[Mad Lust Envy]

The crazy thing is how the original Vali was the sweetest, most extraordinary sound I'd ever heard from an amp. It wasn't even close to the SS amps I had along side it. You could DEFINITELY hear the difference. And that was with stock tubes. It was so sweet, and euphoric. It just lacked soundstage, and hummed, and ringed like a mother.

@Hyde00

I went with EH 6922 Gold. He said it's warm and relaxed, so I figured it'd be my best bet as a contrast to the stock tube and ss amps I have.

And yeah, I wanted to stay in the Schiit family, and didn't wanna deal with too many tubes. My only choices were the Vali and Lyr, and I don't have the budget for a Lyr, and I'd use the Vali as a preamp to my Jotunheim 2 anyways, so I don't need Lyr power.

 

[M4573rm1nd]

The crazy thing is how the original Vali was the sweetest, most extraordinary sound I'd ever heard from an amp. It wasn't even close to the SS amps I had along side it. You could DEFINITELY hear the difference. And that was with stock tubes. It was so sweet, and euphoric. It just lacked soundstage, and hummed, and ringed like a mother.

@Hyde00

I went with EH 6922 Gold. He said it's warm and relaxed, so I figured it'd be my best bet as a contrast to the stock tube and ss amps I have.

And yeah, I wanted to stay in the Schiit family, and didn't wanna deal with too many tubes. My only choices were the Vali and Lyr, and I don't have the budget for a Lyr, and I'd use the Vali as a preamp to my Jotunheim 2 anyways, so I don't need Lyr power.

You did the right choise. 6922EH gold is good tube to start with. It is the first tube which sound I did like and it's sound differs from 6BZ7. Hope you will be happy with it too. But once you started experiments with tubes it can't be stopped. So cancel the order and stay with stock tube

It also have good glowing type:

 

[Mr Trev]

I may be opening a can of worms, but what tubves you guys recommend for a decent analog-ish tubey sound that is sweeter than stock. I'll be receivinbg a Vali 2+ fr impressions in the immediate future, and wanna roll a contrasty tube. I'm confident enough to feel like I'll hear the difference, so someone HALP me plz. Nothing crazy expensive.

Eh, I'll look around.

Personally, I like the Vali better with "not-stock" tube types. If you don't want to mess with adapters - 6cg7 would be my choice. RCA cleartops and Matsushita are two that sound great and are reasonably cheap.
If adapters don't bother you, go for 12au7s. I have an EI Yugo that is still one of my alltime favs. - closest I've found to "out of your head".

 

[Hyde00]

Personally, I like the Vali better with "not-stock" tube types. If you don't want to mess with adapters - 6cg7 would be my choice. RCA cleartops and Matsushita are two that sound great and are reasonably cheap.
If adapters don't bother you, go for 12au7s. I have an EI Yugo that is still one of my alltime favs. - closest I've found to "out of your head".

Sorry I'm still new to all this but...... aside from the "recommended" tube types, what other tube types can we use?

The "6" indicaste is 6V and "12" is 12V right? Can Vali 2+ uses 12au7s?

Another example would be, I previously have heard Mullard 12AT7WA / CV4024 from a Project Ember and thought it sounded nice, would that work on Vali 2+?

 

[Hyde00]

The crazy thing is how the original Vali was the sweetest, most extraordinary sound I'd ever heard from an amp. It wasn't even close to the SS amps I had along side it. You could DEFINITELY hear the difference. And that was with stock tubes. It was so sweet, and euphoric. It just lacked soundstage, and hummed, and ringed like a mother.

@Hyde00

I went with EH 6922 Gold. He said it's warm and relaxed, so I figured it'd be my best bet as a contrast to the stock tube and ss amps I have.

And yeah, I wanted to stay in the Schiit family, and didn't wanna deal with too many tubes. My only choices were the Vali and Lyr, and I don't have the budget for a Lyr, and I'd use the Vali as a preamp to my Jotunheim 2 anyways, so I don't need Lyr power.

lol I'm hoping Vali 2+ would be best of both worlds between Vali 1 and Vali 2. Looking forward to your impression.

I also previously had a chance to get a used Project Ember for $130 but I was too noob and didn't know any better so I got intimidated and passed up on the deal. So now I can only afford Vali 2+ and can't afford Project Ember or Lyr 3 at full price LOL.

 

[Mr Trev]

Sorry I'm still new to all this but...... aside from the "recommended" tube types, what other tube types can we use?

The "6" indicaste is 6V and "12" is 12V right? Can Vali 2+ uses 12au7s?

Another example would be, I previously have heard Mullard 12AT7WA / CV4024 from a Project Ember and thought it sounded nice, would that work on Vali 2+?

With an adapter, 12au7 can work with the vali2 (12au7s will work with both 6v and 12v heaters). I'm not sure about the 12at7 though, I think it may have a different pinout.
I also have adapters for 5670 type tubes, 6sn7 type tubes, and ecc40 (I do have a 7n7 tube and adapter en route). There may be others, but this all I've tried and can confirm work.

Dang, sorry about that ember… for $130 I totally would jumped on it

 

[bcowen]

The crazy thing is how the original Vali was the sweetest, most extraordinary sound I'd ever heard from an amp. It wasn't even close to the SS amps I had along side it. You could DEFINITELY hear the difference. And that was with stock tubes. It was so sweet, and euphoric. It just lacked soundstage, and hummed, and ringed like a mother.

@Hyde00

I went with EH 6922 Gold. He said it's warm and relaxed, so I figured it'd be my best bet as a contrast to the stock tube and ss amps I have.

And yeah, I wanted to stay in the Schiit family, and didn't wanna deal with too many tubes. My only choices were the Vali and Lyr, and I don't have the budget for a Lyr, and I'd use the Vali as a preamp to my Jotunheim 2 anyways, so I don't need Lyr power.

Try one of these and call it a day.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2x-BRIMAR-...169833?hash=item447571d269:g:JakAAOSw2nNgEIpb

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Try one of these and call it a day.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2x-BRIMAR-...169833?hash=item447571d269:g:JakAAOSw2nNgEIpb

If I find myself going into the deep end, I'll consider it lol.

 

[Hyde00]

Great write up, I'd also recommend the MATSUSHITA / NATIONAL PCC88 / 7DJ8 for a warmer sound.

Personally, I like the Vali better with "not-stock" tube types. If you don't want to mess with adapters - 6cg7 would be my choice. RCA cleartops and Matsushita are two that sound great and are reasonably cheap.
If adapters don't bother you, go for 12au7s. I have an EI Yugo that is still one of my alltime favs. - closest I've found to "out of your head".

So now there's 2 recommendations on the Matsushita tube....... I feel like I have to try it, but which version? 7DJ8 or 6CG7 or is there a difference?

Man I only just ordered the Tesla E88CC Blue Tip, why you guys doing this to me?

If I find myself going into the deep end, I'll consider it lol.

I find now I'm doing a lot of tube shopping already and Schiit hasn't even ship my Vali 2+ yet (backorder).

This escalated quickly..... which reinforced my decision to avoid tube amps all this time LOL.

 

[Hyde00]

With an adapter, 12au7 can work with the vali2 (12au7s will work with both 6v and 12v heaters). I'm not sure about the 12at7 though, I think it may have a different pinout.
I also have adapters for 5670 type tubes, 6sn7 type tubes, and ecc40 (I do have a 7n7 tube and adapter en route). There may be others, but this all I've tried and can confirm work.

Dang, sorry about that ember… for $130 I totally would jumped on it

Yeah now that I know what I didn't know back then, totally should've jumped on it LOL.

Try one of these and call it a day.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2x-BRIMAR-...169833?hash=item447571d269:g:JakAAOSw2nNgEIpb

Could you describe the sound a bit about this specific tube?

 

[bcowen]

Yeah now that I know what I didn't know back then, totally should've jumped on it LOL.

Could you describe the sound a bit about this specific tube?

On the warm-ish side, excellent detail retrieval, nicely extended highs without ever being fatiguing. But what I like most about it is how it fleshes out every harmonic nuance and micro-detail in the midrange. Sounds like a tube, versus the stock Vali tube that sounds kind of solid-statish to me. It's not the most hammering tube in the bass (may be a little lacking if you're a metal-head), but it's nice and full down there just the same and nicely defined. Just lacks that last bit of wallop. I'm not even a Brimar fan-boy. At all really...I have a few 6SN7's and 6J5's that leave me underwhelmed, but this particular tube in the Vali 2 (not "+", the older plain "2" version) is my second favorite of all I've listened to in that amp (and my favorite requires an adapter). About 9 months or a year ago there was an Ebay seller that had a bunch of these. I bought a pair mostly because the price was good and thought why not give it a try....ended up going back and buying another couple pairs just to stash up because I liked it so much.

 

[bcowen]

With an adapter, 12au7 can work with the vali2 (12au7s will work with both 6v and 12v heaters). I'm not sure about the 12at7 though, I think it may have a different pinout.
I also have adapters for 5670 type tubes, 6sn7 type tubes, and ecc40 (I do have a 7n7 tube and adapter en route). There may be others, but this all I've tried and can confirm work.

Dang, sorry about that ember… for $130 I totally would jumped on it

The 12AT7 has the same pinout as the 12AU7, as does the 12AX7. All three are dual voltage (6.3v or 12.6v), they only differ in gain. The 12AU7 is the lowest gain with an amplification factor of around 20, the 12AT7 is next with a factor of about 60, and the 12AX7 is highest with an amplification factor of around 100. 12AT7's can work in many circuits that use a 12AU7 natively without issue, but the 12AX7 probably won't due to the significantly higher gain.

 

[Mr Trev]

So now there's 2 recommendations on the Matsushita tube....... I feel like I have to try it, but which version? 7DJ8 or 6CG7 or is there a difference?

Man I only just ordered the Tesla E88CC Blue Tip, why you guys doing this to me?

I find now I'm doing a lot of tube shopping already and Schiit hasn't even ship my Vali 2+ yet (backorder).

This escalated quickly..... which reinforced my decision to avoid tube amps all this time LOL.

I totally forgot about the 7DJ8. It is probably far easier to find a Matsu 7DJ8 than the 6CG7 - at least without having to pay a s-load for shipping from the Old World.

The 12AT7 has the same pinout as the 12AU7, as does the 12AX7. All three are dual voltage (6.3v or 12.6v), they only differ in gain. The 12AU7 is the lowest gain with an amplification factor of around 20, the 12AT7 is next with a factor of about 60, and the 12AX7 is highest with an amplification factor of around 100. 12AT7's can work in many circuits that use a 12AU7 natively without issue, but the 12AX7 probably won't due to the significantly higher gain.

I remember reading a disclaimer somewhere that one of those 12A-7 weren't quite a drop in replacement for the 12AU7. Of course I can't remember where or why - but it wasn't just the gain.

 

[Hyde00]

I totally forgot about the 7DJ8. It is probably far easier to find a Matsu 7DJ8 than the 6CG7 - at least without having to pay a s-load for shipping from the Old World.


I remember reading a disclaimer somewhere that one of those 12A-7 weren't quite a drop in replacement for the 12AU7. Of course I can't remember where or why - but it wasn't just the gain.

lol yeah a good ebay search do net me more results on 7DJ8 it seems, maybe I'll stick to 7DJ8 if I ever do purchase one.

Uh so would you say it's safer to stick with 12AU7 as oppose to 12AT7 or 12AX7?

 

[bcowen]

I totally forgot about the 7DJ8. It is probably far easier to find a Matsu 7DJ8 than the 6CG7 - at least without having to pay a s-load for shipping from the Old World.


I remember reading a disclaimer somewhere that one of those 12A-7 weren't quite a drop in replacement for the 12AU7. Of course I can't remember where or why - but it wasn't just the gain.

They all have the same pinout and pretty much the same specs....just different gain.