Cable Asylum: REVIEW: Nordost Vahalla Tonearm Wire Cable by AnalogJ

Model:	Vahalla Tonearm Wire
Category:	Cable
Suggested Retail Price:	$?
Description:	Tonearm Wire Used on Signature version of JMW-9
Manufacturer URL:	Nordost
Manufacturer URL:	Nordost

Review by AnalogJ ( A ) on January 24, 2007 at 16:37:59
IP Address: 71.232.165.139

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for the Vahalla Tonearm Wire

To get to the point, I'd say that the Vahalla, overall, is a failure in the Signature version of the arm. I also want to point out that this is my only experience with the Vahalla wire in any context. The Vahalla is an interesting failure not without it's great strengths, but I'm gonna say that it's not a great choice, for the following reasons, in summation:

1) The Vahalla, as many cables do, needs a lot of break in time, but the Vahalla, according to an industry source, states that the Vahalla, in general, needs 300 hours of break-in. If so, that'll never happen in a tonearm unless the tonearm wire is completely burned in prior to installing in the tonearm. As it is, this tonearm had been used previously, and I broke it in for about 50 hours.

2) The Vahalla whitewashes tonality. Timbral character is just too cool and silvery grey. You will not hear the rich harmonic complexity of the human voice, a violin or sax with this cable. The kind of intimacy you might expect to hear in great vocal recordings, or even some great small group jazz recordings, will just not be there. The emotional heart and soul is largely eliminated with the Vahalla.

3) The Vahalla is subtractive when it comes to musical weight and presence. It's not merely "neutral", but subtractive. I was playing an original Plum label UK Led Zeppelin II, and while the music was quick, I wondered where Led Zep's oomph went to.

4) There is a glare in the upper end somewhere making bright recordings unlistenable. Brian Damkroger, in his review of the Stereovox 600 interconnects in this month's Stereophile, compares the cable to the Nirvana S-X and Nordost Vahalla. While he considers all three reference, he hears the same strengths and drawbacks to the Vahalla as I do, and he mentions putting on the Analogue Productions 45s of Creedence Clearwater Revival, and he writes that, with the Vahalla, Fogerty's vocal was unlistenable due to the glare in the top end. I have been complaining about this since I started to write about auditioning the Signature arm for the last couple of months.

There are, indeed, some wonderful qualities, and trying to come up with something that has the great qualities of the Vahalla with none of its drawbacks perhaps is something that has yet to be created (Though I bet the Tara Labs Zero line comes close. I have a couple of "The One" cables and they are pretty incredible, coming close to that middle ground.).

The Vahalla created images so specific in their own space, I have yet to hear the recorded space created so well (and this is with the Benz M2). And the subtleties/nuances of a played melodic line are so apparent, that the musician's communication through pushing and pulling of the melodic line makes music quite compelling. So while the emotional warmth and intimacy may be lost, you gain this other sense of musicality.

On a side note, installing the Shelter 501 MK II in the place of the Benz makes for quite a different sonic experience. The Shelter has a rich, midrange, unlike the Benz. The Shelter doesn't quite have the midrange magic of a Grado, but it's good and it gives you that better sense of intimacy. However, the Shelter sounds a bit rolled off in my system, is not nearly as transparent as the Benz, doesn't do low-level detail as much as the Benz, and overall, is MUCH more forgiving than the Benz. Great recordings, good recordings, okay recordings all sound good through the Shelter. The Benz really conveys, big time, the differences in recordings.

Consequently, the Shelter doesn't nearly reveal the deficiencies of the Vahalla the way the Benz does. In many ways, the richness of the Shelter counters the coolness of the Vahalla. On the other hand, the Vahalla's whitewashing of textures can be still subtley heard with the Shelter on board, as even though there is a richer tonal balance, harmonic detail still sounds grayed out.

I honestly can't recommend the Vahalla, at least for my tastes, because I would know, regardless of how much good it does, it's also subtracting some important things that are there. If I were to want the benefits of the JMW-9 Signature (heavier effective mass, damping, anti-skate option), I'd get one done up with the standard wire. It will save you some bucks too, given the cost of the Vahalla. I have talked to Harry Weisfeld about this, and he'd have no problem using standard wire in the arm. I don't know how much less for the standard wire, but it should be substantial.

Product Weakness: Lean; cool; washes out harmonic complexities of instruments and vocals; robs images of density and weight; a top end glare making bright recordings absolutely unlistenable.
Product Strengths: Great low-level detail; great at conveying spatial characteristics of both the recording space and instruments and vocals within that space and in relationship to each other; great at the subtle nuances of the melodic line.

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Unison Research Unico (modded by Parts ConneXion)
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Art Audio Vinyl One phono stage
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	VPI Scout/Aires 2 platter/peripheral clamp and weight, Benz M2 cartridge, VPI SDS
Speakers:	Castle Edens
Cables/Interconnects:	Tara Labs The One, Cardas Discovery,
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Classical, rock, folk, jazz
Room Size (LxWxH):	14' x 12' x 10'
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	Shunyata Hydra 6 with Python Alpha power cord
Type of Audition/Review:	Home Audition

Product Weakness:	Lean; cool; washes out harmonic complexities of instruments and vocals; robs images of density and weight; a top end glare making bright recordings absolutely unlistenable.
Product Strengths:	Great low-level detail; great at conveying spatial characteristics of both the recording space and instruments and vocals within that space and in relationship to each other; great at the subtle nuances of the melodic line.