I had very little time to enjoy the Valkyria so far, but it looks like the weekend is rainy here, so I have hopes I'll finally make myself busy with these puppies ...
Spirit Torino Valkyria
- Thread starter Barone Birra
- Start date
Orlok
100+ Head-Fier
Looking forward to your typical meticulous review!I had very little time to enjoy the Valkyria so far, but it looks like the weekend is rainy here, so I have hopes I'll finally make myself busy with these puppies ...
jeffhawke
500+ Head-Fier
That includes VAT, which in Italy is 22%
jeffhawke
500+ Head-Fier
It's actually a little UNDER 10k, but then you have to add (in Italy) 22% VAT....Well, I think it’s officially a little over €10K:
https://headphone.shop/product/spirit-torino-valkyria/
Non-detachable cable and Grado style foam in the box.
Crazy expensive, but good for marketing. Even I’m like, what does this €10K headphone sound like? Does it justify the price? Me being in the US makes trying these probably impossible. I’ll live vicariously through you all in this thread
I was at Headphone Auditions in Amsterdam today when the Spirit Torino distributor just happened to drop in with a Valkyria. I had not heard of them before this. I was immediately impressed by the quality - easily the best build quality of any headphones I have seen. I compared them to the Abyss 1266 TC (my current headphones) in the shop. I have listened to pretty much all the flagships out there, and have found the 1266 to be my favourite - with only a few such as the Susvara or HE1 coming close. My immediate thought when I listened to the Valkyria was that the king had been dethroned. Upon further listening I marvelled that it seemed it was not even close. I then found out about the price - and thought ok, I think I could hear why it might be justified.
They were kind enough to let me demo them further at home for a couple of days. I will be comparing thoroughly to the Abyss on a Riviera AIC10 and will post my impressions when I am done.
They were kind enough to let me demo them further at home for a couple of days. I will be comparing thoroughly to the Abyss on a Riviera AIC10 and will post my impressions when I am done.
Attachments
Dear Friend,
you are playing with those 3, 4 things that are the paradise of every fond of headphones in the world, and I am very happy.
I know the Riviera very well, and even the other headphones , SUSVARA, ABYSS, for having had them in my collection, but not the Sennheiser He1.
Valkyria is a headphone that plays it with the other top of the world market, and for me, it also wins, no headphones has the technique of utopia, Abyss's football, the Mid frequency of Susvara, and is easy to drive with A DAP ... Valkyria is all this and I sold all my armament to stay only with her.
I discovered the Spirit brand only a few months ago by buying a TPulse Torino who is now on sale on the market, and I immediately fell in love with it, since I had the opportunity to listen to Valkyria, I put his purchase as a priority as a matter for the same pact To sell everything else because I used to be I used, when you have a Valkyria at home, you don't want to waste time with anything else.
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normie610
Headphoneus Supremus
Look forward to your impressions!
First aquaintance with the Valkyria ...
It is very clear that these headphones have been voiced by a lover of acoustic music, and someone deeply exposed to the physical implications of attending live performances.
The focal point of the Valkyria experience is the savoring of the intricacies of acoustic instruments: first their basic timbral characteristics are rendered with an unprecedented (to my ears) authenticity, then comes the mechanical nature of the sound manufacturing (plucked, fretted, blown, hit, ...) which is represented with an almost idiomatic accuracy, followed by all the complex harmonics structures produced by the interaction with the various parts of the instrument (the resonant body of a cello, the frame of a grand piano, ...) and the surrounding environment.
Further, the dynamics is disarming. Strums on a guitar, plucks on an harpsichord, furious octaves on a grand piano, the bite of a trumpet, drum hits are projected at you in such a visceral way, at any chosen volume, that the sheer physical feeling of being at an arm's distance to the source of energy is an experience on its own.
Lots of stuff to try, and comparisons to make before making a thorough picture of this fine piece of gear, but for now I struggle to analyze things as I get caught by the music. I'll post more here as soon as I move on .
It is very clear that these headphones have been voiced by a lover of acoustic music, and someone deeply exposed to the physical implications of attending live performances.
The focal point of the Valkyria experience is the savoring of the intricacies of acoustic instruments: first their basic timbral characteristics are rendered with an unprecedented (to my ears) authenticity, then comes the mechanical nature of the sound manufacturing (plucked, fretted, blown, hit, ...) which is represented with an almost idiomatic accuracy, followed by all the complex harmonics structures produced by the interaction with the various parts of the instrument (the resonant body of a cello, the frame of a grand piano, ...) and the surrounding environment.
Further, the dynamics is disarming. Strums on a guitar, plucks on an harpsichord, furious octaves on a grand piano, the bite of a trumpet, drum hits are projected at you in such a visceral way, at any chosen volume, that the sheer physical feeling of being at an arm's distance to the source of energy is an experience on its own.
Lots of stuff to try, and comparisons to make before making a thorough picture of this fine piece of gear, but for now I struggle to analyze things as I get caught by the music. I'll post more here as soon as I move on
.
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Orlok
100+ Head-Fier
Considering our shared affinity for classical and jazz as well as your personal sonic preferences and tastes that seem to align quite closely with mine, you are now throwing off my carefully laid out plans. Haha. The Valkyria is becoming more and more intriguing every day. Looking forward to more detailed impressions. I know that it will take a while for you to absorb and analyze such a fine and sophisticated music reproducing instrument.First aquaintance with the Valkyria ...
It is very clear that these headphones have been voiced by a lover of acoustic music, and someone deeply exposed to the physical implications of attending live performances.
The focal point of the Valkyria experience is the savoring of the intricacies of acoustic instruments: first their basic timbral characteristics are rendered with an unprecedented (to my ears) authenticity, then comes the mechanical nature of the sound manufacturing (plucked, fretted, blown, hit, ...) which is represented with an almost idiomatic accuracy, followed by all the complex harmonics structures produced by the interaction with the various parts of the instrument (the resonant body of a cello, the frame of a grand piano, ...) and the surrounding environment.
Further, the dynamics is disarming. Strums on a guitar, plucks on an harpsichord, furious octaves on a grand piano, the bite of a trumpet, drum hits are projected at you in such a visceral way, at any chosen volume, that the sheer physical feeling of being at an arm's distance to the source of energy is an experience on its own.
Lots of stuff to try, and comparisons to make before making a thorough picture of this fine piece of gear, but for now I struggle to analyze things as I get caught by the music. I'll post more here as soon as I move on
ThanatosVI
Headphoneus Supremus
Is the Valkyria also available as non limited Edition?
That's very true, mostly because after many years of listening to - mainly - very clear and analytical headphones (HD800/S, AB-1266, SR1a and to a lesser extent the Susvara), the way Valkyria presents the sound at me is very different. It pulls different strings of my rational and emotional reaction to music, which is unsettling at times but overall very enjoyable.
Yesterday night, for example, I listened to these two recordings that I have frequented over 3 decades, and got very different take at them with the Valkyria.
This may be not the most memorable rendition of the Rach 2, but I am quite attached to it for personal reasons. With some gear it tends to be relatively dry and detached at times, but the Valkyria gave me that feeling of weight of the piano notes, a fullness of sound of the strings section and a dynamics scale which made the connection with this performance more visceral than I remember of.
This one is not for the faint of heart
Folk Italian music impinged with progressive and jazzy stuff. Some quite unusual atmospheres, and some traditional instruments that the Valkyria brings out with all their physicality (especially percussions). Also, vocals sound significantly better than with my other references, more fleshed out and upfront.
Not that I am aware of. The Valkyria project was born since the beginning as a technology / craftmanship exercise and has limited possibilities of scale economy (including the direct involvment of the brand owner's hands throughout the manufacturing and final tuning of each item). This does not mean that some of the advancements developed for the Valkyria could not trickle down to other models in the future. Actually, the EVO mk2 pads initially developed for the Valkyria are now available also for the Twin Pulse.
By the way, it seems that a Valkyria is at Stefan's shop in Amsterdam (www.headphoneauditions.nl), so perhaps it is a good chance for north-European users to try it (just wait until @Mikey99 ends his trial though
).
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jeffhawke
500+ Head-Fier
Hi, I would be very curious to have your impressions as I am considering adding an end-game headphone to my small line-up, and I am toying between Abyss AB 1266 and a Spirit Valkyria, which I have not been able to audition yet. I may soon though. as there is a reseller in Zurich who has one. Thank you for your advice!
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Not @Mikey99, but as long as I own both I thought I could add my 2 cents here ...
The AB-1266 and the Valkyria are very different sounding headphones, so much so that they are almost literally complementary in what they do best.
What they have in common, and that is the reason I am keeping both, is that they are able to produce very strong emotional feelings when you listen to music through them. It may seem obvious, and many would argue that the music itself should provide strong emotions regardless of the media used, which is of course true in a way, but after having owned many of the TOTL headphones I learned that some very rare and special pieces of gear are able to just build further attachment to the music in various forms (fun, wow-effect, movingly, ...) than other, to me.
Well, both the TC and Valkyria can do this to the maximum degree, just by pulling different strings.
Where the TC excel is about the rendering of spatial cues, the soundstage, the venue size, resonant flavor, the 3D deployment of the musicians, the small ambient noises, the subterranean rumble which sometimes can be present. Another area of magic is the bass quantity and quality, which, combined to the sparkle in the treble, to the visceral air pumping capabilities of driver / pads machinery and to the 3D simulation capabilities mentioned above, delivers a 'live effect' which is utterly exciting and involving.
The Valkyria grips your attention in a whole different way. It does it, first, with an authoritative, authentic, masculine - while seducing - rentition of tone, especially in the area where us humans are typically more sensitive, i.e. the midrange. It is not a feather like, euphonic, sweet midrange, or a creamy, thick, mellow one, it is a solid, believable, palpable characterization of vocal contents and of the material consistency of instruments playing in the midrange region.
The second striking feature of the Valkyria is the dynamics. It can go from extremely soft to crazy loud without effort, and it does that whatever is the scale or mass of sound to be displaced. Be it the articulation of a scale on a harpsichord, or a drums solo, or a percussive fortissimo on a piano shaking its entire structure, you can almost feel the physical effect this type of events produce live (of course within some obvious limitations).
In the end, choosing between the AB-1266 and the Valkyria really depends on what drug you want to pick, satisfaction is guaranteed in both cases
While I am still in my learning curve with the Valkyria, I find I tend to grab the TC with EDM, bass heavy, large scale classical including organ, and Valkyria for most acoustic music, piano, vocals, classic rock. Having mixed feelings about which I like most with jazz at the moment.
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So I am guessing Valkyria is better at this than Raal's SR1a?
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