The first generation Valhalla’s weakness lay in the upper bass/lower midrange. Anyone who played cello, in particular, could hear that Valhalla "leaned out" that range of sound. I like Valhalla, own the interconnects, used to own the speaker cable and the power cords, while at the same time I also owned Shunyata Andromeda Constellation speaker cables as well (with WBT connectors) and King Cobra V2 power cords (not to be confused with the King Cobra CX. No comparison, in my book, with the CX line having a clearer upper midrange and treble, but the KC V2 having a far more ’surging-kick-your-butt-out-your-throat power’ (to paraphrase Roy Gregory somewhat in his review in Hi Fi Plus when he was also reviewing the Valhalla power cords) The Valhalla had a far more dynamic presentation among individual instruments than the King Cobra V2, but listening to Super Bass, the Ray Brown Trio, it was obvious that all the standup bass instruments were less "present" in their upper reaches. In the King Cobra V2's favor, the instrument was so solid you felt if you walked up to it, you'd bump into it. Even my opera boyfriend, who was always annoyed at having to drive down to New Haven to listen to my stereo (with the ASL Hurricanes) was dazzled - despite himself. He could point to where the drummer was sitting. Valhalla could not quite do that, although it had great focus - just not great solidity, once you'd heard the Shunyatas. Also, bass singers in opera sounded like they were singing higher, as though they were baritones. Just listen to Bluebeard’s Castle on Mercury Living Presence on Valhalla and then put in Shunyata Andromeda and suddenly the singer has a booming chest.
I’m transitioning from Shunyata power cords to Nordost Brahma, because the power cords don’t have that issue that the speaker cable and interconnects have. The Nordost power cords are pretty full, although not as full as say, Shunyata’s power cords - at least up until the Cobra Zi-Tron, which was the first cord to show a weaker (as in less weight) in the bass. I still have a Python Helix Alpha and also a ZiTron Alpha, and both are fuller in the bass than the Cobra. Why do you think they released the Alpha line in such quick succession? It wasn’t time for their 3 year supply to have run out. It was the feedback, first mentioned in The Audio Beat Review. And when the midbass goes, the body and solidity of instruments go (that solid imaging that made the WATTS so famous. Their midbass range, especially with Puppies.)
So, bo1972 is correct. I argued with Harry a few times about this, but he was a pigheaded guy…until the Odin showed up and only THEN did he acknowledge in TAS that the Valhallas were like "the best solid state"…and that he’d never have described them as "threadbare," but "now, I’m deeply chagrined to have to say that that’s exactly how I feel about them." So, I’d go with the power cords first, then the speaker cable. I can say that the Frey 2 I bought and kept for a while was quite good, but because the Shunyata ZiTron was anchoring the PS Audio conditioner, the Frey sounded less powerful than it should have. Well, that’s about to end: I’m waiting for a Brahma to arrive. Now my system has shifted so all the interconnects are Frey 2 and the 2 power cords are Brahma. The only thing that Shunyata is the Cobra ZiTron speaker cables, which I’ll keep for a while and compare to the Frey 2 my dealer has, now that the system is anchored by a Brahma. Should be an interesting experiment.
