[yangian]

After a period of listening, I realized 6N3P-E with Foton tubes is much better than WE396A with Foton tubes!
BTW, Foton tubes seems to be much better than stock 6n6p. At least a perfect matching with 6N3P-E.

 

[wwmhf]

After a period of listening, I realized 6N3P-E with Foton tubes is much better than WE396A with Foton tubes!
BTW, Foton tubes seems to be much better than stock 6n6p. At least a perfect matching with 6N3P-E.

By "Foton tubes", do you mean 6N6P by Foton?

 

[yangian]

By "Foton tubes", do you mean 6N6P by Foton?

Oh, yeah.

 

[TK16]

Here to report, an update of my experience with my WE396A's, after about 60 hours of listening. . . MIND BLOWN!!! These tubes have opened up from top to bottom, without any hint of harshness in the top end and they have become super quiet as well. I have never heard imaging and seperation, so well. I can visualize the performance and placement of the instruments as if I was sitting in the room. Freaking amazing listening experience, everytime I fire them up. These tubes have really taken my system to another level and I am not exaggerating at all.

They are quite good, the Tung Sol 2C51 I rate a notch below is quite good too at a much lower price. I find the other brands GE, Bendix etc a bit harsh in the highs and bass light. The Reflektor 6N3P-E is quite good for the price, warm and detailed.

 

[Wes S]

TK16 - I do have 3 sets of the Tung Sol 2c51, but the we396a are so good, that I have not even tried them yet. Thanks for the info!

 

[nocturaline]

After switching to the JAN-Phillips 6922 that initially were in my X-CAN V3 and finding them quite bright (they sound really good in the X-CAN though), I ordered a pair of JJ E88CC Gold, and wow, now I can really say the Valhalla 2 is a real tube amp. The JJs are warm and detailed, and I no longer listen to the "sound"; I listen to the music.

 

[Mike Thompson]

I'm currently using a pair of Northern Electric 6SN7's on the gain side and really like them. With the Black Friday sales I ordered another pair for the buffer side. Not sure if I'l really hear any difference but thought I would give having quads a try. I'll post agin after they arrive.

Oops... that was for my Freya

 

[redrich2000]

Newb question... are people only rolling the input tubes?

 

[KoshNaranek]

Newb question... are people only rolling the input tubes?

Mostly yes, the consensus appears to be that the power tube options are limited and limited benefit

 

[yangian]

Can 6CG7 be used for 6n6p directly?
How about its sound compared to futon 6n6p?

 

[RMarks271]

Hi All,

Sorry to dredge up a thread that has been fairly quiet recently, but I was hoping someone could share some advice.

I recently bought a Valhalla 2 from you, and so far everything is working great.

However, from its first switch-on, in one of the front tubes, there is a fairly significant imbalance of the brightness from the two 'sides' of the tube.

You can see in this first photo that in the tube in the background, the right-hand 'glow' is significantly brighter than the left; it is dome-shaped and glowing more strongly than the flatter glow on the left. The tube in the foreground shows the other front tube, with both sides of the tube glowing pretty much exactly equally.



In the second photo, the tube is shown close-up, and it is very obvious there is a difference on either side.



Is this normal, or is there a problem with the tube?

Many thanks for any input.

 

[redrich2000]

Hi All,

Sorry to dredge up a thread that has been fairly quiet recently, but I was hoping someone could share some advice.

I recently bought a Valhalla 2 from you, and so far everything is working great.

However, from its first switch-on, in one of the front tubes, there is a fairly significant imbalance of the brightness from the two 'sides' of the tube.

You can see in this first photo that in the tube in the background, the right-hand 'glow' is significantly brighter than the left; it is dome-shaped and glowing more strongly than the flatter glow on the left. The tube in the foreground shows the other front tube, with both sides of the tube glowing pretty much exactly equally.



In the second photo, the tube is shown close-up, and it is very obvious there is a difference on either side.



Is this normal, or is there a problem with the tube?

Many thanks for any input.

My stock tubes were the same. Didn't notice any issue with channel balance so I assumed it was normal. If you're worried email Schiit, they're very responsive.

 

[KoshNaranek]

Hi All,

Sorry to dredge up a thread that has been fairly quiet recently, but I was hoping someone could share some advice.

I recently bought a Valhalla 2 from you, and so far everything is working great.

However, from its first switch-on, in one of the front tubes, there is a fairly significant imbalance of the brightness from the two 'sides' of the tube.

You can see in this first photo that in the tube in the background, the right-hand 'glow' is significantly brighter than the left; it is dome-shaped and glowing more strongly than the flatter glow on the left. The tube in the foreground shows the other front tube, with both sides of the tube glowing pretty much exactly equally.



In the second photo, the tube is shown close-up, and it is very obvious there is a difference on either side.



Is this normal, or is there a problem with the tube?

Many thanks for any input.

The difference in glow is from a slight difference in placement of the cathode heater. The tubes are tested on a curve tracer by Schiit and have equal triode electrical characteristics. Don't concern yourself. You should see the differences in the way RCA tubes in my Freya light up! It does not make for a pretty collection of tubes, but they sound great and I will not part with them

 

[RMarks271]

My stock tubes were the same. Didn't notice any issue with channel balance so I assumed it was normal. If you're worried email Schiit, they're very responsive.

Thanks - I assume it's nothing - just good to check others' experiences.

 

[RMarks271]

The difference in glow is from a slight difference in placement of the cathode heater. The tubes are tested on a curve tracer by Schiit and have equal triode electrical characteristics. Don't concern yourself. You should see the differences in the way RCA tubes in my Freya light up! It does not make for a pretty collection of tubes, but they sound great and I will not part with them

Thank you - as with the previous reply, I was assuming it wasn't anything major, since there are no channel imbalances or any sonic differences.

Thanks for replying.