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:

quote:

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.

My edit: Come again?! Where are the citations god dammit?! This is listed under the section called 'technical papers'?!?!?!?!

Again from the technical papers section

quote:

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.

My edit: Well I would bloody hope you can hear something when you plug them in. 3000 bucks not very well spent otherwise...

From an over excited stereophile.com reviewer:

quote:

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.

Oh please...

http://www.highendcable.co.uk/Nordo...LLA%20Power.htm

BUT ITS A FUCKING WIRE!

Quoted from Jason Serinus of hometheaterhifi.com:

quote:

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 is where we come in. We have the technical knowledge to really make some megabucks out of people that buy this shit fo real.

As an example, try to differentiate my cottage industry in 'superconducting cable runs':

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.

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.

The future of Derivative Industries will be to push forward the boundaries of extreme cable design philosopy as we strive to maintain keep cable capicitance over 5 times lower than conventional semi conductor wires.

Hell. Why stop at bloody cables. I'm sure with enough waffle we could convince the average joe that the frequency response of his hifi speakers will never be flat because of micro dust particles on the surface of the driver cone, which form a thin barrier material and attenuate super high frequency. The only remedy to this would be to purchase Derivative Industries patented DERRR-01 active driver units with a sealed, dust repellant surficant on the cone, used to glue solar paneling onto broken satelites in outer fucking space.

The surface of the driver is painstakingly machine punctured using a diamond needle with a diameter of 0.00001 mm which gives the DERRR-01 its unique gutsy punch and allows air particle migration through the driver material to aid dust repellance by as much as 95%. Combined with the dust repellant surface of the cone, high frequencies soar, low frequencies release bowls and your expectations of driver design will change 4eva.

Come on, we could make a killing dressing up RCA phono cables in pretty woven sheaths and selling them on for 1000 quid per metre.

Its the equivilant of Delboy bottling tap water and selling it as mineral water from the source: Peckham Springs.

Last edited by Derivative on Jun-11-2006 at 02:55

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volu...les-7-2002.html>

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...

quote:

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.

They did not cool the substance to absolute zero. If they did, they know something that the world's leading physicists do not.

Why does it matter if the water is from the Himalayas? It seems to me that the only criterion for something like this is ionization and iron content of the water, not the source.

And then there's the effect of the induced current. Yes, Michael Faraday did demonstrate that a magnetic field which is changing in time induces an electric current, so this part seems ok. However, as any physics student will tell you within their first week of class, a non-stop current is a violation of the conservation of energy principle. Unless, of course, these people know something the physics community does not.

quote:

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.

Wow, holy shit. I wonder if they can get sued for false advertising. Again with the infinite current thing. And, once more, any undergrad studying electricity or circuits can tell you V = IR, or Voltage = Current * Resistance. If I'm interpreting their statements correctly, they're saying that you get an infinite current with no resistance in the cable. This is what we call "short circuiting." Although, in the case of a single wire, there isn't really a circuit in the traditional sense.

If I wanted to get a huge current with small resistance I can just pour ionized (e.g. from the tap) water onto my equipment while it's turned on. And it costs me virtually nothing, if you ignore the equipment loss.

Last edited by Tranc3 on Jun-11-2006 at 07:32

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.

___________________
"The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes"

quote:

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.

right... but the speed of light varies in different materials, which is the cause of refraction.

Btw... the electromagnetic field does not travel trough the copper wires, it actually is only guided by the conducturs. Energy is transported trough the medium between at least two conductive guides.

___________________

DISCLAIMER:
The above text is believed to be derived from objective logic. No personal offence, implicit or explicit, is intended. Ambiguous expressions are to be interpreted in the less offensive way.

What avarice.

I'm not sure who I pity more, the customer or the scoundrel who sold it to them.

___________________

One always has to remember these days where the garbage pail is, because it's so easy to make sounds, and to put sounds together into something that appears to be music, but it's just as hard as it always was to make good music.
- Robert Moog

quote:

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..