Okay, with multiple individuals, on a HiFi equipment forum of all places where people discuss gear that costs more than cars, basically going “whoa dude, slow down, that’s too much money”, that is giving me a reason to be concerned :)
As such I tried pairing the Transparent Reference power cord with the Valhalla 2 speaker wire. The Transparent cord is WAY less expensive than the Valhalla 2. And guess what, it worked!
While I definitely heard a bit less space and breath around vocals, the bass and focus that was missing with the Valhalla 2 cord came back! And I still had the accessible warm sound from the Valhalla 2. I actually think I like the sound slightly better this way.
I did not notice a difference switching between the “cheap” Nordost Reference and expensive Valhalla 2 jumpers, after switching back and forth a few dozen times and imagining I was hearing differences. Maybe I did hear some differences but I couldn’t quite pinpoint them. It is possible the much cheaper Reference jumpers were thinner in the mids, which made them seem like there was actually better separation of tones. Again not sure if I was imagining this.... So another place I can save.
Finally, I did one last test of my Audioquest Hurricane cord vs the Transparent Reference cord to further pinpoint what I don’t like about the Hurricane. In short I found the Hurricane to be a bit bloated by comparison. Bass not as tight, upper frequencies were missing, and there was a slight accentuation in the mids that can be annoying.
As such I tried pairing the Transparent Reference power cord with the Valhalla 2 speaker wire. The Transparent cord is WAY less expensive than the Valhalla 2. And guess what, it worked!
While I definitely heard a bit less space and breath around vocals, the bass and focus that was missing with the Valhalla 2 cord came back! And I still had the accessible warm sound from the Valhalla 2. I actually think I like the sound slightly better this way.
I did not notice a difference switching between the “cheap” Nordost Reference and expensive Valhalla 2 jumpers, after switching back and forth a few dozen times and imagining I was hearing differences. Maybe I did hear some differences but I couldn’t quite pinpoint them. It is possible the much cheaper Reference jumpers were thinner in the mids, which made them seem like there was actually better separation of tones. Again not sure if I was imagining this.... So another place I can save.
Finally, I did one last test of my Audioquest Hurricane cord vs the Transparent Reference cord to further pinpoint what I don’t like about the Hurricane. In short I found the Hurricane to be a bit bloated by comparison. Bass not as tight, upper frequencies were missing, and there was a slight accentuation in the mids that can be annoying.