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-- The 3000 dollar cable.
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The 3000 dollar cable.
Yes you read the title right. Nordost Valhalla interconnects cost �2000 sterling for a 3 metre run, unbalanced. I want to cry. Following a couple of links I unearthed possibly one of the filthiest grubby and exploitative industries this side of scat pornography - the 'Hifi' industry. Wooden knobs? A snip at 400 bucks a peice. Cable burning in service? 50 bucks a pop, per cable (despite no scientific evidence of burn in phenomenon! 
). Interconnects at the bargain basement price of 1500 quid and gold tipped XLR monofilament cables wound with silver threads that make sound go at '90% of the speed of light.' [citation?]
NASA technology was never this cheap. Below are some quotes to substantiate the sheer fucking awesomeness of nordost cables.
From www.nordost.com. The 'Technical Papers' section:
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| In terms of design, the first Nordost cables incorporated solid conductors, flat ribbon solid oxygen free copper conductors, or fine and micro litz round conductors. This eliminated strand interaction thereby significantly reducing the well documented audible distortions caused by skin effect and magnetic fields interactions. The combination of Flatline's Extruded FEP insulation and these solid conductors had the remarkable result of transmitting signals at over 90% the speed of light. This represents a 20-25% improvement over conventional cables. In addition these designs have a capacitance that is 3 to 10 times lower than traditional cables. These are some of the foremost reasons why Nordost cables are so accurate and communicate with such sonic clarity. |
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| The Nordost story is the successful nineties narrative of a company that recognizes the value of products grounded in proven technology. You can be confident that Nordost will continue to translate major advances in the aerospace, computer and medical industries into more accurate audio and video cables. Nordost cables will make the connection between your audio components. You will hear the music and that can only be sweet, sweet news for all you music lovers everywhere. |
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| The Valhalla was also clear and open in its handling of dynamics. Notes seemed to stop and start a bit more precisely than with my reference Nirvana or Synergistic cables, and to do so throughout the frequency spectrum. On the bottom, it was clear that the leading edges of double-bass and timpani notes were a little more distinct with the Nordost. Up top, violins, even at the very top of their range, had clean, precise transients�but without ever getting the least bit steely or edgy. And similar to what I'd heard with the French horns, the violins' would occasionally interact to set up a subtle beating, creating a pulsing cushion of air that either wasn't there, or wasn't as tangible, with my other cables. It was immediately apparent that the Valhalla also had a slight but distinct tonal signature. Regardless of what components I swapped in and out, the system always had a lighter, drier sound with the Nordost�the tonal balance was shifted slightly upward, and the overall presentation was a touch cooler than with most other wires. When I listened for the bottom end, the double basses and cellos sounded powerful and articulate. Yet somehow, the orchestra as a whole didn't have quite the weight and solid foundation that other cables provided. Similarly, when I concentrated instead on the upper-bass/lower-midrange region, it did seem to be a touch recessed, or polite-sounding. Oboes, violas, trombones�all seemed a bit smaller and not quite as weighty, or as deeply resonant as these instruments can sound. The effect wasn't huge�more of a personality than a coloration�and I never found it onerous, regardless of associated equipment. But the slight lack of warmth and weight, combined with the air and treble extension, did give the Valhallas a distinct character. |
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| Although I heard about Valhalla cabling as soon as it appeared on the scene, I initially encountered it in January 2001, when I attended my first CES. There, Nordost�s Vin Garino showed me one of the first runs of Valhalla speaker cable. Vin�s eyes glistened as he told me that the cable was so new that he had not yet had time to install it in his own system. It looked pretty wondrous: a remarkably thin silver-colored ribbon, with teeny strands of silver carefully wound over copper with a precision that they would make a professional tailor jealous with envy. As I gazed at the speaker cable�s silvery strands, I thought of Valhalla, the residence of the Richard Wagner�s mythological Gods, a celestial kingdom whose destruction was brought about by the intrusion of earthly passion and desire. If the Gods couldn�t resist, how could I? My entire being was seized by only one thought. I wanted Valhalla. |
This shit is priceless:
quote: First of all, with Valhalla sound gets bigger, rounder and more life-like. The difference this makes on visceral levels cannot be understated.
In concert, a timpani or bass drum whack is a big event, one that can, in the case of first big whack in The Firebird Suite, cause many listeners to jump. It is preposterous to pretend one can appreciate such a wallop when it is reproduced by a boom box or typical car stereo. With Valhalla cabling, one can not only hear and feel the wallop, but hear the reverberation within the drum, and sense the enormity of the instrument�s cavity.
Valhalla consistently reveals the soul of music. This I learned within a week of its installation, when I invited a friend over to listen to the Erato recording of Jake Heggie�s opera, Dead Man Walking. We had both attended this opera�s San Francisco world premiere, and cried through parts of it. Unfortunately, the night I attended, mezzo-soprano Susan Graham was unable to sing the title role due to the death of her father...
Re: The 3000 dollar cable.
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| Originally posted by Derivative Derivative Industries has been a leading innovator in the field of superconducting monofibre cables since 1995. Utilizing patented technologies our engineers have designed a supercooled sheath, filled with liquid nitrogen in a single layer of no more than 1 molecule from the circumference of a copper monofilament. The sheath is then woven with diamond thread and submerged in liquid nitrogen and cooled to absolute zero before the supercooled sheath is flooded with magnetic waters from the mountain ranges of the Himalayas. The tiny magnetic ferrous particles in the water induce a current in the newly formed superconductor when it is coiled into a loop thus generating a non stop current - the current that will carry your hifi experience into the fuuuuture. |
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| Originally posted by Derivative No other cable manufacturer has worked as closely as we have with aerospace engineers to generate infinte current cable technology (trademark). Notes sustain forever, signal degradation becomes non existant as the bridge between Vinyl turntable and Headphone is closed to the point of being joined into one synergistic whole. |
This reminds me of the time I bought some cables at the local Guitar Center. I'm not singling them out, but I am singling out the dumbass who was trying to get me to buy the monstrously expensive variety of cables, whose manufacturer shall remain nameless.
This jackass was actually standing in front of me, telling me that these other cables would not only lower the noise floor (believable, as well as reasonable), but also IMPROVE the quality of the music. I cocked my head to one side like a dog would and raised my eyebrows, not sure if I had heard him correctly. I informed him I wasn't quite sure I believed that, but this only served to produce more jibber-jabber from his mouth.
I smiled and continued to say no, trying not to laugh at the poor guy.
The worst part is, he was speaking as if he believed it. As if he was a non-believer, but had been converted after he had seen the proverbial light. He was enlightened, he had salvation, he was an idiot, and he wanted to share it with me.
Oh, one more thing. If you use fiber optics for your cabling needs, your signal is travelling at 100% the speed of light, since you're using LIGHT.
So what if the signal is closer to the speed of light. Seems like it would simply get more warped due to relativity. Not to mention the extra power needed to accelerate the electrons, which increases exponentially due to their increasing mass. So where does this extra energy come from? Do you plug the cable into your nuclear generator?
BTW i have never heard soo much bullshit in mylife.. All electromagnetic fields travel at the speed of light this include electricity.
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| Originally posted by fr0st BTW i have never heard soo much bullshit in mylife.. All electromagnetic fields travel at the speed of light this include electricity. |
What avarice.
I'm not sure who I pity more, the customer or the scoundrel who sold it to them.
Re: The 3000 dollar cable.
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| Originally posted by Derivative Its the equivilant of Delboy bottling tap water and selling it as mineral water from the source: Peckham Springs. |
Do these glow yellow in the dark too?
What the HiFi guys don't realize is that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Well they say that about their rigs but pay no attention to the recording side of things..
ie They LURVE vinyl over CDs, but guess what? Even your super expensive glass plattered deck is still subject to the joys of RIAA equalization, and the guy doing the recording may have some nice and expensive earthworks mics going through a pair of very serious Pres, but I bet the cable run between the two costs no more than $1 per meter.. With some Very Expensive $5 Neutrik connectors on each end..
Puhlease..
The supposed performance of they peoples HiFis way exceeds all natural reason, and certainly in excess of even the most well specced "Big Room" studio.
To put it anotherway if you convert an mp3 to WAV you still have MP3 quality even though the WAV spec will allow you to have mich higher quality..
God help them if they listen to electronica.
I always wonder how much of this shit is bollocks. Sure you want half decent cables, but how many records in any genre are actually made using this stuff?
For this reason having all this crap might actually make tracks sound worse as you pick up bits missed in the production process.
Actually that's a real problem..
Once you get into the world of serious monitoring in a serious room you really do start to hear flaws and mistakes that you never noticed before...
For example, any radio station in the USA broadcasting "hey Jude" by the Beatles should be fined by the FCC for indenct language as around 2:52-3:02 John Lennon drops a bum guitar chord, yells "got the wrong chord" and then goes "Aww, Fookin' 'ell!" all right there in the record.
Go listen carefully. You'll probbably hear it on even semi decent speakers / HPs if you know it's there..
this whole thread made me laugh, from the first post to the replys 
Yes this sounds like a lot of shit to all of us, and who really does buy this stuff other then NASA? if you can afford it, you have way too much money.
also those power cables dont have surge protection on, so your running all your super fucking mint equipment on an unprotected circuit. Unless of course you wanted to plug them into a surge protector, in which case, what is the fucking point?
it is clearly for toss peices who think shit, gotta buy that it uber costly.
Reminds me of the GSIC chip.
Poppycock! How can you even hope to argue with Derivative Industries?! Our engineers are raised on farms in inner japan and learn the craft of aerospace engineering in the peaceful solitude of the japanese foothills. They adhere to a strict learning regiment and subsist on a diet of fresh water fish and tofu to improve their motor neuron uptake by as much as 300% over and above regular human beings. What charletons you all are! How can you hope to argue with these minds from NASA - They have built spaceships! What have you done?!
Derivative Industries advises: Leave this shiznit to the experts son - we do this fo a living aight?
Irony aside though and on a more serious note, there cannot be any justification for charging 1500 quid for an RCA phono cable can there? Every resource I have checked on this is based on pseudo science (and often worryingly - no scientific basis whatsoever).
Having been led to believe that these valhalla cables will not only offer less than 3 to 10 times the capacitance of conventional wires, do your dishes for you and give you the best sex of your life - I cant help but feel this whole debacle is like a china cones mark 2.
| quote: |
| Originally posted by Lunar Phase 7 also those power cables dont have surge protection on, so your running all your super fucking mint equipment on an unprotected circuit. Unless of course you wanted to plug them into a surge protector, in which case, what is the fucking point? it is clearly for toss peices who think shit, gotta buy that it uber costly. |
| quote: |
| The Nordost Thor is an upgradeable solution to A/C mains power distribution. By systematically improving the quality of the input and output power cords the performance of the unit increases dramatically. Upgrade through the range of Nordost power cables (utilizing Nordost Shiva, Vishnu, Brahma and Valhalla), using your best cable on the input end of the Thor will offer the most significant performance enhancements. Thor also features bushings on the base of the unit which will accept a 6mm threaded insert. Nordost Pulsar Points or Quasar Points with 6mm threaded inserts can be attached to the unit to control any unwanted resonances. The Thor offers an unparalleled solution to advanced power distribution. �In turning to accessories, we have a wealth of choices to nominate for a Golden Ear. I chose the Nordost Thor, perhaps because it is one of the �new wave� components that reduce both the noise and grunge level of any audio system�let�s just call it a grunge eater!� - Harry Pearson, The Absolute Sound, Golden Ear Award, February 2006 |
Again I question, how many speakers, even the highest end ones are made with the intention they will be used with sucha piece of shit?
Zero I doubt.
Umm... interesting read, which further proves one point:
If you got money, someone will always be glad to take it. and if you're an idiot who believes in this shit YOU DESERVE TO BE RIPPED OFF. Chances are though, the idiots (if any do exist) that do buy it are most likely not going to notice such a little expense as $2000/meter cable. You'd be surprised at what some of the more affluent people don't balk at.
Another interesting experiment I saw once. People were given a wine list with a list of wines, ranging from $50/bottle to $6000/bottle and told that we will give you a complimentary glass of each wine, even the most expensive one, if you agree to complete a survey.
the people were then given different varieties of wines. The most expensive bottle on the list (if bought outside of the restaurant) was about $80. Yes. $80.
The people who were tasting had to state their experience with wine tasting. You then had few morons who claimed to be wine "experts".
The bottle of wine for $7 was presented as the most expensive, the $6000/bottle. The bottle for $80 (a true vintage of sorts) was preented as the "cheapest one".
Just about every single one of the idiots who were told that they were tasting expensive wine - BELIEVED IT and even substantiated their beliefs by further claims of wine's greatness and other yuppy terms.
Which basically went to prove a point that PEOPLE ARE IDIOTS AND POWER OF SUGGESTION sometimes is all that is needed to make someone believe they were getting "top of the line".
There are countless other tales that can be told, but all end with a simple message: "the fool and his money are shortly parted" and... "caveat emptor"... I think the word EMPTOR is more than latin in this case. more like "WALLET EMPTOR".
I'm really curious to hear one of these cables. I mean its a fricking cable so it wont generate any sound. But I'd like to do an A/B comparison with a regular cheapo RCA phono cable just to see what the fuss is about.
Lolz this is marketed to old men with too much money.
For 3.000$ they can hire the fucking orchestra to perform in their living room.
Or maybe they can get a proper Rca to xlr impedance converter (100$) and turn -10 to +4 and flip the phasing and get rid of the RFI of wich the 3000$ cable suffers.
Hook the xlr to the amp turn it up, and Bam.. there... so much for the fucking 3000$ cable 
And they can use the remaining 2900 on some viagra.
No serious studio in the world spends 3000 on a fucking rca cable.
No serious studio can afford a $3000 cable..
Will it add to the bottom line? Nope.
this is too cute. how can an audio cable increase resonance?
isnt a lot of the stuff their gloating the work of the producer/original recorder? yes
audio cables cant make shit that wasnt there before appear out of thin air for your listening pleasure. 
Gadzooks man. You mean to tell me that you listen to recordings of Puccini's Madame Butterfly on stereo RCA cable?! How can you hope to replicate the front seat of the auditorium using such mish mash wire?! Dont you know nordost cables make sound travel so fast it goes into the fuuuuuutuuure?
great thread
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