Well I took the plunge and purchased one of these little beauties. It's now powering a new pair of HD650's and sourced by a laptop & Behringer uca202 combo and I absolutely love it.
Time to kick back and enjoy it and read up on suitable tube rolling.
that is twice the price of Vali 2 though so I will have to pass. add in speedball and now its 3x the price... so yeah I can't do that especially since i got vali 2 used for $105 lol im good
You need a Russian 6H23P tube to liven up the Vali 2. Go to The Tube Store and buy their 6H23n-EB with the triodes matched. or just get their 6H23P with matched triodes. The Vali 2 uses one triode of the tube per channel which is why you need balanced triodes.
You need a Russian 6H23P tube to liven up the Vali 2. Go to The Tube Store and buy their 6H23n-EB with the triodes matched. or just get their 6H23P with matched triodes. The Vali 2 uses one triode of the tube per channel which is why you need balanced triodes.
Just took the jump to a Vali 2 amp with my Sennheiser HD600s after a couple of years running on Aune T1 internal amp. Now I'm just using the Aune as a DAC. I'm using a Siemens e88cc that I had. So far the improvement on the amp seems great over the onboard. I've been using the low setting and turning it up a bit, rather than the hi setting. Is there a preference? I haven't waded through this entire folder yet but the tube doesn't light up much, I'd assumed that it would be a bit brighter than the tube on the Aune which is just a buffer.
Just took the jump to a Vali 2 amp with my Sennheiser HD600s after a couple of years running on Aune T1 internal amp. Now I'm just using the Aune as a DAC. I'm using a Siemens e88cc that I had. So far the improvement on the amp seems great over the onboard. I've been using the low setting and turning it up a bit, rather than the hi setting. Is there a preference? I haven't waded through this entire folder yet but the tube doesn't light up much, I'd assumed that it would be a bit brighter than the tube on the Aune which is just a buffer.
I use the gold lion tube as well, as others have mentioned. I highly recommend it, I know it is $45... so it is hard pill to swallow, if not that tube, then I recommend Amperex or Electro Harmonix 6922 tubes.
Oh yeah definitely. Had to turn the FIIO's line out up to 0db setting as well. But man are those highs like butter. No more roterrooter to eardrums with these bad boys.
I concur. Got a pair of HE-400i for the wife for her birthday. Her magni powers it just fine, but I needed high gain on my vali 2 to be happy with them. Surprised me, I didn't think they were that hungry. The only cans previously that needed high gain on my vali2 were my HD-650s and 600ohm DT-880, which are both notoriously power-needy.
I wondered if it was a planar magnetic thing, but the Vali 2 is driving the hell out of my Oppo PM-3s at just past 12-o'clock on low gain. *shrug* no idea.
I concur. Got a pair of HE-400i for the wife for her birthday. Her magni powers it just fine, but I needed high gain on my vali 2 to be happy with them. Surprised me, I didn't think they were that hungry. The only cans previously that needed high gain on my vali2 were my HD-650s and 600ohm DT-880, which are both notoriously power-needy.
I wondered if it was a planar magnetic thing, but the Vali 2 is driving the hell out of my Oppo PM-3s at just past 12-o'clock on low gain. *shrug* no idea.
Hi,
DO you mean the vali 2 driving the he400i better than the magni? I am really doubt that cause the magni is more powerful than the vali 2 when driving low ohm headphones
In a belated answer to this post, I assume that the HD6XX is similar to the HD600. I have the 600 and my new Vali2 works excellently with it. I was running the 600 with the internal Amp of the Aune T1 hybrid DAC/Amp, the sound was very good, but the Vali2 seems miles better with the HD600 than the T1 Amp (I still use the DAC).
In a belated answer to this post, I assume that the HD6XX is similar to the HD600. I have the 600 and my new Vali2 works excellently with it. I was running the 600 with the internal Amp of the Aune T1 hybrid DAC/Amp, the sound was very good, but the Vali2 seems miles better with the HD600 than the T1 Amp (I still use the DAC).
The 580/600/650 series has been reccomended to be matched with a tube amp for pretty much their entire lifespan. Now, I don't know if a hybrid like the Vali2 counts, but my HD650s do sound better with my Vali 2 than my old solid state.
That said, I'm talking about a sample size here of 1 SS amp and 1 hybrid tube amp, so take it with a grain of salt. All I can say for sure is HD600/650/6xx sounds good with vali 2.
The 580/600/650 series has been reccomended to be matched with a tube amp for pretty much their entire lifespan. Now, I don't know if a hybrid like the Vali2 counts, but my HD650s do sound better with my Vali 2 than my old solid state.
That said, I'm talking about a sample size here of 1 SS amp and 1 hybrid tube amp, so take it with a grain of salt. All I can say for sure is HD600/650/6xx sounds good with vali 2.
Sample of two, it sounds great with the HD600. Up until I got mine last week, I listened with the Aune T1 DAC/Amp which has the strange distinction of having a tube buffered DAC and a SS amp. It sounded good but I had heard that the amp was considered inferior. Having no experience, I couldn't compare. When I got my Vali2, I continued to use the Aune tube buffered DAC connected with the Vali 2 (to which I added a Siemens e88cc tube). With the same source, same DAC, same headphones but with Vali 2, I noticed an immediate improvement in clarity, depth and detail. The Aune onboard amp now sounded a bit muddy. Since then I have been re listening to many familiar pieces and any novelty effect has worn off, but the Vali still sounds superior in every way. The HD 6.. series definitely benefits from this amp. Of course the choice of a tube is important and I knew from having used the Siemens on the Aune that it is a very good tube (i use an Amperex 7308 on the Aune, which is, to me, unbeatable).
The HD 6.. series definitely benefits from this amp. Of course the choice of a tube is important and I knew from having used the Siemens on the Aune that it is a very good tube (i use an Amperex 7308 on the Aune, which is, to me, unbeatable).
I concur. Tube selection can be surprising. Interestingly, the 1974 Phillips PCC88 that works so well on all my closed headphones is outshone on my HD650s by my 1957 (I believe) "pinched waist" Miniwatt PCC88. The miniwatt is a bit less present in the mids than the phillips, and the soundstage isn't as wide, but it's got better clarity.
Side note, I think it's kinda interesting that the pinched waist is such a highly sought after tube, and I like the comparatively mundane yugoslavian '74 phillips for more cans.
I need to try the minwatt with my wife's He-400i to see which tube I prefer with them. maybe it's an "open" vs "closed" thing.
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