New Schiit Vali 2 Discussion Thread

The big takeaway is not news. @purr1n and others have talked at length about the importance of sitting with your gear for awhile in order to discern differences and changes, especially at this level of gear comparision. That is certainly the case with rolling the ECC84 in the Vali 2, an amp not known for dramatic changes with tube rolling. After swtiching back to the RCA, I was far less certain about my initial impressions. Beyond this, given the variabiity in tube and adapter quality, whose to say what was responisble for what differences being heard. Add to this how much sonic preferences influence whether I decide any particular change is "good" or "bad." Know your preferences!

 

I've been flip flopping for a while. I've got quite the hodgepodge system. I've moved away from new production, buy used and really like to cherry pick.

In terms of objective system design, I really thought I had something when I moved to a passive pre-amp. I had a used Freya+ and did every kind of tube roll and was never really satisfied. Different amps and different speakers were all paraded out with an Emotiva DAC. The DAC had variable output, and so someone suggested pulling out the Freya and going direct to the amplifier. That was a very eye opening moment! I was totally flabbergasted. Convinced that the best pre-amp was no pre-amp I sold the Freya+ without hesitation. The lift in detail and all those fancy attributes we swoon over was an obvious step up.

Maybe a year or two passes.... I bought a partially dead Saga+ with a faulty tube section. This is passively driving a Bifrost 2 to a Bells 450 power amp into a pair of ELAC DFR52 speakers. The past 6 months or so, I was getting to a point where I started to believe these DFR52 were slow and flat no matter how much juice you pumped into them.

On a whim I pulled out my old Vali2 nobody wanted to buy - and hooked it up as a pre-amp. I slipped in this old rando 6CG7 mystery crazy ebay find I bought for $1. I approximated the volume level to guestimate performance to just be a line buffer and use the digital volume levels from my computer source.

After months and months of listening to a flat system and not really realizing it... my system woke UP. I mean woke the f**k UP. I mean layering, punch and engagement. Pretty little sounds coming out of dark spaces. Snappy slaps and face smack. Hi-hat and brush massages.

Now I'm tired and I haven't put in another tube because I'm just too busy listening through late nights again.

Anyhow, the humble Vali2. I have some JAN 5670's here and an adapter on the way. So that will be fun too.