One thing I've noted at meets or shows is how the Schiit tables are always crowded, always full, from the time the meets begin to when they end. It's a testimony to their no BS approach: good sound at affordable prices. This makes me think of the recent whispers I've been hearing at the "big boy" audio shows (speaker setups): the hope that personal audio and headphones will be a doorway toward the high-end. Let's face it, the high-end as it is will eventually die out with the old guys unless they get new customers. Being in the mid 40s, I'm not exactly a spring chicken, but the folks I see at the audiophile shows must be at least on average 15-20 years older than me.

What these audiophile vendors don't understand is that mere mortals (young'uns), especially in this current age of global hyper-competitiveness where well paying entry level jobs are scarce, cannot afford something like an MSB Platinum DAC IV. This is where Schiit steps in with their understanding of the market, offering of high value products with a direct sales approach. This is why their tables are always full. Because people can actually afford to buy their Schiit. And their stuff keeps getting better and better.

We've seen landmark price-to-performance products such as the Gungir and Mjolnir, the new and improved Asgard 2 and Bifrost with the upgraded modules, etc. We've heard about the Ragnarok announcement ahead of RMAF; and quiet whispers of its awesomeness.

So what is the Vali? It is their new TOTL hybrid amp which was kept secret for past nine months of development? It may as well be. It is in fact a tiny little hybrid, running miniature triodes tube for the gain stage and a solid-state output stage (I presume similar to the Magni's). How does it sound?

Fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. Holy Schiit fantastic. This is tubes done right. We are talking about expansive soundstage, tube clarity, tube microdynamics, tube microdetail, tube dynamics and slam. (Yes, all the things which folks who haven't heard good tube amps don't think tubes sound like.) The first time I heard this, I almost pee'd in my pants. An amp this cheap shouldn't sound this good.

I would seriously buy an Abyss headphone, hook it up to the Vali, and call it a day. That's how good it is. Of all the gear I've heard in the past year, this is by far the most impressive. No words can do it justice. This is tubes done right at an impossible price.

Time for all you "objectivists" to throw away your Objective2 amps and get the Vali instead, or at least try it. Oh wait, forget it, don't bother. The Vali is too subjectively good for you narrow minded bucks.

Now taking questions, comparison requests, etc. Lurkers, and I know you are out there, feel free to make your first post on changstar here!