Schiit Vidar Amplifier Review

[RammisFrammis]

I have been test in different places my house and a friends house, the noise is in both channels, but much more the left channel, the noise does it with and without connecting the RCAs, obviously the sound is perceived in the speakers, but seated in the listening position I do not perceive it, only by approaching or sticking my ear to the speaker drivers tweeter and mid bass, the electrical energy has a direct physical ground, but this happens with and without ground, And if I put my finger closer to the XLR connector the noise increases, but if I do the same thing by bringing my finger closer to one of the two RCAs, it does not happen that the noise increases.

If you are actually shorting out the inputs, the noise would not be affected by bring your finger closer to the XLR or RCA connectors. Do this: get an old cheap RCA cable and cut the wires off about 2 inches from the plugs. Then strip the outer cover and inner cover to expose the shield and inner conductor. Twist these two wires tightly together for each plug (solder them if you know how to solder). Plug one into the left channel, and the other into the right channel and set the input of your amp for RCA unbalanced input. These are shorting plugs and that should tell you if the noise is really in your amplifier or if it is just being picked up by unterminated inputs on your amp.

 

[sejarzo]

Semi-curious observation...

I am in the market for a power amp, and took a look on eBay to see if any Vidars were available and what their recent selling prices were.

Today is May 13, and since February 17, thirteen Vidars have sold on eBay for prices ranging from a low of $522 to $666, averaging $575. (Fourteen sales were posted, but one was "sold" twice due to non-paying bidder.)

All of them note that the amps were mint, near-mint, or excellent condition, etc.

Is it just me, or do that many eBay sales in a relatively short period of time for a non-mass-market amp strike anyone else as odd?

 

[Dana reed]

Semi-curious observation...

I am in the market for a power amp, and took a look on eBay to see if any Vidars were available and what their recent selling prices were.

Today is May 13, and since February 17, thirteen Vidars have sold on eBay for prices ranging from a low of $522 to $666, averaging $575. (Fourteen sales were posted, but one was "sold" twice due to non-paying bidder.)

All of them note that the amps were mint, near-mint, or excellent condition, etc.

Is it just me, or do that many eBay sales in a relatively short period of time for a non-mass-market amp strike anyone else as odd?

I guess I don’t know how many Schiit actually sold initially, but it’s been around for 2.5 years or so.
I’m not planning to sell mine, but I guess I could’ve saved ~$100 if I’d waited a couple years

 

[sejarzo]

In that same period, 13 Parasound A23/A23+ amps have sold. Roughly similar power and price point, but those have been around since 2003.

 

[Dana reed]

similar price point used, but not near the same relative to the new price. I'm not sure why someone would pay near 600 used for an amp that goes for 699 new with a 5 year warranty.

 

[sejarzo]

similar price point used, but not near the same relative to the new price. I'm not sure why someone would pay near 600 used for an amp that goes for 699 new with a 5 year warranty.

That was my literal next question, LOL.

You find A23's from 2003-2005 still going for that price, obviously long out of warranty, but those "nearly new, mint" Vidars are likewise out of warranty. With shipping and tax, a new Vidar would run $786 delivered to me in Indiana, which is why that sale at $522 caught my eye.

 

[Labjr]

I wouldn't buy it used for $100 savings. Half price maybe.

 

[Dana reed]

That was my literal next question, LOL.

You find A23's from 2003-2005 still going for that price, obviously long out of warranty, but those "nearly new, mint" Vidars are likewise out of warranty. With shipping and tax, a new Vidar would run $786 delivered to me in Indiana, which is why that sale at $522 caught my eye.

I did recently purchase a schiit mjolnir 1 on ebay for $400. Those went for $749 new, but I decided I wanted the original model, as I didn't want tubes, and didn't care that it had no single ended output. Since you can't get the version 2 without tubes, I went for the discontinued model. The thing makes my LCD2 and especially my HE6SE sing.

 

[David Harper]

re; the aforementioned comparison between the Vidar and a Denon AVR; there is no comparison. I own both a Vidar and a Denon AVR-X 3600. The AVR is like a swiss army knife with about twenty blades in it. The Vidar is like fixed-blade hunting knife. The Denon is rated 105 wpc into 8 ohms. It's not rated into 4 ohms at all. It's got all the modern AVR bells and whistles. Room correction and seemingly infinite sound processing options which I never use. And, get this, NINE POWER AMPLIFIERS!!! I've used both the Denon and the Vidar to drive a pair of maggie LRS speakers. Purely in terms of a power amp Vidar kicks the Denon's ass. But the Denon is very good for one thing; a pre-amp!!! So that's what I'm using it for. In terms of sound quality the AVR (when driving the maggies) sounded O.K. at low volume. At higher volume levels it audibly wimps out and promptly shuts down. The Vidar just sounds, how should I put it, effortless. A lot like comparing a new turbocharged four cylinder honda civic(which I also own) to an LT-1 V8 corvette engine. Not that I'm knocking the Denon. I love it. It does just about everything. T.V., bluray, C.D., internet streaming, USB, 4K, surround, and about ten more things that I either can't remember right now or have never used. For sure it's an awesome accomplishment in terms of modern audio/video technology. The Vidar is the opposite. Old school AB class power amp. I think I'm finally done buying stereo gear. Or at least I sure hope so.

 

[maty]

https://www.stereophile.com/content/magnepan-lrs-loudspeaker-measurements

[ Magnepan specifies the LRS's sensitivity as 86dB at 500Hz with 2.83V. I don't like specifying a sensitivity at just one frequency, as this could be misleading with a speaker having a nonflat response (as they all do). I prefer to use a wideband noise signal and a B-weighting filter; this filter reduces the effect on the measured value with speakers having extended highs or lows. Taken in this manner, my estimate of the Magnepan's sensitivity was almost 6dB lower than specified, at 80.1dB(B)/2.83V/m. Because a panel speaker has a dipolar radiation pattern, this sensitivity can't be directly compared with that of a conventional box speaker—the dipole emits as much sound to its rear as it does to the front. Even so, the LRS will not go very loud with low-powered amplifiers.

Magnepan specifies the LRS's nominal impedance as 4 ohms. My measurement of the speaker's impedance magnitude (fig.1, solid trace) revealed that the LRS behaves more like a 3.33-ohm load, with a minimum value of 2.8 ohms between 400 and 600Hz. However, the electrical phase angle (dotted trace) is very low; the LRS behaves almost like a pure resistance. This loudspeaker will work well with amplifiers that have no problem driving 4-ohm loads... ]

Maggie LRS with an AVR is not a good a bad idea. AVRs need less demanding speakers!

Better focus on loudspeakers of which we know reliable measurements and then do not err with electronics, I said.

 

[Chrispy]

re; the aforementioned comparison between the Vidar and a Denon AVR; there is no comparison. I own both a Vidar and a Denon AVR-X 3600. The AVR is like a swiss army knife with about twenty blades in it. The Vidar is like fixed-blade hunting knife. The Denon is rated 105 wpc into 8 ohms. It's not rated into 4 ohms at all. It's got all the modern AVR bells and whistles. Room correction and seemingly infinite sound processing options which I never use. And, get this, NINE POWER AMPLIFIERS!!! I've used both the Denon and the Vidar to drive a pair of maggie LRS speakers. Purely in terms of a power amp Vidar kicks the Denon's ass. But the Denon is very good for one thing; a pre-amp!!! So that's what I'm using it for. In terms of sound quality the AVR (when driving the maggies) sounded O.K. at low volume. At higher volume levels it audibly wimps out and promptly shuts down. The Vidar just sounds, how should I put it, effortless. A lot like comparing a new turbocharged four cylinder honda civic(which I also own) to an LT-1 V8 corvette engine. Not that I'm knocking the Denon. I love it. It does just about everything. T.V., bluray, C.D., internet streaming, USB, 4K, surround, and about ten more things that I either can't remember right now or have never used. For sure it's an awesome accomplishment in terms of modern audio/video technology. The Vidar is the opposite. Old school AB class power amp. I think I'm finally done buying stereo gear. Or at least I sure hope so.

Sounds incredible. Literally. Lots of extraneous nonsense in your justification/anecdotal experience. The knife comparison especially. So how did you compare?

 

[restorer-john]

Is it just me, or do that many eBay sales in a relatively short period of time for a non-mass-market amp strike anyone else as odd?

I don't think anyone would seriously buy anything Schiit as an end-game product. Schiit gear can be bought for fun, played with and then sold on, it seems, with little loss. That's a good thing.

 

[sejarzo]

I don't think anyone would seriously buy anything Schiit as an end-game product. Schiit gear can be bought for fun, played with and then sold on, it seems, with little loss. That's a good thing.

I don't know...my Heresy is just fine, and anything more costly than that isn't worth it to me.

I was more concerned about the transformer hum issue being a motivating factor, along with the implication that the factory wasn't taking those complaints as seriously as they should.

 

[ravh]

I have two Vidars, the second one was purchased a year later.
The second one hums like an old fridge!

 

[dfuller]

I have two Vidars, the second one was purchased a year later.
The second one hums like an old fridge!

If it's just the amp itself humming and not the output signal, the transformer needs to have its mounting bolt(s) tightened.

 

[ta240]

I have two Vidars, the second one was purchased a year later.
The second one hums like an old fridge!

bummer, I always kinda liked those.

I don't think anyone would seriously buy anything Schiit as an end-game product. Schiit gear can be bought for fun, played with and then sold on, it seems, with little loss. That's a good thing.

My end-game products are much lower priced than many people's.

 

[JungleXray]

I just thought I‘d add, I’ve had the Vidar for about a year in a half now and it has been a great amp for me. I’m glad to see it measures well and gets the recommendation. Never had any problem with humming. I did trip the protection mode once listening to the flaming lips VERY loud while cleaning around the house.

 

[David Harper]

I don't think anyone would seriously buy anything Schiit as an end-game product. Schiit gear can be bought for fun, played with and then sold on, it seems, with little loss. That's a good thing.

You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.

 

[David Harper]

Sounds incredible. Literally. Lots of extraneous nonsense in your justification/anecdotal experience. The knife comparison especially. So how did you compare?

If you're not intelligent enough to understand my post there's nothing I can say to change that.

 

[LTig]

Sounds incredible. Literally. Lots of extraneous nonsense in your justification/anecdotal experience. The knife comparison especially. So how did you compare?

If you're not intelligent enough to understand my post there's nothing I can say to change that.

The answer is not in your post. Did you do level matched double blind tests?