[Luckyleo]

The only thing we know of it by now, is by Hofy who told us that the "Head stage" as improve a lot from the previous version. And some who has Mid-Bassy oriented headphones, like the "Grado Hemp", or high impedance HP, they really enjoy the combo. And some speculations, that the new rail 100 V should " augur well for tube performance ". but what it really means, that i would like to know ... in what way the Vali 3 sound better than the last versions ? Is it just a question of more power ? Thank you for your infos .

Listening right now with the Hemp/Vali 3 (WE 396A). Tremendous pairing. Much better than the Vali 2 ++ that I still own. Tubey sound, warm, beautifully balanced. Is my $1,600 Feliks Audio Espressivo OTL amp better? Yes, but I'm talking nuances not huge differences. Even factoring in a 396A tube, the Vali 3 is a tremendous value. I recommend it to one and all. Of course YMMV.

 

[Turcoyan]

Listening right now with the Hemp/Vali 3 (WE 396A). Tremendous pairing. Much better than the Vali 2 ++ that I still own. Tubey sound, warm, beautifully balanced. Is my $1,600 Feliks Audio Espressivo OTL amp better? Yes, but I'm talking nuances not huge differences. Even factoring in a 396A tube, the Vali 3 is a tremendous value. I recommend it to one and all. Of course YMMV.

Ok That's what i wanted to hear ! So definitely the Vali 3 with a We396a it's warmer than the previous version or the stock tube. And you feel the Tubey sound now ! Wow ! glad to hear that !
I tested the Hemp ( X serie ) against my Sr225e and it's two different world, The X series is really Bassy good for electronic, Hip hop R&B and Pop, maybe Rock, but IMO not appropriate for jazz or classical too much color bloomy bass. But i bet the bright sound of Vali 3 pair very well with the Hemp.
So you think it will pair well with my very bright Sr225e grado ? Piety it's not a better choice for it ?

 

[TinearedOne]

Ok That's what i wanted to hear ! So definitely the Vali 3 with a We396a it's warmer than the previous version or the stock tube. And you feel the Tubey sound now ! Wow ! glad to hear that !
I tested the Hemp ( X serie ) against my Sr225e and it's two different world, The X series is really Bassy good for electronic, Hip hop R&B and Pop, maybe Rock, but IMO not appropriate for jazz or classical too much color bloomy bass. But i bet the bright sound of Vali 3 pair very well with the Hemp.
So you think it will pair well with my very bright Sr225e grado ? Piety it's not a better choice for it ?

Remember, your ears may vary. That is the beauty of this hobby. Everyone hears differently. I, for example, prefer the Heretic to my Magni 3+ and Vali 2 - for its greater detail, power, and control - along with the ability to switch between three gain levels. I don't find it fatiguing at all. Hopefully, you find what you want in the Vali 3.

 

[Turcoyan]

Remember, your ears may vary. That is the beauty of this hobby. Everyone hears differently. I, for example, prefer the Heretic to my Magni 3+ and Vali 2 - for its greater detail, power, and control - along with the ability to switch between three gain levels. I don't find it fatiguing at all. Hopefully, you find what you want in the Vali 3.

I understand your point, but the case of Heretic amp it's a clean transparent amp, neutral, with no distortion or color, and can easily match well with a lot of type of headphones, it is made for that. Vali 2-3, Piety even the Magni adds different flavors to the sound, that may not suit well with some more color headphones . And in this case you have to find the right combination.

 

[Turcoyan]

Remember, your ears may vary. That is the beauty of this hobby. Everyone hears differently. I, for example, prefer the Heretic to my Magni 3+ and Vali 2 - for its greater detail, power, and control - along with the ability to switch between three gain levels. I don't find it fatiguing at all. Hopefully, you find what you want in the Vali 3.

The Beauty of this hobby can be to search for the perfect reproduction recording (which i have in my bedroom Teac integrated + Focal ) and can be also to play with different color , distorted, sounding and musicality. Both are good to do.
But pairing a Sr225e with a Color dry, bright top highs end amp, it's not a good idea. Better stick to a Heretic in that case.
Or what was the point of buying a Vali 2 ++ when it sound so close to a SS, better get a Heresy or Magni then. I just don't want to do this mistake with the Vali 3. That's why i asked questions.

 

[Hofy]

As a lover of a wide headphone soundstage, I'm wondering how the wide soundstage of the Vali 3, as reported by the user above, compares directly with that of the Piety?
Any detail appreciated, thank you!

I will give it a listen tonight.

 

[Hofy]

A word on tubes. My tubes specifically. My Vali came with an Oktyabr 6N3P from 1973. The only other tube I have that I can roll in right now is another Oktyabr. This is a 6N3P-EV (EB) from 1988. This is 2 grades up from the stock tube. There is a noticeable difference. I have 4 of these, all from the same batch. I have not listened to all of them, but they may not all sound the same. Or they may be identical.

The first thing that should hit my mailbox is the 6922 to 5670 adapter. I have several different tubes from the 6922 family and my 6SN7 to 6922 adapter with 4 different 6SN7 tubes.

Also on the way are a couple of 6CG7, a GE5670 5 star, the GE 6J5s and adapter. Also a Tesla 6CC42 that should be here in a couple of weeks.

 

[jonathan c]

Good for you ! Can you tell us , your impressions, how it sounds, is tube rolling any relevant ? Is changing the tube, give a more warmish, distorted, tubey sound, ? Cause with the stock tube from other owners, it's seems really bright and dry even more than a Magni. Is it finally just a Vali 2 ++ sound on steroid, very clean, no much distortions, and tube rolling not really effective ?
After thoughts i put my Vali 3 order on Standby, cause maybe it's not for me, if anyone can't tell me that placing a WE 396e or equivalent, will bring a more tubey warmish distorted sound to the table than the last version, i don't find it worth it.
The E serie of my Grado are already bright sounding, don't need something dry and bright like the Vali 2 + ++ on top of that. I'm in Canada so can't return to Schiit, it if i don't like it.

... if you don't like it, there is always resale on 'canuckaudiomart.com'.

 

[oneway23]

I will give it a listen tonight.

Not sure where the ability to "like" posts went, as I haven't been around in a while, so, I'm just saying thanks!

 

[freeryder05]

I bought this amp about 2 weeks ago and I finally got it in the door and on my desk last night. I have no idea why shipping took so long, but that's neither here nor there.

I hooked it up to my Pietus using Pietus as a preamp / DAC. So my chain was iTunes Local FLAC > Pietus with ESS Card > Vali 3 > HD650.

Overall, I can't tell if I am disappointed, disatified or grumpy. At the end of the day, I might be asking too much from an amp that costs $179, but this thing was just not very good. My initial impressions were a severe W shape. The bass/lower mids were muddy and slow and then it was sucked mids to a shrill and unenjoyable treble roll off into some insane peaks.

I have heard my fair share of good tube amps and also have owned some good ones as well. I didn't get much of the etheral tube harmonic distortion that is typical and the tonality was just unenjoyable. My biggest problem with the amp was really how everything felt smooshed. The bass was blobby and one note without any weight or impact and the stage was extremely narrow, even for a HD650. I switched back to my Pietus and the bass impact and timbre improvements were immediately noticeable.

I think as a tube amp this product is pretty bad. I don't really think it has any of the postives of tubes, but it also has all of the negatives. I think as a budget tube amp, I guess it succeeds, but I'm not sure who's going to buy a more expensive tube amp if this is the only one you've heard.

As the old saying goes, different strokes for different folks and I definitely need a different stroke.

 

[Nick76]

I bought this amp about 2 weeks ago and I finally got it in the door and on my desk last night. I have no idea why shipping took so long, but that's neither here nor there.

I hooked it up to my Pietus using Pietus as a preamp / DAC. So my chain was iTunes Local FLAC > Pietus with ESS Card > Vali 3 > HD650.

Overall, I can't tell if I am disappointed, disatified or grumpy. At the end of the day, I might be asking too much from an amp that costs $179, but this thing was just not very good. My initial impressions were a severe W shape. The bass/lower mids were muddy and slow and then it was sucked mids to a shrill and unenjoyable treble roll off into some insane peaks.

I have heard my fair share of good tube amps and also have owned some good ones as well. I didn't get much of the etheral tube harmonic distortion that is typical and the tonality was just unenjoyable. My biggest problem with the amp was really how everything felt smooshed. The bass was blobby and one note without any weight or impact and the stage was extremely narrow, even for a HD650. I switched back to my Pietus and the bass impact and timbre improvements were immediately noticeable.

I think as a tube amp this product is pretty bad. I don't really think it has any of the postives of tubes, but it also has all of the negatives. I think as a budget tube amp, I guess it succeeds, but I'm not sure who's going to buy a more expensive tube amp if this is the only one you've heard.

As the old saying goes, different strokes for different folks and I definitely need a different stroke.

I'm gonna have to agree with most things you said here. I found everything super congested, harsh, sharp and overall unpleasant. Not sure where people are getting this magic headstage from with the Vali, for me it was the opposite. Just grating treble and lack of resolution/separation in busier passages.

 

[Hyde00]

... if you don't like it, there is always resale on 'canuckaudiomart.com'.

Can confirm bought and sold many things there before.

Not sure where the ability to "like" posts went, as I haven't been around in a while, so, I'm just saying thanks!

Still works, I just liked your message.

 

[jonathan c]

I bought this amp about 2 weeks ago and I finally got it in the door and on my desk last night. I have no idea why shipping took so long, but that's neither here nor there.

I hooked it up to my Pietus using Pietus as a preamp / DAC. So my chain was iTunes Local FLAC > Pietus with ESS Card > Vali 3 > HD650.

Overall, I can't tell if I am disappointed, disatified or grumpy. At the end of the day, I might be asking too much from an amp that costs $179, but this thing was just not very good. My initial impressions were a severe W shape. The bass/lower mids were muddy and slow and then it was sucked mids to a shrill and unenjoyable treble roll off into some insane peaks.

I have heard my fair share of good tube amps and also have owned some good ones as well. I didn't get much of the etheral tube harmonic distortion that is typical and the tonality was just unenjoyable. My biggest problem with the amp was really how everything felt smooshed. The bass was blobby and one note without any weight or impact and the stage was extremely narrow, even for a HD650. I switched back to my Pietus and the bass impact and timbre improvements were immediately noticeable.

I think as a tube amp this product is pretty bad. I don't really think it has any of the postives of tubes, but it also has all of the negatives. I think as a budget tube amp, I guess it succeeds, but I'm not sure who's going to buy a more expensive tube amp if this is the only one you've heard.

As the old saying goes, different strokes for different folks and I definitely need a different stroke.

Did you try Vali 3 by itself - without Pietus as preamp?

 

[freeryder05]

Did you try Vali 3 by itself - without Pietus as preamp?

I need a DAC to go with it. My next option would be my Hiby RS6, Chord Mojo 2 or Apple Dongle. I can try each and see what happens.

 

[jonathan c]

I need a DAC to go with it. My next option would be my Hiby RS6, Chord Mojo 2 or Apple Dongle. I can try each and see what happens.

I am looking forward to running Vali 3 through the gauntlet with a number of headphones :