[hmorneau]

Purrin, what do you think about the sound stage of the Vali? 

 

[rreifsn]

Hey guys, one more update on my Vali experience.  I just received my replacement amp from Schiit and it is working beautifully.  My original amp would develop a constant ringing in the right channel after powering up for 10 minutes or so even when it was completely isolated from any vibration.  The new one is dead quiet except for some minor microphonics when first turned on.  It also sounds great with my HE400s out of the box.  My setup is PC - Uber Bifrost - Vali - HE400/HD600.  Can't wait to see how it burns in.  BTW, original amp was serial # 000126 and the new one is #000634 for those of you that like tracking that sort of thing.  I know I do. 
 
Quick shout out to Jason, Nick and Laura at Schiit, thanks for your help.

 

[hmorneau]

I have the #000539, I ordered it the first day, (but late evening).
 
I wonder how much they sold of that little amp.

 

[jexby]

  Purrin, what do you think about the sound stage of the Vali? 

 
going to playfully guess at an answer here 

 
"It's better than the Lyr (with bad JJ tubes) for sure, and really sounds on par with some Amps 10X it's cost or size.
Vali is super special!"
 
no offense intended.

 

[ravager]

The Audioquest dragonfly is ony 100 USD on amazon at the moment, a good alternative to the Modi or Odac if you want a compact dac that alos works an amp when out and about.

Great tip!!! Just bought one. Will be interested to compare to Modi and the D1.

 

[FLguy]

  Regarding DAC pairing with the Vali on my T90's, I've found incredibly synergy with my KingRex UD384. Absolutely fantastic, comparing to ODAC, AQ DragonFly - this thing is just a great pairing. Soundstage opened up fairly dramatically and I notice much more impact in the bass. More listening to do obviously, but this will be my go-to DAC for the Vali from here.

 
Interesting -nice to hear of another promising DAC. Are you using it with or without the separate power supply? 

 

[purrin]

  Purrin, what do you think about the sound stage of the Vali? 

 
In general, and compared to the best amps in sound stage (basically anything using DHTs, and particularly the EC gear using the high-frequency filament heaters): The Vali is severely lacking depth, very upfront, fairly wide with well defined boundaries, lacking sense of the venue space from ambient cues. It does have good localization and stable imaging though. I've switched around DACs (some DACs are better at staging than others) and the Vali does not change much and appears to be a bottleneck in terms of staging.
 
It's better than the Lyr (with bad JJ tubes) for sure, and really sounds on par with most, but not all solid-state amps up to 18X it's cost or size. Vali is not that special in this area.

 

[gikigill]

Not sure if serious....

 

[Tequilasunriser]

...welp I've read enough. Unsubbing.
 

 

[Rem0o]

  ...welp I've read enough. Unsubbing.
 

I can leave my computer 5 minutes and this thread gets over a hundred posts during that time, all asking about the soundstage or how it's a giant killer. It gets old.

 

[Beagle]

It has issues but for $129 it's a friggin' STEAL!

 

[tdockweiler]

  It has issues but for $129 it's a friggin' STEAL!

 
I've found it has bad synergy with my Parts Express Mini Headphone. Lack of treble and poor imaging.
With a good amp that thing sounds worth about 3x it's price.
 
WA22 was a far better match but I returned that because it's not transportable enough for me.

 

[worldtipper]

  Hey guys, one more update on my Vali experience.  I just received my replacement amp from Schiit and it is working beautifully.  My original amp would develop a constant ringing in the right channel after powering up for 10 minutes or so even when it was completely isolated from any vibration.  The new one is dead quiet except for some minor microphonics when first turned on.  It also sounds great with my HE400s out of the box.  My setup is PC - Uber Bifrost - Vali - HE400/HD600.  Can't wait to see how it burns in.  BTW, original amp was serial # 000126 and the new one is #000634 for those of you that like tracking that sort of thing.  I know I do. 
 
Quick shout out to Jason, Nick and Laura at Schiit, thanks for your help.

Hmm mine is #000117 and also has a constant ringing in the right channel. It's quiet but always there, and even touching the volume knob riles up the tubes. Having acquired it used, I guess I'm SOL. It's tolerable but annoying at times.

 

[CEE TEE]

^I have mine on some foamy shelf liner. Either turning it off for a little bit or holding the case firmly against the shelf liner (until ringing stops) has worked so far.

 

[Solarium]

I might be able to upgrade my HD598 to HD650 tomorrow. I just got the Magni and the Vali is on the way. Which should I keep for the HD650?