Valhalla vs. Audience AU 24

There is a huge price difference between the Au24 and Nordost Vallhala. At this point you would have to compare the Au24e to the Valhalla.

Au24 - $1,400
Au24e- $1,700
Valhalla - $8,500

In any event IMHO...If it was me and I had 8K to spend on an upgrade...I would get the Au24e cables and use the extra 6-7K and upgrade another component or two in my system.

Lougiants,

You are correct about the price difference, and yes, the cost of the Valhallas is quite expensive. (However, I should point out that the cost of bi-wired AU24 cables is almost double the normal cost, as they actually double the runs, as the cable is so thin that they can not split it like they can the Valhallas.) And I should point out that you are giving the NEW retail price of the cables.

However, most of us here on Audiogon buy our equipment used, and this is especially true of cables, (since they are easy to ship and rarely have any damage or wear and tear on them). Several years ago, when I bought my two pairs of AU 24 speakers cables, (2 meters for each pair), as I wanted to bi-wire them, the total cost was about $1,000. When I upgraded to the Valhallas a little over a year ago, the cost was about $3,000 to buy a 2 meter pair of bi-wired Valhallas. Therefore the cost difference was only $2,000. And when you get up to the performance level that I am at, the extra $2K is not nearly enough to upgrade any one piece of equipment, so the upgrade in sonics that I got from the Valhallas is money well spent, IMHO.

I should state that I have not heard the AU24E cables, but I have heard very good things about them. (In case you're wondering why I went with the Valhallas, it was because I had heard them in my friend's system, who also uses Lamm amps, and because a reviewer I know, also used both Lamm amps as well as EgglestonWorks Andra II speakers, which is my setup exactly.) Therefore, I had two very good references that indicated that there would be a good deal of system synergy using them, (which there is I am glad to say).

My two cents worth anyway.

Kurt tank-
I would like to point out that in your comparison of the two cables, in almost every instance you used the term "a bit" more that the Valhalla is better than the AU24 in one way or the other. This would seem to me, IMHO, that there is a very steep point of diminishing returns to go to the Valhalla. That is a ton of cash to drop to get "a bit" better. Is this worth all the extra dough to get a bit better? Most can't afford Valhallas. Personally I would say it isn't, even if I could afford them (which I can't). This is of course, nothing more than my opinion.

This is my beef with cables in general. Yes there is a good bit of difference between stock power cables, standard issue Radio shack/Monster IC's, zip cord speaker cables, and aftermarket "audiophile" cabling. But, there is a huge cliff diminishing returns to be jumped off after you get past say $500 for a PC, $800-$1K speaker cables, or $500-700 interconnects. My point being that once you get past that, most times cables might (or might not) sound slightly better, but most times just different. Then you spend mad money to get a 5-10% "perceived" improved performance, which you may or may not be able to hear. Many get on the merry go round and thousands of dollars later get off with the conclusion that mid level cabling is quite sufficient for their system.

I have found that ultimately what it boils down to is that personally what I have been doing when it comes to cables amounts to mostly tone controls. Please bring back bass and treble knobs to audiophile gear. It would save so much money spent on cabling. Ok, that's a whole other can of worms, but I believe it to be true!

Hi Kurt tank - Very much understood if you are basing this on the used price. But the huge difference in price (new) should not be ignored when saying is this cable a better bang for you dollar.
I have the Au24's throughout my system and did upgrade an interconnect to "e" and it was a huge improvement. I have heard the Valhalla's before in a pricey high end system, (though not in my own system)so to directly compare I cannot.

I do not doubt that the Valhalla is more transparent, quicker and more detailed - but how much more so can only be answered by auditioning and determining the best bang for the buck in ones own system.
If a system tends to the brighter side then Au24e, may be a better fit. If you have a warmer system perhaps the Valhalla is the better fit.

I anxiously await experiencing this law of diminishing returns.

Unfortunately, the next 5-10% opens so many possibilities that I never expected, and that 100% is continuously redefined.