Valhalla interconnects - recommended?

IMHO, Valhalla interconnects would bring additional detail, and possibly brightness (but that would depend on your source, if it is bright, the Valhalla would let it shine on through). They are an extremely detailed interconnect. (In fact I think they are ruthlessly revealing of any inferior electronics in your system.) That being said, your Halcro electronics are extremely high end, and therefore, going with the Valhalla cables would probably be an improvement over the Golden Reference cables, .... unless you don't want more detail. :-) (Which is exactly what you said you don't want!) Personally, having had the Golden Reference cables in my system, and now the Nordost Quattro Fil cables (Nordost's previous best cable before the Valhallas), I prefer the additional detail of the Nordost cables, versus the slight amount of warmth of the Golden Reference cables. (However, I do think highly of the Golden Reference cables, so it is not like they are a mediocre cable.) And, I should point out that I do use a cable with a slight amount of warmth as my speaker cables, (Audience AU24) just to balance out the system's sound.

If you are considering changing cables, I would look into the Jena Labs cables. They are very detailed, but they are not ruthlessly revealing like the Valhallas (as per a friend who has been experimenting with both), but according to him, they are slightly more musical. FYI, he ended up with the Jena Labs interconnect from his preamp to his amp, and Valhalla speaker cables. (He felt that going with both of either one, tipped the scale too much to either side of "not quite enough detail, but very musical" or "very revealing, but not musical enough". He feels that one of each works just right. (Both Jena Labs and Valhalla cables are both (almost) obscenely expensive, but since you own Halco equipment, that should not be an obstacle to you.)

My two cents worth.

Please realize that I am merely passing on his opinions regarding the differences between the Jena Labs and the Valhalla cables, so take that with as many grains of salt as you like! (I love the sound of his system, so I will state that whatever choices he has made has worked out incredibly well.)

Good Luck in your search!

My goodness, I like Valhalla cables in many applications but not here. Especially if you have speakers like WattPuppies, IMHO that would be a mismatch. Definitely additional detail, and maybe or maybe not adding brightness, but with those electronics a flatter, less organic low end I think, less rich. You have lots of speed with Halcro, but these cables would take away a bit of gestalt I think. What cables would I use? Actually maybe Synergistic Research Apex, they are a good cable, and often add just a touch of warmth and fullness to a system. Depends on your speakers though. I pretty much use Tara, but in an all MBL system, that apparently is fairly normal. Don't know how Tara would work with Halcro. The APex will give you almost the warmth of the Cardas, but with a bit more detail and a bigger soundstage I think.

Have fun,
Chris

Valhalls will add a leanness, more detail and more holographic imaging-at least they do that on front-end sources to pre-amp. The Jena Labs would be a better choice for you-but only the Dreamdancers beat Valhalla...not the lesser models. They have it all without the leanness of Valhalla.

You really should consider the Jorma Prime Interconnects. They are the best that I have heard todate.

Jim

Hello Halcro,

I went from Cardas GR interconnects and speaker cables to Valhalla. I initially auditioned some Valhalla power cords for my amps and pre-amp. I was so thrilled with the improvement I later auditioned the Valhalla interconnect first and then the speaker cables.

I can't tell you if it will work in your system but in mine it most certainly did. Comparatively, what I heard in the context of my system (Avalon Eidolon Diamond - BAT VK150se mono amps - BAT at the time 51se pre-amp now upgraded to the REX - EMM Dac 6se? EMM CDSDse transport) was........

Starting with the highs in comparison the CGR was more forward and had a grainier texture to it. Valhalla opened the high end to a surprising degree. A good analogy would be like looking into the sky. Valhalla removed all the clouds and allowed me to see as far as the eye could see, it seemed endless.

For me the treble was addictive. Spacious, silky smooth, and most important had absolutely zero grit.

The mid-range with the Valhalla sounded dead on neutral in my system.

In the bottom end the CGR was fuller in the mid to upper bass but did not extend as low as the Valhalla or was it as detailed or tight. This added weight of the CGR in the bass while it made the lower mid-range sound fuller as well as the mid to upper bass it actually obscures detail in those frequencies.

Overall the Valhalla was faster, more resolute in all frequencies bringing "real" musical information regarding texture of tone, articulation, sound-staging, and for me was a lesson in neutrality. Also, I would like to point out that for me, inserting a Valhalla interconnect was great. When I went to both interconnects and speaker cables I was in just complete awe of what it did for the musicality of my system. Magic!!!

All this said, the Valhalla does cost a lot more $$$$ and it should be better than the CGR. For me the extra cost was well worth it.

Good luck in finding your magic,

Tom