Valhalla Integrated in the House!

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bbybaudio

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Valhalla Integrated in the House!
« on: 19 Jan 2022, 10:15 pm »
Well after a long. long wait, my Valhalla Integrated arrived today. I was very happy with my PL Dialogue HP Premium Integrated with great tubes. Many urged me to give the DS products a try. Right out of the box the sound is jaw dropping. Instruments and vocals have more of a natural timbre, everything is quieter. A big surprise was the increase in the weight of the bass! PL is known for their low end. No contest. DS says amp will continue to improve for the next two weeks and I will report back then. Happy listening everyone!

mresseguie

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Re: Valhalla Integrated in the House!
« Reply #1 on: 19 Jan 2022, 10:54 pm »
Congratulations!

Simliar to my experience with the Kootenay 120....jaw dropping out of the box....and it does get better. Which tubes have you got in it?

Michael

geerock

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Re: Valhalla Integrated in the House!
« Reply #2 on: 20 Jan 2022, 12:09 am »
The Don Sachs equipment has a habit of doing just that to a lot of other stuff....exposing weakness in other lines of audio.  You are not the first one who was shocked by the immediate and obvious positive change Dons equipment has over PL.....and many others.  Congratulations.  ODAM caps.  Premium tubes.  Those killer trannies from Poland.  And the great circuit design from a guy who has been building them one at a time for a lot of years.
PS.  Those VCaps take a long time to really show their stuff.  You have even more good stuff waiting for you down the road.
« Last Edit: 20 Jan 2022, 03:11 am by geerock »

Memphisblues

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Re: Valhalla Integrated in the House!
« Reply #3 on: 20 Jan 2022, 01:25 am »
Fantastic!

Looking forward to your updates.

Patiently waiting…..I’m now one amp closer

Enjoy!

Mike

Tyson

Re: Valhalla Integrated in the House!
« Reply #4 on: 20 Jan 2022, 02:04 am »
Don makes spectacular gear.  My own custom push-pull pentode amp is based on his design and it's amazing.

Daryl Zero

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Re: Valhalla Integrated in the House!
« Reply #5 on: 20 Jan 2022, 03:21 am »
Congrats. I was really torn and wanted one of those. Hope you love it.

DBT AUDIO

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Re: Valhalla Integrated in the House!
« Reply #6 on: 20 Jan 2022, 10:19 am »
Congratulations!  I try to refrain from having multiples of the same equipment, but I hear nothing but good things about Don Sachs gear.  I sold my PrimaLuna gear and I currently have the Luxman integrated settling in.  I may have to pick up a Don Sachs integrated as I probably would be good with owning the Luxman and Don Sachs!

Keep us posted!

2Bad

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Re: Valhalla Integrated in the House!
« Reply #7 on: 20 Jan 2022, 12:13 pm »
Congratulations... I am sure that we are all looking forward to your thoughts once you have spent a little more time with it. Happy to hear how good it sounds right out of the box. Waiting here with bated breath.  :D

Cheers,
- Bill -

bbybaudio

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Re: Valhalla Integrated in the House!
« Reply #8 on: 20 Jan 2022, 06:32 pm »
Currently running the KT66 tubes which Don had put 10-15 hrs on. DS noted that KT66s sound great with only a few hrs on them. DS also said that the 63PS-E tubes also sound great but need about 100 hrs to get there.

Buffdriver

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Re: Valhalla Integrated in the House!
« Reply #9 on: 1 Feb 2022, 02:34 am »
 Congrats!.  I am still waiting for my Valhalla - I think it comes by mid-March. I have been breaking my new X5s in for 10 days now, running digital from an Aurender through Holo May KTE DAC with an old SS Proton "do everything" system until the Valhalla arrives.  WHAT a fantastic sound and music quality improvement already!  And they aren't near broken in yet, the cables and speaker wires are plain ole basic ones.  I just feel and hear the 3-D music envelope, the vibrato of the decay of piano, cymbals (such a sweet high frequency with no harshness).  The bass is totally coherent now with the mid-range (still more breaking in to do, but quite ok at moderate listening levels). An all this with an old Proton.  I just can't wait for the Valhalla. I have told Clayton how much I love them already.  We have spent a lot of time talking about the physics of these speakers and he is right.  He was also very positive about the Valhalla.  I only have them 32" from the front wall for now (until I get the Valhalla and some new speaker wire and cables) and I have NO complaints.
Photo attached.


bbybaudio

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Re: Valhalla Integrated in the House!
« Reply #10 on: 1 Feb 2022, 08:14 pm »
Buffdriver, get Bass traps for behind your subwoofers and if you can, room treatment such as diffusers directly behind midbass and tweeter. Also, cover flat panel when listening with blanket. All dramtically improve the sound.

Mr. Big

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Re: Valhalla Integrated in the House!
« Reply #11 on: 1 Feb 2022, 09:51 pm »
Buffdriver, get Bass traps for behind your subwoofers and if you can, room treatment such as diffusers directly behind midbass and tweeter. Also, cover flat panel when listening with blanket. All dramtically improve the sound.

You are 100% correct looking at the photo he has no idea how good these speakers can sound.

Buffdriver

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Re: Valhalla Integrated in the House!
« Reply #12 on: 2 Feb 2022, 12:21 am »
I will do both -- thank you very much for the suggestions.  Of course, there is more work to be done.  Integrating the Valhalla, followed by new cable and speaker wire selection (after amp is integrated) sound treatment and position tweaking.  I see there are almost as many cable circles on this site as there are cable brands. 
I am just enjoying the break in process and reading all of the comments on various circles - even now they are very pleasurable to listen to compared to my prior M&K's.

bbybaudio

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Re: Valhalla Integrated in the House!
« Reply #13 on: 23 Mar 2022, 03:27 pm »
Valhalla Integrated fully broke in! Wow! Since this post has not been up in quite awhile I'll remind everyone that in 20 years my wife never expressed an interest in selecting the music, and music was always off around 8pm. That all changed with the Valhalla in the system. Now when she comes up to the music room she grabs the iPad and she selects the music and we may listen till 10pm. Why? Because music is now richer, has far more texture and with serious grunt! The front to back and side to side imaging of musicians and vocals is uncanny. Depending on the recording it often seems as if the performers stage goes back 8 ft or more behind the X5s. I have only heard this type of 3D realism once before using the combination of Atma-Sphere M60 monos and the MP3 preamp with a different set of speakers. My opinion is that the Valhalla is better sounding than that vaunted combo, but then again, the Atma-Spheres were in a different room with different speakers so no way to directly compare. As Don notes, both the KT66 and Russian 6P3S-E power tubes sound great, with both producing prodigious bass through the X5s. I did note that the three 6SN7s up front on my Valhalla are not identical as shown on Don's Webpage and in some of the ads for Valhallas for sale. Don states that this unit has the e-6SN7 in the input slot, thought to be the best sounding 6SN7 available. The reason all 3 are not this tube is 1) price, they are fairly expensive, and 2) size, their unique shape does not allow for three to be placed next to each other. For Valhalla owners who might want to try this, Don suggests purchasing tube socket savers to either raise the input tube or the two driver tubes.
At his stage I am ordering extra Russian power tubes and an e-6SN7 as I feel the Valhalla Integrated will be my endgame amp for many years to come. Enjoy!

DBT AUDIO

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Re: Valhalla Integrated in the House!
« Reply #14 on: 23 Mar 2022, 05:48 pm »
Valhalla Integrated fully broke in! Wow! Since this post has not been up in quite awhile I'll remind everyone that in 20 years my wife never expressed an interest in selecting the music, and music was always off around 8pm. That all changed with the Valhalla in the system. Now when she comes up to the music room she grabs the iPad and she selects the music and we may listen till 10pm. Why? Because music is now richer, has far more texture and with serious grunt! The front to back and side to side imaging of musicians and vocals is uncanny. Depending on the recording it often seems as if the performers stage goes back 8 ft or more behind the X5s. I have only heard this type of 3D realism once before using the combination of Atma-Sphere M60 monos and the MP3 preamp with a different set of speakers. My opinion is that the Valhalla is better sounding than that vaunted combo, but then again, the Atma-Spheres were in a different room with different speakers so no way to directly compare. As Don notes, both the KT66 and Russian 6P3S-E power tubes sound great, with both producing prodigious bass through the X5s. I did note that the three 6SN7s up front on my Valhalla are not identical as shown on Don's Webpage and in some of the ads for Valhallas for sale. Don states that this unit has the e-6SN7 in the input slot, thought to be the best sounding 6SN7 available. The reason all 3 are not this tube is 1) price, they are fairly expensive, and 2) size, their unique shape does not allow for three to be placed next to each other. For Valhalla owners who might want to try this, Don suggests purchasing tube socket savers to either raise the input tube or the two driver tubes.
At his stage I am ordering extra Russian power tubes and an e-6SN7 as I feel the Valhalla Integrated will be my endgame amp for many years to come. Enjoy!
I’ve heard nothing but good things about Don Sachs’ integrated amps.  Do you know if Don Sachs is a one man show?  I don’t mean that in an insulting way, I’m just thinking about how busy he may be if he works by himself and how things might go dealing with warranty repairs, etc.?  Glad to hear you are enjoying your X5s with the Don Sachs gear!

Buffdriver

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Re: Valhalla Integrated in the House!
« Reply #15 on: 23 Mar 2022, 05:54 pm »
Yes, Don is just building his equipment one at a time. He is retired and is taking very limited orders now. I would guess if he takes on another Valhalla- it might be 6 months out.  But worth it.

DBT AUDIO

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Re: Valhalla Integrated in the House!
« Reply #16 on: 23 Mar 2022, 06:52 pm »
Yes, Don is just building his equipment one at a time. He is retired and is taking very limited orders now. I would guess if he takes on another Valhalla- it might be 6 months out.  But worth it.
I’m not in the market at the moment for another amp, but I wouldn’t mind trying Don’s Valhalla amp.  Thanks for the information.

deadhead

Re: Valhalla Integrated in the House!
« Reply #17 on: 23 Mar 2022, 06:54 pm »
I’ve heard nothing but good things about Don Sachs’ integrated amps.  Do you know if Don Sachs is a one man show?  I don’t mean that in an insulting way, I’m just thinking about how busy he may be if he works by himself and how things might go dealing with warranty repairs, etc.?  Glad to hear you are enjoying your X5s with the Don Sachs gear!

Don is servicing what he sells and has sold.  I sent my model 2 pre amp back to him just recently and he turned the upgrade/repair around in a matter of days.  Still easy to talk to about anything audio related or otherwise.  Proceed with confidence.

DBT AUDIO

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Re: Valhalla Integrated in the House!
« Reply #18 on: 23 Mar 2022, 07:00 pm »
Don is servicing what he sells and has sold.  I sent my model 2 pre amp back to him just recently and he turned the upgrade/repair around in a matter of days.  Still easy to talk to about anything audio related or otherwise.  Proceed with confidence.
Thats good to know.  My only fear was if he was unable to work due to any type of situation, would production or repairs cease since he works by himself.  I wouldn’t know who to trust to repair his product if and when he retires from his business?   

zybar

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Re: Valhalla Integrated in the House!
« Reply #19 on: 23 Mar 2022, 07:05 pm »
Thats good to know.  My only fear was if he was unable to work due to any type of situation, would production or repairs cease since he works by himself.  I wouldn’t know who to trust to repair his product if and when he retires from his business?

If you think about it, the many (if not the majority) of vendors we all know and love are small or solely reliant on one or a couple of key people.

Their business would be significantly altered or ended with the loss of one or a couple of key individuals. 

Just the way it goes...

That said, I still generally buy from these vendors and I'll just deal with stuff as it happens.

George