[jonathan c]

Your tube is looking huge!

.... tube porn? .... General Erectric ?

 

[jonathan c]

Mine comes on Monday and your lavish praise has me looking forward to putting it through its paces.

... it may put you through your paces ...

 

[Luckyleo]

Listening to the HD 660S2 via the Vali 3 with a GE 5670 5 star from 1973. It's amazing to me that these very good headphones are transformed into an excellent powerhouse of a headphone. Can't believe the price to performance ratio of this amp.

I'm one happy Schiithead!

 

[jonathan c]

• One tremendous attribute of Vali 3 is its absence of noise / an unbelievably low noise floor (assuming OK / non-microphonic tube). This to me yields real clarity, depth, dynamics in how Vali 3 presents music.
• The root of all this? I think the external wall-wart (tumour?) power supply. Keeping potential noise sources away from amplification circuitry can only reap sonic benefits.

 

[Mr Trev]

• One tremendous attribute of Vali 3 is its absence of noise / an unbelievably low noise floor (assuming OK / non-microphonic tube). This to me yields real clarity, depth, dynamics in how Vali 3 presents music.
• The root of all this? I think the external wall-wart (tumour?) power supply. Keeping potential noise sources away from amplification circuitry can only reap sonic benefits.

The low noise floor would be probably the biggest selling point for me to upgrade my V2. IIRC, Schiit made some improvements to the internal power supply during the upgrade to the V2+. More improvements carried over to the V3. So apparently it's a bit more than just the wall wart.
Some tubes (6SN7 for example) are just plain hummy in my V2. The improvements Schiit made over the models since then make tube noise far less of a problem - again this is just me trying to remember what was in the Schiit write-up about the Vali3

 

[jonathan c]

The low noise floor would be probably the biggest selling point for me to upgrade my V2. IIRC, Schiit made some improvements to the internal power supply during the upgrade to the V2+. More improvements carried over to the V3. So apparently it's a bit more than just the wall wart.
Some tubes (6SN7 for example) are just plain hummy in my V2. The improvements Schiit made over the models since then make tube noise far less of a problem - again this is just me trying to remember what was in the Schiit write-up about the Vali3

... if you use adapters with 6SN7 in Vali 2, are the adapters a source of hum ?...

 

[Mr Trev]

... if you use adapters with 6SN7 in Vali 2, are the adapters a source of hum ?...

That was my thought initially, especially since I need to double-dapter to use them. Talking with some other users, and they didn't have the issue (@LobalWarming I think you chimed in bout this once). After reading that Schiit Happens writeup about the Vali3 and seeing how they explained the improvements in the Vali family over the years, I'm willing to concede the "problem" is with the V1 Vali2 itself

 

[TinearedOne]

... if you use adapters with 6SN7 in Vali 2, are the adapters a source of hum ?...

Chiming in. My Vali 2 is pretty hummy with every tube in high gain. I think it’s just part of the design.

 

[LobalWarming]

That was my thought initially, especially since I need to double-dapter to use them. Talking with some other users, and they didn't have the issue (@LobalWarming I think you chimed in bout this once). After reading that Schiit Happens writeup about the Vali3 and seeing how they explained the improvements in the Vali family over the years, I'm willing to concede the "problem" is with the V1 Vali2 itself

No humming or hawing here on the 2+ in either gain mode. Mainly used high gain, since high gain = lower feedback. And to my jaded ears, higher feedback is sonic valium. Turns good tubes into meh tubes. And poor tubes into meh tubes. Guess that's fair, but boring.

Great to hear Vali 3 employs less feedback... hope that Vali 3+ offers a zero-feedback option. At least for the tube stage.

 

[Richsvt]

Trying my Vali 3 with 396A and what a wonderful sound.

 

[HWB3]

My new toy came about an hour ago. Put my WE396A in it and it's off to the races. Of course it sounds good right out of the box. But I want to give it a workout over the next few days to see what I actually have.

 

[HWB3]

The 100 volts going to the tube is really making it shine.

 

[oakparkmusicguy]

Everyone is having too much fun talking tubes so I have to share. I have a Vali 2 and a 2+. Here’s part of my tube collection

 

[HWB3]

I've got about ten hours on my Vali 3 and it's a champ.

 

[jonathan c]

• After I spent serious listening time away, with OTL tube h/p/a, excellent tubes, ZMF Auteur / Atrium / Eikon etc., circling back to Vali 3 was a delightful shock.

In this instance -- Brimar CV4003 as the tube, Grado GH2 (limited edition, cocobolo) as the headphone -- the thrill ain't gone!! Vali 3 bowled me over initially and did so again after a hiatus. The phenomenally high SQ from Vali 3 is not a fluke!!