The Schiit Gjallarhorn Impressions Thread

No, but I am just using one Gjallarhorn, and at 2-3' nearfield I rarely turn the volume knob on my Vali 2 or Magni 3+ further than 9 or 10 o'clock in low gain. I am quite confident that it'd have no problem with less sensitive speakers than the 88db, 8 ohm Energy RC-10 speakers I am listening to right now. I guess it depends on how deaf you plan to become in that setup.

 

Listening to Yo Yo Ma's "Inspired by Bach" cello suites (24 bit, 96 kHz through Amazon Music) right now and really enjoying the sound of my Gjallarhorn/Modius/Vali 2 stack. Very nice decay on the strings. Nice depth. The Gjallarhorn has quite good control of my speakers.

Since getting it, I've listened to a wide variety of music, and it has really opened up into a nice amp. Glad I bought into Schiit's high quality, reasonable power message on this purchase. The size is a bonus. Hearing the "plankton."

 

I'm using one to previously power some CA Minx 10 (84.5sens) and now Fyne Audio 300 (87sens) for "dining room/living room/kitchen" open plan listening.

Way louder than I would want when sitting on the sofa some 20-30ft away. I capped the volume in roon to 40%.

 

I posted in the speaker shootout thread I made, but I will say that after hearing everything on just one ghorn for a bit, I don't think one ghorn has enough control over the drivers due to less power. Loudness is not a problem at all so far. I really like the sound too.

(Hopefully) I will try the Aegir soon and then I will need to determine if I want to return for an Aegir or get monoblock ghorns. A single Aegir has more power sure, but the form factor of the ghorn + almost no heat in my use case is just still quite convenient for desk usage.

 

Control what speakers? Just curious. I'm sure it'd run out of power on some speakers and in some rooms. It's not really designed to be an amp for every situation.

OK, just looked. 4 ohm (3 ohm, really), 86 db speakers probably present too much of a load for a single Gjallarhorn. I agree that you probably ran out of headroom quickly.

 

Hi everybody,
I just bought a Schiit Gjallarhorn and I am hearing a hiss. Anybody having this issue?

My setup is Mccbook Pro USB output -> Modi + -> Magni Heresy -> Gjallarhorn - Omega Speakers K8 (92 db)

The Hiss becomes clearly audible if I turn or the Magni's high gain switch.

Another problem: the sound seems to change during reproduction as if somebody was changing EQ settings and playing with the R/L speakers balance. I have to say that my speakers are new as well and also breaking in.

I would be very thankful for any useful information.

 

I would like to connect a sub to my Gjallarhorn as well, may I ask which kind of connection you are using? RCA splitters? Thanks!

 

FWIW the Aegir (even when running two) has a hard time controlling my 85dB sensitive (87dB in the bass) 4 Ohm Hathors.
It does go loud enough without audibly distorting (arguably less distortion than the Ragnarok), but the Ragnarok has a much greater sense of heft, ease or simply control over not just the woofers, but also the widebander.

Though part of it is just the signature of the Aegir, which sounds more rounded than the Rag.

I'd be curious about a comparison between the Gjallarhorn and the Aegir. Maybe Aegir 2 doesn't sound so soft.


(I sometimes wonder if the manufacturer's specs for sensitivity really align with reality. For example Hathor was subjectively not much quieter than the 89dB rated Canton Reference 3K in room, maybe 1 or 2dB.)

 

Brief update - after trying aegir and ghorn, neither one had sufficient control over the drivers IMO. Aegir was like 95% of the way there at low listening levels, but it wasn't nearly as magical with these speakers as they have been with other speakers I've heard with Aegir. Ended up getting something with more power.

Sound signature wise, I actually slightly preferred the ghorn with these over the aegir1. Both using a single amp, not monoblocks.

 

I’ve been considering G-horn monos vs Vidar 2 vs Aegir 2 for low level listening and bass control with my nearfields. My old Vidar 1 is pretty good at the bass control end, but I expect other SQ improvements with at least Vidar 2, if not Aegir 2 and G-horn monos. Thinking G-horn monos has the least chance of improvements over my single Vidar, although maybe better channel separation and soundstaging. I haven’t seen any reviews comparing Vidar 1 vs 2 other than Gutenberg which is pretty hard to get real info from. One review for Aegir 2 indicated improved dynamics and bass control/heft over Aegir 1.

 

What did you get?

 

What speaker is it? Curious about the cross over.

 

I can see that. My speakers are very easy to drive (8 ohm, 88 db) and the setup in which I have the Gjallarhorn is a nearfield setup about 3' away from my seating position. Also, I tend to listen at the lowest volume at which I can get the "full" sound of the track, so I'm not listening loudly. Different ears. Different setups. Different needs.

 

Dali Menuet speakers (bookshelf speakers).

Got a REALLY good deal on a (used) Marantz 7000n. Details in my speaker hunt thread to not clog and derail this thread.

 

G’s up hoe’s down

 

I'm using a pair of Gjallarhorn monos with some JBL 4408a speakers and am really happy with the match. Replaced my Pioneer M-22 which keeps breaking down (needs a full rebuild). Really like the sound, imaging, soundstage and reliability and the Gs seem to have plenty of power for them.

 

After 5 amps, 4 chifi amps, and 3 failures, I found my solution: My first piece of Schiit.

The first thing I noticed about Gjallys was how hefty it was for the size. It was monstrously heavy in comparison to chifi class-d amps like the aiyma a07 thanks to its chonky toroid. The second thing I noticed were minor finish imperfections (some visible in the photo below). Not terrible, not great.

Listening to it was a different story, though. The first thing I noticed that it was beyond dead-silent, I had to press my ear all the way up to my speaker and listen carefully to hear anything at max gain. Even ~15W is way more power than I actually need- I only get to 1-o'clock on my zendac's pot at the loudest. Granted, my speakers (JBL studio 530) are 6 ohm @ 85dB/W sensitivity, and at that point, I probably play at or below 85dB from my listening position about a meter away. I don't tend to listen very loud.

Vs Aiyma A07... The biggest thing was that the imaging on the Gjallarhorn was a lot sharper all-around; it made the A07 sound diffuse. A close second was the lack of treble glare which was pretty heavily present on the A07.Another thing I noticed was improved tone and timbre, especially in the upper mids. Gjally throws a bit of a deeper stage than the A07, helped by the great imaging, but differences in width and height are minimal if not nonexistent. Here, amps like the Yamaha AS-801 outperform the Gjally, as the Yamaha unit sounded notably wider and deeper. Both the Gjally and the A07 had a solid grip on the bass, which was surprising given class d's reputation for control in the lower frequencies. Perhaps not too unexpected considering the Gjally likely has a higher damping factor.

A quirk that I found with this amp is that of every single amplifier I've tried, this is the only one that doesn't reject electrical noise from my pc (specifically GPU). I've used the RCA inputs on 5 other amplifiers and via the headphone output of my zendac, which have always been dead silent in terms of electrical noise, but the Gjallarhorn has a noticeable buzz that ramps up with GPU activity. I'll fix it someday with a unison dac, but for now. I'm too lazy to do anything about it.

Overall, The Gjally is clean, minimal in aesthetic and form factor, and overall unobtrusive. Paired with its price-leading warranty and good overall performance, I don't see much reason why I (or most other people) would need much else for nearfield/desktop listening setups.

 

Several people have mentioned the need for burn-in. Is this a one time burn-in or does the amp really need to be left on to get good performance? In the application I am considering, the amp would be on every day but not necessarily for many hours and some days only briefly. I have had some equipment that needs to be left on full time and some that works well with daily use after initial burn-in.

 

Schiit burns their stuff in from factory as a QC check. I didn't notice any change in sound with use over a period of days, and don't notice any differences upon power-up. However, Schiit is of the opinion that electronics should mostly be left on, hence why the switch is on the back.

 

I don't believe that's the case. My memory may be failing me but I believe it's been mentioned that the switches are in the back simply because it's the simplest place to put them.