As internet posters, we are very guilty of overemphasizing differences and describing small changes as if they seem like huge transformations. But, I can say that I've rolled my Vali 2+ quite extensively, and my ears can pick up on differences between tubes. I think part of the issue for those...

1960s GE 6CG7. You could do a lot worse for a lot more money. They are under $15 shipped to your door from eBay.

It looks like you answered your own question! :) The cap here helps filter out noise, usually high frequency, but it looks like in this design it also helps with mains hum.

Better is subjective, but in dual mono, L and R channels are completely independent amplification pathways so you get fewer issues. Many issues are inaudible, but some are audible, including crosstalk. Also, independent channels have their own “pools” to draw power from and aren’t bogged down...

Not surprising at all since it’s dual mono and therefore has a lot less crosstalk.

Very well said! I'll also add that Jack Wu seems to supply his amps with various collections of stock tubes that vary from manufacturing run to run. To me, this means he trusts his amp designs to portray the sonic characteristics fairly consistently regardless of which tubes you roll into them.

The Russian equivalents are pretty darn good. I'd have no problem running these tubes in my amps. Plus, they are usually very quiet, which is another bonus. RCA and Chatham 6AS7G tubes tend to be quite noisy.

I've owned various tube amps over the years and I've rolled the hell out of them. I've used everything from the cheapest tubes to the unobtanium tubes blessed by frozen unicorn tears. My opinion of tubes has changed over the years. Are there difference between tubes? Absolutely. Some are...

There are still mountains of cold war era Russian and Chinese tubes.

Thank you for not using heatshrink on your cables. I've purchased other custom cables in the past, and the first part to fail has always been the heatshrink. The last failure in one of my cables at the y-splitter is what led me to purchase a new cable, which ultimately came from you. Part of my...

Something must have been wrong with the HA-501 that you heard because I assure you there is nothing foggy about it. It's very clear and detailed, but it does impart a hint of class A warmth. You will never confuse it with a tube amp.

Vacuum tubes are obsolete but they can still sound amazing. I assure you there’s nothing obsolete with the HA-501 except the meaningless SINAD obsession from ASR that implies anything from Topping is the most advanced technology ever.

On my amp, as soon as the muting relay disengages, the DC goes from a few mV and then spikes. The first time I measured it, I had my multimeter set to 200 mV sensitivity, and it maxed it out and couldn't even give me a reading. The next time I set it to 2 V sensitivity, and I got readings above...

PSA: Absolutely do not leave your headphones plugged in when you turn the Vali 2+ on. In fact, I wouldn't even plug them in for several minutes. My new Vali 2+ developed a static scratch sound when adjusting the volume. Schiit wanted me to send it in and they replaced the volume pot. However...

I had to send mine back for warranty repair. Has anyone else had to use their warranty repair? They received it last week, but I haven't heard a peep since. Do they reply with updates? Is their repair service normally fairly quick? I suppose with the pandemic part shortages, all bets are off...