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Cute new schiit speaker amps

TonyJZX

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the next innovation is USB powered audiophile speakers

they can do a lot with 5v 2a these days
 

MyCuriosity

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SMSL DA-6 Amp, Uses the Infineon chip, rated at 70wpc but will give to up to about 15W of very clean output (measured at this very site.) Tiny, currently $49 on Amazon.
In UK where I live this is not the price. Also it doesn’t meet the requirement of size when you take into account for amp and external power supply.
 

TonyJZX

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these Schitt units have externals Psus too and if you are too poor for a SMSL DA6 in the UK then I have some bad news for you when you convert $150-$300 to UK pounds... maybe you guys did get hit hard by Brexit?

I'm no fan of the DA6 but at least they have to good graces to include a volume knob.

on pure usuability alone I could give two shits about these two... Schitts... sounds like classic case of American middle management fat needing their pound of ham...
 

Ruffy

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Gjallahorn has a built in PSU, which is a huge positive for me. Already have several power bricks with monitors and other PC junk, and certainly don’t need more. Will be keen to trial it with a saga and some Usher s520’s I have!

Andrew
 

l0f3y3

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I ordered two of these today. You know what happens next....
 

Joe Smith

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I think "these are not the amps you're looking for..." I guess the $300 one x 2 could be a decent monoblock setup, with the addition of a Saga preamp...but that's $900, and to get a new single Vidar 2 and a Saga would be $1100... I know which one I'd be more likely to buy...
 

AaronJ

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I think "these are not the amps you're looking for..." I guess the $300 one x 2 could be a decent monoblock setup, with the addition of a Saga preamp...but that's $900, and to get a new single Vidar 2 and a Saga would be $1100... I know which one I'd be more likely to buy...
You can't even use them as monoblocks with Saga - you need to move up to the Freya S at which point you're in for $1200 plus all the interconnects. For that price you could nearly get a Ragnarok with far better performance in a single box plus a well-specced headphone amp.

I see a few people on Head-Fi are looking for excuses to hand over $ to create a mono setup, but I maintain that once the initial excitement and burst of purchases dies down the market for these little amps will dry up and be pulled from the lineup.
 

fpitas

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fpitas

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I had those on a "multimedia PC", what, two decades ago? Maybe two point five decades ago. Maybe more...
:cool:
Yeah. I haven't read the whole thread. Are they for insensitive headphones or something?
 

Presb4

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I think "these are not the amps you're looking for..." I guess the $300 one x 2 could be a decent monoblock setup, with the addition of a Saga preamp...but that's $900, and to get a new single Vidar 2 and a Saga would be $1100... I know which one I'd be more likely to buy...
I agree, I have the Vidar 2 and the Gjallahorn and the Vidar is a better sounding amp all around. Use the Gjallahorn for what it was designed for, desktop near field and use the Vidar for Hifi general listening. Bottom line, 2 Gjallahorns in mono do not match one Vidar.
 

Hapo

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...I almost bought a Vidar but my experience with a Sega put me off...

...mine had a faulty potentiometer that had a distinct step at around 12 o'clock and would not go to zero gain...

...I was able to return it without a restocking fee but was told that when they examined it there was nothing out of spec...

...I had wanted a replacement at first...but not if that was "normal"...

...that was not what the salesman I talked to told me...he said the one on the floor was not like that...

...he did act like he was doing me a favor talking to me...between that and the attitude of the service people I would be reluctant to invest too much into Shcitt equipment...

...I did just buy an SYS to go with my little Schiit stack which I enjoy very much...I wanted to be able to ad another analog device and it has fit the bill nicely...

...the volume control has proven useful although I hadn't expected that...

...a little Schitt story...
 

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l0f3y3

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Thought I would elaborate on buying 2 Gjallahorns...

small listening room. Is 12x12 with 10 foot ceiling....I listen at low level. 75db max. is plenty loud...so I wanted as clear and balanced audio. Currently in my room are Triangle Borea Bro3 and JBL L52s I switch between a Nobsound 6p1 tube amp, and a FOSI HD-A1....with a balanced SMSL combo of SU-8s DAC and HO200 Preamp.

Fluance RT-85 and FOSI Box X2 phono pre. (looking for a different phono pre)

The challenge is for the Gjallahorn to sound as good as if not better than those other similarly priced amps.

Those two amps have been performing quite well for me each sounding much better than many would want to admit. (I use a APC Line-R to set proper voltage for the 110v requirement, use proper cables and I have no noise in either and both have been on everyday for months, no reliability issues. The Nobsound I rolled better tubes in and after break in they really are nice sounding.)

My tastes are natural, warm, musical with balance. Non-fatiguing listening at low volumes in a near field small room setting. But I want to live with some balanced monoblocks....and see how that compares. I am willing to try things until I figure out the "final" amp config and selection. If Schiit can make an amp like the Gjallahorn sound good for me...then it is highly likely I will buy something higher end in the future for my "next", larger, listening space.



I guess I will find out soon enough.

Oh and I lurk frequently reading opinions and reviews....ya'll are so clever very informative and greatly appreciated.
 
D

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Thank you for clarifying your perspective.

Exactly, that's why I provided all those parameters throughout all my messages about power calculations. And those calculations clearly demostrate you one can drive average efficiency speakers to reasonable listening levels at average distances with a mere 5W power.
No. Wrong. Not at full range and not even resembling a musical experience.

Have you considered how speakers sensitivity ratings are measured? -To which standard (if any) and in which frequency windows? Is it 1 kHz? 300 - 3.000 Hz? Pink noise?

That's a lot of questions.


 

Rottmannash

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Don't those look like chip amps under those finned heatsinks??
 

Presb4

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Thought I would elaborate on buying 2 Gjallahorns...

small listening room. Is 12x12 with 10 foot ceiling....I listen at low level. 75db max. is plenty loud...so I wanted as clear and balanced audio. Currently in my room are Triangle Borea Bro3 and JBL L52s I switch between a Nobsound 6p1 tube amp, and a FOSI HD-A1....with a balanced SMSL combo of SU-8s DAC and HO200 Preamp.

Fluance RT-85 and FOSI Box X2 phono pre. (looking for a different phono pre)

The challenge is for the Gjallahorn to sound as good as if not better than those other similarly priced amps.

Those two amps have been performing quite well for me each sounding much better than many would want to admit. (I use a APC Line-R to set proper voltage for the 110v requirement, use proper cables and I have no noise in either and both have been on everyday for months, no reliability issues. The Nobsound I rolled better tubes in and after break in they really are nice sounding.)

My tastes are natural, warm, musical with balance. Non-fatiguing listening at low volumes in a near field small room setting. But I want to live with some balanced monoblocks....and see how that compares. I am willing to try things until I figure out the "final" amp config and selection. If Schiit can make an amp like the Gjallahorn sound good for me...then it is highly likely I will buy something higher end in the future for my "next", larger, listening space.



I guess I will find out soon enough.

Oh and I lurk frequently reading opinions and reviews....ya'll are so clever very informative and greatly appreciated.
I think that you will find 1 Gjallahorn will be plenty for a 12X12 room if your only wanting 75db. Mine was with 87db speakers in a 12x12 room, but I was feeding it with a Freya+ and the tube mode adds 12db. So you might not need both of them depending on your pre-amp :)
The other point I was making is that the price of 2 Gjallahorns is really close to the price of 1 Vidar2, and 1 Vidar2 will power full range speakers way better than the Gjallahorn ever will. They both have there purpose, but for the 600 dollar price tag of 2 jellies, I would just get the Vidar2. Take the 15 days and return them if you need to and let us know how it goes. Schitt will not charge you a restocking fee if you return the amps for an upgraded product of theirs. So use that to your advantage.
 

AaronJ

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The Freya+ doesn’t add 12db of SPL. It adds voltage gain that may or may not be needed to hit maximum wattage from the amp.
 
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