[juancubo]

Hi,
i´m looking for a can amp, an all terrain amp for my HD600 and Hifiman 400i.
I was interested in Schiit Valhalla 2, but tubes aren´t the best for the 400i. Lyr2 with tubes and solid state is a bit far away from my budget.
Which one would be the more balanced amp to use with both cans? I have found an Asgaard 2 for 160€ (180$) that it´s really tempting.
 
Thanks!

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Originally Posted by juancubo /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
I was interested in Schiit Valhalla 2, but tubes aren´t the best for the 400i.

 
No, the problem isn't the tubes, but the topology - it's an OTL or Output Transformerless amplifier. A pure tube with a different design will work, but such amps will be huge and heavy.
 

Originally Posted by juancubo /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
Lyr2 with tubes and solid state is a bit far away from my budget.

 
There's the Vali2 for $170.
 
 

Originally Posted by juancubo /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
I have found an Asgaard 2 for 160€ (180$) that it´s really tempting.

 
That's a great price for the Asgard provided it doesn't have any issues, operational or cosmetic. I'd much rather get that given the price.

 

[juancubo]

Thanks ProtegeManiac,
Vali2 or Asgard 2? What would be your choice for my cans?

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Thanks @ProtegeManiac,
Vali2 or Asgard 2? What would be your choice for my cans?

 
I'd go either way really. The Asgard can be had for not much more money, but if you get the Vali2 then you get the full warranty terms for it. But then again, if you get the Asgard locally vs having to ship the Vali2, then the total cost might be higher. If the total cost of acquiring the Vali2 would be higher then get the Asgard2; otherwise, you could consider the Vali2 since you get the warranty terms.
 
If anything though the Asgard has a much lower output impedance than the Vali2 at high gain (its output impedance jumps when you use high gain), so if on a technical basis, the Asgard2 is the better amp. Plus you can get it cheap right now.

 

[juancubo]

ProtegeManiac thanks again.
Vali would be 30-40$ more expensive than Asgard, I must check warranty for Asgard but it's condition it's excellent.
I will use both cans but mostly of the time will be the HD600, sometimes connected to my Xduoo-Xd05 DAC and other times to my turntable.
Factory tube that ships with Vali 2 is worthy? Or should I upgrade it ASAP?
Regards

 

[Wyllio]

@ProtegeManiac thanks again.
Vali would be 30-40$ more expensive than Asgard, I must check warranty for Asgard but it's condition it's excellent.
I will use both cans but mostly of the time will be the HD600, sometimes connected to my Xduoo-Xd05 DAC and other times to my turntable.
Factory tube that ships with Vali 2 is worthy? Or should I upgrade it ASAP?
Regards

 
Any Schiit product not purchased by the original owner automatically loses the warranty. 

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Vali would be 30-40$ more expensive than Asgard, I must check warranty for Asgard but it's condition it's excellent.

 

Schiit warranty doesn't transfer to other owners. The additional $40 is something for you to consider whether it's worth it to have the warranty.
 

I will use both cans but mostly of the time will be the HD600, sometimes connected to my Xduoo-Xd05 DAC and other times to my turntable.

 

Why not just keep using that one for now and save up for something like the Lyr, which will be more versatile in terms how many more headphones it can drive, ie, it has more power for even low sensitivity HiFiMan planars? Or maybe the Valhalla2 so you can get more power into 300ohm and 600ohm cans like the HD600 and the T1.
 

Factory tube that ships with Vali 2 is worthy? Or should I upgrade it ASAP?

 

Barring cheap tubes I'm not really one to recommend tube replacements before you bust any of the factory-installed tubes.
 
 

 

[juancubo]

Why not just keep using that one for now...

Yes it's an option but I'm a bit disappointed when connecting Xduoo-Xd05 to the turntable phono amp. Call me crazy but the planar got a lot of noise and the HD600 too. I enjoy much more the sound when connecting the turntable to a Fiio A5 portable amp that I use with my DAP

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Yes it's an option but I'm a bit disappointed when connecting Xduoo-Xd05 to the turntable phono amp. Call me crazy but the planar got a lot of noise and the HD600 too. I enjoy much more the sound when connecting the turntable to a Fiio A5 portable amp that I use with my DAP

 
You could go with the Asgard but try to isolate that problem first. If the problem is inherently the phono pre then getting a different amp isn't likely to solve that problem.

 

[juancubo]

I´m convinced that the problem comes from Xduoo. Preamp + Xduoo got much noise than preamp + Fiio. The turntable has an integrated preamp but i have bypassed it to a Project Phono preamp reducing a bit the noise. I think that Xduoo is not a good companion to 400i and H600 when used as amp. When i use it as DAC there isn´t any noise.
Do you know if Schiit amps can be mounted vertically instead horizontally?
Thanks!

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by juancubo /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I think that Xduoo is not a good companion to 400i and H600 when used as amp.

 

Is that a portable? If so I wouldn't be surprised - batteries aren't that good for driving high impedance or low sensitivity loads. There are exceptions but that wouldn't be one of them.

 

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by juancubo /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Do you know if Schiit amps can be mounted vertically instead horizontally?

 

The SS amps can with no problems, but I am not too sure about the ones that have tubes. Typically you should have the side with the power supply on the bottom, since that's the center of gravity, but I'm not sure how you'd deal with tubes sticking out sideways at the top.

 

[juancubo]

Yes. Both Xduoo-Xd05 and Fiio A5 are portable.
I wrote to Schiit and not recommend to vertically mount amps with tubes.
I'm starting to plan to use only the HD600 with Valhalla as Lyr is too much expensive but don't know if it's too much amp to connect to the phono preamp...
Thanks. Regards. Happy new year

 

[ProtegeManiac]

I'm starting to plan to use only the HD600 with Valhalla as Lyr is too much expensive but don't know if it's too much amp to connect to the phono preamp...

 

Not sure what you mean here by "too much amp," much less for the phono preamp. The upstream compoment is what can be too much for the downstream component, like a 10,000watt amplifier hooked up to practically any speaker (much less a headphone) barring gigantic subwoofers (or ten subs in one car). In your particular example, it's the phono preamp that can potentially be too much for the amp, assuming it outputs a heck of a lot more than 2volts (to date I've only seen one source unit with that problem, and it's a DAC, not a phono pre).

 

You can go ahead with the Valhalla for the Lyr but note that ideally you can't really use it with lower impedance headphones. At the very least you get a little bit of coloration on Grados, but their sensitivity will make the lower output at 32ohms a non-issue. Not the same case with AKG due to the lower sensitivity.