[kawhia]

Wouldn’t it be great to always reach consensus this quickly and easy in life?! Thanks folks

 

[simorag]

Finishing this great evening with this: so many memories , smells , and emotions from a very far place in 2002 ( the year this album came out ). Good night

Thanks for these recommendations, I just added them to my late night playlist

I attended a Sol Gabetta live performance in Florence last year, engaged in a very varied repertoire, and it was a fascinating experience.

As good as the Valkyria are with piano, strings, and especially those operating in the lower registers like cello and double bass are equally well reproduced.

Solo interpretations sound so pure and vivid, as horse-hairish/gutstring-y as it gets. Difficult to match even by high end speakers systems.

Small ensembles like quartets or trios are so movingly real, with a tactile and stentorous tone, yet very nuanced harmonically and (head) room-filling. The musical picture is cohesive and layered to that level of aural and physical balance that come close to listening in a real venue.

Is there a consensus on what a great amp for Valkyria is? I own the Riviera AIC. This should be good? I hope to audition Valkyria still this year.
With my Abyss TC I tend to listen to a lot of electronic music, even though genuinely I am more into classical and acoustic jazz. From what I read here Valkyria may just be what I am looking for.

Yes indeed the complemetary setup TC + Valkyria should cover your bases very beautifully.

I enjoy the V. and TC with my AIC-10 very much, only thing is that they pair best with different tubes. In my case I prefer the G73-R with the V. and Mullard with TC.

 

[moosemp]

Thanks for these recommendations, I just added them to my late night playlist

I attended a Sol Gabetta live performance in Florence last year, engaged in a very varied repertoire, and it was a fascinating experience.

As good as the Valkyria are with piano, strings, and especially those operating in the lower registers like cello and double bass are equally well reproduced.

Solo interpretations sound so pure and vivid, as horse-hairish/gutstring-y as it gets. Difficult to match even by high end speakers systems.

​

Small ensembles like quartets or trios are so movingly real, with a tactile and stentorous tone, yet very nuanced harmonically and (head) room-filling. The musical picture is cohesive and layered to that level of aural and physical balance that come close to listening in a real venue.

​

Yes indeed the complemetary setup TC + Valkyria should cover your bases very beautifully.

I enjoy the V. and TC with my AIC-10 very much, only thing is that they pair best with different tubes. In my case I prefer the G73-R with the V. and Mullard with TC.

Definitely true. THOSE recommendations were very important for me. I also used Valkyria with Lucarto AUDIO hp 300 and FULIANTY fa 18 with great Result. But those amps can not drive TC.

 

[normie610]

It’s finally here! It took me sometime just to open the protective box (not the one shown in the picture and it’s super heavy). Now running the Valkyria through its paces, and I’m not disappointed at all! It suits perfectly well with my main genres (jazz and classical). So far, it’s trading blows with CA1a in terms of timbre, but Valkyria has more weight to the notes. I have to run low gain and half the volume pot out of my CFA3, as the Valkyria isn’t that hard to drive compared to other cans. But CA1a wins on the sub-bass region, but the Valkyria isn’t that far behind at least with jazz and classical.

Although it’s a heavy headphone, it feels somewhat lighter than 1266 TC and more comfortable and build quality is superb!

 

[principd]

It’s finally here! It took me sometime just to open the protective box (not the one shown in the picture and it’s super heavy). Now running the Valkyria through its paces, and I’m not disappointed at all! It suits perfectly well with my main genres (jazz and classical). So far, it’s trading blows with CA1a in terms of timbre, but Valkyria has more weight to the notes. I have to run low gain and half the volume pot out of my CFA3, as the Valkyria isn’t that hard to drive compared to other cans. But CA1a wins on the sub-bass region, but the Valkyria isn’t that far behind at least with jazz and classical.

Although it’s a heavy headphone, it feels somewhat lighter than 1266 TC and more comfortable and build quality is superb!

Great. Congrats. This is such a thrilling experience ! The best part is that it grows on you day by day. What do you drive them with ? ( CFA3?)

 

[normie610]

Great. Congrats. This is such a thrilling experience ! The best part is that it grows on you day by day. What do you drive them with ? ( CFA3?)

Yes driving it with CFA3. However, something happened after a few minutes listening. There’s this weird buzzing sound appeared, and it further developed into this loud noise of something like electricity crackling (I played my system on low gain, I always do that with new headphones). And this happens even if the volume is set to zero. It never happened with my other headphones though.

I’m gonna try to play it off my preamp today through its 6.35mm jack. If this persists, I might have to send it back to be checked.

 

[Axel]

So far, it’s trading blows with CA1a in terms of timbre, but Valkyria has more weight to the notes. I have to run low gain and half the volume pot out of my CFA3, as the Valkyria isn’t that hard to drive compared to other cans. But CA1a wins on the sub-bass region, but the Valkyria isn’t that far behind at least with jazz and classical.

A bit OT, but so far all the listening sessions I had with the CA1a, I was unimpressed, to say the least.
It was thin sounding, very harsh highs, no body and no bass.
Not even close to the Valkyria or the Susvara.

I must admit that my listening experiences are mostly from shows in a far from ideal environment.

 

[normie610]

A bit OT, but so far all the listening sessions I had with the CA1a, I was unimpressed, to say the least.
It was thin sounding, very harsh highs, no body and no bass.
Not even close to the Valkyria or the Susvara.

I must admit that my listening experiences are mostly from shows in a far from ideal environment.

Yeah maybe it’s the show condition. Your CA1a impression is completely the opposite from what I’m hearing on my system. And I don’t know whether you listened to it using Mitch’s convolution filter or not, but the filter is a must in my opinion. Perhaps you should try to have a listen on your system (if possible). I sold my Susvara, SR1a and 1266 TC ever since I got my CA1a, as to my ears CA1a combines the strength of the three.

Back on topic, still waiting for the adapter to single ended for my Valkyria to test it out of my preamp. But I do think there’s something wrong with the drivers, so most probably will have to send it back. Another 1-2 month wait if that happens

 

[simorag]

Back on topic, still waiting for the adapter to single ended for my Valkyria to test it out of my preamp. But I do think there’s something wrong with the drivers, so most probably will have to send it back. Another 1-2 month wait if that happens

Sorry to hear that, a driver issue would be unfortunate, although I am sure Andrea will take good care of you if that is the case.

Re: the weight of the notes, this is one of the things that led me to grab the Valkyria more and more often when I had several headphones here. It is addictive, and makes experiencing monumental orcherstral works as this one so heartwarming.

 

[normie610]

Sorry to hear that, a driver issue would be unfortunate, although I am sure Andrea will take good care of you if that is the case.

Re: the weight of the notes, this is one of the things that led me to grab the Valkyria more and more often when I had several headphones here. It is addictive, and makes experiencing monumental orcherstral works as this one so heartwarming.

​

Thanks!

Well an update, I finally got the 4-pin XLR to 6.35mm adapter and connect the Valkyria directly to my Manley 300B preamp. And the buzz and noise are gone up to a certain volume level. So I guess my CFA3 has too much power for Valkyria. The sound through my preamp initially is more intimate and less spacious, plus a little bit thicker with less instrument separation compared to using CFA3.

But now after a while, the sound starting to open up and I can hear better instrument placement (perhaps brain burn-in is playing a role as well). I stood by my initial impression that Valkyria is beautiful sounding for jazz and classical. The sub-bass is starting to be a bit more present, but still below what CA1a can do. But overall, I really am happy with Valkyria, as it brings another flavor to my collection. CA1a (w/ filters) as the most complete sounding, CRBN (w/ Bob Katz EQ) as warmer sounding and a bit more laid back character, and Valkyria with its amazing weight to the note. I hope Valkyria would pair well (and noise free) with Primavera later on since it's also another high-powered amp.

 

[Axel]

Are the “Mitch” filters digital?
If so, they are irrelevant for my system, as I have both digital and analog sources.

 

[normie610]

Are the “Mitch” filters digital?
If so, they are irrelevant for my system, as I have both digital and analog sources.

Yes they are so I guess you can only use it whenever you're listening to your digital sources.

 

[jlbrach]

A bit OT, but so far all the listening sessions I had with the CA1a, I was unimpressed, to say the least.
It was thin sounding, very harsh highs, no body and no bass.
Not even close to the Valkyria or the Susvara.

I must admit that my listening experiences are mostly from shows in a far from ideal environment.

you need to give a listen to the Ca-1a with proper equipment in a better environment...they are special and I have the susvara and the abyss 1266...

 

[moosemp]

you need to give a listen to the Ca-1a with proper equipment in a better environment...they are special and I have the susvara and the abyss 1266...

I listened to it in Munich this year- at main show there was noisy in the open space it was presented, so I could not draw conclusions, but next day I listened again at the Marriott hifi deluxe. There were better circumstances and I spend more than an hour talking with super competent and friendly people from RAAL. I listened to Ca-1a with Viva 845, Mal valve tube amp ant also SAEQ flagship with germanium transistors. This one impressed me very much although two amps mentioned before performed on very high level. With SAEQ Hyperion Ge sound was so good that I do consider this combo later this year. And I have Valkyria and Abyss 1266...
The most striking feature for me was extremely smooth presentation, with 3d huge soundstage and tube-like (!!!) warmth. Dynamics were explosive and effortless. Detail retrieval- excellent.
I think this combo needs to be considered as end game for many listeners, especially taking into account its fair price
I have to underline again very friendly atmosphere that people from RAAL created there. It could have influenced my very positive impression.

 

[jeffhawke]

Is there a consensus on what a great amp for Valkyria is? I own the Riviera AIC. This should be good? I hope to audition Valkyria still this year.
With my Abyss TC I tend to listen to a lot of electronic music, even though genuinely I am more into classical and acoustic jazz. From what I read here Valkyria may just be what I am looking for.

Yes, Riviera pairs very well with the Valkyria, I had a long listening session with it and was impressed. Also Viva Egoista