[Patrick82]

I have some first impressions of the Valhalla digital, but I don't take more pictures yet, it's not yet worthy. It took a year until I knew what Valhalla power cords were doing. I would be ashamed to post pics of placebo cable that does nothing.

Valhalla digital XLR impressions: When I listen to my most sibilant albums they have too little sibilance for my taste, it sounds kind of dull, boring and relaxing. But detail is still there. It seems that I like colored emphasized detail better, it makes it sound more transparent and like real life.
Perhaps the Valhalla digital revealed problems in my system, real life has more sibilance than this!

 

[revo_909]

your courage to mess around with those expensive toys deserves a thumbs up or two from us

 

[Patrick82]

OMG.

 

[Patrick82]

Hardwiring speaker cable is crazy. A whole new world of detail and speed has opened up. It's one of the biggest improvements I have heard. Now I want to remove the RCA connectors too...

Anyone who considers upgrading to Valhalla digital, do these tweaks first!

 

[BrianS]

patrick, what solder do you use?

 

[Patrick82]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrianS patrick, what solder do you use?

WBT Silver Solder.

 

[Patrick82]

I replaced the 24 AWG input signal wire of the GCC-100 amp into 22 AWG Valkyrja and it made it sound worse. I didn't know that optimizing conductors was this important! Then I figured out that the thinner wire was just compensating for a too fat interconnect. So I modded the Valhalla and tried to hardwire it but it was too stiff and came loose. So I tried my Valkyrja speaker cable without any shielding and it sounded great, but there was background noise that masked detail, I tried wrapping half of it in ERS paper but it still sounded bright, I needed a blacker background.

So I went back to Valhalla and soldered back the Eichmann Bullets using 1 conductor per channel instead of the normal 4. It gave a blacker background and loads of detail. Bass is still great compared to the stock Valhalla, I hear no weaknesses, it sounds better in every way. This is the biggest improvement I have heard.

First impression Valhalla 1 conductor interconnect: Everything is distinct, it sounds like the bass, mids and highs are played back from a separate audio system, it sounds weird. Nothing blends together.
Layering is now very clear. Vocals are smoother and shimmer more. Everything sounds sharper and hairier without being harsh or fatiguing.
The improvement in resolution is the biggest I have ever heard, everything else doesn't even come close!



Replace input signal wires of GCC-100


I wrapped Valhalla power cord with ERS paper but it made it too muddy so I removed it.


I had to do this job twice because amp didn't work. There was a small piece of solder creating a short, lucky that ICEpower amps have short-circuit protection! This job took 18 hours, those pins are crazy small to solder to.

I also replaced the DC wire to the Gain Cell. First I tried 3 conductor Valkyrja (the one on picture) but it was too muddy and bass was emphasized, then I tried 1 conductor and highs were emphasized, 2 conductors is optimal for that DC power.



Valkyrja homemade interconnect


Same wire in and out, why not!











Valhalla interconnect 1 conductor mod

http://poollogics.is-a-geek.net/pict...re.attempt.JPG
Hardwiring Valhalla didn't work, other end inside amp had come loose and no sound came out from either channels. Back to RCA plug.

Now the input (amp) and output wire (K1000) is a single 22 AWG Micro Mono-Filament conductor and there is synergy! Muddiness is finally gone!

 

[yo2tup2]

you are insane

 

[BrianS]

you are a tweaker with balls

i guess no connector is better than any connector
so are you considering a new source or just continue tweaking?

 

[Patrick82]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrianS so are you considering a new source or just continue tweaking?

I will get new source when Benchmark DAC1 becomes the weakness. Or when Nordost releases a DAC with silver plated circuit board paths, I would pay $10k for that.

I will keep tweaking until I stop hearing a difference.

 

[Patrick82]

It seems like the homemade Valkyrja interconnect has a lot of potential. It had more detail than 1 conductor Valhalla before I removed the ERS paper, but it sounded bright and edgy.

I ordered a couple sheets of ERS paper and will try a toilet paper roll mod. I don't want anything touching the cable. The dielectric could also be completely removed. Just a bare wire floating in air with toilet paper roll around it and not touching. The toilet paper rolls would be heavily wrapped in ERS paper.

Later I will do it with my headphone cable, I can suspend the wire inside the rolls with rubber bands. It will take a long time until I have enough toilet paper rolls for 3 meters.

 

[setmenu]

Patrick it looks like you are having great fun with yours cable adventures!
A few years back I went through a cable worship phase with siltech 4/120.
I even made up a pair of ics with it to link my portable dac to my stax
001 electrostatic phones, complete with wbt toplines.[the ic and connectors
weighed more than the pdcp !

I even tried plugging those little 3 inch lengths of cable in line with other
different cables, boy did it make a difference.

But after a while it began to annoy me that I heard such a
difference.

I spent quite a bit on the siltech and still use with my big stax rig.

But these days I am more of an 'objectivist', especially since I got into the
diy electronics side of things.
I still believe quality cables are a good idea but prefer not to loose perspective.
It's fun to dive into the technical side of this stuff, for me more fulfilling than
endless blind tweaking.
I ended up designing and making my own [ribbon] headphones from scratch.
[A project that still has masses of development potential ]

It will be interesting to see when or if you emerge from your exotic cable rapture

In the mean time keep up with those highly entertaining threads

.

 

[Patrick82]

The Valhalla 1 conductor is warm now, it was a little cold yesterday but I liked it. After I wrapped the Eichmann Bullet connectors with ERS paper it seemed to give a subtle improvement in warmth, but I wasn't sure. Detail was the same.

I'm impressed of the high frequencies, amazing

. Now the difference between mp3 and WAV isn't insignificant anymore!


I did a quick ABX test between Valhalla digital and cheap Toslink. The difference was only subtle.

Amethystium - Odonata (track13, first 40 seconds)

Valhalla: Highs shimmer more.
Toslink: Highs are just a stable beep with slow shifting between frequencies.

Valhalla also seems to be smoother and less fatiguing, I like it.

 

[Patrick82]

Either I magically got used to the colder sound in a day or the ERS paper plug wrap made a difference. It could also be the burn-in of connectors after plugging them back in, but that usually takes only 5 hours until brightness is gone. Maybe it's more revealing now and takes longer to burn-in.
It's starting to sound as warm as real life now!

 

[Patrick82]

Today I switched from Valhalla interconnect to my homemade Valkyrja speaker wire. The ERS paper hasn't arrived yet, but even without shielding I like the Valkyrja better because of more detail and transparency. It makes the modded 1 conductor Valhalla interconnect muddy in comparison, amazing!

The speaker cable has thinner Mono-Filaments wound around the conductor. With the interconnect they are thicker, I don't like it. Interconnect also has pieces of paper and thin silver wire shielding, I don't like it. No wonder the speed is only 87% speed of light with all that stuff jammed inside! Speaker cable is 96%.

I didn't like the non shielded Valkyrja earlier because I thought the system was damaged because I heard so much new detail I never heard before. I thought it was picking up radio channels or something.
I think the problem was those solder joints that had to burn in. Now it sounds too warm again

, but that extra detail still remains. Bass is crazy heavy and strong, it's those isolation feet that does it. Nordost makes their cables too fat so it hides the problems of vibration.