2. cables
  3. 989460834

Valhalla

Anybody with any experience with this new offering from Nordost.....does it's performance come close to justifying the high cost.
glide3
artmaltman
769 posts
 
Heard them at Stereophile show. I think the demo was fair, because the other Nordost cables demonstrated sounded familier to me. The Valhalla was a new league of sound, expansive, open, the sound flowed like nothing I had ever heard. It stomped even the Quattrofil.
mikelavigne
2,216 posts
 
i have gone to valhalla from xlo limited, quattro fil, and transpatent ref.xl. i compared the valhalla to all these interconnects in my system and the valhalla was clearly better to my ears. in specific areas the other cables were similar but the overall transparency and openness was on another level with the valhalla.

when first installed the valhalla was slightly thin sounding especially compared to the transparent and xlo. but after a few weeks of breakin and time on the nordost CBID 1 (cable break in device) the weight, bloom and solidity equaled the transparent and xlo. careful listening revealed a very slight blurring of details on the transparent and xlo compared to the valhalla.

the valhalla speaker cable was better than the transparent ref.xl and the FIM gold. but when compared to the transparent opus mm the valhalla was not competitive so i went with the opus mm speaker cable.
holygrailaudio
94 posts
 
There are two cables I have used extensively that have better neutrality than Valhalla, JPS Labs SC2 and Audience AU-24, much cheaper too. The new JPS Aluminata should be better yet. There was a comparison review done between Audience and Valhalla by either Stereophile or absolute sound by a guy who personally owns the Valhalla. It took him months to figure out what the differences were but he came away feeling the Audience was smoother and better frequency balanced, this lends itself to an easier listening character that sounds more natural.
mikelavigne
2,216 posts
 
wow, almost 6 years between posts on a thread....that must be some sort of record.

btw, if Audience AU-24 is better balanced than the Valhalla in a system that tells you as much about the system as the cable. Valhalla will not solve system issues; it will tell you exactly what is happening whether you like it or not. if the system balance is already correct Valhalla will reveal more of the musical message. i like the AU-24 i own but it has a bit of color and warmth that is ideal for a system with a lean balance and is not the last word in transparency.

YMMV.

i have not heard the JPS but if it is similar to the AU-24 then draw your own conclusions.
More to discover