IC: HE-500 and Project Ember II

I'm not sure if I want to sell these or not, but I'm toying with the idea. I really love the setup, but curiosity and all. I'm thinking about giving the Valhalla 2/HD650 a shot.

Just tossing these out there to see what the interest/price level is at before making a decision. If you want them, you're probably going to have to talk me into it by telling me the Valhalla/HD650 is the most amazing awesomesauce combo on the entire planet.

Project Ember v.2: Aluminum top plate, slightly beefier PS, upgraded volume knob, and a bunch of tubes. Amperex 6DJ8 - energetic sound that pairs well with the HD650, etc. 6N6P Russian Gold Grid - Really fantastic dark/smoky tube. This is what I use full time with my HE-500. Frankenember Tube/adapter set (you can google it). Then I've got 3 or 4 more 6SN7 tubes with the adapter...a Sylvania that is very bright/sharp, a G.E., and I honestly don't remember the others.

HE-500. This was Marv's old pair so any measurements you see on the site come from this set. They have jergpads, which are pretty squishy at this point, but still sound great. The headband is actually an HE-400 headband...apparently he or jerg broke the original headband while doing the jergpad mod and replaced it with a spare HE-400 headband they had lying around. Makes for a good conversation starter

Sound is still great. I have a custom cable made here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ImpactAudioCables

Black/gray with eidolic 1/4" jack and eidolic carbon fiber cable splitter.

No box or original packaging, but everything is functional and quite nice sounding.

Happy to provide pictures upon request.

 

Wow, I thought that you'd stay on these 4-ever. Don't get the Val2 get the Jot with the 650. You can thank me later.

 

I may still stick with it

As for the amp, you know I'm a sucker for tubes...

 

Don't be a sucka'. Get the Jot/650. The Valhalla 2 is not really a tube amp per say. It's a solid amp posing as a tube amp. Don't let it fool you though. It sounds very much like a good solid state amp. The Jot promises that it's a good solid state amp, but turns out that it's a great solid state amp.

You can hear mine in Nashville.

 

I'm not looking for a soft/syrupy tube sound. Just that little touch of holographic tube magic that SS has never quite been able to give me.

We'll see. The Jot isn't off my list, but I'm far less likely to see a good used deal on it.

 

The Valhalla 2 is more holographic than the Joti. As much as I love the Joti there was something spooky about the holographic nature of the Valhalla 2 with the right tubes.

 

I just don't hear another level of "holographic staging" with the Valhalla 2. It certainly does staging very well but when I owned it, stock tubes, I don't recall any aspect of staging that clearly trumped the Jot. Maybe it's there and I just can't hear it.

 

It's something I'm sensitive to. I got my first taste with the Valhalla 1 back in the day and haven't looked back since.

It's all a moot point anyway if nobody is interested in buying my humble setup

 

I agree that the stock tubes aren't any great shakes. You need to roll in some Valvos/Phillips to get it to shine.

 

I never rolled any tubes because I'd always read that the amp didn't respond well to tube rolling. Maybe I should have give some new tubes a shot.

 

For what it's worth, I sold my Valhalla 2 not long ago. It's very good, but I haven't ever really been satisfied with the dryness of the sound. I'm not looking for a syrupy mess, but the Val2 has this dryness that accentuates a glare in the HD650 treble. Like Ice-man, I never really had the feeling of a holographic soundstage. Was it good? Yes, but not so good that I felt compelled to keep it to pass down to my children (don't have any yet...) for generations to come.

To be honest, it feels really good to be rid of it. You can't put a price on that.... well actually you can: $300.

 

Treble glare in the HD650? Really? I can't imagine.

 

I don't think it drastically changes its sound signature with tube rolling, but I do think there are tubes that can bring out more layering/holographic elements in the amp.

 

To clarify, it's nothing like Beyer treble spikes. It is a slight "shhhhh" type harshness that, while soft, can smear over other frequencies. For what it's worth, Marv has indicated that he hears it too in the appreciation thread. Basically, the Valhalla 2 doesn't do the HD650's any favor with its dry presentation.

 

@Marvey So basically i was right in every regard

 

@Marvey @Ice-man

It's been a lot of fun taking these to meetups and watching the confused look on a listener's face when they proclaim that they never remembered the HE-400s sounding so amazing.

Also, it looks like team Jot is ganging up on me. I've seen some refer to it as the Jodie, and that is my wife's name. A sign, perhaps?

*Heads off to read all 57 pages of the HD650 thread*

 

I would hold onto the HE-500 until you here the HD650 modded or not. It might not be your cup of tea coming from the HE-500, which is more laid back and less forward in the mids. Kind of a slight U shape compared to the HD650 which has more of a slight sad face sound.

 

Hmm, I wouldn't describe the stock 650 like that, when well-driven. They sound very mid-forward right out of my Mojo (which is woefully underpowered for the task), but out of the Jot or other reasonably neutral desktop amp, especially balanced, it's slightly bass-forward if anything, a slight mid-bass bump. While the mids aren't sucked-out, they certainly don't have that sad face curve- they're detailed and smooth, but certainly don't swamp the rest.