Valhalla 2 review coming soon!

[r2muchstuff]

   
It looks good, however the volume knob is just awful and it completely puts me off

Very mid 70's Sansui.
 
IMHO,
r2
 
Edit: I prefer the "Silver", it matches my vintage stuffs

 

[hawkwindx]

The Valhalla 2 in black looks sharp. I like the volume knob "silver".

 

[r2muchstuff]

A quick report on running all Novosibirisk tubes in the Valhalla 2.

Power tubes: 6N6P Novosibirsk - Gold Grid & Pin - NOS 1978

Driver tubes : 6N1P-V (6Н1ПВ) Novosibirsk OTK - NOS - 1958 - Gold Grid

This combo is surprising with the Beyerdynamic T1.2, Good bass, balanced mids and treble that is just short of too much. I still prefer warmer driver tubes with these phones but this is not a bad combination.

Now with the Oppo PM 3 the Novosibirsk combo is really sounding great. Just the right balance bottom to top.

Experimenting,
Ain't this stuff fun,

YMMV,
r2

Edit - The 6N1P-V sure do glow pretty

 

[Azurik]

Guys I need some help.

Up to now I'm only using the Valhalla 2 for my headphones. I'm looking to connect bookshelf speakers to my setup.

1- do i need active or passive speakers?
2- do I need some with rca connectors?
3- if so, will I need 2 rca to 1 as the amp only got a red and white output?

Thanks

 

[D Smith]

Guys I need some help.

Up to now I'm only using the Valhalla 2 for my headphones. I'm looking to connect bookshelf speakers to my setup.

1- do i need active or passive speakers?
2- do I need some with rca connectors?
3- if so, will I need 2 rca to 1 as the amp only got a red and white output?

Thanks

Hi Azurik.
1- Yes you will need active speakers unless you buy an separate amplifier for passive speakers.
2- Your active speakers can have any sort of connector. Some professional monitors only have 1/4" jacks and XLR but there are adapter cables that will work.
3. You just need two cables , one per speaker.

Good luck. I use my Valhalla as a preamp feeding into a power amp and passive speakers and it's a great combination.

 

[Jacobh]

Good luck. I use my Valhalla as a preamp feeding into a power amp and passive speakers and it's a great combination.

I didn't get it to be a pre-amp, but I have found it sounds really great as a pre-amp in a similar setup. Significantly better than the amp alone.

 

[dgindlespergerd]

Just picked one up used today and going to try it a on few headphones tonight... Thanks for all the great reviews as that is why I got it....

Dan

 

[Bill Why Man]

I'm really keen on getting one of the Valhalla 2's. I prefer listening to vinyl—not digital. I have a vintage McIntosh MA5100 with a built-in headphone amp, but if I can plug this in to my system with vinyl, I think there's a lot of potential there.

I currently have Sennheiser 558's but will likely move toward 600's if I do this. Does anyone else run a Valhalla 2 through an older amp for vinyl listening? I'd love to hear about your experiences. Thank you very much from a headphone amp newbie.

Cheers,

Bill

 

[dgindlespergerd]

OK, 3 days in with the Valhalla 2 and really loving this amp. It has the warm fuzzies from a tube amp, but soo so clear. I was using a Biggermouth A1 and liked it, the Valhalla is just much warmer without losing any of the clarity of sound. One of my favorite vocals to listen to is Simply Red "if you don't know me by now" because the chorus is layered so well. I can still pick out each voice and they are wonderful.
I hope this makes sense to you large brained audiophiles out there

Dan

 

[ahmadfaizadnan]

OK, 3 days in with the Valhalla 2 and really loving this amp. It has the warm fuzzies from a tube amp, but soo so clear. I was using a Biggermouth A1 and liked it, the Valhalla is just much warmer without losing any of the clarity of sound. One of my favorite vocals to listen to is Simply Red "if you don't know me by now" because the chorus is layered so well. I can still pick out each voice and they are wonderful.
I hope this makes sense to you large brained audiophiles out there

Dan

Glad you like it! I had it pair with TH900 in the past and it sounded amazing! But I changed the stock tube to ECC88 for a warmer signature.

 

[wantan]

But I changed the stock tube to ECC88 for a warmer signature.

So true, I'm using the Gold Lion 6922 and they are very sweer, very clear and and have very smooth treble.

 

[nocturaline]

So true, I'm using the Gold Lion 6922 and they are very sweer, very clear and and have very smooth treble.

Same here. I switched to the JJ E88CC Gold, and now the Valhalla 2 sounds like a real tube amp.

 

[ahmadfaizadnan]

So true, I'm using the Gold Lion 6922 and they are very sweer, very clear and and have very smooth treble.

Same here. I switched to the JJ E88CC Gold, and now the Valhalla 2 sounds like a real tube amp.

The amp benefits from a warmer tube. With the stock tube, some SS amps like matrix hpa3b and Cavalli Liquid Carbon are warmer than valhalla 2

 

[notfitforpublic]

Is anyone using the Valhalla 2 as a preamp for another headphone amp? Been thinking of running the preamp out to my rhead amp for a little tube goodness to the SS rhead amp. After attempting it myself, (Valhalla 2 pre-outs to rHead input) caused a DC Offset error on the rHead. Anyone have any insight? Would one use the Valhalla 2 volume control or the rHead volume for adjustment? Should one of them have the volume on full while adjusting with the other?

Any insight would be appreciated.

 

[caseyjames]

So true, I'm using the and they are very sweer, very clear and and have very smooth treble.

I may have to try these as I'm looking for something a touch smoother than what the stock tubes provide. Not soupy or gooey, just a bit...smoother. But before that, I want to try out a new preamp that I'm adding to the chain.