Please let us know what you find out.
Cloud had quite a bit to share, which he said is okay to post here. Specific to my question of Valhalla / M4 compatibility, he mentioned this is his current set up and sounds terrific. Taken is context of everything that’s been said, that is plenty good enough for me.
In discussing sound stage and my current dissatisfaction he did caution that the source/dac is equally important. This is something I need to consider before getting too carried away.
Addition comments:
“ Sub Integration with the Valhalla is great. It doesn’t have line level outs, but high level inputs with a good sub is superior anyway.
Efficiency is no problem, I’m a rocker who constantly listens at 85db and higher and the Valhalla has plenty of juice with great dynamics and slam. 30+ watts goes a long way when you have incredible iron.
Tube life is about 10,000 hours on the front three tubes and 3000 to 5000 hours on the power tubes…
I’m obviously biased as I build them. But Dons gear is what got me to appreciate tube gear as it doesn’t have the traditional shortcomings of many other tube gear I’ve tried. Below is a little information on how the Valhalla works and what sets it apart.
The Valhalla is a great integrated. Don has always been A one-man show being an electrical engineer he would modify different tube amps including citation amps and others. But realized he could create his own amps that outperformed these modded tube amps. That’s now what proliferates Don‘s lineup. And since Don was a one-man show he could keep his overhead very low and use very high end Componentry in his lineup. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying the good sounding tube circuits are known and there isn’t new designs in tubes. That’s 100% correct, which means how you implement and the quality of components is key to creating great sounding tube amps.
As for the Valhalla itself. It’s a KT 66 amp that produces anywhere from 30 to 40 W depending on what tubes are run with it. It also can be run with 6l6, El34, or KT77s. It uses some of the best iron on the market with very high quality toroidal transformers from Poland in both the power and output transformers. The power supply is regulated (very rare) as this increases transparency and accuracy. The amp uses constant and fully auto biasing. This constant biasing system is key as it constantly adjusts the bias of the tubes to make sure they’re always running in their optimal bias range. This is important because as tubes warm up and play large transients their biasing shifts. When tubes become slightly out of bias it creates a distorted wave form in the bass. This is what causes that “sloppy” bass that tube amps are known for. With a Constant biasing system that distorted wave never happens. This lens itself to the best bass I’ve heard on a tube amp and can keep up with great solid-state amps.
The Valhalla uses all octal tubes in the driver section and preamp. These tubes are more expensive and require more power to drive them then smaller tubes like 12au and 6DG8s ect…. But offer less distortion and are more musically engaging then the smaller driver tubes. The 6sn7s are LC coupled with vcap ODAMs. Which allows you to hear the lower distortion and transparency of the 6sn7.
The preamp and volume are controlled by a very high quality 64 step khozmo relay shunt attenuator. This style of attenuator allows there to only be two resistors in the signal path at any given volume (a omron and naked foil). This attenuator is arguably the most accurate and transparent volume control you can buy today.”
