Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately I’m rather limited in trying demo cables with my equipment at home because of where I live. For that reason, I cannot try cables from Wywires or Townshend. In fact, there are only a couple of other brands I could try which are not of interest. Cableco’s lending library doesn’t help, as I live in Canada and according to their site they only lend in the US.
I’ve now completed my testing of the Nordost Frey 2 and the Transparent Reference. Here are my findings:
Nordost Frey 2: First thing I tried was pairing the Frey 2 power cord with the Valhalla 2 speaker wire to see the difference from the Valhalla 2 cord. For the first minute or so, I couldn’t hear a difference between the power cords. But I realized I was only focusing on frequency response at first. I went back and forth and found that with the Valhalla 2 cord, vocals and other tones were far more open and 3D. Overall however, when I switched to a full Frey 2 power cord and speaker cable, I was impressed! Much better than the Audioquest Firebird (biwired!) to my ears. I am thinking I am becoming a fan of Nordost. I would be happy with the Frey 2’s. Good bass, natural and relaxed sound, not harsh, good timing. However, when I switched back to the Valhalla 2’s, everything opened up, and I realized the Frey’s sound is a bit compressed in comparison. Vocal energy increased with Valhalla 2’s and everything was more lifelike and 3D. More like the singer is in the room with you. But still. You can’t go wrong with the Frey 2 for the money, and to me it beats the more expensive Audioquest Firebird/Hurricane hands down in terms of being more natural and enjoyable. Still, I cannot unhear the Valhalla 2’s now.... I’m just glad I have not tried the Odin 2’s!
Transparent Reference: Right off the bat I was impressed. Much more natural sounding than the Audioquests. Overall, these produced the "largest" sound of the cables I’ve tested. Better bass than Nordost, and high frequencies are completely open and not harsh at all. After listening to the Transparent’s across a variety of music types, I was very impressed with how big, open, and natural they sounded. One aspect that I found quite shocking is just how "clean" everything sounded. I don’t know how else to explain it; maybe the noise floor was lower or something? I just kept noticing this quality - I’d say this was the Transparent’s most striking quality. However, I did notice that some music with a lot of upper mids and high frequencies could take on a slightly harder sound. Almost too clean of a sound perhaps? In thinking about what I was hearing, I believe the Transparent cables may actually be the most "transparent" of all the cables I’ve tested, in terms of actually just disappearing and letting the source material, amplifier, and speakers speak. I definitely have a high appreciation for these cables. At one point, I was dismayed as I was thinking this race would be very, very close between the Transparent Reference’s and the Nordost Valhalla 2’s, which would mean a lot of work A/B testing.But. When I went back to the Valhalla 2’s, wow. Immediately it was a comforting, inviting, warm and detailed sound that was just SO musically satisfying. Not as much bass, and not as big of an overall sound, and maybe not as squeaky clean, but who cares. These are just engaging and during the testing, these were the cables that made me want to quit testing and just listen to music - which as I said is exactly what I did until 6am last night. One reason I think I like the Valhalla 2’s so much, and moreso than the Transparent’s, is that there is a definite warmth and smoothness to the midrange, despite being insanely peppered with "inner detail" and lightning quickness. Maybe this warmth and smoothness means the cable is doing more than it is supposed to in terms of adding its own signature. But I really like these qualities so I’d rather have them there. One thing I hadn’t mentioned about these: the dynamics and slam of midrange percussion is the best of the cables tested. There is a rhythm, impact, and drive to the midrange, while also being velvety smooth, and this just enhances overall musicality.
In short the Valhalla 2’s seem like an old, warm, inviting, favorite pair of jeans. The sound is both welcoming and inviting.
So there it is. Results:
1st place: Nordost Valhalla 2
2nd place: Transparent Reference
3rd place: Nordost Frey 2. Because of the price and also the overall sonic presentation, I’d likely pick these over the Transparent References. But the Transparent’s are undoubtedly more capable.
4th place: Audioquest Firebird (biwire) and Hurricane. This was the big surprise. Audioquest was WAY behind all the other cables I tested. And I wanted to like them. One thing I am wondering: I’m told these were among the first cables to be subjected to AQ’s new factory burn-in process. I am wondering if either 1) dealer was mistaken and these were not actually burned in, or 2) this new burn-in process doesn’t quite go all the way, meaning that these cables may not actually be fully burned in? I guess I’ll never know, but I was rather disappointed in these.
I’m sure there are many other cables out there that I would like, but I don’t have access to trying anything else, and the Valhalla 2’s actually give me far more than I was ever expecting. I was not actually that excited about upgrading cables until I heard what these can do. Now I am excited. Just not about the cost...
I’ve now completed my testing of the Nordost Frey 2 and the Transparent Reference. Here are my findings:
Nordost Frey 2: First thing I tried was pairing the Frey 2 power cord with the Valhalla 2 speaker wire to see the difference from the Valhalla 2 cord. For the first minute or so, I couldn’t hear a difference between the power cords. But I realized I was only focusing on frequency response at first. I went back and forth and found that with the Valhalla 2 cord, vocals and other tones were far more open and 3D. Overall however, when I switched to a full Frey 2 power cord and speaker cable, I was impressed! Much better than the Audioquest Firebird (biwired!) to my ears. I am thinking I am becoming a fan of Nordost. I would be happy with the Frey 2’s. Good bass, natural and relaxed sound, not harsh, good timing. However, when I switched back to the Valhalla 2’s, everything opened up, and I realized the Frey’s sound is a bit compressed in comparison. Vocal energy increased with Valhalla 2’s and everything was more lifelike and 3D. More like the singer is in the room with you. But still. You can’t go wrong with the Frey 2 for the money, and to me it beats the more expensive Audioquest Firebird/Hurricane hands down in terms of being more natural and enjoyable. Still, I cannot unhear the Valhalla 2’s now.... I’m just glad I have not tried the Odin 2’s!
Transparent Reference: Right off the bat I was impressed. Much more natural sounding than the Audioquests. Overall, these produced the "largest" sound of the cables I’ve tested. Better bass than Nordost, and high frequencies are completely open and not harsh at all. After listening to the Transparent’s across a variety of music types, I was very impressed with how big, open, and natural they sounded. One aspect that I found quite shocking is just how "clean" everything sounded. I don’t know how else to explain it; maybe the noise floor was lower or something? I just kept noticing this quality - I’d say this was the Transparent’s most striking quality. However, I did notice that some music with a lot of upper mids and high frequencies could take on a slightly harder sound. Almost too clean of a sound perhaps? In thinking about what I was hearing, I believe the Transparent cables may actually be the most "transparent" of all the cables I’ve tested, in terms of actually just disappearing and letting the source material, amplifier, and speakers speak. I definitely have a high appreciation for these cables. At one point, I was dismayed as I was thinking this race would be very, very close between the Transparent Reference’s and the Nordost Valhalla 2’s, which would mean a lot of work A/B testing.But. When I went back to the Valhalla 2’s, wow. Immediately it was a comforting, inviting, warm and detailed sound that was just SO musically satisfying. Not as much bass, and not as big of an overall sound, and maybe not as squeaky clean, but who cares. These are just engaging and during the testing, these were the cables that made me want to quit testing and just listen to music - which as I said is exactly what I did until 6am last night. One reason I think I like the Valhalla 2’s so much, and moreso than the Transparent’s, is that there is a definite warmth and smoothness to the midrange, despite being insanely peppered with "inner detail" and lightning quickness. Maybe this warmth and smoothness means the cable is doing more than it is supposed to in terms of adding its own signature. But I really like these qualities so I’d rather have them there. One thing I hadn’t mentioned about these: the dynamics and slam of midrange percussion is the best of the cables tested. There is a rhythm, impact, and drive to the midrange, while also being velvety smooth, and this just enhances overall musicality.
In short the Valhalla 2’s seem like an old, warm, inviting, favorite pair of jeans. The sound is both welcoming and inviting.
So there it is. Results:
1st place: Nordost Valhalla 2
2nd place: Transparent Reference
3rd place: Nordost Frey 2. Because of the price and also the overall sonic presentation, I’d likely pick these over the Transparent References. But the Transparent’s are undoubtedly more capable.
4th place: Audioquest Firebird (biwire) and Hurricane. This was the big surprise. Audioquest was WAY behind all the other cables I tested. And I wanted to like them. One thing I am wondering: I’m told these were among the first cables to be subjected to AQ’s new factory burn-in process. I am wondering if either 1) dealer was mistaken and these were not actually burned in, or 2) this new burn-in process doesn’t quite go all the way, meaning that these cables may not actually be fully burned in? I guess I’ll never know, but I was rather disappointed in these.
I’m sure there are many other cables out there that I would like, but I don’t have access to trying anything else, and the Valhalla 2’s actually give me far more than I was ever expecting. I was not actually that excited about upgrading cables until I heard what these can do. Now I am excited. Just not about the cost...