[hollandstein]

I think the Gold Lion seems cleaner too. The EH 6CG7 seemed muddy to me at times. More of a soundstage on the Gold Lion too.

Agreed. I have some 6XX on the way and I’m excited to pair them.

 

[jcolletteiii]

Man, I will not ever be ordering from tube depot again. Refuses to admit that 6SN7 adapter is lost 3 weeks after shipping. Refused to replace, had to file a dispute. Aren't many options out there for this adapter - didn't want a chinese one, so went with one from Garage1217 instead - looks like the quality is better. So, I still have no idea how 6SN7's sound. Ugh.

 

[CarlosAudio51]

I have bought 2 tubes and a socket saver from them. No issues. But the fact that they didn't replace/refund your order after it got lost in transit is terrible. Have you tried Upscale Audio? I've never bought from them but read good things about them.

 

[bl4scott]

Found some Mullard's that are for sale locally. 2 of HY90/35W4 and 1 of HF93/12BA6. Will any of these work in the Vali 2?

 

[bcowen]

Found some Mullard's that are for sale locally. 2 of HY90/35W4 and 1 of HF93/12BA6. Will any of these work in the Vali 2?

No. The HY90 is a rectifier tube, and the HF93 is a pentode with a 12.6 heater voltage. Even with adapters, the HY90 will likely fry your amp within seconds, and the HF93 won't get enough heater voltage to get the cathodes to temperature (the Vali 2 provides 6.3 volts of heater voltage). There are dual voltage tubes (like 12AU7's, 12AT7's, 12AX7's, and others) out there that will operate at either 6.3v or 12.6v depending on how the heater circuit is wired for them, but the HF93 is not a dual voltage design.

https://www.radiomuseum.org/tubes/tube_hy90.html
https://tubedata.tubes.se/sheets/062/h/HF93.pdf

 

[bl4scott]

No. The HY90 is a rectifier tube, and the HF93 is a pentode with a 12.6 heater voltage. Even with adapters, the HY90 will likely fry your amp within seconds, and the HF93 won't get enough heater voltage to get the cathodes to temperature (the Vali 2 provides 6.3 volts of heater voltage). There are dual voltage tubes (like 12AU7's, 12AT7's, 12AX7's, and others) out there that will operate at either 6.3v or 12.6v depending on how the heater circuit is wired for them, but the HF93 is not a dual voltage design.

https://www.radiomuseum.org/tubes/tube_hy90.html
https://tubedata.tubes.se/sheets/062/h/HF93.pdf

Still leaning all this. Thanks again for the help.

 

[433521]

Man, I will not ever be ordering from tube depot again. Refuses to admit that 6SN7 adapter is lost 3 weeks after shipping. Refused to replace, had to file a dispute. Aren't many options out there for this adapter - didn't want a chinese one, so went with one from Garage1217 instead - looks like the quality is better. So, I still have no idea how 6SN7's sound. Ugh.

Patience. I'd think they'd wait at least 30 days, stuff turns up, and if they send new stuff out it's not like if the package turns up they can expect the extra to come home. Lets be kind to our vendors.

 

[mbritt]

After listening to the new Vali 2+/ModiMulti stack for a month now I'm getting a good feel for this little tube amp rig. I bought a Sovtec 6922 to pair with my Audeze LCD-2Cs based on several online mentions of that being a good pairing and I would have to agree. I don't have the patience to let the tubes warm up and swap them out for a side by side with the stock tube but the Sovtec sounded great once I let it warm up and burn in overnight. Here's a link to my initial impressions with the stock tube and Snake Oil mini-link interconnects.

My main listening rig is a Bifrost 2/Asgard 3 stack which has a smooth analog feeling to it. Not boring at all but sweet and lush. The Bifrost rig is a like eating at a fine dining sit down restaurant where the Vali 2+ stack is like the best taco truck in LA. You probably wouldn't eat tacos or fine dining every day but you'd enjoy the variety of both experiences. It's nice to have variations of great meals and sounds.

The recent Steve Guttenberg's Vali 2+ video review nailed what I was thinking, that the Vali was fun and engaging, especially with older rock and acoustic music. The kind of recordings that I keep coming back to are the ones that sound like the band was recording live in a studio - as opposed to piecemeal tracks being recorded separately. His recommendation of The Beatles White Album led me down a vintage rock Sunday afternoon. Be sure to listen to While My Guitar Gently Weeps to hear the roomy, echoey goodness enhanced by the Vali tube amp.

Coming to age in the 80's I missed the Beatles with the exception of what I've heard on Classic Rock radio over the years. I bought one of the early CD versions of Sgt Peppers and I came home from the opening week of the Beatles Love Vegas Show with the DVD Audio disc as a memento but that's it in my CD collection. Firing up Roon to hear the White Album was a good time that led me to the Let It Be Naked Version Remastered on Tidal. Get Back stripped down to the basics really hooked me with the great sounding guitar work and crashing symbols. Same goes for Don't Let Me Down but Let It Be was a real treat with the opening piano, Pauls vocals and the intricate guitars. Hours later and I'm still enthralled by the Roon AI algorithm feeding me great vintage rock. Songs like The Rolling Stones Out of Time I usually skip because they've always sounded a little too 50's do-wap for me but the Vali 2+ brings out the best in vocal harmonies. I should get up and get on with my day but I'm stuck here enjoying the spiciness that the Vali 2+ adds to songs I might have skipped over of as kind of bland in the past. Wow! Rod Stewart's Maggie May just came on while I was finishing this and the Celtic sounding strings (Dulcimer Hammer?) really jumped out at me and grabbed my attention while the bass guitar throbs seductively, helping drive the laid back vocals. I guess I'm going to just go with the flow and listen to old music in a new way today. New for me anyway. Tubes aren't exactly cutting edge tech.

 

[supersonic395]

I'll post this here as it might be more relevant:

Have an EH 6CG7 and an EH 6922 on the way!

I don't plan to get any other tubes but am letting that stock tube burn in currently.

Will continue using the stock tube for at least another week but does anyone have experience with both the EH 6CG7 and the EH 6922?

 

[jcolletteiii]

Got my 6SN7 adapter from garage1217, and PP refunded my purchase from tubedepot - pretty pathetic I had to go that route, IMO. The adapter from garage1217 has really nice, thick, high quality pins that are long and gold plated. They're mounted to a circuit board, and that has a ceramic socket on top. Really nice quality. I rolled in the two types of 6SN7's I have in my stash - both NOS from what I can tell. They sound *GOOD*. Have not spent enough time with these tubes yet, but my first impression is that the bass is crisper, and that cymbal hits are just extraordinarily textured. The first LP I listened to through the 6SN7 was 'Up at Minton's' vol 2 by Stanley Turrentine - my favorite live jazz recording period. I was literally startled by the applause at the end of the first track as it appeared to float all around me. No - *literally* startled (I don't use the term 'literally' unless it is actually true). Like my heart jumped because I knew no one else was in the room with me. Have to spend some more time with this tube.

 

[Mr Trev]

Got my 6SN7 adapter from garage1217, and PP refunded my purchase from tubedepot - pretty pathetic I had to go that route, IMO. The adapter from garage1217 has really nice, thick, high quality pins that are long and gold plated. They're mounted to a circuit board, and that has a ceramic socket on top. Really nice quality. I rolled in the two types of 6SN7's I have in my stash - both NOS from what I can tell. They sound *GOOD*. Have not spent enough time with these tubes yet, but my first impression is that the bass is crisper, and that cymbal hits are just extraordinarily textured. The first LP I listened to through the 6SN7 was 'Up at Minton's' vol 2 by Stanley Turrentine - my favorite live jazz recording period. I was literally startled by the applause at the end of the first track as it appeared to float all around me. No - *literally* startled (I don't use the term 'literally' unless it is actually true). Like my heart jumped because I knew no one else was in the room with me. Have to spend some more time with this tube.

You using a socket saver with that or just running the V2 topless?

I have a double stack of adapters and I find my 6sn7s tend to be noisy with that setup. Could be because I'm using a 12au7 adapter in place of a "true" socket saver and then a 12au7 -> 6SN7 on top of that.
Regardless, I really should get a more elegant solution, and I do like the G1217s (plus it would also give me an excuse to get a 5670 adapter at the same time)

 

[CarlosAudio51]

I'll post this here as it might be more relevant:

Have an EH 6CG7 and an EH 6922 on the way!

I don't plan to get any other tubes but am letting that stock tube burn in currently.

Will continue using the stock tube for at least another week but does anyone have experience with both the EH 6CG7 and the EH 6922?

I got both, but only have about 2 weeks on the EH 6922. A quick commentary would be that the 6CG7 sounds loose and muddy in the bass, midrange is forward and bloomy at least compared to the 6922, and slightly dark treble. 6922 overall has better extension at both ends but is slightly brighter. Midrange is still bloomy but not as forward as the 6CG7.

To be honest they have different sound signatures, but I'm almost exclusively using the 6CG7 because I have the Asgard 3. The Asgard 3 has a hint of tube magic, that sounds better to me than the Vali 2 on the stock tube and EH 6922. Seems like getting the Asgard 3 has put the brakes on my tube rolling adventures with the Vali 2. At least for now. Asgard 3 for 70% of my listening. When I want a bit more tubey sound, I got the 6CG7 for a more laid back warm and bloomy sound for the rest of my listening time.

 

[bl4scott]

I'll post this here as it might be more relevant:

Have an EH 6CG7 and an EH 6922 on the way!

I don't plan to get any other tubes but am letting that stock tube burn in currently.

Will continue using the stock tube for at least another week but does anyone have experience with both the EH 6CG7 and the EH 6922?

I don't plan to get any other tubes but am letting that stock tube burn in currently. - This is what I thought and said a month or so ago.

 

[bl4scott]

Got my 6SN7 adapter from garage1217, and PP refunded my purchase from tubedepot - pretty pathetic I had to go that route, IMO. The adapter from garage1217 has really nice, thick, high quality pins that are long and gold plated. They're mounted to a circuit board, and that has a ceramic socket on top. Really nice quality. I rolled in the two types of 6SN7's I have in my stash - both NOS from what I can tell. They sound *GOOD*. Have not spent enough time with these tubes yet, but my first impression is that the bass is crisper, and that cymbal hits are just extraordinarily textured. The first LP I listened to through the 6SN7 was 'Up at Minton's' vol 2 by Stanley Turrentine - my favorite live jazz recording period. I was literally startled by the applause at the end of the first track as it appeared to float all around me. No - *literally* startled (I don't use the term 'literally' unless it is actually true). Like my heart jumped because I knew no one else was in the room with me. Have to spend some more time with this tube.

What was the first tube you used in your new adapter?

 

[jcolletteiii]

I'm running it on a socket saver right now, but I will give it a shot later without the socketsaver to see if it will work - dunno if the pins are quite long enough. EDIT: Not long enough pins to run without a socket saver.

I tried a grey glass RCA CRC 6SN7-GT first. I am not sure if that one is NOS or not, but so far all of the tubes from that haul have been. It was quite good, but then I put in a silver top Sylvania 6SN7 GTB, and I can't put my finger on the differences quite yet, but I do prefer the silver top Sylvania - at least right now. Gotta let both burn in for awhile tho.