[JustinBieber]

Anybody start tube rolling with Val 2? Any cheap fixes for ~$50 or so, for either the 6n6p or 6n1p? I was looking at Foton gold grids for 6n6p, and maybe used Gold Lions or a JAN Phillips 6922 for the 6n1p. 

 

[icomrade]

  Anybody start tube rolling with Val 2? Any cheap fixes for ~$50 or so, for either the 6n6p or 6n1p? I was looking at Foton gold grids for 6n6p, and maybe used Gold Lions or a JAN Phillips 6922 for the 6n1p. 

I have foton gold grids 6n6p. They sound wonderful, but they are really a minor upgrade, the stock power tubes are quite good. Haven't done any A/B comparisons since I got them though, so they may be significantly better, but I'm airing on the side of slightly better.

 

[frankrondaniel]

I kind of went a little crazy trying out some NOS tubes.  With my HD800's, I found the stock tubes to be too forward, somewhat opaque and airless.  Ediswan CV2492/6922, Amperex JAN 7308 and Telefunken E88CC all opened up the sound stage, provided more color to the sound, more air and separation between instruments.  Of the 3, the Telefunken seems the most neutral but almost to a fault.  I prefer the Ediswan and Amperex as they seem to add some more warmth that I prefer.  The Amperex seems to give the largest soundstage, the Ediswan is a little more intimate.  All 3 are very smooth from top to bottom with the HD800's.  I'll have to go back to the stock soon to see if it's all my imagination!

 

[Billheiser]

  Do recommend me LYR 2 with my headphone LCD-2 F,HE-500,HD800?
Because i heard the Valhalla 2 is the best for HD800, And the Lyr 2 is the best for LCD-2 and HE-500 ( Planar Headphone )
 
What you think guy's buy Lyr 2 or Valhalla 2? 

Don't cross post.  

 

[Rusty143]

I have rolled in some mullard 6dj8 tubes. This creates a thicker, fuller sound than the stock tubes. Tends to lack a bit of immediacy for me. Just put in some Telefunkens and the provide a much more detailed and immediate sound. Really nice tubes with this amp and HD600s.

 

[Neworleanssoone]

I am currently feeding my HD 600's from my computer through a Fiio E 17. Will the the E 17 be a sufficient DAC for this amp until I can afford to upgrade?

 

[mikescchen]

For that I can say: no.
I was using Beyer T1 + Fiio E17+E09K combo.
Just bought Valhalla 2 recently to replace the E09K.
The stage opens up a bit, much better lower bass, but almost no resolution improvement.
I think the latter is caused by E17.
 
It's still a bang for the buck, just not enough for V2+HD600.
I'm planning to replace it with Bifrost uber or W4S uDAC (not uDAC-HD) later.

 

[TheBell]

Wow, took me a while to get through the 17 pages of this thread.
 
I think you've all convinced me to give it a try. Will pair it with Beyerdynamic DT880 600 Ohm version headphones and a Musical Fidelity V-DAC.
 
It will be my first tube amp, so feeling quite curious about it. Will have to do some serious catch up as well.

 

[drheadphone]

I got the Val2 last month and I'm liking it so far with my HD800 and HD650. For a while, I found the HD800 paired well with the Amperex ECC88's, like the Bugle Boys, the PQ 6922's, the "Orange globes", due to their characteristically warmer sound and somewhat wide sound stage. But almost every pair I've tried with the Val2 ended up had varying degrees of noise. So I've since switched back to Russian 6N1P's which so far are dead silent. My favorite so far is the 1960s Novosibirsk with three micas.

 

[timkwhite]

Add me to the V2 owners club. I purchased a Valhalla 2 and Bifrost (no USB, no Uber) from Shiit's Amazon B-Stock listings about a month ago. I sent them a few questions regarding the condition of the b-stock and received responses within 10 minutes (try that XXXYYY large corporation support) assuring me there would be little if any cosmetic blemishes. So I took the plunge and am I ever happy I did. I was using an Asus Essence STX sound card with the built in headphone amp with a pair of Sennheiser HD650's. I was pretty happy with that combination and would most likely still be using it if I hadn't attended a local meetup here in Metro Detroit. After that little event (we had everything from 20 dollar HP's to a couple Eddie Current setups; quite the spread in dollar amounts), I decided that I could do better (just throw money at it).
 
At the meetup I plugged my HP's into anything and everything I could including a Schiit Asgard and a Decware Taboo, both using my Asus STX as a DAC. I wasn't thrilled with the Asgard but the Decware was just fantastic. But of course it should be for around 1600 USD. So I started looking into the differences in DAC's and tube vs SS amps. Long, long story very short, I ended up with the Bifrost and Valhalla 2.
 
This combination just makes the HD650's absolutely shine with every type of genre I can throw at it. At the moment I am a big fan of female vocals and this combination is truly fantastic. I have absolutely no regrets with my upgrade.
 
At the moment, listening to Norah Jones and the sound is fantastic!
 

 

[frankrondaniel]

I got the Val2 last month and I'm liking it so far with my HD800 and HD650. For a while, I found the HD800 paired well with the Amperex ECC88's, like the Bugle Boys, the PQ 6922's, the "Orange globes", due to their characteristically warmer sound and somewhat wide sound stage. But almost every pair I've tried with the Val2 ended up had varying degrees of noise. So I've since switched back to Russian 6N1P's which so far are dead silent. My favorite so far is the 1960s Novosibirsk with three micas.

 
So far I think my favorite for the HD800 has been Amperex 7308's.  Nice soundstage, warm but nice extension on both ends that still tames the highs for me.  I just started trying out a set of Philips Holland SQ E88CC/6922.  Initial impressions are that it's very mid-centric, with a darker, fuller sound that gives weight to the notes but at the expense of a smaller soundstage and maybe a too rolled off high end.  I'm curious to see how it changes with burn-in.
 
In regards to noise, are you talking about hum or tube microphonics (if that's the correct term)?  The Amperex 7308's seem dead quiet to me and no microphonics.  However, while there's no noticeable hum, the Philips E88CC's are quite microphonic.  The seem to pickup any vibrations - even my headphone cable hitting against something.  It really hasn't been in issue in practice though - I normally don't move around much when listening.

 

[vocalstrance]

Has anyone used the valhalla 2 as a preamp to a SS power amp? How would this affect the sound?

 

[glooory]

Not really sure how I should manage this;
 
I currently have a maverick D1+ working as a DAC on my speakers system and a Beyer DT 770 250 Ohm plugged on it (because it also make headphones amplifier)
 
After some research, I think that the Vahalla 2 is going to be my next purchase.
 
I've read in this topic that you guys put a DAC before the Vah 2. Is it a problem to put a tube dac (d1+) before it ? Should I get another one ?
 
The idea I have is to route like this : PC > USB on d1+ > Schiit Vah2 >DT770
                                                                                                    > RCA output to my amp for external speakers
 
 
 
Thanks

 

[JustinBieber]

On the note of planars being powered with Valhalla 2, I'm currently set up with an Oppo PM-1 and Valhalla 2 handles it well. With low gain I'm at about 30-50% volume for most recordings and 70-80% for some vinyl rips with a high dynamic range. No need for high gain and no clipping. These are very efficient so anyone looking into purchasing a PM-1/2 IMO doesn't need to look into a new amp if they already have Valhalla 2. 
 
The PM-1 does scale a bit with higher power amps (on my 70s integrated JA-S55 and 60s Fisher 400) but it's not a huge difference. I feel Valhalla 2 is most of the way there already. 

 

[Mentis]

Can someone here please recommend me an amp that goes well with both HD800 and Alpha Dog? Thanks!