Nordost Valhalla IC's v Mark Grant Oyaide FTVS-510 pure silver stereo cable fitted wi

[Wakefield Turntables]

Valhalla - CRAP

Mark Grant - BLOODY FANTASTIC

End of thread.

No seriously, I decided to have a play with some different IC's in my valve setup and took out my usual Valhalla IC's. I have now got Yannis Tome and Mark Grant's sitting in betwee the preamp and phonostage. Wow! Massive improvement in stereo image and micro detail. I'm well happy. :D

[brian2957]

And probably well richer when you sell the Valhallas Andrew . It's always a great feeling when we discover something much better and importantly much cheaper than we are already using . Mark Grants cables are excellent value for money and Mark is a top bloke to deal with . Nice one :)

[Wakefield Turntables]

I came to this startling conclusion when I heard improved bass lines and whole organ sections which has been hidden during listening sessions of Made in Japan on my Valve setup. Needless to say the Valhalla's are going up for sale at some point.

[hifinutt]

I did used to relish my Valhalla but can`t afford them now , I am also using one of yannis cables dac to pre with good effect

[Wakefield Turntables]

Phil,

I would say that Yannis's and Mark's cables outstrip the Valhalla's by quite some margin. I think they were a bottleneck in my system.

[Andrei]

Just thought I would finish your title for you Andrew

[Wakefield Turntables]

Just thought I would finish your title for you Andrew

:lol: Thanks!

[YNWaN]

I came to this startling conclusion when I heard improved bass lines and whole organ sections .

You did - seriously?!

I haven't tried the Valhalla but I wasn't that wowed by that particular MG cable when I tried it.

[Wakefield Turntables]

You did - seriously?! I haven't tried the Valhalla but I wasn't that wowed by that particular MG cable when I tried it.

Yes. Easy come, Easy go I suppose.

[YNWaN]

Sorry, I don't understand your meaning.

[Wakefield Turntables]

Sorry, I don't understand your meaning.

"You did - seriously?! I haven't tried the Valhalla but I wasn't that wowed by that particular MG cable when I tried it"

OK. Sorry for being a little cryptic Mark. Yes, as in, I only needed to listen a couple of times to MG v Valhalla to find that MG was heads and shoulders ahead. Secondly, "Easy come, easy go", well everyone is entitled to an opinion, I can't do much if you didn't like MG's cables ;). World's still a spinnin. How's the puck and platter mat design going?

[petrat]

Just thought I would finish your title for you Andrew

The WBT plugs ... yes, my hunch is that much, if not most, of the differences perceived between cables may be attributed to the plugs and how the mate with your particular sockets*.
I recall someone on one of the forums making up cables with identical wire, but different plugs, and the results were clearly heard by the writer.

* just had the (very) old sockets replaced on my pre-amp to good effect.

[YNWaN]

I did that. Mark Grant loaned me four identical cables but with different connectors to try and I recently tried the Epiphany Acoustics Atratus III with both copper and silver ETI Harmony plugs.

[Wakefield Turntables]

These Valhalla IC were terminated with original mk1 Ag bullet eichmanns and they still sounded shit.

[Mr. C]

These Valhalla IC were terminated with original mk1 Ag bullet eichmanns and they still sounded shit.

I have yet to hear any Nordost cable sound good.

Though would not describe Valhalla as "shit", they just did not suit your system as much as the other two cables you have which could be for a multitude of reasons. Finding out those reasons will give you a good insight into why your system reacted that way.

Mind you I have just spotted your speakers, I would suggest the Yannis would be a good match certainly not Valhalla!

[Wakefield Turntables]

I have yet to hear any Nordost cable sound good.

Though would not describe Valhalla as "shit", they just did not suit your system as much as the other two cables you have which could be for a multitude of reasons. Finding out those reasons will give you a good insight into why your system reacted that way.

Mind you I have just spotted your speakers, I would suggest the Yannis would be a good match certainly not Valhalla!

Tony,

I disagree with you! I've had the valhalla IC in a lot of systems over the years and whilst their sound has always been consistent through the various systems I can't help but notice that so called "lesser" cables continually out perform them. It's nice to know that someone else seems to think that the valhallas are not what they are cracked upto be. I'd take a yannis or mg cable over them all the time. In fact I have demoted them to CD player duties.

[hifinutt]

funnily enough I bought my Valhalla interconnect from tony and was well impressed by , sad it had to go !

[Wakefield Turntables]

The Valhalla IS a good cable but not in my system(s)! I'm sure it's an impressive piece of kit and you could argue that I need a more expensive system to get the best from it? My kit would set you back ~£50K to purchase. My system sounded better with a second hand MG cable costing <£100! I long since stopped buying expensive cables as I believe that the law of sonic diminishing returns kicks in far earlier than most hifi mags/reviewers would have us believe. ;)

[Jimbo]

Valhalla - CRAP

Mark Grant - BLOODY FANTASTIC

End of thread.

No seriously, I decided to have a play with some different IC's in my valve setup and took out my usual Valhalla IC's. I have now got Yannis Tome and Mark Grant's sitting in betwee the preamp and phonostage. Wow! Massive improvement in stereo image and micro detail. I'm well happy. :D

HI Andy, I was looking for an IC for my Croft pre to power,did you try the Mark Grant cable in your set up between pre and power?

[Wakefield Turntables]

HI Andy, I was looking for an IC for my Croft pre to power,did you try the Mark Grant cable in your set up between pre and power?

I dont think I have. My IC's for my croft/radford combo are Yannis & MG IC's. I think the MG sit between my paradise phonostage and the preamp and the yannis bewteen pre and power. I should probably do a comparison as its only one cable swap and could be a free upgrade :eek: I'll report my finding Jim at some point.

[Jimbo]

I dont think I have. My IC's for my croft/radford combo are Yannis & MG IC's. I think the MG sit between my paradise phonostage and the preamp and the yannis bewteen pre and power. I should probably do a comparison as its only one cable swap and could be a free upgrade :eek: I'll report my finding Jim at some point.

Look forward to your thoughts on how it goes:)

[Anthony K]

The problem is probably not the Valhalla but the system synergy I have used Valhalla but shifted to synergystic research as it was more forgiving.never used the Valhalla pc but love what the vishnu does.

[Wakefield Turntables]

The problem is probably not the Valhalla but the system synergy I have used Valhalla but shifted to synergystic research as it was more forgiving.never used the Valhalla pc but love what the vishnu does.

Fair comment Anthony but I still stick with my original comments. I'd like to hear some of the new Nordost stuff i.e. Valhalla 2, I wonder how this would sound in my system but this will never happen. I now REFUSE to spend stupid money on cables. I've got to the stage now where the music is the most important thing and I gain more pleasure from truly listening to a side of vinyl rather than worrying about how it might sound with the myriad of cables out there. :)

[Anthony K]

How much you asking for the Valhalla???:eyebrows:

[Wakefield Turntables]

Send me a PM with an offer! :D

[OD1]

HI Andy, I was looking for an IC for my Croft pre to power,did you try the Mark Grant cable in your set up between pre and power?

Hi James,
I used to run Chord Chameleon Plus IC's between my Croft Pre & Exposure power, and replaced them with MG G1500HD. The improvement I heard was mainly in the mid range (percussion & voices easier to follow), which I have been told may have been caused by changes to capacitance / resistance (I'm not electrically minded so I may be wrong) allowing the MG to be a better match between the boxes. The MG was also £50 cheaper :)
Hope this helps ?

[hifinutt]

I have yet to hear any Nordost cable sound good.

Though would not describe Valhalla as "shit", they just did not suit your system as much as the other two cables you have which could be for a multitude of reasons. Finding out those reasons will give you a good insight into why your system reacted that way.

Mind you I have just spotted your speakers, I would suggest the Yannis would be a good match certainly not Valhalla!

funnily enough I bought my last Valhalla from tony !! it was pretty good
enjoyed my time with some yannis back promo though

[montesquieu]

I replaced all of my Kondo and Audio Note AN-Vx with RFC cables from Paul ... it started when I put one of his Reference Pluto cables in to replace some Kondo copper between my DAC and preamp - I could hear no difference.

I then replaced, progressively, the AN-Vx, and found each time I preferred the sound of Paul's cable.

From what I've seen of all the Nordorst stuff (and I've owned quite a bit over the years, ICs and mains), it's just buggering around with the signal, whatever they do may well make the occasional (already crap) thing sound better, but in most cases it's far better just to use a straightforward, well made, quality cable and connectors (like Paul does, and I assume the Mark Grant kit is similar in approach) and be done with it. Cable-as-tone-control is just so last millenium.

The only place I've found in any iteration of my system where silver works better than well-made copper is between DAC and transport - I can't explain that but it's the only bit of An-Vx I have left.