Schiit Gjallarhorn objective review

[Entropy]

On paper, I have to say yes, looks like a bad deal, poorly priced for the performance, whatever. (On the other side of the coin, the topping Pa5 seemed like a good-to-great option..)

From personal experience, it's great. Not for everybody sure, but the concerns brought up here haven't materialized with my 85dB sensitive @ 6ohm speakers at about a meter away. I can't get anywhere near the maximum gain on my preamp. The form factor and support are upsides for me, and warranty period is the best-in-class afaik.

 

[sthomper]

That’s the opposite from the thread title.

Please read up or watch the video from Armir on “Blind Testing” (with matched levels).

"Sound is very good, so much so"....did you comment on this opposite? no. and their are comments here that indicate the poster hasn't even listened to the amp in question. i have....and reported my results, hard to give any objectivity on a audio amp without having listened to it.

 

[sthomper]

That’s the opposite from the thread title.

Please read up or watch the video from Armir on “Blind Testing” (with matched levels).

"From personal experience, it's great..." i didnt see a thread police comment on this one either. try not to be so subjective in determining thread title adherence.

 

[ahofer]

Honest question: Does this really matter for the desktop use it's intended for?

I have it hooked up to an Asgard 2 and Modius 3E driving my Kef Q150 and the volume dial on the Asgard rarely goes past 8 o'clock. 9 o'clock is for when no one is home and I want to really push the system on something that bangs. 10 o'clock becomes painful after a couple of minutes.

So what would more power really give me?

It is often the case that the best amplifier from a cost/benefit point of view is the one you already have.

 

[sthomper]

It is often the case that the best amplifier from a cost/benefit point of view is the one you already have.

if it aint broke...

 

[dzerig]

I am using a pair as monoblocks so I can connect my turntable/dac/cd drive stereo to the speakers by the TV via 35' xlr from a pre amplifier to Gjallarhorn. With lps or digital there is plenty of power available, and I have a complete Schiit system going from LP, cd drive, phono preamp, dac, preamp to the amplifer. Could the sound be better? Perhaps, but it sounds really good now. Plenty loud. I would be interested in a pair of Tyr or Aegir but these sound fine and either option would cost more than the speakers.

 

[AaronJ]

I have a complete Schiit system

I suspect this is the case for most Gjallarhorn owners.

 

[J.M. Noble]

Checking in a little late, and definitely not with an objective view ... but my first impressions of my new Gjallarhorn on Day One are quite positive.

I'm cleanly driving a pair of "power hungry" Dynaudio Evoke 20s well into the mid/high 80dB range (mic is uncalibrated but it feels right) with the speakers c. 10 feet away in my 22' X 24' home theater/listening room. Bass (e.g. Techmaster P.E.B.) sounds great and so does everything else up to the limit. I don't listen to music at home any louder than that, and seldom even that loud--I run 8+ kilowatt PA system mains for bands so I get my fill of loud elsewhere.

 

[ITguyAR]

So are most people here, in this thread lets say, using small bookshelf speakers on a computer desk? Does anyone use full size floor standing efficient speakers that might range from 95db on out? My main speakers are (highly modified) Speakerlab SK "cornerhorns" that are around 105db@1-watt, then Klipsch Epic CF-3's at (a slightly exaggerated) 100db@1-watt and also ads L1230's at 94db@1-watt.

Curious if anyone maybe uses more efficient, larger speakers that don't need 400wpc. If I need that, I already have that taken care of.

 

[hiker1]

So are most people here, in this thread lets say, using small bookshelf speakers on a computer desk? Does anyone use full size floor standing efficient speakers that might range from 95db on out? My main speakers are (highly modified) Speakerlab SK "cornerhorns" that are around 105db@1-watt, then Klipsch Epic CF-3's at (a slightly exaggerated) 100db@1-watt and also ads L1230's at 94db@1-watt.

Curious if anyone maybe uses more efficient, larger speakers that don't need 400wpc. If I need that, I already have that taken care of.

I'm using 8" KLH3s (88dB @2.83V / 1M, 6 Ohms) in my apartment with one Gjallarhorn. Speakers are 6.5 feet apart on included floor stands, listening position about 7' away. Plenty of volume to get the neighbors knocking.

KLH Model Three Bookshelf Speaker With Acoustic Suspension Design

The Model Three Bookshelf Speaker is the newest and second inline to the iconic KLH Model Five continuing with its suspension design legacy.

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https://klhaudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Model-Three-Data-Sheet-Walnut-1.pdf

https://klhaudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Model-Three-Manual-12-pages-web.pdf

 

[ITguyAR]

I'm using 8" KLH3s (88dB @2.83V / 1M, 6 Ohms) in my apartment with one Gjallarhorn. Speakers are 6.5 feet apart on included floor stands, listening position about 7' away. Plenty of volume to get the neighbors knocking.

Very nice! I've been pondering some sort of smaller amplifier for my cornerhorns for summer time since I don't feel like heating the upstairs up as much with my tube amp. I really wish I'd kept my Mcintosh MC250 amp that I sold off a few years back. 50wpc is more than enough for high sensitivity speakers that I have. Now those things have gone crazy in price and I just won't pay it.

 

[Sweatygrundle]

I've had the Gjallarhorn for maybe a year now. It replaced an SMSL 80w class D on my desk powering a pair of 88db 6ohm speakers and IMO it was a big improvement in sound quality and gets more than loud enough at my desk. I spent a month deciding whether or not to order for fear it wouldn't be enough power and figured i would just order a second or return it if it wasn't and i was dead wrong. using a retired schiit heresy as a preamp and on low gain i cant go past 3/4 volume without it being to loud and hi gain that doesn't even hit half volume before i cant take it with no signs of clipping.

 

[AaronJ]

I've had the Gjallarhorn for maybe a year now. It replaced an SMSL 80w class D on my desk powering a pair of 88db 6ohm speakers and IMO it was a big improvement in sound quality and gets more than loud enough at my desk. I spent a month deciding whether or not to order for fear it wouldn't be enough power and figured i would just order a second or return it if it wasn't and i was dead wrong. using a retired schiit heresy as a preamp and on low gain i cant go past 3/4 volume without it being to loud and hi gain that doesn't even hit half volume before i cant take it with no signs of clipping.

First, you should consider getting a bidet for your undercarriage.

Second, I certainly hope you’re not often pushing it to clipping with desktop use. It would be like a nightclub sitting that close with 10-15 watts. FWIW volume knob position tells practically nothing useful when evaluating the quality of an amp.

 

[ahofer]

FWIW volume knob position tells practically nothing useful when evaluating the quality of an amp.

Indeed. Gain varies across amps and preamps. There's no calibration convention for dial position. DACs even have varying output levels.

 

[Sweatygrundle]

First, you should consider getting a bidet for your undercarriage.

Second, I certainly hope you’re not often pushing it to clipping with desktop use. It would be like a nightclub sitting that close with 10-15 watts. FWIW volume knob position tells practically nothing useful when evaluating the quality of an amp.

I thought my comment was pretty clear I can't get it to clip it goes way to loud before I can get there and that's way past my normal listening level. I have a umik-1 I'll try to find later and see what dB that is. I'm just reading all these comments here essentially saying it's a pos and you can get more power for less but you just don't need more power when its being used for it's intended purpose. It gets plenty loud without sounding like its struggling in my 11x11x9 PC room.

 

[ITguyAR]

I get a kick out of people saying to buy the little chifi TI chip amps over something rated at "10wpc" when no one really ever says what the el cheapo chifi amps produce in full bandwidth power. I could care less that it says "300 watts for only $89!!!" which reminds me of BS car audio ratings 30 years ago. Why does everyone get such a woody over SINAD ratings that you can't really hear it anyway? Test one of these little chifi amps like how real amplifiers are tested and let's see what these things can't do.

@restorer-john Have you got the goods to test one of these little disposable turds to see what they actually do? Would love to see specs done like reputable amp companies do.

 

[staticV3]

Test one of these little chifi amps like how real amplifiers are tested

How's that?

 

[ITguyAR]

How's that?

You know....full bandwidth 20hz to 20khz @ 0.xx% thd like what good companies do instead of deceptive power output claims. FTC ratings.

 

[staticV3]

You know....full bandwidth 20hz to 20khz @ 0.xx% thd like what good companies do instead of deceptive power output claims. FTC ratings.

Amir tests every Amp at full bandwidth:

 

[ITguyAR]

Looks like single frequency testing. Would be nice to see some FTC stipulation on this stuff but unfortunately, it's like bogus car audio amps of the past. Pick a frequency....pick a distortion number...etc...and rate it. It's completely doubtful anyone could pick the difference between .09% thd and .009% thd...or even .9% for that matter. Bottom line is there just needs to be a level playing field that ALL manufacturers go by instead of the guess work.