Nordost Valhalla Power Cords

The nordost cables are great,so are a few other brands out there,depends on what one likes!

I don't have room in my system for another high priced over-rated kidney;>)

@ jmcgrgan2,Thats pretty cool and funny,hey I understand priod!It was not easy for me to get what I have,alot of selling of what I was useing for audio with money to boot over a period of time,and I am still not done,hopfully soon!cheers!

LOL!! Thanks Audiolabyrinth, hopefully one day I will be wealthy enough to buy that. I never paid more than about $2500 for a used interconnect (Stealth Indra), and those days appear to be over due to economic circumstances (job loss).
Hey, maybe I could sell a kidney.....hahaha

@ jmcgrogan2, There is a used pair of the Taralabs zero gold I/C on the gon right now for $8,000.00, thats a good deal, since they are $15,950.00 new!,Hey,I buy audio all the time used,if its still in production,go for it!,is my moto....I enjoy talking at you,cheers!

@Audiolabyrinth, I am sure that Tara's top models are stunning, I wish I could afford to listen to them myself. Alas, only so much time, money and too many toys to try. One can never find the time/money to try them all.
Enjoy the Tara cables, I'm sure they are marvelous!

Hi Bo1972,Thanks for my answering my questions about your offerings,do you sell componets are just cables?,I betting on you can get alot,most dealers can get whatever one wants these days,oh, by the way I am a passlabs fan as well,,I am formost a Krell fan of their solid state amps,I have a very good Krell amp that is a little older but not absolete!,called The Krell 700cx,that I love!with the cables I use on this amp it is very real sounding!very close to being at a live musical event to say the least.cheers!

@ jmcgrogan2,I still own the tara cable called, The one i/c and speaker cable,It is a very good cable for the money,I also use to own decade i/c and speaker cables,the decade was a good cable at the its price point,I had mine in the mid 90's as well,I even had the cable before that called the rsc master gen,the one cable system I just bought last may 2012,I recently decided to move up the Tara cable food chain,all the way to the top!,I owned the one in 1997 too,it got stolen,so for ole times sake I bought another the one cable system,The difference between the one and the zero gold is scary!,stunning,chills up and down your arms, mouth agape in shock!the zero gold has attributes that no other cable in the world can match!,no,i'm not saying it;s the best,there is no such thing!like the nordost has its attributes so does the tara,I prefer the tara,to each there own!,,you were talking about bass,everything the zero gold and omega gold and cabolt does is some of the best available,in other words bass is not an issue at all,as a matter of fact I have never heard any better in my life!,remember,the top tier cable systems from tara is considered world over in the handful of cables as the best available,,as I have said,Tara is in the R&D making a new top cable for the first time since 1998,they have already got a year and a half in developing this new cable!It may come out in the next c.e.s. show next year,I do not believe I need it,The current top tir tara is made for $50,000.00 a componet systems,that I do not have anyway,so I am ready for eany up-grades when I feel it neccesary,,I am glad to hear such wonderful news about stealth cables,and the fact they are u.s.a. made!cheers and happy listening!

That is not true. I already said a lot about the Le. You find it in this thread. Articulation of voices is the best I eve heard. This sunday I was at a audio show. At the Nordost stand with Odin I played my cd. Bruce Springsteen Brothers under the bridge. At my house the articulation was more clear. Ending words are more easy to follow. Instruments are more 3d. High heads of drums are sharper focused. The bassdrum is more defined and timing is better. Valhalla is not a good cable for poweramps. I have done many amp tests with Valhalla. Never stunning results. The Purist LE is much more talented than the Valhalla. It has more different properties and the parts were a cable is judged for he wins with ease. This cable is the best I ever heard on a Pass Labs. At the show Sunday Pass labs with Aurender and MIT and Shunyata had the same irritating flaws. The speakers were about 3 metres from eachother and the voice was over one metre. Mannnnnnnn I hate this sooooo much. I uppered next shows to use real acoustic live music. Wenn focus is poor and instrumnets and voices are too big in dimension I get really irritated.

@Audiolabyrinth, Stealth Audio is a US cable company, they operate out of Maryland. They are not that new either, they have been around for 10 years or so. I haven't been as far up the Tara Labs line as you have, the furthest I've been is The One series. As for Stealth, I have owned their Dream power cords and Indra and Metacarbon interconnects, as well as their Hybrid MLT speaker cables.

Stealth is very 3 dimensional and airy up top like the Tara Labs The One series that I've heard, both cables are fairly neutral midbands with just a slight trace of warmth when compared to the Nordost line.
I would say that the Stealth line had a definitive edge in bass, both in definition and power. Again, the Stealth I was listening to was their top of the line at the time, while I haven't heard Tara's top of the line. However, I think that sonically, these two manufacturers have a lot in common.

I've long been a fan of Tara Labs cables, I had the Temporal Continuum line, before the RSC technology over 20 years ago. I had a full system of the TL Decade in the mid 90's. I 'discovered' Stealth about 5 years ago, and enjoyed many of their offerings. I still feel that the Stealth Dream power cord is the best that I've ever heard. I haven't heard the V10 or more recent efforts off Serguei though.

Hello BOL1972 - so, how does the Purist Audio Limited Edition Power cord sound on your Pass labs amp ???? Let me know as others have claimed that due to the ''filtering'' process that it restricts some of the high and low frequencies. I have not found that to be true on my Classe' CA2300 amp.

Bo, I appreciate your candid comments (Jouw mening is duidelijk, maar je hoeft deze niet meermaals te herhalen). I have been using NordOst in most of my systems and yes they do blend well with tube based systems.

Before going Odin (or more Valhallas and boy are those cables expensive, I bet their margin is north of 80%) I am looking for better alternatives (like the Stealth and PAD which are mentioned favorably by many) so thanks everyone for your comments!

The most important thing what I learned in audio is that audio is about personal taste. But some parts you can hear. Depth, focus, resolution, air, black and overwhole sound. Some people like colored music. You cannot say chocolate ice is better than vanilla ice.

I do not have 1 brand in cables. I use Audioquest, Purist Audio and Acapella. I owned and sold a lot Nordost. These days I sell only 3 brands: Audioquest, Kimber and Purist Audio. Don't get me wrong I still like Nordost a lot. But it need to be used precisely.

Hi Bo1972, are you a dealer now?,If so,what do you have to offer?,I believe HR1 is set on likeing the nordost cables,they seem to work very well on his system,you are set on purist audio that works great on your system,both cable systems have different attributes,both of you gentlemen just like different sound from each other,thats all!,I am very glad cable brands do not sound the same!,would'nt that be boring?LOL!,to me you both have excellent cable systems as I do,we are fortunate to have some of the best available!cheers!

@ jmcgrogan2, Hi,no I have not had the opportunity to listen to the stealth audio cables,thats a new company I have read about thru the forums and cable sales listings here on the gon the last few months,I believe they are made here in the u.s.?,do you own some?,have you done extensive listening with these cables?,you said they have similar sound qualitys to tara,thats awsome!can you elaborate more on these cables?,as I said,I love learning!there is no such thing as the best!maybe a top 10 best,cheers!

Just today, in a good friend's system, we compared side by side the following speaker cable: Purist Audio Aqueous Aureus Versus Nordost Tyr. I premise that such system was composed with all power cables Shunyata Anaconda and the Interconnet Purist Audio Design Purist Audio Aqueos Aureus. The Nordost Tyr resulted better in all regards, especially in rhythmic, higher resolution and definition, musicality with an extraordinary amount of details, excellent low-level ambience retrieval and harmonic extensions of their natural bass and midbass. Airy soundstage with seemingly limitless depth, perfect dimension and proportion of vocalist and acoustic instrument with no electronic texture. The sound is always alive, fullness and powerfull. Superb the realism with Nordost Tyr.

@Audiolabyrinth

Hi,

It's very interesting your experience and your future design. I wish good luck and all the best and hoping to listen yours.

Thanks and regards.

First I am not God, and second I am not Jesus. Not even by far. But information/details you can hear or miss them. This is that simple. It has nothing to do with a personal tast. How much depth there is in a system is something you can hear easily. With cables you can make it bigger or less deep and wide. Resolution and air is not the same as sharp focus of instruments. There can be a lot of detail and air but to point out were every instrument is can be quite dfficult. I hear now even instruments which I did not hear with the Valhalla. The reason is simple. My stage is wider and deeper. This makes it more easy to hear every part of the recording. Because of a sharper focus you can easily hear were every voice and instrument is during listening. This makes listening to music so much more fun. I had this conversations also with some musicians. They told the same story about sound and proportion. Monday I uppered to play live music again at audio shows. Some highend audioshops liked the idea a lot.

First I am not God, and second I am not Jesus. Not even by far. But information/details you can hear or miss them. This is that simple. It has nothing to do with a personal tast. How much depth there is in a system is something you can hear easily. With cables you can make it bigger or less deep and wide. Resolution and air is not the same as sharp focus of instruments. There can be a lot of detail and air but to point out were every instrument is can be quite dfficult. I hear now even instruments which I did not hear with the Valhalla. The reason is simple. My stage is wider and deeper. This makes it more easy to hear every part of the recording. Because of a sharper focus you can easily hear were every voice and instrument is during listening. This makes listening to music so much more fun. I had this conversations also with some musicians. They told the same story about sound and proportion. Monday I uppered to play live music again at audio shows. Some highend audioshops liked the idea a lot.

@Audiolabyrinth, have you heard Stealth Audio cables? Sakra, Indra, Dream? I ask because they share some similar sonic attributes with Tara Labs cables, IMHO.

@HR1, you have some great cables!,I own the competition I guess you can say,Taralabs Zero Gold,omega gold,cobalt a/c,all of it is the current top tier tara makes,thou I will inform you they are in the R&D making a new top cable that is due maybe by next years ces show,that will be an event that will send ripples thru the high-end for a long time to come!,I talk to tara,they know me on a personal level,no,i.m not a dealer,LOL!,just a listener that enjoys the high-end,i use to be in the bussiness,I have a couple of inventions for my self,I tried to go big with them but got taken on part of it,and that nearly killed my spirit when that happened,you may know the company called poly crystal resonance control that went out of bussiness a few years back,the owner was bruce badlack,good riddence!that,s the person that betrayed my trust!regarless he did not get but part of it,I was doing seminars about resonance control all over half the u.s.a.,I met alot of industry owners and c.e.o.,those were the good ole days!the mid-late ninetys,so I guess I have been doing this a very long time!my mother bought me my first high-end system when I was 12 years old,i,m 46 now,do the math,,,the reason I sharred my personnal is to let every one on the gon to get to know me,I love learning!and sharring experiences!I have listened to about everthing under the son near bout, Happy listening!

@Audiolabyrinth

Hi,

I've two (2) complete set (pc, ic and speaker) of:
- Nordost Odin and Nordost Valhalla.

@Bo1972

As I said before I totally disagree with what you are erroneously reporting in an arrogant way too, as if God was suddenly lowered into the earth. However, I'm enjoing a lot with you because you looks like the classic aficionados that thinks hi-fi as race and play to those who got the longest. Instead of inviting the Nordost Holland in your music room, it would be more appropriate that you perform at soonest a fast training how sounds like real music (e.g. concerts, theaters, jazz clubs and for my experience in Holland have a brilliant sound and well calibrated acoustic in order to really know the sound of acoustic instruments) should be, because believe me from what you're writing, you have clearly very confused ideas about the music. Maybe after due training you will understand, perhaps, also the correct hi-fi. At the moment, it seems that you know only to sell hi-fi from the musicality and timbre highly questionable and in my opinion very far from the natural expression of music. I wish that you'll improve your skill and experience about the perception of music and in the 25 years later I'll wait you here and we could take back the same argument. At the present stage you've to learn a lot about music and concerned perception.

Hi Hrl, what model of nordost do you own?

The thing I hate most at audio shows wenn a voice is over one metre or even more. At he show today you heard it a lot. Ask musicians about it. They will tell the same. Wenn my friend had a classical singer the voice was unamplified and very direct and small in dimension. This is what I want to hear wenn I listen to music. My hobby is music, audio is not my hobby. It is what I do for work. At the end music is almways the most important part of it all. You system is only equipment what can play the music you love. I have got almost 1000 cd's en 300-400 dvd's and blurays. I had clients with 30-40 cd's with a audio set of 70.000 euro. To those I said; you never will stay happy with an expensive set with so less music. Because audio can become a very dissapointhing hobby. I have seen this more than once. At the end it is about music!

Today we were at a show. Nordost was here with Odin. Focus was quite poor. Image was too big. There was almost no depth and individual focus was not so great as well. I had some cd's with me. We Played: Bruce Springsteen Brothers under the Bridge. I wanted to hear how good the articulation was of his voice. It was okay, I did not come near what I have at home. Here it is superior in clearance. I hear a lot more details which were not at the set with Odin. I never sell things what people say. I am my own boss and I decide what I sell. I use only the best stuff for the money. I hate colored music. That is why I do not like the sound of a violin with 100% Valhalla. Because it does not sound so lean in real what you get witht the Valhalla. At he show it was difficult to hear all the parts of the recording. I see every single instrument of the recording. I can point it out exactly were it is. I invited Nordost Holland to come soon to my house for a course in individual focus.

@ Bo1972

I think it's definitely clear that you do not know what you're talking about (both of Burmester and Nordost and many other things you've written), but I see that you enjoy listening situations bring unreliable. Another thing clear is that you're (or have been) an hi-end dealer that likes so much of your well known colleagues that trying to sell / push own brands and tell to their customers that the other brands not present overthere are to be considered inferior or even garbage. In my opinion this approach is not the right result of pure passion but only commercial way. As I wrote earlier, my approach and my experience on high-end components is too important on a level objectively superior to yours and this is the reason why I do not find anything correct about that you are reporting. The personal journey of searching for a sound with correct timbre and a perfect balance and through the hi-end components/accessories commenced 25 years ago and in all of these years have been circulating in my music room many components of any kind and price. The music does not have to be spectacular, but it must be a right mix of proper timbre (highest degree of neutrality, free of grain and with a complete absence of fatique) and perfect balance between all the frequencies and a perfect dimensions and geometric proportions of the instruments and instrumentalists. Burmester and Nordost grant to me such sound quality result. Live music with acoustic instruments and sounds so to know these things take experience based mainly on knowledge and not hearsay or write unrealiable things around in various blogs when most of audiophiles/leaders are not able to simply distinguish the sound of a cello from a double bass. If you like a sound colored and knowing very well the brands you listen from my side, I've to assume that you have a very little knowledge of live music. I conclude by saying that the music is art and hi-end is a pure passion, both concepts are very far from commercial factors. I'm going to leave you with your phantom reviews and I'm sorry in advance but I'm not interested in reading them.

Hi every one, I enjoy every thing that has been said here,and respect it,we do all hear different,I can tell you I own state of the art cables!at least to me. all the products mentioned are good,depends on what one likes,,, I believe the Tara Labs Cobalt a/c power cord is far superior than the nordost vahalla in every way possible,formost focus!against the odin cable,the odin is a tad faster,tad more detail on the treble only,,the tara sounds more real over all on my particular system,and has enough incredible speed to boot,and the treble is not analitical!,my opinion, the treble is beautiful!,I am not talking about the Tara the one xl cobalt,the newest version called the cobalt,there is a sound difference between the two cables,the xl one cobalt is discontinued replaced by the better sounding cobalt,, and i,m sorry that I agree with Jmcgrogan2 and Bo1972!,Thanks Bo1972 for answering a couple of my questions I had for you,,I look foward to your review you are gonna do on your purist a/c cable,I also am glad that this forum is alive and well,thou I did not start it,I like it!,,I am not bashing eanything here,again they are all great products!

Burmester has not a lot of dealers outher Germany and Austria. Wenn it would be a great product it would be a lot more popular. I do not say it is bad, but it is not stunning. At shows we heard many tiems to it. We never had the feeling of woooooooo. After shows we always ask clients what they liked at shows. We never heard the word Burmester. I will give you another example. A few years ago I had a client with a brand new set of Burmester poweramp, preamp and cd player. I took my Valhalla loudspeakercable and 2 Valhalla powercables with me. Wenn I connected it the overwhole sound was a lot better than what he had. But mannnnnn if this is what it is I would stop with my hobby. I would suggest him to look for a new hobby. The image was almost flat. The focus was okay but not the extreme sharp individual focus you expect and want in highend. The overwhole sound was okay but missing the emotion you would want. At the end he bought some Powercables. If you spend a lot of money on audio and you do not have a wide ande deep stage. And have not an extrem sharp individual focus. ( with a realistic proportion of instruments and voices) And a emotional sound were you want to listen for hours and hours. You miss essential parts in sound realism. For me is is this easy. Period!! Many clients with Nordost said to me: I miss the emotion in my system. And yessssss they were right. SO I had to solve this many times. All the tests we did we encouterd this problem. For me it is simple as 1 and 1 is 2. I sold a lot of Nordost, but you need to use it very precise. In everything I do in my life I look 3-4 steps further than a normal person would do. My goal is always looking for the best. I want my clients to get the best results for the money they spend. Because good is never good enough!!

@ Bo1972

I respect your opinion but I'm in totally disagreement about what you said. It's not important to mention by speaker system but I can assure that It's a fantastic and very expensive system and superior to any speaker I've heard (a lot, even over 200 Keuro loudspeaker system). Sorry but here we're talking about ultra hi-end components and I saw that you mentioned respected products that I know very well but very far from top hi-end and the sound neutrality estimated by experienced audiophiles around the globe that know really the music due to so much colored in sound and not playing music in the correct manner. A friend of mine after listening Burmester for the very first time he replaced his Pass mono Xa160.5 with german gear; another friend after listening in his system the power amp Burmester 956 Mk2 he changed his Pass X350.5. I've other examples, but It'n not important to make additional and same hystory. Everyone can listen the music in the way that coul prefer even if not in correct manner. In my experience many audiophiles gurus who write in blogs that I know very well that they can not distinguish the sound of a a Cello with the one of a Contrabass, but they evaluate hi-end components; which kind of sound evalutation you may expect from such gurus? What I can assure that in Europe and expecially around the World product like Nordost and Burmester are rightly considered Ultra Hi-End and one of the absolute best. It's definetively clear that we've completely opposite ways of understanding music and so It's confirmed by my 25 years of music played live in the best music halls around the world. The experience is knowledge and the rest is just information only.
Enjoy your review (as well as information only)!

I always had many discussions with the people of Nordost. I was the 2nd person who bought the Valhalla loudspeakercable in Holland. There was a time I sold Valhalla powercables as candy bars. It was a great time. But I am aware of the flaws. In real a violin sounds so much warmer than what you hear with Valhalla. Even with the most warm sounding components this was still the same problem. But there is one part most people have not enough knowledge in. And that is individual focus. Voices and instruments are very small in dimension and exactley to point out were they come from. With Valhalla this never comes to the highest level what I heard. This is a key factor in realism for music. Wenn you have a system which can give a 3d holographic image you always loose depth also with Valhalla. I have done these tests many times with Valhalla. The same cd's had more depth wenn we changed an interconnect instat of the Valhalla interconnect. I am only talking about facts. Because this is how I work and think. I always say: it is as it is...period!!

02-15-13: Sidekick_i
I believe the Nordost products (and Valhalla in particular) to be extremely open, transparent and revealing cables. What you hear is not the cables, but the quality(or faults...) of your system (in your room). Good or bad.

I sort of agree with you. While I do agree that Nordost products are extremely open, transparent and revealing, I find that most who really appreciate Nordost use warm sounding components or damp their rooms to balance that Nordost effect. Or maybe their systems/rooms were too dark to begin with and the Nordost brought in the light.

Then again, I also know some who are what I consider 'detail freaks'. They don't listen to the music per se, they are listening to what is happening behind the music. You know the type: "Did you just hear that fly fart behind the piano??".

From my experiences there is no doubt that the Nordost cable line is a great way to impress your friends. I just found that, in the long run, listening fatigue set in earlier and earlier, and I was no longer enjoying the music. If this does not happen with you, maybe your room is darker, or maybe your gear is darker or maybe your tastes are brighter, who knows?

There are many ways to liven up the sound of a system, using Nordost cables is certainly one of them. Whatever floats your boat.

I see you play with Burmester. I sold Valhalla to some Burmester fan's. To be unnest even with Valhalla in my esperience it is not that special. In europe all the Burmester shows are not that popular. We take a listen en walk away in 2 minutes of time. Wenn we are talking about 3d holographic image and extreemly sharp individual focus Burmester has still a lot to learn. Wenn you compare it at shows with brands like Pass Labs. There is no one who would prefer Burmester. In Holland there is even no shop anymore were you can buy it.

I did test Valhalla on my Modified Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 300 poweramp (I had this amp from 1999-2008 with the Nautilus 800S from 2006 till 2008) and I did loose depth, individual focus and the low freq, were not that tight. I used The Valhalla from 2004 till 2012 on My Meridian 800 DAXV4. Here it gave very good results. On my Pass XA100.5 ( I owned this from 2009-2009) here The Purist was better overwhole. It depends about the speakers you use. Which speaker dod you use. I have a speaker ( Monitor Audio PL-200) which can give an exeptional deep and wide stage. Most speakers are not capabele of this stage. All my tets I did with Valhalla you loos depth, individual focus and invlovementy in the mid freq. This was not happening once, all tests had the same outcome. At Nordost shows I used my own cd's and I heard the same flaws. Before I put my cd in, I predicted exactly what would happen. I had a smile wenn we were listening and the Nordost people were watching me. For me it was this clear what happend. With the Purist Audio LE powercable I have bt far the best articulation of voices. At many recordings I listend hundreds one times for the first time I hear people breath in and ending all the words they sing. I heard many systems with thse cd's and never heard it this clear. Between the extreme 3d image ( 4 metres behind the speakers, about 1.5m beside the speakers and many recording play 1.5m in front of the right and left speakers) I have I get a sharp individual focus I never heard on any Nordost show are test I did with 100% Valhalla. There is a lot more definition in the low freq compared to Valhalla. In all the tests I did with Valhalla on poweramps I never was convinced. A bass drum goed deeper with the LE, but it is not only this. It is so much beter textured. I am tapping more with my feet than ever. Like the speed of the music is a little higher. All parts of the recording are superior better foccused than with Valhalla. Most important part is sound, in sound realism Nordost is not that good. Wenn I listend to 100% Valhalla there was no emotion in the music anymore. All my classical music I love I would never want to hear again. These days I played with the B&W Nautilus 800S, which was great for classical music. I hope to write my review about the LE next week with all details and used cd's.

@ Bo1972

Hi,

as I wrote before in my system, the Valhalla's power cord resulted much better at all over the also good Purist audio 25th anniversary. In my system the superiority of Valhalla's was in an astonishing speed and phase coherence and every note of music sounded more natural in terms of attack, full-bodied presence, decay and concerned harmonic structure. The sense of reality and textural nuance with Valhalla's are unsurpassed in my experience. Surely the Odin's will be better at that cost than Valhalla's.!

@Sidekick_i

100% agree.

I'm using (and still evaluating) Nordost Valhalla powercords (all through) + Quantum QB8, Qx4 and Qv2 in my system.

I believe the Nordost products (and Valhalla in particular) to be extremely open, transparent and revealing cables. What you hear is not the cables, but the quality(or faults...) of your system (in your room). Good or bad.

I demoed/owned in my system a lot of power cords, as well as, the High Performance PowerLink power cords from Transparent, Mit Oracle, Acrolink 7N-PC7300, Shunyata Anaconda and King Cobra, Purist audio 25th anniversary, Kubala Sosna Elation and Elrod Statement Gold. At all in my system I fairly prefer the Nordost Valhalla Power Cords ( lenght 2 mt) because extremely neutral, free of grain, fast with an outstanding inner detail and an incredibly realistic presentation of the musical event. The differences with others power cords mentioned above are massive. The Nordost Valhalla power cords is is the best power cords that i listened until today.

The real length is 1.8m. On the list this is a 1metre version. I did not have a chance listening to the 25 th Ann. I expect It will outperform the LE. Do not forget that this cable is 2 times more expensive. It is in a different league. Would be nice to compare it with Odin. Soon I will write a review of the LE powercable. It has more different talents than Nordost has. The LE puts some extra qualities to the overwhole sound of a system.

Very Interesting Bo1972,never owned nordost period!I will say that alot of cables out there sound different with different legths,thats nothing new to me,kinda common these days,,eanyway,Bo,what is the performance diference between the purist audio 25th anniversary cable and the limited edition cable?or is it the same?and what is the length of your new a/c cable? was there a sound diference in the length with your new cable?there should be,,1 meter should sound diferent than a 5 meter for sure!happy listening!

Nordost first only started from 2m with there powercables. We did test some wenn they were cut in two. And yes it changed a lot. Valhalla 1 metre has a different overwhole sound than 2 metre. They said; we never will sell shorter lengts than 2 metres. These days you can get a Valhalla of 1 metre. I guess they prefer money instat of giving the best advice. This is not my way of thinking. Valhalla and Brahma are for preamps and sources fine cables. PAD Aqueous Ann on poweramps is better than Valhalla powercable. I still prefer Valhalla on a source compared to PAD Ann Aqueous. But now I own a PAD LE, I know Valhalla is off the radar for ever. It is so much more complete. It has much more talents what a Valhalla does not have. Wenn we had powercables of about 100 dollar. People always choose the 1.5m over the 1 metre. It was only a little more expensive but better in overwhole sound. And yes it was!

Yesterday I received the Purist Audio LE 2013 powercable. I will write a review soon only about this cable. To be unnest it is a different price range than the Valhalla powercabel. Beside this it is superior to a Valhalla powercable. It is even superior compared to the Purist Audio Aqueous Ann which I have still two of with Oyaide F1 plugs. As you know I tested many cables and tested a lot of expensive stuff. It's go's a lot deeper in the low freq. comapred to Valhalla. Individual focus is so much better than the Valhalla. Valhalla is like many Nordost acels like a car which can drive very fast. But wenn it passes the first corner it gets problems in grip. To be unnest this is the best powercable what I heard on a power amp to date. Now I can say that: Pass labs X250.5 + Onkyo PR-SC5509 and Purist Audio LE powercable has more depth, focus and air compared to what I had with Pass labs XA100.5+ Pass labs XP-20 and Purist Audio Ann Aqueous on every Pass unit. So how it is possible? Low freq are better defined and go deeper than Aqueous and Valhalla. There is so much more authority in the whole freq. range. High's are open like the Valhalla, but voices and instruments are more 3d. Mid freq. what is the weakest part of the Valhalla is much more open. I never heard during singing words end so clear. There is no harshness in the hig freq, but they are still more open than ever. Wenn a singer ends her os his words. It is so clear wenn they stop witht these words. Ending on a sss, tttt or whatever. I heard new detail ( new instruments) on recordings which I heard hundreds of times. Every single part of the recording can be followed with ease. 2nd and 3th voices are some much better in articulation and place were they stand. This cable locks every part sharp as a knife. Valhalla never is able to focus these parts this sharp. Soon I will discribe more prices about this cable!

Bo thanks a ton for your very valuable comments, tack så mycket! What is your experience with the loom theory in power cables? I tried an all Audience powerChord/AU24 setup in conjunction with an AdeptResponse 12T but wasnt thrilled (it lacked resolution and precision) so put back some Valhalla and Brahmas (only for the upstream and preamp) which improved the sound. I may now try some PAD after reading your comment. Lastly, what is your recommended length for PC for a. from wall socket to conditioner and b. from conditioner to digital sources?

Nordost can give extra resolution ( details) compared to other brands. But.......it needs to be put in the right place. So......you need individual focus. Wenn you use beside the Nordost loudspeakercable a Nordost interconnect.....you will never improve the individual focus what should be there. That is why I learn people what it is so they can use it for themselves. Wenn you understand it, you know exactly whatis missing. A violin or voice can be very small in dimension in a small room. Wenn you use the right tools ( I call speakers, amps, sources, conditioners and cables tools) you can use all there properties. These properties all togheter including the room will let you hear the sound you get. Wenn you use it right you can get a 3d holographic stage with a musical real sound and extreemly sharp individual focus. People discribe it as thrilling. It will give you a big smile on your face. Individual focus gives you the advance you can focus on a specific part ( voice, 2nnd and 3th voive or instrument) during listening. I call this walking threw the recording. All I can say; it's f...awesome. I love it!

Interesting Bo1972. I am not saying you are wrong and piano recordings unlike small live events are at the mercy of recording engineers - but we clearly have different realities because having a 9ft concert grand piano fit into the image size of two fingers is not real too me.

Hi Bo1972, Man o Man!,I respect what you are saying!,I could not have said no better than your last 2 post,This is exactly why I prefer Taralabs Zero gold I/c,the cobalt A/C power cord,omega gold speaker cable over the nordost odin cables on my system!,the nordost may be prefered on other systems,Its not for me,I love the focus Tara has,The cables sounds so real!I enjoy the post you put up,I like learning from experienced people such as you!cheers!

A friend of mine had a small concertroom for 60 people with a Steynway wing. Acoustic instruments with 2 or 3 people max. There In learned how direct and small in dimension a voice or instrument is in real. So I always control of the images is in the right proportion. I used two fingers to make a dimension. It didn't matter were I was in the room. Every instrument was very small and direct to point out. I hate wenn at a show voices and instruments are played too big. 100% Valhalla and a sharp and point out focus is not possible. It is as it is, for me it is this simple. And it does not mean that people are not allowed to like too big voices and instruments. My goal is always the best realistic sound and the right diemnsions. I want to point out every instrument exactly were it is. I never will do it for less!

Hi Bo1972,

I need your help to understand what is meant when you speak of small dimensions of voice and instruments? Are you referring to the image size?

The last thing I want to say about Nordost is that people and also Nordost it self needs to learn to use the properties better and more secure. You need to know what it is capable of and what are the flaws. Yess it can improve some important parts. In speed, resolution and air it is great. It needs to be adapt to put every instrument and voice were it is standing exactley on the recording. By using Nordost interconnect this will not happen wenn you use there interconnects. At shows I could discribe exactley what would happen with the cd's I had with me before I played them. I have done so many tests with them. For me it predictable as one and one is two. To all the people I showed the difference between Nordost interconnects and other interconnects. Which had superior in individual focus. I never heard anyone saying with Nordost is better or I prefer it. People should learn and hear more to real music. You will be stunned how direct and really small in dimension it often can be!