[ljperez84]

Resurrecting an old thread...
 
I bought my Valhalla 1 about 3 weeks before Valhalla 2 was launched....
 
Would you consider the Valhalla 2 an upgrade over the original ?
 
If not, would you consider Lyr 2 a worthy upgrade for the HD650? Which version, the one with tubes? Hybrid?

 

[Odin412]

  Resurrecting an old thread...
 
I bought my Valhalla 1 about 3 weeks before Valhalla 2 was launched....
 
Would you consider the Valhalla 2 an upgrade over the original ?
 
If not, would you consider Lyr 2 a worthy upgrade for the HD650? Which version, the one with tubes? Hybrid?

​I'm in a similar situation - I purchased the Valhalla 1 shortly before the 2 came out, but I don't think I'll ever replace it. The synergy between the Valhalla and the HD 650 is just sublime. So musical and involving without any fatigue or harshness.

 

[cskippy]

I'm pretty sure there are comparisons in the Valhalla 2 thread in the beginning of the thread.

 

[ljperez84]

 
​I'm in a similar situation - I purchased the Valhalla 1 shortly before the 2 came out, but I don't think I'll ever replace it. The synergy between the Valhalla and the HD 650 is just sublime. So musical and involving without any fatigue or harshness.

 
I agree, the synergy it's superb! But I recently updgraded my DAC to mimby (huge improvement coming from an audio GD Fun) and I was wondering if I can do significantly better with another amp.
 

  I'm pretty sure there are comparisons in the Valhalla 2 thread in the beginning of the thread.

 
Didn't find any, but looking at your amps... have you tried the Jotunheim with the HD650 Balanced? If so, how would you describe it?

 

[cskippy]

Jot with HD650 balanced is a hell of a combo.  There is such great authority and control the driver just submits to the powah!  Great sound stage and detail retrieval, my only quibbles are shallow stage depth and kind of blurry center image, slightly diffuse I guess.  Other people say that there is a treble etch to Jot, and that's kind of true.  I use my Vali 2 as a preamp into Jot and that solves most of my gripes.  
 
The other great things about Jot is it's versatility.  It can be used as a balanced preamp for studio monitors, works well with any headphone and even very sensitive IEMs.  It's the quietest amp I've used for IEMs.  It even beat my Audio GD 10ES2 with relay based volume control!

 

[ljperez84]

  Jot with HD650 balanced is a hell of a combo.  There is such great authority and control the driver just submits to the powah!  Great sound stage and detail retrieval, my only quibbles are shallow stage depth and kind of blurry center image, slightly diffuse I guess.  Other people say that there is a treble etch to Jot, and that's kind of true.  I use my Vali 2 as a preamp into Jot and that solves most of my gripes.  
 
The other great things about Jot is it's versatility.  It can be used as a balanced preamp for studio monitors, works well with any headphone and even very sensitive IEMs.  It's the quietest amp I've used for IEMs.  It even beat my Audio GD 10ES2 with relay based volume control!

Thanks for the answer! Sounds tempting. Taking the Vali 2 as preamp out of the equation, how would you rate both valhalla 2 single ended vs Jot balanced? (ie from 1 to 10).
 
Versatility would be a good value, right now I just keep the Audio GD Fun arround to amp my Grados.
 
I wish it was easier to trade gear here in Mexico. All my purchases are blind and the resale market is quite small.

 

[cskippy]

That's a tough one to call.  If i want the staging and "tube magic" that the Valhalla 2 brings I'll use it over the Jot especially if I want a slightly more laid back sound.  Jot is just so engaging you'll be blown away. Jot squeezes out 99% of HD650's potential.  Only ToTL tube amps will better it.  
 
My suggestion is to go for Jot, especially since you have a Valhalla already.  Jot will work with any headphone you buy while Valhalla is limited to high impedance dynamics or very easy to drive planars.