Nordost Valhalla Power Cords

I looked at the Taralabs website.

I owned them and I sold many of them. For source and pre-amp they can take your set to a higher level. But for amps there are many better options. Purist Audio for example is for poweramps superior. You hear it in the low freq. it goed dieper and you hear more layers. In the mid freq it is opener and better focused. Depth is also better than Valhalla. Wenn I used 100% Valhalla you will always loose depth and individual focus. I have done these tests over and over again. For me it is as simple as 1 and 1 is 2

Odin has more authority. But the same problem in weight and depth. But it also misses an extreemly sharp imaging. Acoustic sound is very direct and small in dimension. Sound lacks emotion. I still think Nordost is useful for a part. Only using Nordost is never a Walhalla. Because there are always important parts missing what should be there for a perfect ballanced sound. Nordost people always became irritated when I said this. They said: it is your personal preference. But all the people with who I did the tests had the same conclusions. It is as it is. Some people have problems to face the truth!

Exactly what I said......using some Nordost can make some good improvements. But all Nordost always gives flaw's. It is as easy and predictive as it is!

Blue Heaven are a lot different in sound. Less natural and less drive. Wattgate is quite poor compared to Oyaide. Valhalla uses in Europe a very cheep Shuko of 35 euro. I used Oyaide F1 on my Valhalla. Superior compared to the budget connectors Nordost uses on the Valhalla.

It is very easy to explain. When you use more different brands you can add more different properties. I want everything in my set. For example; people who only use MIT ( I owend it and sold it) you alwats will miss individuel focus. Instruments ans voices are very direct and small in dimension. People have to learn how instruments and voices sound in real. MIT makes voices often too big. All the shows I have been I encounterd the same problem. For me this is as simple as 1 and 1 is 2. Like Nordost is not good at individual focus, not enough depth en lack of emotion in the mid's. This you find in most brands. I tested cables for hundreds of hours.

Wenn you use Nordost for a part like only the loudspeakercable or one powercable for source or preamp Nordost can give you extra speed and air. Then it can work very effective. But wenn you use it too much, you will always loose some important parts in your system. For me it is this clear. Another example Transparent cabels. It does not do anything wrong. But what I heard sometimes you miss some definition compared to Nordost. But at the end sound is more important then the best resolution. First you have to tearn about the properties of your amp and speakers. Only then you know what kind of cable you should use.

It also depends about your level of knowledge in music. Wenn you do not know how an instrument sounds in real. And you do not know how small in dimension a voice or instrument should be. I had a client with 100% Valhalla. He loved it. There was no emotion in his set, for me it sounded dead.

Nice example. I sold a Baldur loudspeaker set a few years ago. My client says to me: can you order Baldur interconnect for me. I said, If I were you I would not do this. Why: because you will get a less focussed image and you will loose depth. He said: oke I believe you. So I advised to buy Kimber select. So he bought it. Two weeks after he got the Kimber he phoned me. You were right about the Baldur interconnect. He borrowed the Baldur of a dealer were he lived. With the Kimber voices and instruments were much sharper foccused. And the sound was more musical and pleasant.

I sold Taralabs for some time. I liked it a lot. But Taralabs were difficult company to deliver cables to Holland. Most people don't know how an instrument sounds in real. Wenn I listen to Avalon ( sold it for many years), Spectral and MIT togheter( sold it for manu years and I owned it) for me it is difficult to hear to classical music. A violin does sound a lot different in real. I prefer classical music in sound realism played by Sonus Faber and B&W 800, 801 and 802. The things I miss with these brands are 3d holograhpic sound. I did not try powercables of Taralabs. Not the better ones they have. What I said earlier for poweramps I love the Purist Audio Design cables. Tuesday I will receive my Limited Edition 2013 powercable. I sold a lot of Valhalla powercables. Most of them were for cd players, sometimes conditioners, preamps and only a few times for poweramps.

The thing I love about the Purist powercables is that the mid freq. are more open. Like a flower what comes to bloom. Low freq are more tight and better defined compared to Nordost. Makes your stage wider and deeper compared to Nordost. People of Nordost always became irritated wenn I said that there synergy of using only Nordost is the biggest bullshit. Purist is also much more musical. Tuesday I will receive the Puist Audio LE 2013 powercable for my Pass labs X250.5

'" Garebear" I will let you know I promiss, Bobby

The last thing I want to say about Nordost is that people and also Nordost it self needs to learn to use the properties better and more secure. You need to know what it is capable of and what are the flaws. Yess it can improve some important parts. In speed, resolution and air it is great. It needs to be adapt to put every instrument and voice were it is standing exactley on the recording. By using Nordost interconnect this will not happen wenn you use there interconnects. At shows I could discribe exactley what would happen with the cd's I had with me before I played them. I have done so many tests with them. For me it predictable as one and one is two. To all the people I showed the difference between Nordost interconnects and other interconnects. Which had superior in individual focus. I never heard anyone saying with Nordost is better or I prefer it. People should learn and hear more to real music. You will be stunned how direct and really small in dimension it often can be!

A friend of mine had a small concertroom for 60 people with a Steynway wing. Acoustic instruments with 2 or 3 people max. There In learned how direct and small in dimension a voice or instrument is in real. So I always control of the images is in the right proportion. I used two fingers to make a dimension. It didn't matter were I was in the room. Every instrument was very small and direct to point out. I hate wenn at a show voices and instruments are played too big. 100% Valhalla and a sharp and point out focus is not possible. It is as it is, for me it is this simple. And it does not mean that people are not allowed to like too big voices and instruments. My goal is always the best realistic sound and the right diemnsions. I want to point out every instrument exactly were it is. I never will do it for less!

Nordost can give extra resolution ( details) compared to other brands. But.......it needs to be put in the right place. So......you need individual focus. Wenn you use beside the Nordost loudspeakercable a Nordost interconnect.....you will never improve the individual focus what should be there. That is why I learn people what it is so they can use it for themselves. Wenn you understand it, you know exactly whatis missing. A violin or voice can be very small in dimension in a small room. Wenn you use the right tools ( I call speakers, amps, sources, conditioners and cables tools) you can use all there properties. These properties all togheter including the room will let you hear the sound you get. Wenn you use it right you can get a 3d holographic stage with a musical real sound and extreemly sharp individual focus. People discribe it as thrilling. It will give you a big smile on your face. Individual focus gives you the advance you can focus on a specific part ( voice, 2nnd and 3th voive or instrument) during listening. I call this walking threw the recording. All I can say; it's f...awesome. I love it!

Yesterday I received the Purist Audio LE 2013 powercable. I will write a review soon only about this cable. To be unnest it is a different price range than the Valhalla powercabel. Beside this it is superior to a Valhalla powercable. It is even superior compared to the Purist Audio Aqueous Ann which I have still two of with Oyaide F1 plugs. As you know I tested many cables and tested a lot of expensive stuff. It's go's a lot deeper in the low freq. comapred to Valhalla. Individual focus is so much better than the Valhalla. Valhalla is like many Nordost acels like a car which can drive very fast. But wenn it passes the first corner it gets problems in grip. To be unnest this is the best powercable what I heard on a power amp to date. Now I can say that: Pass labs X250.5 + Onkyo PR-SC5509 and Purist Audio LE powercable has more depth, focus and air compared to what I had with Pass labs XA100.5+ Pass labs XP-20 and Purist Audio Ann Aqueous on every Pass unit. So how it is possible? Low freq are better defined and go deeper than Aqueous and Valhalla. There is so much more authority in the whole freq. range. High's are open like the Valhalla, but voices and instruments are more 3d. Mid freq. what is the weakest part of the Valhalla is much more open. I never heard during singing words end so clear. There is no harshness in the hig freq, but they are still more open than ever. Wenn a singer ends her os his words. It is so clear wenn they stop witht these words. Ending on a sss, tttt or whatever. I heard new detail ( new instruments) on recordings which I heard hundreds of times. Every single part of the recording can be followed with ease. 2nd and 3th voices are some much better in articulation and place were they stand. This cable locks every part sharp as a knife. Valhalla never is able to focus these parts this sharp. Soon I will discribe more prices about this cable!

Nordost first only started from 2m with there powercables. We did test some wenn they were cut in two. And yes it changed a lot. Valhalla 1 metre has a different overwhole sound than 2 metre. They said; we never will sell shorter lengts than 2 metres. These days you can get a Valhalla of 1 metre. I guess they prefer money instat of giving the best advice. This is not my way of thinking. Valhalla and Brahma are for preamps and sources fine cables. PAD Aqueous Ann on poweramps is better than Valhalla powercable. I still prefer Valhalla on a source compared to PAD Ann Aqueous. But now I own a PAD LE, I know Valhalla is off the radar for ever. It is so much more complete. It has much more talents what a Valhalla does not have. Wenn we had powercables of about 100 dollar. People always choose the 1.5m over the 1 metre. It was only a little more expensive but better in overwhole sound. And yes it was!

The real length is 1.8m. On the list this is a 1metre version. I did not have a chance listening to the 25 th Ann. I expect It will outperform the LE. Do not forget that this cable is 2 times more expensive. It is in a different league. Would be nice to compare it with Odin. Soon I will write a review of the LE powercable. It has more different talents than Nordost has. The LE puts some extra qualities to the overwhole sound of a system.

I did test Valhalla on my Modified Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 300 poweramp (I had this amp from 1999-2008 with the Nautilus 800S from 2006 till 2008) and I did loose depth, individual focus and the low freq, were not that tight. I used The Valhalla from 2004 till 2012 on My Meridian 800 DAXV4. Here it gave very good results. On my Pass XA100.5 ( I owned this from 2009-2009) here The Purist was better overwhole. It depends about the speakers you use. Which speaker dod you use. I have a speaker ( Monitor Audio PL-200) which can give an exeptional deep and wide stage. Most speakers are not capabele of this stage. All my tets I did with Valhalla you loos depth, individual focus and invlovementy in the mid freq. This was not happening once, all tests had the same outcome. At Nordost shows I used my own cd's and I heard the same flaws. Before I put my cd in, I predicted exactly what would happen. I had a smile wenn we were listening and the Nordost people were watching me. For me it was this clear what happend. With the Purist Audio LE powercable I have bt far the best articulation of voices. At many recordings I listend hundreds one times for the first time I hear people breath in and ending all the words they sing. I heard many systems with thse cd's and never heard it this clear. Between the extreme 3d image ( 4 metres behind the speakers, about 1.5m beside the speakers and many recording play 1.5m in front of the right and left speakers) I have I get a sharp individual focus I never heard on any Nordost show are test I did with 100% Valhalla. There is a lot more definition in the low freq compared to Valhalla. In all the tests I did with Valhalla on poweramps I never was convinced. A bass drum goed deeper with the LE, but it is not only this. It is so much beter textured. I am tapping more with my feet than ever. Like the speed of the music is a little higher. All parts of the recording are superior better foccused than with Valhalla. Most important part is sound, in sound realism Nordost is not that good. Wenn I listend to 100% Valhalla there was no emotion in the music anymore. All my classical music I love I would never want to hear again. These days I played with the B&W Nautilus 800S, which was great for classical music. I hope to write my review about the LE next week with all details and used cd's.

I see you play with Burmester. I sold Valhalla to some Burmester fan's. To be unnest even with Valhalla in my esperience it is not that special. In europe all the Burmester shows are not that popular. We take a listen en walk away in 2 minutes of time. Wenn we are talking about 3d holographic image and extreemly sharp individual focus Burmester has still a lot to learn. Wenn you compare it at shows with brands like Pass Labs. There is no one who would prefer Burmester. In Holland there is even no shop anymore were you can buy it.

I always had many discussions with the people of Nordost. I was the 2nd person who bought the Valhalla loudspeakercable in Holland. There was a time I sold Valhalla powercables as candy bars. It was a great time. But I am aware of the flaws. In real a violin sounds so much warmer than what you hear with Valhalla. Even with the most warm sounding components this was still the same problem. But there is one part most people have not enough knowledge in. And that is individual focus. Voices and instruments are very small in dimension and exactley to point out were they come from. With Valhalla this never comes to the highest level what I heard. This is a key factor in realism for music. Wenn you have a system which can give a 3d holographic image you always loose depth also with Valhalla. I have done these tests many times with Valhalla. The same cd's had more depth wenn we changed an interconnect instat of the Valhalla interconnect. I am only talking about facts. Because this is how I work and think. I always say: it is as it is...period!!

Burmester has not a lot of dealers outher Germany and Austria. Wenn it would be a great product it would be a lot more popular. I do not say it is bad, but it is not stunning. At shows we heard many tiems to it. We never had the feeling of woooooooo. After shows we always ask clients what they liked at shows. We never heard the word Burmester. I will give you another example. A few years ago I had a client with a brand new set of Burmester poweramp, preamp and cd player. I took my Valhalla loudspeakercable and 2 Valhalla powercables with me. Wenn I connected it the overwhole sound was a lot better than what he had. But mannnnnn if this is what it is I would stop with my hobby. I would suggest him to look for a new hobby. The image was almost flat. The focus was okay but not the extreme sharp individual focus you expect and want in highend. The overwhole sound was okay but missing the emotion you would want. At the end he bought some Powercables. If you spend a lot of money on audio and you do not have a wide ande deep stage. And have not an extrem sharp individual focus. ( with a realistic proportion of instruments and voices) And a emotional sound were you want to listen for hours and hours. You miss essential parts in sound realism. For me is is this easy. Period!! Many clients with Nordost said to me: I miss the emotion in my system. And yessssss they were right. SO I had to solve this many times. All the tests we did we encouterd this problem. For me it is simple as 1 and 1 is 2. I sold a lot of Nordost, but you need to use it very precise. In everything I do in my life I look 3-4 steps further than a normal person would do. My goal is always looking for the best. I want my clients to get the best results for the money they spend. Because good is never good enough!!

The thing I hate most at audio shows wenn a voice is over one metre or even more. At he show today you heard it a lot. Ask musicians about it. They will tell the same. Wenn my friend had a classical singer the voice was unamplified and very direct and small in dimension. This is what I want to hear wenn I listen to music. My hobby is music, audio is not my hobby. It is what I do for work. At the end music is almways the most important part of it all. You system is only equipment what can play the music you love. I have got almost 1000 cd's en 300-400 dvd's and blurays. I had clients with 30-40 cd's with a audio set of 70.000 euro. To those I said; you never will stay happy with an expensive set with so less music. Because audio can become a very dissapointhing hobby. I have seen this more than once. At the end it is about music!

Today we were at a show. Nordost was here with Odin. Focus was quite poor. Image was too big. There was almost no depth and individual focus was not so great as well. I had some cd's with me. We Played: Bruce Springsteen Brothers under the Bridge. I wanted to hear how good the articulation was of his voice. It was okay, I did not come near what I have at home. Here it is superior in clearance. I hear a lot more details which were not at the set with Odin. I never sell things what people say. I am my own boss and I decide what I sell. I use only the best stuff for the money. I hate colored music. That is why I do not like the sound of a violin with 100% Valhalla. Because it does not sound so lean in real what you get witht the Valhalla. At he show it was difficult to hear all the parts of the recording. I see every single instrument of the recording. I can point it out exactly were it is. I invited Nordost Holland to come soon to my house for a course in individual focus.

First I am not God, and second I am not Jesus. Not even by far. But information/details you can hear or miss them. This is that simple. It has nothing to do with a personal tast. How much depth there is in a system is something you can hear easily. With cables you can make it bigger or less deep and wide. Resolution and air is not the same as sharp focus of instruments. There can be a lot of detail and air but to point out were every instrument is can be quite dfficult. I hear now even instruments which I did not hear with the Valhalla. The reason is simple. My stage is wider and deeper. This makes it more easy to hear every part of the recording. Because of a sharper focus you can easily hear were every voice and instrument is during listening. This makes listening to music so much more fun. I had this conversations also with some musicians. They told the same story about sound and proportion. Monday I uppered to play live music again at audio shows. Some highend audioshops liked the idea a lot.

First I am not God, and second I am not Jesus. Not even by far. But information/details you can hear or miss them. This is that simple. It has nothing to do with a personal tast. How much depth there is in a system is something you can hear easily. With cables you can make it bigger or less deep and wide. Resolution and air is not the same as sharp focus of instruments. There can be a lot of detail and air but to point out were every instrument is can be quite dfficult. I hear now even instruments which I did not hear with the Valhalla. The reason is simple. My stage is wider and deeper. This makes it more easy to hear every part of the recording. Because of a sharper focus you can easily hear were every voice and instrument is during listening. This makes listening to music so much more fun. I had this conversations also with some musicians. They told the same story about sound and proportion. Monday I uppered to play live music again at audio shows. Some highend audioshops liked the idea a lot.

I do not have 1 brand in cables. I use Audioquest, Purist Audio and Acapella. I owned and sold a lot Nordost. These days I sell only 3 brands: Audioquest, Kimber and Purist Audio. Don't get me wrong I still like Nordost a lot. But it need to be used precisely.

The most important thing what I learned in audio is that audio is about personal taste. But some parts you can hear. Depth, focus, resolution, air, black and overwhole sound. Some people like colored music. You cannot say chocolate ice is better than vanilla ice.

That is not true. I already said a lot about the Le. You find it in this thread. Articulation of voices is the best I eve heard. This sunday I was at a audio show. At the Nordost stand with Odin I played my cd. Bruce Springsteen Brothers under the bridge. At my house the articulation was more clear. Ending words are more easy to follow. Instruments are more 3d. High heads of drums are sharper focused. The bassdrum is more defined and timing is better. Valhalla is not a good cable for poweramps. I have done many amp tests with Valhalla. Never stunning results. The Purist LE is much more talented than the Valhalla. It has more different properties and the parts were a cable is judged for he wins with ease. This cable is the best I ever heard on a Pass Labs. At the show Sunday Pass labs with Aurender and MIT and Shunyata had the same irritating flaws. The speakers were about 3 metres from eachother and the voice was over one metre. Mannnnnnnn I hate this sooooo much. I uppered next shows to use real acoustic live music. Wenn focus is poor and instrumnets and voices are too big in dimension I get really irritated.