[phillyd]

did anyone try HE-300 with Vali?

I just got my HE-300 and they sound amazing with the Vali. They have great synergy together.

Bass is juicy, low-mids are expectedly emphasized, upper-mids are a bit recessed, treble is surprisingly present. I'm using a Modi and Vali.

Sounds great on all genres, though I do like warm sound a lot.

 

[BenEnglish]

  did anyone try HE-300 with Vali?

My setup is Loki/Vali/HE-300.  I like it very, very much.  I got a ringer (a really bad ringer, unit #209) but other than that my evaluation of this combo is exactly the same as phillyd, immediately above.

 

[kothganesh]

New to this thread. Just got my Vali, unplugged my Lyr and plugged the Vali into my Bifrost. My reaction: Listen, I have shamelessly copied Purrin's reaction:
 
"Fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. Holy Schiit fantastic. This is tubes done right................." (Purrin, hope you don't mind...if you do, my apologies but your reaction spurred me to buy this amp) 

 
There are no new words to add. Except to say that I have probably replaced the Lyr with this tiny beast.

 

[saer]

  There are no new words to add. Except to say that I have probably replaced the Lyr with this tiny beast.

 
Are you actually serious ? Does anyone else feel the Vali is better than the Lyr ? 

 

[Nic Rhodes]

The Vali is 'as delivered' where as the Lyr needs new tubes to really shine.

 

[kothganesh]

  The Vali is 'as delivered' where as the Lyr needs new tubes to really shine.

That's just it. I had to go through three iterations before i got the right tubes for my Lyr. Now I grant you that this may be an instantaneous reaction to hearing this amp but IMO, the quality of music/dollar delivered makes this a better product. I know I am opening a can of worms with that phrase. FWIW, I am using the HE 500 (with Jergpads by Modulor) and this little thing drives it effortlessly. I have to test it with my Audez'e later. I may have to retract my statement but that's OK. Either way, Schiit's got it right 

 

[grizzlybeast]

the schiit vali is pretty good man. I just wrote a little review on why I think so.
but the opinion may be controversial.

 

[kcazbarach]

Ordered mine two days ago. Will receive it by wed or thursday. Im pretty excited. Havent heard tube amps

 

[StanD]

  That's just it. I had to go through three iterations before i got the right tubes for my Lyr. Now I grant you that this may be an instantaneous reaction to hearing this amp but IMO, the quality of music/dollar delivered makes this a better product. I know I am opening a can of worms with that phrase. FWIW, I am using the HE 500 (with Jergpads by Modulor) and this little thing drives it effortlessly. I have to test it with my Audez'e later. I may have to retract my statement but that's OK. Either way, Schiit's got it right 

It can drive HE-500's but not effortlessly, you must be listening at low to moderate volumes.. The Asgard 2 can drive the HE-500's effortlessly. I have both amps and the HE-500's.

 

[LCfiner]

Just checking in after a couple more days with the HD800 and the Vali.
 
Still love the combo. I think it's great.
 
last night I added the Emotiva DC-1 into the equation. I didn't do much back and forth testing with the Burson 160D output as I was tired but I did notice a further slight increase in soundstage, and slight reduction in midbass heaviness. I can't really get into more detail than that without more listening time.
 
The DC-1 headphone out, by itself, can highlight the treble response in the HD800 and sibilant tracks can sound really sibilant. maybe it's more accurate, maybe it's exaggerated. no idea. I know that it's much more pleasant to listen to potentially sibilant tracks with the Vali hooked up tot he DC-1 line output. 
 
don't get me wrong, it's not glossing over too much -- really excessive sibilance in a recording will still come through but it's not as sharp and disturbing as it is from the DC-1 headphone output. The Burson headphone out tends to blunt sibilance too, but this comes at the expense of reduced soundstage and a more blurry bottom end.

 

[grizzlybeast]

I had two amps that had 2watts and none of them drove the he500 effortlessly but decently. The asgard isnt considered to drive the he500 effortlessly but barely satisfactorily. 

 

[kothganesh]

It can drive HE-500's but not effortlessly, you must be listening at low to moderate volumes.. The Asgard 2 can drive the HE-500's effortlessly. I have both amps and the HE-500's.

Fair enough. I did not see a need to turn the pot past 9, sometimes 10 for very satisfying music.

 

[StanD]

  I had two amps that had 2watts and none of them drove the he500 effortlessly but decently. The asgard isnt considered to drive the he500 effortlessly but barely satisfactorily. 

Really. 2 Watts will drive the HE-500's above the threshold of pain. 1 Watt will just barely reach the threshold of pain. Nobody listens anywhere near those figures without getting hearing impaired. I can listen quite loudly, not experience any distortion and the sound is excellent.
Were you referring to the old Asgard?
The Asgard 2 is an excellent design where it's low distortion doesn't come from gobs of negative feedback but from a careful design using discrete components, not opamps. This is not the easy way to design a headphone amp.

 

[Dionysus]

I have been watching this thread for quit a bit, so many positive comment, well I bit and just pulled the trigger on a Vali/Modi minutes ago looking forward to some long listening sessions this weekend.
I have never had an opportunity to listen to a tube amp and although its a hybrid this would be a first, again looking forward and hoping to get the same type of enjoyment from the combo.

 

[grizzlybeast]

  Really. 2 Watts will drive the HE-500's above the threshold of pain. 1 Watt will just barely reach the threshold of pain. Nobody listens anywhere near those figures without getting hearing impaired. I can listen quite loudly, not experience any distortion and the sound is excellent.
Were you referring to the old Asgard?
The Asgard 2 is an excellent design where it's low distortion doesn't come from gobs of negative feedback but from a careful design using discrete components, not opamps. This is not the easy way to design a headphone amp.

dont really feel like getting into this but its not always about volume... and I firmly disagree. That is why you never hear the asgard 2 as a recommendation for the he500.