[davewave]

I just placed an order for the "new" Valhalla."  I've always loved how the Asgard drives my DT990/600s (which my Trafomatic surprisingly does not do well), so I figured the Valhalla would do it even better.  Now that it's rollable and has an upgraded sound, I figured it was time.

 

Hi all
Sorry but I haven't checked in for a while. I'm the proud owner of a Valhalla, bought about a year ago. It pairs well with my HD580s modded to HD600 with cables and grills.

So I'm a bit confused by this talk of a "new" Valhalla. Did Schiit change it?

 

[paradoxper]

Quote:

Hi all
Sorry but I haven't checked in for a while. I'm the proud owner of a Valhalla, bought about a year ago. It pairs well with my HD580s modded to HD600 with cables and grills.
So I'm a bit confused by this talk of a "new" Valhalla. Did Schiit change it?

Yep. http://www.head-fi.org/t/617351/schiit-valhalla-now-with-100-more-rollability

 

[schaaf]

I'm looking at picking up a new valhalla, but I'm confused about rolling tubes in it.
Would you have roll all 4 tubes at once, matched? Or just the two in the front?

 

[Mr.Tom]

Quote:

I'm looking at picking up a new valhalla, but I'm confused about rolling tubes in it.
Would you have roll all 4 tubes at once, matched? Or just the two in the front?

I'm told by Jason, that just the input tube, as the power tubes have less effect. Or there's not too many to pick from.
 
But I've found at least 5 different 6n6p's out there.
 
Even the first version of the Valhalla could roll the 6n1p variants. I've heard vastly different sound from 6n1p, 6n1p-eb, 6n1p-vi. the later two give a very fast paced and forward sound(but never bright). I've settled on some late 1968 6n1p from the Novosibirsk plant, as they have a very full more tube like sound.

 

[schaaf]

I know next to nothing about tubes.
Are you saying there aren't many options for rolling power tubes, or the other ones? (output tubes maybe?)

Tube numbers are very confusing to me. Is there a resource for learning more about them?

 

[paradoxper]

Quote:

I know next to nothing about tubes.
Are you saying there aren't many options for rolling power tubes, or the other ones? (output tubes maybe?)
Tube numbers are very confusing to me. Is there a resource for learning more about them?

I think it would be easier for you to just understand that while the Valhalla is rollable, it's limited overall.
Yes, power tubes are limited and are less dramatic in changes to sound.
 
Don't think of them as numbers. Think of them as tube types.
Don't roll outside the compatible Valhalla tube type compatibility.
 
 6N1P dual triode input, 6N6P dual triode output (The power tube), The 6N1P are rollable to
6DJ8, E88CC, 6922, 6B27. and similar types. (Just like Lyr)

 

[Mr.Tom]

Google would be a good place to start. At one time in this country there where 1000's of types of tubes, but the US schiit canned tubes for transistors in the 60's, by the end of the 70's you'd be hard pressed to find a consumer product that used a tube. In Russia, they really believed we'ed nuke them at some point, so to avoid a complete loss of electronics(from a EMP blast), they stayed with tubes for military. thru the 70's~80's Russia's GDP was 70% military, therefore they have a lot of surplus tubes(millions), and a lot of them are very nice!

 

[eddiek997]

Quote:

I know next to nothing about tubes.
Are you saying there aren't many options for rolling power tubes, or the other ones? (output tubes maybe?)
Tube numbers are very confusing to me. Is there a resource for learning more about them?

http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/faq/joes-tubes.html    -   Joes Tube Lore.
http://www.audiotubes.com/6dj8.htm  - Brent Jesse. Excellent resource for buying tubes.
 
and, if you have a couple of days to spare, there is an excellent thread on this forum specific to Schiit tube rolling.. http://www.head-fi.org/t/549508/schiit-lyr-the-tube-rolling-thread

 

[trothad2]

I am finally a proud owner of a new Schiit Asgard and cant believe i waited so long to get one.  Currently they are powering my HD598's and sound very nice.  Wondering though would introducing a bifrost change much.  Going from pc>cheap logitech USB DAC>Asgard>hd598's.  Also i am looking into purchasing the denon D2000 would the Asgard be a nice complementing amp for those? 

 

[hodgjy]

Since your usb DAC is external, that is definitely an upgrade over the internal soundcard.  IMHO, differences between DACs are subtle.  Dollars and DACs follow the law of diminishing returns.  Going from a $5 DAC to a $350 DAC is noticeable, but going from a $350 one to a $500 isn't all that noticeable, and going from a $500 to a $1000 is subtle at best. 
 
Where am I going with this?  We pay big bucks for small differences and subtleties.  If you are happy with your current DAC, going to the Bifrost won't blow your mind.  If you are unhappy with your current DAC, the subtleties might make all the difference.
 
Quote:

I am finally a proud owner of a new Schiit Asgard and cant believe i waited so long to get one.  Currently they are powering my HD598's and sound very nice.  Wondering though would introducing a bifrost change much.  Going from pc>cheap logitech USB DAC>Asgard>hd598's.  Also i am looking into purchasing the denon D2000 would the Asgard be a nice complementing amp for those? 

 

[Iostream]

Got my schiit today.  I am impressed. Going to leave them on overnight to settle in, but initial listening was great.  I will report a bit more once I have had some time with the setup.  At this point I think my setup might stay as is for a while.  The K701s sound great with this schiit, and I am not sure I can start justify dropping $700 on the HE-500s.

 

[jono454]

Quote:

My box O Schiit is on it's way. Bitfrost and Lyr coming.  Initially I will pair them with K701s, though I am considering an upgrade to HE-500s. Not sure if it is worth it, since I have been very happy with my K701s for several years.

 
Proud owner of a Bifrost here. Noticing slight changes over burn-in time.
 
K702s sound great out of my Bifrost + EF5

 

[hodgjy]

For those of you with Valhallas, is your amp overly sensitive to any differences in tubes?  In my amp, I have three pairs of supposedly "matched on tube tester" preamp tubes, but when plugged into the Valhalla, there are channel imbalances.  When I flop the tubes in the channels, the imbalance follows the tubes.  The most severe mismatch is in my 6992 pair, which give me no problems in my other amps.  So, obviously, the tubes aren't perfectly matched, but I can't imagine just how sensitive the amp is the small differences.
 
Any ideas about this?
 

 

[Mr.Tom]

Quote:

For those of you with Valhallas, is your amp overly sensitive to any differences in tubes?  In my amp, I have three pairs of supposedly "matched on tube tester" preamp tubes, but when plugged into the Valhalla, there are channel imbalances.  When I flop the tubes in the channels, the imbalance follows the tubes.  The most severe mismatch is in my 6992 pair, which give me no problems in my other amps.  So, obviously, the tubes aren't perfectly matched, but I can't imagine just how sensitive the amp is the small differences.
 
Any ideas about this?
 

Yes! And I think this is the case with any OTL tube amp. I had the same thing and reversed the power tubes to offset the different levels. I guess if the amp used one tube(or 10 tubes)it would be less off an issue.

 

[Mr.Tom]

And for the recored, I'm a pig in Schiit with a Valhalla & Biforst