...just as a cautionary note... Valhalla takes a long, long, long time to break in. If you are not satisfied with it after a couple of months, keep on truckin cuz it will get better. |
Vahallas always sounded thin to me. I changed to the Pure Note Paragon years ago. I now own their latest Alluvion cables which very are transparent. Not having to spend $3k for a set of interconnects pleases me. |
I know there will be those who will disagree. But, I think it's an attribute to the quality of Valhalla's sonic merit to still be considered one of the top cables on the market today. Over the years I can't think of all the new cables that came out that were proclaimed to be Valhalla killers, but to me were not. Yet, Valhalla continues to stand the test of time as one of the best.
If I ever fall off into the deep deep end and hit the lottery, I suppose I would give the Odin a try. Until then, for me the Valhalla has remained pretty special.
Enjoy,
Tom |
Stealth Indra. It is a subtle shift, you could say a bit calmer. I swapped back and forth for a week or two. |
Pretty hard to beat Valhalla's, I've heard tons of top line cables over the years, they are right up there. Having said that, every implementation is different, you could do better or worse. You should state what improvements, changes your looking for. |
I like classic rock. I was fully vested in Valhalla cabling all around, including PC's, and pretty happy. I bought it all used on Audiogon. The Valhalla's were the high point of my system, to be sure. I knew instinctively early on that I wouldn't really know what I had, component-wise, unless I had good juice from the wall, and proper cabling.
I ended up getting an Aural Symphonics loaner from a dealer who sent me damaged demo Valhalla XLR's, to use while the Valhalla's were in the shop. I took the opportunity to A/B the two. The Valhallas were "rolling off" almost the entire midbass in Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here"! The Aurals were playing music that was quite obviously just not there through the Valhallas. Valhalla's are like the SET's of cabling (the XLR's, anyway). If you listen to a lot of acoustic with vocals, there may be nothing better than Valhalla's, however (except Odin).
...And maybe Crystal Dreamline.
I still think used Valhallas are a great place to start your journey. They are better than most, more neutral than most, and easy to sell when you find that cable that suits your system even better due to synergy. You're not losing money; just putting it in your system.
You can make some expensive mistakes in audio. Used Valhalla's isn't one of them.
|
I agree with Azaud's perspective on the midbass, still Valhallas could offer perfect synergy for many. Cable advice is nearly impossible to give, I always take it with a grain of salt. If you can find some general consensus about a particular sonic trait, that is the best advice you'll ever recieve. |
JPS Aluminata.
I have kept a couple of Valhalla Power Cords but the JPS interconnects work better in my system. |
Nothing. Still think they are magic, after trying multiple other contenders. Only cable close is Stealth Indra. Have one pair in my system, rest are Valhalla, including biwired speaker cables and PC's. |
David Elrod (Elrod Power System) new Silver Signature speaker cables and power cords.
I auditioned (but can't afford) David Elrod Gold Signature Speaker cables and Gold Statement power cords. Its another dimension, anothe universe. I am not sure if I have and if I want to use "words". I will use somebody else words:
This gentleman has been burning in the Statement Gold PC for about a month now. He says they have thunderous bass. He says they paint a surreal, 3D. holographic sound scape that wraps around the back of your head. He says they have incredible depth and blackness and spot on richness and tonality. He says the highs are to die for, sweet but not rolled off.
All The Best
Rafael |
First NBS Omega, then Kubala Sosna Emotion. All fine cables, including the Valhalla, just different tonal balances. Any of them could be satisfying, depending on the system and your listening biases--the Kubala-Sosna ultimately was the one that worked the best in my system for my tastes. |
After having all Valhalla in my system for three years, I'm back to Stealth Indra IC's and Speaker Dream Cable. My music has returned to me. Let's face the subjectivity of all this cable selection stuff so it really gets down to what you like in your system. |
I will say this: At all of CES and THE Show, the only place I saw Valhalla was in Klaus's room, where he was demonstrating the superiority of Odin!
I got to hear (or not hear?) the Kubala Sosna cabling in the Wison Benesch/Dehavilland room at RMAF. Really incredible synergy here. I think there's some slight coloration with this cabling; but like Shindo gear, its so inviting that you kind of don't mind.
,,,At first, anyway. |
Argento Audio-much better than valhalla.
Actually there are a lot of cables better than Valhalla. |
The purpose of a cable is to alter the signal as less as possible.
Blind test me and I will tell you whenever a system is cabled with Valhalla.
Now, is that neutral? |
Blind test me and I will tell you whenever a system is cabled with Valhalla.
Now, is that neutral? Well, could be that Valhalla is the only one that gets it "right," and that turns out to be pretty easy for you to spot. |
" after Valhalla, i changed to .."
Excellent subject. No question (I think) that 5-6 years ago Valhalla was accepted golden standard but now there are better cables
So, Durbin you comment that "...could be that Valhalla is the only one that gets it "right," is a few years late - at least as mojority if not all contributors to the thread noted.
My, today's golden standard is Elrod Silver speaker cables for about the half the price of Valhalla and "out of the world" standard is Elrod Gold speaker cables - one I auditioned is about the same price as Valhalla and another just twice more....
All The Best
Rafael |
Try the new Shunyata Aeros Series. If they are too expensive, you can go to the discontinued Constellation series. The Antares IC and Orion speaker cable represent one of the best match, and now you can find them at very affordable price.
Altought, it´s hard to say wich one is better. It depend on the system match.
Stealth, Elrod, Virtual Dynamics, Kubala-Sosna, Siltech......and more can compete or beat the Valhalla.
Good luck |
