Valhalla by Schiit is a single-ended triode OTL headphone amplifier. If you are a Hi-Fi fan you know what does it mean, and if you're not the explanation is simple: Valhalla is a great headphones amplifier with a warm tube sound.
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Valhalla is a Class A, single-ended triode headphone amplifier with no overall feedback and noninverting circuit topology. It provides classic tube sound and can drive headphones with impedances as low as 32 ohms. The only active devices in the audio signal path in Valhalla are tubes. The 6N1P triodes input provides linear, low noise voltage gain. The 6N6P triodes provide good power output capability for a wide variety of high-impedance headphones.
Valhalla should be compared to high-end amplifiers because that amplifier is using high quality parts such as Alps Blue Velvet pots, Dale resistors, Wima capacitors, and other top-end components. Add to that almost 2,000uf of filter capacitance in its oversized power supply, and you'll get the picture of its superior performance.
Most of Valhalla is covered by a limited warranty that covers parts and labor for five years. Of course, tube are covered by a 90-day warranty - by their nature you can't have them for years in a perfect condition - but they should last between 3,000 and 5,000 hours, and that's long enough.
Valhalla amplifier can drive headphone with impedance of 32 up to 600 ohms, frequency response is between 10Hz and 200KHz, and total harmonic distortion is less than 0.2% in the frequency range 20Hz-20KHz at 1V RMS. On top of that, Valhalla looks really good, nicely designed and skillfuly assembled. If you don't like the sound, which we can't imagine, Schiit will give you a full refund. So, you can enjoy high-end amplifier for 15 days and then decided do you like it or not. A very good offer, we must say.
After some initial playing to settle things down, you'll get an excellent sound: dynamic, transparent and with no artificially amplified frequency. Considering the quality, it's unfair to compare Valhalla to other amplifier in its price range, it should be compared with more expensive amplifiers. Simple said, Valhalla is what an amplifier should be: a device that amplifies the signal without adding any artificial moments. And that's the best recommendation we can give. ■
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