[Review] I borrowed a Nordost Valhalla, and some Siltech

I borrowed a Nordost Valhalla, and some Siltech

have been lent and home demo'ing:

1) the Siltech HF-9 digital, against AudioSynthesis SilverBlue Triax digital
&
2) the Nordost Valhalla interconnects (all 10 inches of it) vs the Siltech 4-56 vs the AudioSynthesis SilverBlue SQ,and a bit of vs vdh The Second

Alanbeeb joined me for a cablefest session on Sunday evening, ensuring that we listened to high as well as low-brow: from Bruckner's 9th and the Goldberg Variations, through Miles Davis' Kind of Blue, Dick Gaughan, Dar Williams and more ...

Summary verdict:
1) no apparent differences between the digitals, but this may be because transport and Dax Decade communicate with AudioSynthesis Ncode
2) the Nordost Valhalla (all 10 inches of it) is good, and better than the other two; the AudioSynthesis SilverBlue SQ was preferred to the Siltech 4-56 & the vdh The Second; the vdh The Second to the Siltech 4-56. The Siltech interconnects were smoother and silkier, making voilins sweet and seducing one into the music but Coltrane's sax had lost its viscreal character, and on reflection, so had those violins, and the rasp of Dar Williams, and Dick Gaughan was a kitten!

Probably more to say, must vino veritas, or rather, I must get back to the bottle ...

 

The Nordost Valhalla brought the music more out into the room and of the cables on offer it was the one I would have.... but not at its price!

 

IT can be betted for less IMHO.

 

By what WM?

 

You could ask those that have swopped their Nordosts for something a little better & a lot better valuetoo

 

Maybe you better send me some of those cables soon....

 

I sold off my Nordost Vishnu Power cables and moved to missing link .Orbit for the power amps Opus f (£80 about 2mtr)for CD.Record deck phono stage and used their DIY interconnect with Bullets at around £20 a metre. Best thing I ever did Nordost was far too bright in my system. :cowboy: :redrum:

 

Ditton

You really should try Tony's CONNOISSEUR range.

Regards
Gary

 

Have you tried them Gary?

 

Yes, I have what Tony refers to as a 'full loom', digital, analogue, speaker and power cables.

Regards
Gary

 

Forgot to mention, I briefly tried the AS Silver Blue and still have some vdh The First lying on the floor (best place for it!) along with some StraightWire stuff and LAT International, (also lying on the floor), must make an effort to stick it on ebay at some point.

Classique sounds in Leicester do a silver cable called Translucent, used to use that before swapping over to CONNOISSEUR stuff, extremely good value for money at about £80/m, a little brighter and more detailed than the LAT International but a little smoother, less grainy than the Silver Blue.

Ditton

Just to keep you on your toes, try listening to a Wadia transport through the Decade.

Regards
Gary

 

you're a bad man Charlie Brown!

I've arranged a second chance to listen to the Wm foofoo box that AlanBeeb has.

 

I replaced my nordost with custom cable at a fraction of the cost that sounded just as good if not better. People worry about cables way too much.

 

People who under stand their use in a system, may feel slightly different

 

Cable use: connecting two components.

Whats to understand? ;-)

 

Synergy

 

You mean the sympathetic resonance of the induced tachyon field causes the spontaneous emergence of a synchronising flux that maximises the purity of the energy transfer? All in a lovely iridescent snake skin insulator. Have you fitted a 20 GW megaflow capacitor and cryogenically heated the cable with a phase plasma rifle in the 40W range?

:kneel:

 

I've used a Valhalla PC for about 3 months now. it's characteristics are very definite. It injects 'zing' in your system. Blows up the soundstage - height and width. Blows up your bass and finally, and this is where it's expensive but so sort after...it adds a sense of clarity that's not over analytical yet keeps the top end reasonably smooth/sweet. a mean feight when most other PC can sound fast but also harsh.

A couple of tip with Vahalla:

- it's sound is very recognisable once you've had it for a while.
- one cord in a system adds zing/clarity but more than one, for my taste, makes it too sterile/boring. tried in many system and same effect time and time agin.
- do not do A/Bs....stiff cables like Valhalla need time to 'rest' 2-3 days sometimes more..and you'll hear it's full potential. Just moving it, bending it, you're back to square one - too forward/harder etc.... i'm no expert but i know what i hear and it's well documented - mechanical stress. Ditto any other cables (and components) - esp still ones.

 

No, that woud be verble testicles

 

Precisely my point.