Speaker Cables DO Make A Difference…BUT!
By Steve Huff
My video about exotic cables vs cheapies.
I get asked to review cables maybe 5-6 times per year. I usually turn them down because they are most often of the lower tier or mid tier variety. Not that this is a bad thing as affordable and quality is a good thing but often times these lower cost cables all sound similar to me. $39 vs $300 cables? Pretty similar usually.
I have heard quite a few cables over the years and I mean speaker, interconnects, and even digital cables. The ones I have heard in my space have had a price range between $39 and $17,000. Crazy price range for cables, right? Almost sounds like this part of the hobby could be a scam. But, it is not. Not really.
A few years ago I had a complete loom of somewhat costly Cardas Clear Reflection cables courtesy of my friends over at Dedicated Audio in AZ. They are now a sponsors of this website and the head honcho over there, Dan, is a great, honest and super guy. One of my fave HiFi dealers (and they also allow online ordering). That set of Cardas was very nice and brought a smooth refined sound to the system. They had some warmth and depth to them and they were pretty heavy and hefty cables. Over time I noticed that they were a touch too warm in my system at the time (I had a warm amp and speakers).
I eventually switched to a cheap $39 set of speaker cables and while they were not as good as those Cardas in build or sound, they were maybe 80% there. I lost some fine details, some sparkle up top and some refinement.
I kept those $39 cables in for a year, and did a short stint with the cables sold by Kinki Studios called “Earth”, which were much better than the price suggests. These Earth cables allowed more treble energy to shine through vs the $39 specials, as well as more details. Even so, I went back tp the $39 specials as they were light, easy to move and place and made it easy for me to connect when changing out gear, as I often do for reviews. I decided to stop worrying about cables for a while and went with what 95% of us would go with. Cheap but great quality. Not magical but really good, especially for $39.
Recently I was thinking back to when I owned a set of Nordost Valhalla speaker cables, along with Valhalla interconnects. When I owned them many years ago I was blown away by what they did in my system at the time. At that time I was having some finance issues so after a year or two sold them and ever since I have had many thoughts about getting another set. They were, without question, the most impressive cables I ever heard.
I even tried out some Valhalla 2 cables and proffered the OG’s. Call me crazy but there was something magical about those original V1 cables. This is system dependent and today I may prefer the V2 but no way I can afford them.
Fast forward to a little while ago here in 2024. I found some OG mint condition Valhalla cables for sale online, advertised as a 4M set for $3k. This seemed cheap as when I see 4M sets for sale they are usually between $5600-$7000, used. These cables were discontinued in 2012 and replaced by the much more expensive V2 versions. I jumped at the chance and bought them. A week later they arrived, wooden box and all. Only there was a problem. They were 3M and not 4M. Nine feet instead of twelve, as I was told.
I was going to send them back immediately without hooking them up but I had to at least try them, to refresh my memory of the OG Valhalla. Would I still think they were so magical, so amazing and the best I have heard?
Well, from the first track played I knew these could never go back. I had to keep them and even though I was told 4M and received 3M, the price was still fair for this set so I told myself there is no way I can send them back. There was, at the time, a 4M set for sale online for $6700. That showed me I paid a fair price.
Going back to the cables, just the speaker cables….WOW.
The sound vs the $39 cables was stunning. So much more energy, impact, instrument separation, details, layers, depth and the soundstage? Whoa! How on earth can a cable do this? Never ever have I heard a cable like this and while I know the V2 and even ODIN V2 exist, most mere mortals can not afford them, including me. The $3k I paid for these cables brought forth a “component level” upgrade, even besting what a $5k DAC could do. I mean, these brought a larger improvement to my system than a new high end $5k DAC did. If any cable could convince me that it was indeed a “component” that is important, very much so, it is this one and these are now legendary in some audiophile circles.
The timbre of the instruments was so right. The vocals were in the room like never before. Going back to the $39 cables, even my wife couldn’t believe what SHE was hearing! The sound shrunk, became closed in and while it was musical, very satisfying and full bodied the Nordost was so much better at delivering the music, it was indeed NIGHT AND DAY.
So yes, cables in the high end realm 100% do make a difference and it is not subtle, in the right system of course and this is the “BUT”.
BUT!! The rest of your system has to be up to the level to deliver the finest signal for the cables to deliver to your speakers. I would not buy a used set of these for a $1k amp, a $1500 set of speakers or even a $2k amp. While these do improve the sound even on lower end gear I feel they do the most when you hook them up to gear that is worthy of the cable itself. Synergy.
My current reference system retails for around $20k. These cables are right at home here and can scale up to much more exotic systems. if I had a $100k system I would still have these in place as they can scale up to any system.
My advice? If you have a system in the $15k and up range and are using cheap cables, those cables could be the bottleneck in your system and you are choking it so to speak. A great system does really deserve great cables.
Anyway, enough blabbing here. I talk about all of this in my video above and hope you enjoy it!
UPDATE November 2024: Using these with a Nagra Tube DAC, HiFi Rose RS130 Streamer, Electrcompaniet Integrated Amp and Pure Audio Project Duet 15’s is simply sublime. The is 100% the finest sound reproduction I have heard in my lifetime. That Nagra DAC helps a lot but so do these cables. I now own a set of Valhalla XLR Interconnects as well that go from the DAC to the Amp. These also boosted the performance vs the Red Dawn I also own. I had to sell off a few pieces of nice gear to fund the cables, speakers and DAC but well worth it, no regrets. I 100% recommend used Valhalla for those looking for end game cables!
We accept that people experience the other four senses in different ways. We don’t see, taste, smell or feel the same. So why is there this absolute about hearing in this audio world?
I’ve never used cables that cost thousands, nor have I actually compared cables… but I completely accept anyone that says they hear a difference. Who am I to debate that?
Are there objective ways to compare the quality of the signals and their effect on the audio? A comparison where you know that one set of cables is $39 and another is 300 times that amount is very open to all kinds of subjective judgments. At a minimum someone else should connect the cables (unseen by you) and you should compare the audio without knowing which ones are used.
Ive done that. I am telling you this. When the Triangle Duettos are in, it is night and day. Easy. Anyone could hear the difference (and they have). I will say it again, 100% night and day and easy for anyone to hear. Now when I put in speakers that are not as high res, even the Pure Audio Project DUET’s the sound difference is also there but not as extreme (though it is in the bass and imaging). I have also heard the Nordost demos where everyone in the room hears the changes from cable to cable. Thousands have heard this demo over the years and most at shows easily hear when they jump from a Frey 2 to Valhalla 2, etc. Cables can make a huge difference but not in all systems. I have systems here that are in the $2500 range and while these cables do improve the sound here, it’s no where near as dramatic as when in a revealing system. These cables bring more energy, voices are much larger and real, bass is much improved (vs the cheap cables) as is the soundstage and imaging. It’s not some kind of voodoo. Ive always used cables to fine tune a system when done with it. I start out with basic copper wire and when I get the synergy perfect I try different cables to see the differences. Some soften treble (like Cardas Clear Selection) and some enhance it (Kinki Studios Earth). No cable will make or break a system but they can enhance them and finish them off. In this case, the $39 cables is softer, more subdued, less detailed, less energy, imaging more smeared, thinner bass and they sound fantastic. The Valhalla, the old V1’s take it all several levels up. Once heard in a well crafted system it is hard to go back. I loved these cables 10-15 years ago and love them just as much today. I managed to find two sets of Valhalla XLR’s as well and they are in the system now as well. More improvement but not as much as the speaker cable in this system. Many years ago I tried a Valhalla V2 setup and I prefer the V1 as strange as that may sound. But to your point again, I have done blind tests with these cables in this system. It was simple to pick which was the Valhalla, even my wife can do it and she is not as picky as me! In my lower tiered system the $39 cables are perfect and will stay there. In the $20k+ setup, the Valhalla V1’s are remarkable. Finally. I am not trying to convince anyone of anything, just clearly explaining my experience. You can not even buy these anymore unless you find the rare used set. Anyone buying Nordost doesn’t help me in any way, shape or form. Just spreading the word for those who care about such things. Not all do. Thank you.