Schiit Vallhalla 3
I owned the following preamps
I sold all of those and now have what I hope will be my long-term preamp for my office system. I say I "hope", because I do not know how long this new preamp will last.
The preamp is the Schiiit Valhalla 3 OTL/OCL preamp at $500 but with 2 replacement tubes for the 2-front facing stock tubes.
Schiit Audio: Audio Products Made in USA
NOS-5670 JAN GE 5670W / 2C51W (2) @ $19.95 = $39.90
SK-5670-6922 5670 to 6922 Adapter (2) @ $9.95 = $19.90
The reason I found this preamp was because my friend asked me to listen to the new Allnic top end OTL/OCL preamp that cost $33k. It was spectacular and the best preamp I ever heard. I paired it with the CODA #16 amp (now sold) and the Yamaha NS5000 speakers. This was as good as it gets in audio.
However, I do not have $33k and the Valhalla 3 OTL/OCL preamp was intriguing because of the OTL/OCL design. I can confidently say that this preamp with the 2 replace tubes is better than ALL of the preamps I listed above. The Allnic is much better but that is another story.
The OTL/OCL preamps I have heard, Allnic top end, Allnic ASRA, and the Valhalla 3 are all very detailed (like the Benchmark) but have a holographic sound. The Allnic are much more holographic.
The Valhalla 3 is not practical since it has only 1 RCA input and only 1 RCA output. However, I spent $800 with Space Tech Labs in Canada and got a superb RCA only switch made to give me 4 RCA source inputs. I connect this to the Valhalla 3.
The Valhalla 3 does not have a remote, but I am using this in my office, and the preamp is only 3 feet away from me.
I had the Valhalla 3 OTL/OCL connected with the Meitner MA3i DAC $11.5k for a 3-week demo and it was great. I am using a low cost RME DAC and it is very good but not Meitner MA3i level. I was not sure if the Meitner direct to amp via XLR was better than the Valhalla 3 via RCA.
This post is for someone interested in getting amazing sound at a super low price, albeit with some ease-of-use frustrations. The $800 switch I have custom made could be bought on Amazon for $80 though I am assuming mine sounds better (cleaner).
BTW - at one time I had a lot of Schiit Audio gear. I am now down to 3, Valhalla 3 OTL/OCL, Aegir v1 amp (for headphones), AsgardX headphone amp.
BTW2 - I used the DAC remote for the Meitner MA3i and RME. However, for my tuners I had to move.
@yyzsantabarbara - If I was going to put together a bang-for-buck system, I would start with the Schiiit Valhalla 3 OTL/OCL preamp. What’s the advantage/upgrade subbing NOS-5670 JAN GE 5670W / 2C51W (2) for 6922s? FWIW-I purchase one of these when I needed a switch. https://sites.google.com/view/pine-tree-audio/devices/transparent-selector David |
Do yourself a favor, get thee a Chase Remote Line Controller, RLC-1 4 lines in, two out, Remote Volume, and delightfully Remote Balance.
No moving parts or switches, all done via one Philips processor, totally transparent You must have the remote, no controls on the unit. I was getting ready to add a toggle power switch in the front plate, to easily turn it off to get it back to defaults, as it retains your last adjustments until you unplug it. |
Op, are you aware of the Decware CSP3 OTL? Its base version is priced at $1.55k (almost on par with Shiit+quality switch) and offers 2-in/2-out RCA, with 20 dB gain at line level without feedback (similar to the Valhalla 3). The output impedance is higher, but you can lower it by using alternate tubes. Is it worth taking a look? You might need to wait a bit, though. |
@wharfy The stock tubes had sibilance with one on my tuners. Mostly good with the other sources. The replacement tubes fixed that. I got the info on these tubes on the head-fi thread on the Valhalla 3. ********************************************************* The switch I wanted to use was one my friend Danny from Requiste Audio had built. It was a transformer-based switch that did XLR and RCA bi-directionally and could also convert between the 2. It sounded amazing but I needed more inputs and he is sort of retired from building these things. I was able to track down the same thing from these guys. Allegri + - Townshendaudio (RCA only) Allegri Reference - Townshendaudio (not truly balanced, next version will be). However, I decided to save some cash and had that custom switch made. ********************************************** If I were to move on from the Valhalla 3 it would be for the HPA-15000 OTL/OCL – Allnic Audio (which I had in the house) ASRA / RHPA-7500 – Allnic Audio (cheaper but needs RCA out (possible). I heard this in January at a headphone meetup. |
OP has indicated the sound he’s after comes from OTL (no output transformers) and OCL (no output caps) topology, which is a rather rare find in tube amps. The Decware is OTL, but not OCL (it uses output caps). In fact the vast majority of tube preamps on the market are OTL but not OCL. Quite interesting the Valhalla 3 achieves this, actually. The purpose of the caps is to block DC on output (big problem if your amp is DC-coupled). VAC Signature and Master are examples of transformer-coupled preamps (OCL but not OTL). |
