[Mumbles06]

 

No hate, I love my Vali 2, but that pic feels like you're driving your Ferrari through the Burger King drive through

Sometimes you gotta "have it your way."

 

[sheldaze]

I am currently feeding $3600 worth of DACs into the Vali 2, using it to A-B-C. Neither the amplifier nor I are complaining 

 

 

[jfoxvol]

 

 
It's not what you know, it's who you know.  All vintage tubes.  Tested and good.  Sent from a friend.  This will be fun.

 

[nwavesailor]

 
 

 
It's not what you know, it's who you know.  All vintage tubes.  Tested and good.  Sent from a friend.  This will be fun.

Nice!
 
 Now you need another friend to send you some tested /good 1950-60's NOS 6DJ8 / 6922 / 7308's!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[jfoxvol]

Nice!

 Now you need another friend to send you some tested /good 1950-60's NOS 6DJ8 / 6922 / 7308's!!!!!!!!!!!

Working on it, mate. These were freebies that were lying around. I'll see what a good single malt will get me.

 

[Noremac82]

OK.  It looks like I can post images now so here are some shots of my setup.  I changed things up a little bit over the weekend.  I took the Silmic II's out of the power supply of the Vali2 and put the original Nichicon's back in.  They didnt make that much difference in SQ and I needed them for something else.  I also went away from the horizontal configuration and I cut a hole in the top in order to mount them vertically.  Against my better judgement I used a dremel to cut the hole an not my mill because I was being lazy and didnt want to set the mill up. That lazyness resulted in a hole that looks like it was cut with a can opener.  I am thinking about contacting Schiit to see if I can buy just a cover and if I can I will cut a proper hole.  I was thinking about making a cover of some sort out of stainless and that would cover up the jacked up hole.  I have options so I cant be too upset over the screw up haha.  I also switched to the horizontal layout until I come up with a more permanent solution to the sliding.  
 
I am using the mixer in the top center to do some component testing.  Right now I am testing resistors as you can see by my labeling.  I am really liking the Kiwame resistors by the way.  The only original component left in either of them is the PCB.  They have be restuffed with higher end resistors and caps because the original SQ was kinda bland.  They are much better now.  I use the bottom one to connect my phone to the system while I am playing xbox so I can listen to music.  I am running a AD4610 in there in place of the original 4580.  There are silmic II's in the signal path, vishay metal foils throughout(except for a couple high resistance resistors, those are vishay metal films) and alps pots in there.  For some reason I thought it was a good idea to buy a $30 mixer and put $100 worth of components into it but its not the bottleneck any longer so I guess i accomplished what I was trying to do.  I have enough MS Star Line Silver Plated RCA's on order to replace everything in the system along with 4 or 5 different types of wire and some tubing/sleeving options.  I am going to do some testing once it arrives and I will make new interconnects for everything out of whichever combo I like best.  I am not good at describing what I am hearing so I doubt I will do any sort of write up on it.  Plus I am pretty sure all of that stuff has been debated and reviewed before by someone better at reviewing than me.  I am mainly doing it for my own purposes so I can make some decisions on components and wire types for the amp I am making.  But enough of that, this is my Schiit and I am pretty content for now.  I am working to paint up my Seinnheiser's while I wait on the interconnect materials.  They are pretty much done but I dont know if i am allowed to post images of them in here since they arent related to the Vali2.  
 
Overall I am loving the setup and I think I am done tinkering with the Schiit for a while.  I think there is still some improvements to be heard too.  Stuff continues to break in so I am going to leave it all alone and give it some time to marinade and stew in its own audio goodness to see where it all ends up.  No part of me thinks it will be the same a year but for now I have to leave it alone in order to work on some other projects that I have neglected while working on this. I will come back to it at some point in the future.   One thing on the Silmic's, they dont lie when they say 100hrs of break in.  Its actually more that that, or it was in my case.  Other than the tube, they have made the biggest improvement to the SQ compared to all of the other stuff I have done.  They opened up the soundstage and uncovered some additional detail.  I am always looking over my shoulder now because it constantly sounds like someone is behind me!!  The only downside is even though they are the same value as the originals, i feel like I have lost a little on the bottom end.  It might just be tighter now and doesnt resonate or get mushy but i have noticed it seems to have diminished somewhat.  I am not a huge bass fan anyways so its not a big issue to me but might be to someone else that is considering this mod.  Its slight though so to me the additional detail was worth losing some on the bottom end.   
 
And finally, I had some time to listen to the Amperex 7308 over the weekend and I think I am going to stand by my original thoughts on it.  It does sound good but that 'spacey' sound takes some getting used to and to me it only sounds good with certain types of music.  It has a place in my rotation but I think my high usage tubes will be the Pope for music and the LISST for gaming and general television watching.  If something changes with it I will report back because like I said, its not a bad sound, just unique or unexpected, but not at all bad in my opinion.
 
 

 

[IPA-60-IBU]

Hello everybody!
 
This is my first post here. Mainly based on this thread, I bought a Vali2 last month. Tesla e88cc (military) sounds great on that thing, together with DT990.
Recently, I came into posession of some NOS 6n2p tubes. From what I could find, they have the same pinout as the default tube, and similar characteristics.
 
http://www.lampizator.eu/UPGRADE/6N2P.pdf
 
The heater voltage is within Vali2's spec. However, is there anything else that I am missing, but could damage the amplifier?
cheers

 

[rnros]

The heater voltage is within Vali2's spec. However, is there anything else that I am missing, but could damage the amplifier? cheers

I've not tried the 6N2P. Jeez and I thought I tried all the possibilities!
 
Yes, heater voltage and current are fine. Heater current is similar to 6N23P and 6922, at the lower end ~300ma. 6N1P is ~600ma, that's near the upper limit. IIRC limit is ~700ma.
Anode voltage is 250, similar to 6N1P. Anode power is lower at 1W vs 2.2W for the 6N1P. 6N23P is 1.8W. Gain is significantly higher, 80-115 vs ~25-42 for the other two.
 
This information is coming from this source: http://www.russiantubes.com/tubes.php?r=12
 
All this meaning I would give it a try. But that's me. You can email Schiit tech and get a definite answer if you want to be absolutely safe.
Glad to see you're exploring some tube options. It's a great amp for tube rolling.

 

[IPA-60-IBU]

I'd like to add that currently my Vali2 is running on a Tesla E88CC, with militarymarkings and manufacture code which makes no sense (101, U3, U8 with a small arrow in superscript; see on attached photos). The main difference between that bulb and the stock 6BQ7A is in the soundstage and in bass control, I think. Tesla seems more controlled, much less bloated; same with the soundstage. Although the stock tube seems more multidimensional, E88CC appears more precise.
Coming back to the topic, Schiit Tech responded with "It sounds like it should work fine, I can’t say we’ve tried that."
The tubes should be there in a matter of days. Among them some will be 'white anode', which supposedly means the're pretty old (probably from the 50s), and some will be 6n1p-ew, which marks military grade, longlife variant. Apparently, they were tested with a soviet ELPO p507 tester and l3-3, and had 100% emmision.
 
PS: I can't post images, here's a link instead: http://imgur.com/a/ajSbe

 

[rnros]

Sounds like you have some interesting options to compare. Keep in mind that tubes need to burn and settle for a while before you see their final potential and/or sound profile.
IMO and experience, some tubes come around and show well in 24hrs, others can take over 100hrs. So it can be a slow process. True some sound great right out of the gate but even those usually have some area(s) that need a little improvement. So I wouldn't quickly write off tubes that generally sound good to your ear but have areas that aren't quite right.
But I don't mean tubes that have serious noise problems or just sound awful to your ear! There are a lot of bad tubes, and you won't know that until you buy them and listen, unfortunately.

 

[alazhaarp]

Now my Schiit Vali 2 catches cellular signal and preduces static noises when it does. I started to notice it in the last 48 hours. Anyone experiencing the same thing?

 

[Noremac82]

Now my Schiit Vali 2 catches cellular signal and preduces static noises when it does. I started to notice it in the last 48 hours. Anyone experiencing the same thing?

Are you sure its coming from the Vali2 and not an interconnect or headphone cable? How close is the phone when you are noticing this noise? Is the static consistent meaning one frequency like from the phone antenna or is is random noise and intermittent? These answers might help to narrow it down.

If you haven't already done it, I would suggest performing a swap of all cables, one at a time, just to be sure the static is coming from the vali and not a bad connector or something. If it is the vali they have a 5 year warranty so I am sure you wouldn't have a problem getting a replacement at no cost.

 

[Skarecrow77]

  Now my Schiit Vali 2 catches cellular signal and preduces static noises when it does. I started to notice it in the last 48 hours. Anyone experiencing the same thing?

 
Not on my Vali 2, no, but on my old Perreaux amp, yes. It caught all sorts of interference at the end of it's life. Mostly it was indistinguishable noise, but if I pulled the power cable and turned the volume pot all the way up I could distinguish broadcast radio (at least, that's what I though it was) with no cables plugged into it at all. Swapped in my wife's magni with all the same cables, no problem at all.

 

[alazhaarp]

Are you sure its coming from the Vali2 and not an interconnect or headphone cable? How close is the phone when you are noticing this noise? Is the static consistent meaning one frequency like from the phone antenna or is is random noise and intermittent? These answers might help to narrow it down.

If you haven't already done it, I would suggest performing a swap of all cables, one at a time, just to be sure the static is coming from the vali and not a bad connector or something. If it is the vali they have a 5 year warranty so I am sure you wouldn't have a problem getting a replacement at no cost.

Yeah, I'm sure. My first guess was cable problem. I tried to swap it, unplug other cables or computer's power cable. But the problem  wasn't solved. And then I notice that the noise is louder if my phone's closer to the amp. So I move my phone closer and farther from the Vali 2 when it's transmitting signal.. And yep, that's that. Another proof is I can remove the noise anytime by setting my phone on airplane mode.
 

   
Not on my Vali 2, no, but on my old Perreaux amp, yes. It caught all sorts of interference at the end of it's life. Mostly it was indistinguishable noise, but if I pulled the power cable and turned the volume pot all the way up I could distinguish broadcast radio (at least, that's what I though it was) with no cables plugged into it at all. Swapped in my wife's magni with all the same cables, no problem at all.

Uh oh. Yeah I heard once that amplifier could become a radio.. I remember my friend built his own guitar amplifier and whenever we plug a guitar and turned the volume all the way up, we can hear radio broadcasts. It's funny though, the guitar was its antenne. 

 

[Noremac82]

Yeah, I'm sure. My first guess was cable problem. I tried to swap it, unplug other cables or computer's power cable. But the problem  wasn't solved. And then I notice that the noise is louder if my phone's closer to the amp. So I move my phone closer and farther from the Vali 2 when it's transmitting signal.. And yep, that's that. Another proof is I can remove the noise anytime by setting my phone on airplane mode.



Uh oh. Yeah I heard once that amplifier could become a radio.. I remember my friend built his own guitar amplifier and whenever we plug a guitar and turned the volume all the way up, we can hear radio broadcasts. It's funny though, the guitar was its antenne. 

Sounds like it's RMA time now. Let us know how that process goes. I have read good things about their retirn/replacement policy so it shouldn't be a huge hassle. Maybe they will even pay shipping if your lucky!