NORDOST Valhalla
Interconnects
By many the Valhalla hustle and bustle is considered a pure marketing. By many the Valhallas are considered the finest sounding audio cables. What is the truth then? A bit of each - the Valhalla is definitely a great sounding cable with a not really friendly price tag.
Funkce a forma
Until recently the Valhalla has been Nordost's reference interconnects. Nowadays it has been trumped by their Supreme Reference, the Odin. The Valhalla uses 8 silver-plated copper wires that are highly polished and floating in the air - the latter is achieved by the Nordost's MMF technology.
The MMF (or Micro Mono-Filament) principle is simple in its idea but difficult to execute. A thin Teflon (FEP) filament is threaded in a spiral fashion around each conductor to minimize the contact between the conductor and its insulation. Thus an air gap is created with only point contacts left. This approximates the ideal "no insulation".
Nízké frekvence
The Valhalla uses top-of-the-range silver Nextgens from German WBT (RCA) or XLRs. The capacitance is 22.0pF, inductance 0.13µH and Nordost claims that the signal travels through the cable at the 80% of speed of light.
Čistota rozlišení
Tonální věrnost
The Valhalla is an accurate cable with excellent transient speed. Who thinks, that the Valhalla's precision goes against its musicality is wrong. Though there are zillions of tiny details heard in the music they are always well integrated and not accntuated. I lived with the Valhalla's predecessor, the SPM reference for some months - this was ethereal and thinner sounding cable where the details drew my attention. The Valhalla is much more physical.
Prostorovost
I was taken aback by its powerful presentation - the sound had the energy of live rock concerts. Well, imagine a live rock concert where you feel the pressure of the sound and you can hear all details at the same time. With recordings it was refreshing to hear both the energy and soft ambience and reverberation that were caught by microphones. Honestly speaking, in my completely Valhallized system I found the speaker cable to be more important for final sound than the interconnect. If you only can afford one, then put your money in the speaker cable.
Doporučení prodejci
Perfect Sound Group, Praha, tel. +420 722 960 690
Web výrobce: http://www.nordost.com
Připojené komponenty
- Sources: Ayre Cx-7e
- Amplifiers: Audio Research SP17 / SD135 preamplifier and power amplifier, NAD Masters
- Interconnects and speaker cables: Nordost Valhalla speaker cable
- Loudspeakers: Usher Be-10 Dancer, KEF 201/2
Galerie
AAI Maestoso IC
Out of all those interconnect cables that my audio system has ever hosted, the Maestoso interconnect reminded me Nordost´s Odin the most. I mean the original Odin that sold at 16k€ per meter. Certainly, there were some nuances, like ...
Doporučení prodejci
Authentic Audio Image, Povážská Bystrica, +421 905 694 943
ANALYSIS PLUS Copper Oval-In
Analysis Plus Copper Oval-IN (1m XLR) brought up images of a hornet to me. There was nothing hornet-like in its sound, rather it looked exactly like it with its black and yellow camouflage. Contrary to a hornet the Copper Oval-IN is ...
Doporučení prodejci
Audiostudio s.r.o., Olomouc, tel. +420 608 752 475
ANALYSIS PLUS Silver Oval-In
After many computer simulations and other exhaustive tests, in Analysis Plus they determined that a hollow oval cable constituted the best possible conductor design. The primary advantage of an oval conductor design rather than ...
Doporučení prodejci
Audiostudio s.r.o., Olomouc, tel. +420 608 752 475
ANSUZ Signalz C2
The design goal of Ansuz Acoustics is to keep inductance as low as possible. The Ansuz interconnects are using three twisted 3 mm coaxial cables (Direct Ground Connection alias DGC), and 2x6 wires twisted in reversed directions to ...
Doporučení prodejci
RP Audio, Ostrava, +420 737 366 831
ANSUZ Signalz D2
Like the Ansuz Signalz C2 is the Signalz D2 a showpiece of modern technicistic design of interconnects. The black and grey of braid is complemented by translucent copper that gives the cable its depth of colour and premium look. Like ...
Doporučení prodejci
RP Audio, Ostrava, +420 737 366 831
AUDIOQUEST Thunderbird
After years of hiatus, AudioQuest has finally decided to shift the attention to signal cables. It could have been an upgrade, but it is not: the new range of interconnects turns most cable-building principles upside down. There is ...
Doporučení prodejci
AQ s.r.o., Červenka, tel. +420 585 342 232
AUDIOQUEST Wild Blue Yonder
The Wild Blue Yonder brings a new grade of illumination, the recording bathes in light and air and has unbelievable amount of subtle detail. I have not heard anything like that before. The sound flows like a pure water in a mountain ...
Doporučení prodejci
AQ s.r.o., Červenka, tel. +420 585 342 232
