Opinions on Walker High Definition Links

Just installed ref. HDL's on my Infinity RS1b's [needed two sets] and must say they are one of the most dramatic improvements in quite some time [up there with component upgrade!!] Overall sound quality improved [clearer, stage deeper,detail resolution VASTLY improved, Bass FAR MORE articulate and deeper with improved resolution] and Lloyd says they have not yet fully broken in. This is another of those pricey tweeks that REALLY IS WORTH IT!!! With the money back guarantee you can't go wrong [I'll bet you don't send them back!]

Just a thought, as mentioned before, I use the HDL's and find them very effective, but can someone answer why all the effective tweaks are so expensive? I mean its a tiny wooden box with a couple of wires out of it, how come it costs so much. It's the same with CD disc stabilisers, the only one I have found that works, is the most expensive Marigo stealth signature. Even 2nd hand, the way I buy most of my kit, they are still too expensive for what they are.
I just needed to get that off my chest, I feel better now. I will just take one of my Valium and I will be just fine.

David12,

There are a few issues that generally IME contribute to this situation.

First, usually the retail price has to bear a cut for distribution and retailers. Even when the product is sold direct, if the product is also sold through dealers then the price must accomodate this. Most sales are time consuming on the part of the salesman and require overhead for the context under which the sale is made. In this business the volume of sales is often small.

Second, we live in a culture that is inundated with products that are manufactured by the millions in countries where the hourly wage is often minus a zero or two from ours. The product(s) that we're talking about here are painstakingly hand made in quantities of 10 or so at a time.

In Lloyd's case he uses premium parts that are sometimes not generally available and are very expensive compared to the average commercial product. An example of this would be using nude Vishay S102 resistors at about $15 a piece give or take depending on the value as opposed to the usual "good" resisors that may cost 20 cents.

The R&D that goes into discovering what makes a valuable subjective difference and then refining that product to where it makes the most difference in its application is extremely time consuming. The only way those hours can begin to get paid for in the quantities we're talking about is by charging seeemingly high prices.

The other factor that can come into it is valuing the product in relation to other similar products and in relation to the value of the effect it has on the sound. Percieved value is often related to the price put on it. Often the premium models in a line are priced to try to make back some of the above expense whereas the cheaper models are priced more competitively.

Some companies underprice their products in order to be competitive and their businesses flounder in the end. Some manufacturers demand a more respectable living from their endeavors.

There is a fine line between fair and opportunism. That line is purely subjective.

Hopefully this will allow for a reduction in your meds.

I've had them on my Silverlines and would never think of taking them off. Most of the responders here have pretty much summed them up when they describe them as opening up a more unforced character to the music ... the sound simply becomes subtly more natural and relaxed but with no negatives attached (at least in my scenario). With the detail your Virgos already render it might be an interesting combo to see how much of it should remain intact yet emerge with an extra dollop of richness... If i'm not mistaken, your Rogue 150 monos are a lot like my VTL MB-125's and also offer a tetrode/triode switch? I find the tetrode setting to be perfect with the HDL's but feel the only sacrifice might be just a bit too much "warmness" when I switch to triode unless I'm really playing a selection that prefers it (or if I'm listening late at night and we're setting an altogether different mood...). But then again, with my speakers this is what I'd expect. I use to own AP Tempo 3's and absolutely loved them for many good reasons (the imaging, the detail, the soundstage, ) all the things AP is known for ("No loss of fine detail"). The HDL's might work well for you therefore with the Virgos, in both amp modes. For the potential improvement they are not an expensive tweak and I'd almost go so far as to say that for many owners of them (at least for myself) if forced to step - back or downgrade something for some reason, we would rather swap out an I/C here or a P/C there than to relinquish that last sense of naturalness our systems seems to acquire with the HDL's in place. Just my 2 cents... Good luck and happy lissnin.

I would just reitterate in light of lissner's reponse that IME the HDLs are a bout cleaner which translates to every part of the spectrum including bass, such that although the highs being more sweetly transparant can leave the sound "warmer", at least in my system and theothers I've heard them in the bass was significantly cleaned up leavingit more textured, not made warmer.