Fitted her with a lovely Tung Sol 6BK7B and she is spankin' the HD650s quite nicely.
Now that I have had the Vali 2+ for a little while, it was time to move her into her final destination spot. She is now a member of my old school computer table setup.
I've been trying out a new set of closed back headphones using an EH6cg7, soundstage is OK, detail is good, voices are fine.
Plugged in my Zenith/Tungsol 6sn7, listened to the same set of recordings, wow, just wow. Soundstage opens up, details appear, voices are full, a much better overall sense of presence. I really like this tube.
I am very late to the tube rolling party because for the most part I have been satisfied with the tube on my Vali 2. However, recently I have felt that my Focal Clears have been sounding a bit boring, for want of a better word, compared to how they sound on other solid state equipment. I swapped in an Electro-Harmonix 6922 years ago and I must have been satisfied at the time? I didn't want to break the bank so I grabbed a National-Matsushitu 7DJ8 and a Philips ECC88 from Watford Tubes to try out.
I went with the National first. I only let it burn in for a few hours but I figured I would give it a listen just to see how it was doing. Suffice to say the little beast is still forward and frizzy, which I understand is to be expected from new tubes as stuff gets deposited on other stuff. Even so, I can hear a lot more width in the sound stage on the Clears and a *lot* more extension in the bass. As I am writing this, the National has had another five hours of burn in and it is just a little more mellow. Lovely warmth in the lower mids and female vocals are a little more calm than earlier.
There is a little channel mismatch at low volumes so I have switched the Vali 2 to low gain - usually I run it in high gain. Aside from that, I am really impressed with this little tube. My Clears are already sounding much more fun and engaging. It will be interesting to see what happens to the low mids over time. What I am really hoping for is that there will also be air at the top end once the frizzy forwardness burns off.
I will probably give the National a few weeks before I swap in the Philips. But even now I am thinking about what I could be doing with the Mjolnir 2 downstairs...
Speaking of spanking headphone - I am not a headphone guy. I listen to a Vali 2+, a Lyr 3 or a Saga + through either a tube power amp and Klipsch Heresy speakers, or through small Klipsch powered speakers. I swap them back and forth from time to time. But that headphone jack is there, I think maybe I should try headphones. I have some $60 Audio Technica headphones that I use to record multitrack music (me singing or playing along with previously recorded tracks.) Quality on recording headphones is not an issue, I just need to hear the recorded track so that I can sing or play along. What is the cost of an "entry level" set of high fidelity headphones meant for musical listening? I know that is controversial, I know some will say that entry price is $100, $1000, $infinity. I am sure there are threads that beat this question to death - links would be great! My goal would be that the new headphones be noticeably superior to the $60 AT's, but I do not want to spend more that the Schiit Saga, because this is an experiment. At the end of the experiment I will still be a speaker guy.
I’m no expert but I do love my Grado 325x’s with the Vali 2+ and some rca clear top 6cg7s. If you like the Klipsch sound Grados might be just up your alley.
Anyone have any experience with 12au7 GE triple mica 1950’s in the Vali 2+. I know bcowen has some dislike for GEs but I’ve found these to be incredibly musical. With an adapter of course.
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