[smeggy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by troymadison /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is it perfect yet?

 

[Caution]

...

 

[Patrick82]

Quote:

Originally Posted by troymadison /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is it perfect yet?

The voice coil wiring needs to be hardwired directly to the Valhalla conductor, but I'm scared that the frail wire will break.

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by troymadison /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is it perfect yet?

For a tweaker like Patrick i will never be perfect.

 

[Patrick82]

Having Valhalla power cable soldered into K1000 drivers are uncomfortable, I can't move my head or look down at my keyboard when I type, just writing this sentence took a couple minutes. I believe the thinner Odin is the better choice. I asked a dealer if he can sell a single cable and he can! I could order a very long cable of the Odin and re-wire everything like I did with Valkyrja! Odin will give crazy speed!

I get too much bass from K1000 now. It makes HD590 sound thin and empty in comparison.

Quote:

Patrick Yes it is possible. As a UK ODIN dealer I can only supply to a UK address. What length are you wanting? Regards Dave ----- Original Message ----- From: Patrick82 To: xxx Sent: Monday, July 28, 2008 7:00 PM Subject: Nordost Odin single cable? Hi, I'm wondering if you sell Odin cable for one speaker? I don't need a pair, I only need one. Is it possible? Patrick

 

[b0dhi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick82 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Having Valhalla power cable soldered into K1000 drivers are uncomfortable, I can't move my head or look down at my keyboard when I type, just writing this sentence took a couple minutes.

I don't doubt that writing that sentence took you a couple of minutes, but about the discomfort - are you sure you havent wired the Valhalla to one of your tendons? If so, did you wrap the tendon in ERS paper first?

 

[troymadison]

Quote:

Originally Posted by b0dhi /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't doubt that writing that sentence took you a couple of minutes, but about the discomfort - are you sure you havent wired the Valhalla to one of your tendons? If so, did you wrap the tendon in ERS paper first?

How would that improve sound?

 

[b0dhi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by troymadison /img/forum/go_quote.gif How would that improve sound?

It depends on the arrangement of potplants in your room, and whether they have vibration dampening using books. You must use books or you will get problems. When you wrap the books in ERS paper and make sure they're all facing UP, you allow the sound to optimise because the magnetic field is degaussed and demagnetised and then remagnetised. Optimise and pulverise, that's the motto. Optimise good sound and pulverise bad sound. Forever. EXCELSIOR

 

[miscreant]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick82 /img/forum/go_quote.gif The voice coil wiring needs to be hardwired directly to the Valhalla conductor, but I'm scared that the frail wire will break.

no. the voice coil needs to be hardwired directly to the Amp outs.. so you just need to build some shelves to lift the amp(s) and there you go - perfection. unfortunately you couldnt move you head at all, so some sentences may take hours to type.

 

[Patrick82]

From another thread: Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick82 /img/forum/go_quote.gif ...It reminds me of my burn-in experiment with 44cm 22awg Valhalla interconnect where it needed 4+ days of burn-in until transparency appeared. The 1m 16awg Valhalla might need many weeks of burn-in.

After soldering Valhalla power cord into the K1000 drivers I first heard edginess which reduced some low-level detail. After a week of burning in the solder joints it sounded too smooth and veiled but there was more low-level detail. But after 3 weeks or burn-in the low-level detail + transparency started to appear just like with the 22awg experiment. It appears that a 16awg conductor needs about 6 times longer burn-in period than a 22awg conductor.


Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick82 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Having Valhalla power cable soldered into K1000 drivers are uncomfortable, I can't move my head or look down at my keyboard when I type, just writing this sentence took a couple minutes.

It's not uncomfortable anymore because I got used to it.


Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick82 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I believe the thinner Odin is the better choice. I asked a dealer if he can sell a single cable and he can! I could order a very long cable of the Odin and re-wire everything like I did with Valkyrja! Odin will give crazy speed! I get too much bass from K1000 now. It makes HD590 sound thin and empty in comparison.

I get more bass now than before, but the bass isn't in the way of the rest of the music like it used to be before burn-in. The blackness and whiteness is crazier than ever! The soundstage is huge and clean. There is a new world of low-level detail. I believe the Valhalla power cord soldered to K1000 is the best value in audio because you can get the Odin performance for much cheaper. It has the same Dual Filament technology except the conductor thickness and silver plating (70 microns) is different. I'm not hearing any reduction of speed from the 16awg conductor, upgrading to 20awg or 23awg Odin (85 micron) would probably make it worse because of the deeper silver plating which reduces low-level detail to gain fake transparency (based on my 60 vs 78 micron experiments).

I remember my first impressions of the 16awg Valhalla for my K1000. The 70 microns silver plating appeared to be perfect for a single conductor. It had just the right balance of low-level detail and transparency. 60 microns sounded too grey and 78 microns sounded too edgy. The 85 microns Odin I haven't heard, but based on logic it will sound worse when using it as a single conductor. I'm not willing to spend <30 times more to find out.

The 16awg 70 microns Dual Filament Valhalla power cable sounds crazy black and white with huge bass and low-level detail. I didn't think improvements this big were possible in audio. I have tried stock K1000 cable, Stefan AudioArt, Nordost Solar Wind, Nordost Valkyrja, and Nordost Valhalla. Replacing 35cm Valkyrja with 1m Valhalla made a bigger improvement than all of the other previous steps combined because it was a huge bottleneck. The cable needs to be re-wired all the way to the drivers. I'm in love with Valhalla.

With all the previous cables I tried I have heard weaknesses. With Valhalla I hear a weakness too, but that weakness is burn-in. Having music running through it 24/7 is a must because the conductor is so large, otherwise it starts sounding veiled after a while. I wonder if periodically using a cable toaster will give further improvements. It's not a coincidence that Nordost are selling those cable toasters. They know what they are doing.

 

[vcoheda]

keep on tweaking patrick.

you are certainly one of a kind. your passion/dedication towards this hobby should motivate us all to search for that perfect sound - which we, despite not being able to describe in full, will know when we hear it.

 

[Khanate]

How much would a pair of Patrick82 modded K1000 set me back though?

 

[progo]

I envy Patrick. Just look at his passion!

I wouldn't go to great lengths trying to explore some sonic changes via soldering directly to the cans, but some have this kind of adventurous nature.

 

[Patrick82]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Khanate /img/forum/go_quote.gif How much would a pair of Patrick82 modded K1000 set me back though?

I posted an ad in a Swedish forum for $6000: AKG K1000 med Valhalla Dual Filament 16awg - Euphonia Audioforum

I'm not planning to sell them ever, K1000 and Valhalla are the best audio gear I have owned. Putting them together makes it even better.

 

[Patrick82]

It has taken 4 years to try different cables for K1000. Except for Stefan AudioArt cable, each step up was the biggest improvement I have ever heard! Using Nordost for headphones is amazing!

I have tried:

Stock K1000 cable
Stefan AudioArt Hardwired K1000 cable
Nordost Solar Wind speaker cable
Nordost Valkyrja speaker cable
Nordost Valhalla power cord



Recently I have compared:

K1000 + stock cable
K1000 + Valhalla power cable soldered to drivers
HD590 + stock cable

The stock K1000 sounded very thin, empty and bright. I heard a metallic flavor which was horribly fatiguing. When I switched to HD590 I heard crazy bass...even though it was boomy I liked HD590 much better than stock K1000 because it had more bass and warmth. The difference was night and day.

K1000 + Valhalla has more bass than HD590! With K1000 the bass is very full and has a lot of information in it. With HD590 it sounds empty and thin! I'm surprised that the headphone cable is the biggest difference! Cables are more important than headphones!