Review and Measurements of Schiit Aegir PWR Amplifier

[tomchr]

Ah. The ... um ... "benefits" of modding... He could consider adding a protection circuit that doesn't cause any measurable impact on the output of the amp, such as the Neurochrome Guardian-686.

Tom

 

[NightFlight]

Ah. The ... um ... "benefits" of modding... He could consider adding a protection circuit that doesn't cause any measurable impact on the output of the amp, such as the Neurochrome Guardian-686.

Tom

I'm in the small thigs can add up to big things camp. Its not just one device, its the whole chain. Though removing the Pre is an attractive idea...

 

[tomchr]

Fair. Just don't wreck your speakers in the process. I'm pretty sure that affects sound quality.

Tom

 

[NightFlight]

Yep. In the late 90s-2000, I blew up my brothers Monitor Audio 952's because I stayed up late using the 1/4" headphone jack on his Adcom Pre. He had a Bells 450 modified with about what... 1 Farad of juice (you know... for headroom right? LOL), but it had this huge DC offset during power up (can't imagine why...). I left the pre at volume levels for the headphones and went to sleep. In the morning he flipped the amp on and cooked all 4 woofers.

He wasn't impressed. But he should have looked at the volume control. We were both to blame.

https://www.ukaudiomart.com/details...reo-power-amplifier-excellent/images/1917151/

952s

 

[tomchr]

Whoops.... Some say the best AC coupling capacitor is no capacitor at all. Some say the same about DC servos. There's nothing like the smell of burnt voice coil in the morning.

Tom

 

[NightFlight]

Well hell! Can't unhear the missing pre-amp. I never turn off the DAC anyhow... but there is a nasty power on snap out of standby and a negative DC suckout at power off. The Aegir has the standby and soft power off anyhow. My only fear is a power failure. The Aegir boots into ON instead of standby which is a real pisser.

I think I will just have to get used to software controls. I think I have just been set free from this terrible tyranny of tubes. I'll have to give it some time, but my initial thoughts... this sounds awesome...!?

 

[BillyBear]

I don't understand two things: 1) Why SO MANY reviewers seem to love the Aegir. (Several even think it will drive Magnepan LRS's which seems crazy.) 2) Despite the banging on Schiit here, Amir and others think many of their products are good. E.g Amir gave the Vidar a Recommended rating and the Freya (w/ tubes) is very highly thought-of. So they are not producing crap in general.

 

[NightFlight]

Well, I’m living with both the Aegir and Vidar now. They are different animals sonically and I think to any audiophile worth his salt, the difference is not subtle. I think if you are using Maggies, class A is not for you due to limitations. Krell monoblocks mabe? I don’t know their specs, only by reputation.

Side story: When I was around 12 or so (1985 maybe) I heard a pair of well driven Apogee demo dark side of the moon’s Time in a sound room. Kinda changed my life…

I think when we listen, we listen for different cues for what we like. Some of us have audiophile friends or family that showed us what they listen for. For most it’s a solo journey.

The Aegir IMHO brings texture, space and soundstage to the fore. In that way it’s more refined. But if you don’t “get off” on these aspects, or care, or notice, then I’d say you’ll love the Vidar. For me, the former is what I’m chasing down the rabbit hole.

if your room and chain suck hose beast then you shouldn’t be worrying about the power amp. It’s not going to make as much of a difference in that case, you have bigger fish to fry.

 

[acetogen]

Suggestion: Skip the preamp (Freya+), and buy 2 Aegirs. I'm about to buy the Aegirs too. Given the specs (and this review), I don't think they can handle <90dB speakers in a large room. To control volume, use software or your DAC (if it has a volume control). Possible trade-off: coupling between DAC and Aegir amps not as effective.

Don't know if that would apply to you, but you can get the SYS thing that Schiit makes to use as a preamp. It does have a volume pod (no remote) abd it's only $49.

 

[Appleguy33]

Are these speakers even rated at 80 watts bridged in 4 ohm? I thought in bridged mode it could only do 8 ohm.

 

[acetogen]

If you look at the AP5555 testing of the Aegir it looks like in mono mode it can do 30 W @ 8 ohms. It was not even rated with 4 ohm impedance. Amir got something very similar, yet he is still recommending it (sort of), but he measured it with 4 ohm in mono. I'd guess the 8 ohm mono would render similar results given the stereo measurements.

I just reread the review, the peak dynamic power, measured in stereo (RCA) was 30 and 55 W per channel. This is consistent with Schiit claims and the Stereophile's measurements.

 

[NightFlight]

Built a FirstWatt clone (single transformer). Aegir got the boot. Its no contest between the two. I didn't go back to the Aegir to sanity-check until a month later.

 

[tvrgeek]

Curious. A lot of folks are stomping on this amp, and Schitt in general, clearly having never listened to their products. It is also clear some comments here are from folks who do not know who the principals of Schiit are. Not justifying the disappointing results here, but before trashing someone, find out what you are talking about.

It is also clear than many still believe more power is better. I just swapped my 125W Parasound for my antique Creek 4330, all of 40W. Hugely better sounding, more than loud enough and I don't even have my HP crossover in so it is running full range!

I was hoping it was going to be a winner, but I guess not. Vidar is still on my short list. Still, I find the test results puzzling.

 

[tvrgeek]

Don't know if that would apply to you, but you can get the SYS thing that Schiit makes to use as a preamp. It does have a volume pod (no remote) abd it's only $49.

Software volume by definition drops bits. I am sticking with analog. One of the least expensive ways to get DAC/Preamp volume with XLR outputs in a MOTU M2 or Focusrite 2i2 IO box. What I don't know is if the volume is analog or digital.
Passive preamps have their supporters and detractors. The truth is "it depends" as it has a lot more to do with the current drive of the source, input impedance of the amp, and value of the pot. Do the analysis to see.

 

[acetogen]

Curious. A lot of folks are stomping on this amp, and Schitt in general, clearly having never listened to their products. It is also clear some comments here are from folks who do not know who the principals of Schiit are. Not justifying the disappointing results here, but before trashing someone, find out what you are talking about.

It is also clear than many still believe more power is better. I just swapped my 125W Parasound for my antique Creek 4330, all of 40W. Hugely better sounding, more than loud enough and I don't even have my HP crossover in so it is running full range!

I was hoping it was going to be a winner, but I guess not. Vidar is still on my short list. Still, I find the test results puzzling.

As others have pointed out here (myself included) the Aegir testing has been done by three independent "labs": ASR, stereophile and Schiit. The ASR and Stereophile reviews are consistent with each other, so the objective analysis is done and confirmed. I do own 2 Aegirs running in mono mode. I am happy with the products, other than they don't seem to have much power, at least compared with my ancient NAD and Harman kardon units with similar ratings (40 and 55 WPC at 8 ohms). My subjective view is that in mono mode each Aegir is delivering 40-50 W in 8 ohms at most. I certainly did not experience a huge improvement boost after adding the second Aegir, starting with a single one in stereo mode.

I will be considering the upcoming Tyr amps that should come be available in 2022. BUT, this time I am waiting until all the testing is done, not just subjective reviews by the Audiophiliac or John Darko. If Stereophile and Amir give it a pass then I will pull the trigger.

I don't buy that you have to judge the quality of a product based on who the principals at a company are. They can design the best kick-a** product but if the manufacturing and engineering do not deliver then the products are not worth it. This is probably the reason why Andrew Jones keeps moving from speaker company to speaker company.

 

[tvrgeek]

Guess I should wait to see what the TYR is going to be.

 

[Jerr2501]

Late to the game, I know, but wondering if anyone has experience/knowledge/opinions on powering a 16 ohm speaker with the Aegir. I know it will be very little, but how much power can I expect it to deliver per channel?

In my case, it’s a high sensitivity (>100db) horn loaded compression driver only covering frequencies above 500hz. I expect it to work fine but curious about the details.

My understanding is that a higher impedance is typically seen by the amp as an easier load but not sure if that applies mainly to tube amps, or if the class A(ish) Aegir is a different beast all together.

Messaged Schiit directly and got a useless reply that said (paraphrase) “It should work, might go in to protection, we never tried it and not sure about the power output”

 

[Farenheit]

I SINN, I bought one of these to active amplify the horns of my JBL S3100. The woofer will go on with my trusty YAMAHA P3500S and whatever God wills...

 

[40th Anniversary]

What is the most cost effective way to go from an unbalanced signal (RCA out) to a differential balanced signal (XLR in) to use the Aegir as a monoblock? All my sources are unbalanced and I want to use Aegir's as monos but don't want to have to buy a Freya.

Schiit Midgard.

 

[Jeromeof]

I see there is now an Aegir 2 with more power and 'Halo'! I imagine Halo make more sense with speakers so will be interesting to see the some measurements soon.