If you're open to other cabling, I would like to suggest finding a pair of Audio Tekne speaker cables. Stock, the thin and extremely flexible Tekne ics and scs are the smoothest, most detailed, and musical I've yet heard. Then I had them double-cryo-treated for about $60 for which I realized about a 50% improvement.

Contrary to the high price tags on the Audio Tekne amps and preamps, their cables are extremely reasonable at about $700 for a 1m pair of ics and $1200 for a 2m pair of scs.

-IMO

Which do you like better? That's the only thing that matters.

I recommend the Cardas.
Good Listening!

I would think that either cable is not up to the standards of your speakers. Jena Labs would be a far better performer, but the new Evolution Acoustics cables (I'll be getting mine very shortly) will be incredible.