Another fantastic review, Serge. You're hittin' em out of the park, one after the other.
I finally finished up work so I had time after dinner to sit and savor your review. I'm listening to Stimela on Hugh Masakela's "Hope" on Tidal right now with my HD600s and Valhalla 2 as I write this. Tidal is great because your friends can listen to the same content used for the review. Next up will be the Ramsay Lewis album.
I just remembered tonight that Gumby has two SE outputs, so I could run another set of interconnects (a pair of Soundsilver Sextet ICSs I bought on Audiogon back in 2013 for $136) from Gumby to Val 2 w/o disconnecting from the CT-5 preamp. Pretty nice and very convenient.
Whatever sins or the faults the HD600s have on this amp, they are likely more of omission than comission rather than the amp itself. Regardless, they sure has hell make
music, though.
Valhalla 2 reminds me a lot of my Conrad-Johnson tube amplification gear; as C-J says,
"It just sounds right." Tubes done right by folks who really know what they are doing. Like my C-J gear, the sound is not the classical tubby, overly warm, syrupy sound that so many still think that tubes sound like. Instead you have a very neutral, but equally very clean, musical and sweet, musical presentation. Music just sounds "right". Again, this reminds me a lot of my Dyns, especially now that they have the Esotar 2 tweeter.
I've become convinced that Jason Stoddard of Schiit is nothing short of a brilliant audio engineer, on the level of Nelson Pass. And he has his sensibilities right, the gear always sounds musical and sweet, smooth, yet detailed but "mellifluous". The piccolo bass on "Stimela" has just the right palpable sonic overtones, and the brass trumpet has a warm glow, bright but bright in the smooth way that a real trumpet is right, not unmusically hot or glare-y. Hugh's rough and gravely voice is beautifully articulated on the Valhalla 2 with the HD600s, with the background singers lending the just the right vocal textures and spatial qualities; there is something really beautiful about African voices and harmonies.
Listening now to
Air from Suite #3 from Ramsay Lewis and the cello has a resonant harmonic structure with the resinous texture of the bow on the strings providing beautiful overtones. The piano is very well-miked in this recording, present but not too overpowering, and now that the cymbals are coming in to the mix, you can almost see the brassy metallic harmony they provide as counterpoint to the piano.
Listening to Melody Gardot's
Your Heart is as Black as Night, with Melody's smokey, husky voice providing a real film-noir-ish feeling to this steamy number. Ooh, la, la.
Serge, if you can find it on Tidal, try listening to
Quizas, Quizas, Quizas by Laura Fygi on the album
The Latin Touch.
Speaking of cello, you *have* listen to
Asturias from Albeniz' Suite Espanola No.1, Op. 47 done by the
Arcis Cello Quartett on Tidal. An entire symphonic piece played by four cellos. Amazing. More later as I delve into Tidal for more hidden treasure to play on Valhalla 2 and the Senns.
Enjoy your new amp, I can only imagine what it is like with the Utopias.