Schiit Vali Noise

[Aligaterror]

Hey everyone,
 
I recently purchased a used Schiit stack (Vali and Modi). The seller said that Vali was making a whining noise, which is why he was selling the stack very cheaply. I'm happy that I bought it, but I'm wondering if there's anything I can do to fix the issue. I know that it's normal for the Vali to make a ringing noise when you bump the table for example and that you can faintly hear the noise floor if you use low impedance headphones like I am (Philips Fidelio X2), but I'm fine with all that. The real problem only occurs after using the Vali for about 15 minutes. When it gets warm I can hear a ringing that's similar to when you turn the Vali on, but it never stops. In fact, it gets worse the longer it's in use.
 
Any ideas on what I should do about it?

 

[Mr Rick]

  Hey everyone,
 
I recently purchased a used Schiit stack (Vali and Modi). The seller said that Vali was making a whining noise, which is why he was selling the stack very cheaply. I'm happy that I bought it, but I'm wondering if there's anything I can do to fix the issue. I know that it's normal for the Vali to make a ringing noise when you bump the table for example and that you can faintly hear the noise floor if you use low impedance headphones like I am (Philips Fidelio X2), but I'm fine with all that. The real problem only occurs after using the Vali for about 15 minutes. When it gets warm I can hear a ringing that's similar to when you turn the Vali on, but it never stops. In fact, it gets worse the longer it's in use.
 
Any ideas on what I should do about it?

Contact Schiit Customer Service and arrange return for repair.

 

[tomb]

Microphonics in tubes can be bad enough that the ringing is constant.  These tubes are on the edge, anyway and there's no telling what may cause them to ring constantly.  Most tubes of this tube type probably have microphonics, not just some of them.
 
I'm not trying to be overly-critical, most of their stuff is great.  Nevertheless, if Schiit were to truly quality-control the tubes in the Vali, they'd throw out more than they saved and then wouldn't be able to sell at such a low price.  Maybe you can do what Mr Rick says, but I'm not so sure it would be no-charge in the case of a re-sell.  Unfortunately with the Vali, the customer is the quality control.  Sounds like the first guy didn't live up to his responsibility.

 

 

[Aligaterror]

  Contact Schiit Customer Service and arrange return for repair.

 
 

  Microphonics in tubes can be bad enough that the ringing is constant.  These tubes are on the edge, anyway and there's no telling what may cause them to ring constantly.  Most tubes of this tube type probably have microphonics, not just some of them.
 
I'm not trying to be overly-critical, most of their stuff is great.  Nevertheless, if Schiit were to truly quality-control the tubes in the Vali, they'd throw out more than they saved and then wouldn't be able to sell at such a low price.  Maybe you can do what Mr Rick says, but I'm not so sure it would be no-charge in the case of a re-sell.  Unfortunately with the Vali, the customer is the quality control.  Sounds like the first guy didn't live up to his responsibility.

 

 
Thanks for the help. I contacted Schiit, but if they say that sending it in for repair is the only way of fixing the issue, I'm not sure it would be worth it. I live in Germany, so shipping it would cost quite a lot.

 

[kramer5150]

If you're up for a DIY solution, there are some dampening tricks I have seen with these sub-mini tubes.  I can't say for certain though how effective it would be for you.  These tubes are pretty commonly known for oscillation and noise problems in a lot of different circuits.
 

 

 
 
Heres a mod that adds dampening material and I think it looks like the tubes are socketed for rolling... after a bit of soldering too.

 
Heres some pics showing some chassis dampening tricks.  These would be easy solutions.

 


 
Not the Vali, but heres another subminiature tube amp.  This one with rubber grommets to try and damp the vibration.