Cute new schiit speaker amps

[croseiv]

The only thing these products have going for them is the word Schiit.

 

[Hatto]

Yeah, I don't like hiss for sure...have not experienced that with my Fosi, Aiyima or SMSL Class D amps. If they were hissy, I'd go back to A/B amps in a heartbeat.

Depends on how sensitive your speakers are.

 

[TonyJZX]

The only thing these products have going for them is the word Schiit.

well i mean there's truth in advertisng i guess

i think these small niche products from western companies are truly taking the piss

i mean people will lambast the chinese manufacturers but at least they arent pulling off weird shit like this and then telling us it doesnt stink

eg.

New cutie from SMSL - A50

SMSL has announced a new small amp with 2 x TPA3116 chips and bluetooth - looks interesting. https://www.smsl-audio.com/portal/product/detail/id/820.html

www.audiosciencereview.com

no one cares about this kind of thing... their existence doesnt matter to us but its the same thing right? with heaps more features and a realistic price

 

[Music1969]

what is the output impedance of this little cutey?

Under 1ohm?

Can drive headphone?

 

[staticV3]

what is the output impedance of this little cutey?

Under 1ohm?

Both Gjallahorn and Rekkr have <80mΩ output impedance.

Can drive headphone?

Sure.

 

[Music1969]

Both Gjallahorn and Rekkr have <80mΩ output impedance.


Sure.

So for 15 ohm IEMs like TruthEar Nova, at 50mV output

V = 50/1000
R = 15

P = 0.0001666667

Looking at the graph, THD+N will be fine with IEMs?

Hard to tell from graph a value for THD+N

And whether will hear hiss at 50mV

 

[NTK]

The Rekkr has an idle noise of about 7 μV (8 Ω) and the Gjallarhorn about 27 μV.

A high performance headphone amp such as the Topping L30 II has an idle noise of 0.8 μV (low/medium gain, 32 Ω), which is 19 dB lower than the Rekkr.

 

[staticV3]

and the Gjallarhorn about 27 μV

For the Gjallahorn, using Schiit's specs, noise comes out to sqrt(10*8)*10^(-117/20)=12.6μVrms (Z-wt) for 8Ω and
sqrt(15*4)*10^(-117/20)=10.9μVrms (Z-wt) for 4Ω.


If we use their APx report, we get:
.9*9.97*10^((-(117.886+121.701)/2)/20)=9.2μVrms (A-wt) for 8Ω Stereo and
.8*9.95*10^((-(117.006+120.562)/2)/20)=9.2μVrms (A-wt) for 4Ω Stereo.


So not sure where 27μV is coming from.

And whether will hear hiss at 50mV

With the Truthear Nova, the Gjallarhorn will output roughly 123+20*log10(0.00000918888)=22dB SPL of A-wt noise (hiss).

The Rekkr will output roughly 123+20*log10(0.00000296218)=12dB SPL of A-wt noise (hiss).

Especially the Gjallarhorn may very well audibly hiss and both are a lot noisier than modern Headphone Amps.

The Topping L30II for example, will output about -8dB SPL of Z-wt noise when used with the Nova.

 

[NTK]

So not sure where 27μV is coming from.

I calculated it from the Schiit AP test report. The plot is from its 8 Ω test.
For the poorer channel, at 100 μW, the THD+N is 0.09%. Assuming it was all noise.
Signal voltage = sqrt(100e-6 * 8) = 0.0283 V.
0.09% of 0.0283 V = 25 μV.
So, OK, it is not 27 μV

 

[Ron Texas]

Somehow the word "cute" when I think about amplifiers. It also seems a bit odd to use a linear power supply if miniaturization is the goal.

 

[staticV3]

I calculated it from the Schiit AP test report. The plot is from its 8 Ω test.
For the poorer channel, at 100 μW, the THD+N is 0.09%. Assuming it was all noise.
Signal voltage = sqrt(100e-6 * 8) = 0.0283 V.
0.09% of 0.0283 V = 25 μV.
So, OK, it is not 27 μV
View attachment 360391

Bad idea to use graphs like this to calculate SNRs and noise voltages, as they're subject to FFT gain.

 

[NTK]

Bad idea to use graphs like this to calculate SNRs and noise voltages, as they're subject to FFT gain.

Ummm ... No.
The THD+N numbers are not affected by (or already factored in) the FFT gain. THD+N is the ratio of the RMS voltage of the fundamental to the mean root-sum-square of all the HDs and noise components (= their combined RMS voltage). Therefore, multiplying the RMS voltage of the fundamental and THD+N will get the combined RMS voltage of the noise when THD+N is noise dominated.

From: https://www.analog.com/media/en/training-seminars/tutorials/MT-003.pdf

 

[Gambertuni]

One overlooked advantage of these amps, especially valuable in my opinion, is ZERO HISS that I've been unable to experience with anything even close to this price range.

FWIW I bought a Gjallarhorn a month ago and am having problems with hiss. None of the sonic virtues of this device has been apparent to me and the Schiit customer service is not being particularly helpful. I do regret not having chosen the Fosi V3 instead of this...

 

[AaronJ]

I rarely listen to the system at more than 9 o'clock on my Heretic (and that on low or mid-gain), which serves as my preamp.

Position of the potentiometer is not indicative of anything, unfortunately. Pots just trim voltage, so turning it all the way clockwise does not mean you will be at 10 watts. You might be at 10 watts at 9 o'clock depending on the gain and source voltage. Not saying you would be, but just pointing out that the position of the volume control does not indicate anything useful.

 

[Joe Smith]

FWIW I bought a Gjallarhorn a month ago and am having problems with hiss. None of the sonic virtues of this device has been apparent to me and the Schiit customer service is not being particularly helpful. I do regret not having chosen the Fosi V3 instead of this...

Sorry to hear this...the V3 is just a good sounding, high value little package. I continue to feel that Schiit has those mini amps too high in price. I know they disdain Class D amps, but oh well, I'm happy with them and I have plenty of A/B amps to compare to...

 

[TinEaredOne]

Sad for people whose audio chains don't work with the Gjallarhorn. Mine is perfect and integrates quite well into all of my existing equipment. I guess YMMV, as others have not had such luck. For me, it has been an incredible value and I plan to keep it for a long time. I hadn't purchased an amp for 20 years prior to buying the Gjallarhorn, and the other amp in my lineup is a Hafler I purchased in the early 1990s, which is still going quite strong.

 

[mhardy6647]

I feel the same way about the poor folks whose loudspeakers aren't capable of full range, concert level output driven by a single-ended 2A3 amplifier (ca. 3 watts per channel). I am just sayin'.

 

[nangaparba]

Ok, So I had some time to listen to the Schiit Gjallarhorn in my office today. Before I get to what I am hearing, this is my set up.
**Schiit Modi E DAC. -> Schitt Vali 2 ++ -> Schiit Gjallarhorn -> Elac BS41 Speakers 6 ohm load** I typically listen to music in the 65-75 db range while in the office.
I have a door I can close the tube is a (NOS WE 396A)

I like to start with the cons, well they might be cons.
Initially when I set up the new amp in my office, I noticed significant hum with no music playing. This hum was not found on my old Maverick Audio desktop system. I moved all the connections around and changed the patch cables and found the hum was coming from the amp but was due to A/C noise in my PC's PSU. The patch cables I have, which are shielded, were picking up the A/C hum from my PC and the Amp was amplifying it. My old amp did not have this issue with the same cables. I can only guess that the Schiit Gjallarhorn is more resolving and passing along the A/C noise where my old amp could not.
To fix the issue I twisted up my patch cables and plugged the amp into an Isobar surge protector with A/C filter I use for other test equipment I have at work. The A/C noise is now gone.

The Vali 2++ and Gjallarhorn make for a real resolving system on a desktop. In the near field this Amp shines and the imaging issue I described in my first post was not an issue now in the near field. I would rate the imaging now as very good. I can only attribute this change to the lower current demand of my desktop system vs my home when I was driving my floor standers.

Treble and Mid-range notes all have a very good timbre.
The bass is still on the thin side though IMO. But desktop speakers are rarely capable of good bass anyway, so this might not be an issue for most.

Music, I used to evaluate this new system was:
Coal Mining Blues - Matt Andersen -> Acoustic guitar and deep male voice, sounded great.
Tin Pan Alley - Stevie Ray Vaughan -> Electric guitar and male voice, lots of fast treble detail, sounded great.
Angel - Massive Attack -> The beginning of this track has some very deep bass. Sounded muddy and lacking in punch. Elac BS41's tried their best but they just don't play low.
Nocturne, in C sharp minor - Olafur Arnalds -> Violin with loads of upper mids and treble with micro details. Was able to hear the subtle string touch details but could not hear the violinist breath, which I can hear on my home system.

View attachment 268558

thank you for providing input after listening and comparing.

 

[nangaparba]

This is an excellent demonstration of just how loud 1W of output can be with 87.5db speakers for reference:

this provides much needed insight and a benchmark

 

[mhardy6647]

this provides much needed insight and a benchmark

Even more fun when the loudspeakers' sensitivity is north of 100 dB per watt @ 1 meter.