[HOWIE13]

The greatest irony is that on some boxes of Russian made tubes, in small print amongst all the Russian letters, it says 'Made in USSR'.
I was told that's because during the Cold War the West was buying tubes from the Russians for their own military equipment.  

 

 

[bigro]

   
So even you use pre-amp outputs of both amps, there are still noticeable differences?  I am using bimby that connects directly to power monitors right now. I am planning to get a pair of headphones and an amp. If I use Vali 2 as an headphone amp / pre-amp for speakers, will it make my speakers setup sound stage narrower and mask some detail? Just curious.

 

Hmm I have not exactly compared the Bifrost with or with out the use of a pre amp. I use it  Directly to an Emotiva Amplfier when I am listening to talk shows or watching movies I Bypass the Valhalla unless I am listening to music. So I cannot Give you a direct comparison right now. In a Few Days I probably can so long as work and life does not ruin anything. The Amplifier should not mask detail and I did not find that to be the case with the Vali 2 or the Valhalla. The topology of the Valhalla and the Vali 2 Is different and some people where asking for a comparison. I find the Vali 2 to be every bit as enjoyable as the Valhalla. Also tubes make a difference I am not using the Stock tubes in the Valhalla and at that time I had the stock tube in the Vali 2.

 

[AviP]

Hmm I have not exactly compared the Bifrost with or with out the use of a pre amp. I use it  Directly to an Emotiva Amplfier when I am listening to talk shows or watching movies I Bypass the Valhalla unless I am listening to music. So I cannot Give you a direct comparison right now. In a Few Days I probably can so long as work and life does not ruin anything. The Amplifier should not mask detail and I did not find that to be the case with the Vali 2 or the Valhalla. The topology of the Valhalla and the Vali 2 Is different and some people where asking for a comparison. I find the Vali 2 to be every bit as enjoyable as the Valhalla. Also tubes make a difference I am not using the Stock tubes in the Valhalla and at that time I had the stock tube in the Vali 2.

Wow!
You have a lot of Schiit

 

[Baldr]

Please pardon this shameless deviation from topic for a moment:
 
The tube electronics will survive the EMP, but of course, not a hit by the nuclear bomb blast.

 

[bigro]

Wow!
You have a lot of Schiit

Yeah. For years many many years I have lived in the realm of second hand gear trying to get good sound on a budget. I started with an original Modi that blew everything I had out of the water.. I look at schiit products before I consider anything else at this point because the Quality to price ratio is second to none and many times a new Schiit product which is probably better quality than many of the second hand gear i come across is similar price. Fan boy? if you say so. I like their products, philosophy and service. It is the closest thing to a local store you can get for being hidden away Cali. I do Like some other companies, Emotiva seems to be a good one to deal with and as of late Andrew Jones Joining elac seems to really bring to light how good some "budget" speakers can be. I am that guy that is loyal to companies that I like and being able to have dialogue with the people designing the gear is a plus.

 

[bigro]

  Please pardon this shameless deviation from topic for a moment:
 
The tube electronics will survive the EMP, but of course, not a hit by the nuclear bomb blast.

I was thinking the EMP that would be a result of the Nuclear Bomb..We need Faraday cages for our Multibit Dacs now..

 

[vcmusik]

Thank you, Bigro for posting your results of using that Lisst tube. I'm saving up for a Vali 2, but I also want a solid state option, so my original thought was to get the Vali 2 and a LISST tube so I could switch at will. I guess it would be better doing a triple Schiit stack to get the best of both worlds, huh?

 

[Skarecrow77]

 
Vali 2 finally here. Stock tube burning in now. gonna try and give it at least an hour (I know 10+ is more appropriate, but I doubt I can wait that long). Impressions later tonight. I did put the headphones on long enough to try high gain mode on my NAD HP50s (since most people seem to like hi gain better, even with low impedance / high sensitivity cans), not a hint of hiss or hum with the stock tube.
 
Got a NOS "Philips" (Really an Ei) PCC88 waiting in the wings once I've got a good handle on what the stock tube sounds like.

 

[Skarecrow77]

Comparison is vs my old Perreaux SHX-1. 12 years on it and I know it pretty well.

Source is Modi 2.
Cans are NAD VISO HP50s 
Vali 2 is on low gain. Pot is at about 2 o'clock.
Stock tube has 2 hours on it. I know that's not a fair deal but... eh.. I'm underwhelmed.
 
Bass is like, ghosty. It's there, it's present, but it has no slam. no presence. no force.
 
Treble is a bit sharp for my tastes. It's cutting through the music.
 
Midrange is overemphasized, but not very sweet. A couple songs where the guitars should be tickling me... they just aren't. 
 
Separation is good at least. 
 
Soundstage is ok, not great.

Overall, the toe-tapping, warm-hug, sound I was looking for isn't there.

I know I should give the stock tube more time, but I've got the Philips PCC88 sitting right here looking at me. I'll give it a chance.


edit:
 
45 minutes on the Philips PCC88, and it's a pretty big difference. Biggest change is that instantly the harshness of the stock tube is gone.

Sharp Treble is reined in, without much, if any, loss of detail. Maybe it's my imagination, but I think there's some sparkle in there now where there was harshness before. Still not perfect, but much improved.

Midrange is sweeter for sure. It's still not quite what I was looking for, but way better than stock. It seems more controlled and less "bloaty" (which isn't something I normally think of as characteristic of midrange). I already notice a bit of a difference even from when I first started listening, so maybe it's going to get even better. Both Female and Male vocals are more pleasing than before. 

Separation and Soundstage... wow. just wow. There are instruments fully out of my head now. This is as good as I've ever heard the Soundstage on these cans, and I've listened to them on a WA-7. This is so trippy. I could get used to this.

The Bass is, well, it's still less than what I know these cans can do, but it's getting better. It's certainly more controlled than the stock tube, but not much more presence/slam. Have to see what it sounds like at around the 40 hour range or so.


I know I should give the stock tube its fair chance, with a long burn-in and all, but it's going to be damn hard for me to convince myself to pry the PCC88 out to do so.

Last quick edit before bed: 
I have indeed caught myself toe-tapping and head bobbing several times now with the PCC88.
Bass is fleshing out a bit. Mid-bass is superb, really natural and present. Bass Guitars sound so so good. The Vali2/PCC88/HP50 combo rips through classic Rock. Eagles, Floyd, Who, Aerosmith, AC/DC, etc sound like I'm stage with the band.

 

[bigro]

  Thank you, Bigro for posting your results of using that Lisst tube. I'm saving up for a Vali 2, but I also want a solid state option, so my original thought was to get the Vali 2 and a LISST tube so I could switch at will. I guess it would be better doing a triple Schiit stack to get the best of both worlds, huh?

I used a SYS in reverse and switched between a Magni2 U and the Original Vali. Worked great.

 

[NoOneLt]

Does every Vali do pretty loud "pop" when it warms up after power on? 

 

[bboris77]

  Does every Vali do pretty loud "pop" when it warms up after power on? 

Yes, it's perfectly normal.

 

[nwavesailor]

  Does every Vali do pretty loud "pop" when it warms up after power on? 

Is this 'pop' through your headphones or audible in the room from the amp itself?

 

[NoOneLt]

Pop in headphone, and also some from the amp itself.

 

[HOWIE13]

  Pop in headphone, and also some from the amp itself.

I get the same noise-not every time though.
 
My Garage amps make a similar sound- I assume it's normal and due to a safety or warm up circuit switch.