[slwiser]

I am wondering if a re-cabled AKG K81DJ with a Valhalla cable would be a R10 or L3000 killer. Based on the magic here it may very well be.

 

[Patrick82]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick82 Problems: The background noise in music is giving me a headache! Cary transport uses more watts than my amp and DAC combined, so using 1 conductor Valhalla (1+1+1) didn't make sense. It sounded little dull and lifeless, but man the detail was crazy. I went back to 2+2+1 conductors and OMG so heavy and black it sounds like, but all the detail is gone. That's why it sounds black with fake dynamics. Hmm colored music, oh well, at least it doesn't sound annoying anymore, I think I will keep it.

Ok, back at 1 conductor again!

For a few days I have been listening to my computer transport (Toslink + stock Valhalla) which has thinner bass, then I changed to Cary 303/300 + Valhalla digital AES/EBU and the heavy bass made me too sick, it was horrible!

I gave it an hour and it didn't help, bass was muddy and huge but detail seemed as good as computer. Too much bass doesn't sound realistic.
Then I disconnected a conductor of Cary's Valhalla power cord and it was like a breath of fresh air, aaahhhh

. Problem was gone and I had no complaints of the heaviness anymore. I can listen for hours!!
Uh, now background isn't black anymore. $3k Valhalla power cable no good?

I need to try ERS paper toilet paper roll mod and see if EMI/RFI is the problem with these cables. I hope I haven't reached the noise floor of Redbook CD.

It is weird that $30k worth of cables are the weaknesses in my system. PS Audio GCC-100 amplifier is amazing that shows it all.


Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick82 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.

Seems like the cable manufacturers didn't allow the store to send me ERS paper (or then store just forgot to send). They are afraid to go out of business when I show my cheap toilet paper roll cables that everyone can build themselves.
I bought a few dozen sheets from overseas instead, "_______" store , soon they will arrive in mail. (paranoid)

I will also wrap my Benchmark DAC1 with many layers of ERS cloth. That should do it.

 

[Tachikoma]

Quote:

It is weird that $30k worth of cables are the weaknesses in my system. PS Audio GCC-100 amplifier is amazing that shows it all.

How did you come to that conclusion?

 

[Patrick82]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tachikoma How did you come to that conclusion?

6 months of cutting cables to pieces.

After I got my 'Solid-tech Rack Of Silence' the differences between cables became obvious, and sources started sounding the same. I remember I was still sick from the tight and fast bass two months after I got the isolation rack. The increase in resolution was that big.

The difference between 1 conductor Valhalla and 1 conductor Vishnu is bigger than 4 step VS 5 step vibration isolation. So yes, cables make the biggest difference in my system.
But Nordost doesn't have proper shielding of their cables, the stock fat Valhalla sacrifices detail and hides the problem good. It's dead black.

 

[tourmaline]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick82 6 months of cutting cables to pieces. After I got my 'Solid-tech Rack Of Silence' the differences between cables became obvious, and sources started sounding the same. I remember I was still sick from the tight and fast bass two months after I got the isolation rack. The increase in resolution was that big. The difference between 1 conductor Valhalla and 1 conductor Vishnu is bigger than 4 step VS 5 step vibration isolation. So yes, cables make the biggest difference in my system. But Nordost doesn't have proper shielding of their cables, the stock fat Valhalla sacrifices detail and hides the problem good. It's dead black.

So, you're saying patrick that those cables could be even better! They are already better then most of the cables.

Why don't you submit your findings to Nordost?!

 

[Patrick82]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tourmaline So, you're saying patrick that those cables could be even better! They are already better then most of the cables. Why don't you submit your findings to Nordost?!

Yes. They should make a Valhalla in the Vishnu design and sell it for $1300 or so. But the problem is that with 99% of the customers there will be too much detail and it will sound thin, bright and lifeless because of the lack of bass. Vibration isolation is needed for that, so Nordost needs to make their own isolation rack to match the thinner cable. It isn't going to happen. People are already complaining about the lack of body with the stock Valhallas! I found that 3 step isolation for source and 2 step for amp was a great match with stock Valhalla, but 4 step isolation was not, it sounded way too heavy so I had to make Valhalla thinner to compensate for it.

 

[tourmaline]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick82 Yes. They should make a Valhalla in the Vishnu design and sell it for $1300 or so. But the problem is that with 99% of the customers there will be too much detail and it will sound thin, bright and lifeless because of the lack of bass. Vibration isolation is needed for that, so Nordost needs to make their own isolation rack to match the thinner cable. It isn't going to happen. People are already complaining about the lack of body with the stock Valhallas! I found that 3 step isolation for source and 2 step for amp was a great match with stock Valhalla, but 4 step isolation was not, it sounded way too heavy so I had to make Valhalla thinner to compensate for it.

I am not complaining at all, most of the problems tend to be with solid state equipment, wich in itself lacks the right body most of the time! With tubes you can tuberoll the sound you want; some tubes sound like solid state, some tubes have full lush body.

Also, some amps and sources have more body then others, so, with good matching it shouldn't be a problem to find the right mix!

 

[Patrick82]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tourmaline I am not complaining at all, most of the problems tend to be with solid state equipment, wich in itself lacks the right body most of the time! With tubes you can tuberoll the sound you want; some tubes sound like solid state, some tubes have full lush body. Also, some amps and sources have more body then others, so, with good matching it shouldn't be a problem to find the right mix!

Yes, before I got the isolation rack I was using Mullard tubes, but after the rack I didn't need tubes anymore!

 

[tourmaline]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick82 Yes, before I got the isolation rack I was using Mullard tubes, but after the rack I didn't need tubes anymore!

Some say that tubes are still better then solid state equipment.

Fill me on how an isolation rack can do such big improvents...cdplayer i understand, the transport mechanism is having less fibration when using vibration pods or a vibration rack. I never heard any difference in putting an amp(tube amp, wich are more sensative then solid state anyway) on those feet or a rack. i use headphones...so there is no vobration from speakers that can go back into the soundsystem.

 

[Patrick82]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tourmaline Some say that tubes are still better then solid state equipment. Fill me on how an isolation rack can do such big improvents...cdplayer i understand, the transport mechanism is having less fibration when using vibration pods or a vibration rack. I never heard any difference in putting an amp(tube amp, wich are more sensative then solid state anyway) on those feet or a rack. i use headphones...so there is no vobration from speakers that can go back into the soundsystem.

The problem is ground bourne vibrations and vibrations from the transformers inside the chassis.
Here's an article about resonance in solid-state amplifiers: http://www.soundstage.com/maxdb/maxdb111998.htm

 

[Patrick82]

I don't hear much background noise anymore. Few days ago I wondered why it sounds so bad, then I looked at rack and noticed that the roll of coins on top of DAC1 had rolled back and was touching the top shelf. I put some blutac behind it so it stays still. Afterwards I didn't hear much noise anymore, hmm. Maybe I got used to the background noise and it doesn't bother me anymore. It doesn't feel like I need to upgrade anymore.


I need to use that weight on top of DAC to suspend Feet correctly.

 

[Patrick82]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick82 I don't hear much background noise anymore. Few days ago I wondered why it sounds so bad, then I looked at rack and noticed that the roll of coins on top of DAC1 had rolled back and was touching the top shelf. I put some blutac behind it so it stays still. Afterwards I didn't hear much noise anymore, hmm. Maybe I got used to the background noise and it doesn't bother me anymore. It doesn't feel like I need to upgrade anymore.

The reason for this was colder room temperature that masked the background noise:

http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showt...65#post2419965
Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick82 I paused music for 1 hour and it sounded blacker and whiter. Background was black and treble was brighter, but bass was still warm. I liked that sound better! It was fake but it sounded more transparent. After 30 mins of listening I paused it for 2 hours more and the blackness had turned into coldness and low-level detail was gone! Bass was cold too. It sounds analytical. So first the highs get bright and edgy and later the bass gets cold. It sounds cold from top to bottom. After only 3 hours it went from musical warmth into analytical coldness.

In a warm room the background noise was back.

__________________________________________________ _

ERS Paper

I got 32 sheets and used half of them to treat half of my system. It removed loads of background noise!

My system has never sounded this black before. There's still some noise left though, I believe it's AC noise.
Deep bass of Benchmark DAC1 used to be empty, but it's now deeper and fuller than it ever was with Cary 303/300 CD player. Transients sound both sharper and rounder because of higher resolution, it sounds crazy. Highs are cleaner and I can hear the signature of Valhalla cable now. It sounds like the silver plating makes the highs separate from the bass, it sounds weird and unreal but I like it (for electronica this is THE cable!). It sounds very smooth and relaxing, grain is reduced and detail is improved.

ERS Paper is definitely the best tweak ever, especially when combined with Valhalla!

Weaknesses: None! The paper shouldn't be touching anything, putting paper too close makes it muddy. Half inch separation seems to be good enough.
__________________________________

Anyone who considers Valhalla digital cable, buy ERS Paper instead! It seems like digital cable is the least important part in my system. It still makes a huge difference but other tweaks are more huge.

Edit: Here are pictures and videos of ERS Paper: http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=205316

 

[Patrick82]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick82 It is weird that $30k worth of cables are the weaknesses in my system. PS Audio GCC-100 amplifier is amazing that shows it all.

Ok, I figured it out. 1 conductor Valhalla power cord isn't possible without wrapping the cable in ERS Paper to remove background noise.

I wrapped the 2 conductor Valhalla (2+2+1) between wall and power conditioner and it gave emphasized bass, detail was lost in background because of it. Less RFI/EMI gives more bass...
So I disconnected a conductor and made it 1+1+1 like the rest of my system.

First impressions 1+1+1 for wall (ERS): OMG background is blacker and more revealing! Bass isn't emphasized anymore, there is more detail.

You know what this means? You can buy a 2 meter Valhalla, cut it to 3x70cm, slice open the teflon and separate the 7 conductors, twist 3 conductors together like in the Vishnu. And then you have 7 Valhalla cables for the price of 1, and you get better sound. If this isn't the greatest bargain I don't know what is!

 

[BrianS]

CRAZY NESS

 

[Balisarda]

Patrick: are you the one who tried the Brilliant Pebbles?