The Two Channel Advice Thread

Discussion in 'Advice Threads' started by purr1n, Nov 10, 2016.

  1. rlow

    rlow A happy woofer

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    Oh gawd, it’s the amps!!! :eek::eek:

    I’ll say this - if I were in your position (and I would love to get my hands on some 30.2s), I’d get a single Aegir.
     
    Last edited: Jan 19, 2020
  2. elmoe

    elmoe Friend

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    Get rid of those. They are terrible.
     
  3. murphythecat

    murphythecat GRU-powered uniformed trumpkin

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    yeah i think marv reviewed the parasound a23 and it was terrible.

    the aegir would be my pick with the 30.2 for a SS amp
     
  4. Mr Rick

    Mr Rick Acquaintance

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    I think I'll haul my Harbeths up to the Schittr this weekend and test them with everything including the Ragnarok. I only want to do this once.
     
  5. yonson

    yonson Facebook Friend

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    It really depends on your listening level. A single Aegir should work near field if you don't listen at crazy volumes, if you do like it LOUD then you might need to run a pair of them, a single Vidar would work no matter what your listening level is.

    Since you are listening near field and if you don't listen at much more than 90dB at listening position I'd give a single Aegir a try even though they are a little less sensitive than recommended with Aegir.
     
  6. Mr Rick

    Mr Rick Acquaintance

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    I'm an old guy. I listen in the low to mid 70s. If I get above 80 it's a mistake.
     
  7. YMO

    YMO Chief Fun Officer

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    Not too long ago I was looking at getting some real speakers for my TV setup. GF shot down the idea due to space concerns plus cats eating them. So we agreed that a better soundbar will be better due to well we don't need something crazy.

    I really hate to ask, since well it's Sonos, but how decent enough is the Sonos Beam for a soundbar for 2.0 max in a small apartment living room with streaming if I want to chill?

    I honestly don't care about Dolby Atmos, the latest DTS thingy because I think it is mostly gimmick land.
     
  8. yonson

    yonson Facebook Friend

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    Personally I think a single Aegir would be perfect for you then.

    Selfishly I am looking forward to hearing your impressions of how each of the Schiit amps sound on them though, so please let us know how your trip to the Schiitr turns out.
     
  9. tlainhart

    tlainhart New

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    I'm also an old guy. I have two Vidars with my Harbeth SHL-5s, which is probably one-too-many, but I had two going into the Harbeth purchase and I've been too lazy to try one. The SPL only hits 80 on peaks.

    Which is another way of saying I'm also interested in what your Schiitr adventure brings :)
     
  10. Mr Rick

    Mr Rick Acquaintance

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    Well, I could write a book. But here is the Cliffs Notes:

    I do not have Merv's ears. I had difficulty hearing differences between the Aegir and Vidar. I didn't demo the Ragnarok at all.
    I drove the amps with a Sega S. The Aegir had trouble filling the room at full tilt through the Sega. The Vidar did better, but even still, I had to nearly max out the Sega.

    I wonder if Schiit has padded the output of the preamps to prevent inadvertent speaker damage. ( A careless customer had damaged a pair of Salks previously. )

    Anyway, I came home with one Vidar. It's going into my cabin in Montana along with a Jotunheim as a preamp and headphone amp. Driving the Harbeths should be no problem. The Jotunheim has two levels of gain, compared to the Sega S with none.

    I wish I could give a better comparison of the two amps but my ears are not up to the task.

    I'll probably go back next month and pick up an Aegir for use with my Tannoy XT 8Fs which are 91db efficient. I'm currently driving the Tannoys to good effect with a Gungnir Multibit into an original Freya into a PrimaLuna Prologue Five capable of 36wpc.

    I'll try to answer any questions, if I can.

    One last thing: The Magnepan LRS sounded good out of one Vidar.
     
    Last edited: Jan 27, 2020
  11. yonson

    yonson Facebook Friend

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    Very nice, congrats on the Vidar, I really enjoy mine!

    I too have thought about using Jotunheim as a preamp because it's the perfect size and can do balanced out so it would rock with a pair of Vidar and would match perfectly with a Bifrost 2, plus it would be a great travel headphone amp for when I'm working away from home for prolonged periods...

    The only thing that keeps me from going that route is that it doesn't have a remote control. I've pestered Jason about adding a remote, and understandable he said no because it's a desktop amp and very few people would care about having a remote for it...
     
  12. Mr Rick

    Mr Rick Acquaintance

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    I had an epiphany before I went to the Schiitr. I realized that the Jotunheim would do everything I want / need. That's why I didn't even listen to the Ragnarok.

    I'm old school, I don't mind walking across the room to adjust the volume.
     
    Last edited: Jan 27, 2020
  13. tlainhart

    tlainhart New

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    I'm curious as to how you'll like it. After I bought my second Vidar, I tried to use my Ragnarok as a pre-amp, which failed, as it put the Vidars into protection (DC leakage on the Rag's balanced outputs, I was told). I have a Jotunheim, and tried that as a preamp into the Vidars as a test while I decided to either sell a Vidar, or sell the Rag and get a different preamp. The Jot didn't send the Vidars into protection, but I wasn't crazy about the sound - it was collapsed and dull. I then decided to order a Freya. The Harbeths came after this.

    I'm willing to believe that all sorts of outside influences colored my perception of what was going on, so take all of this with a pound of salt. But seeing we've been down similar paths, I thought I'd share. I hope that the Jot works out great for you (and I'm getting tempted to try again...)
     
  14. Mr Rick

    Mr Rick Acquaintance

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    Well, I'll be using the Jotunheim single ended to one Vidar so I expect it will work fine for me. I've used the balanced outputs to powered monitors with no problems.

    I've been running the Jotunheim into my PrimaLuna all day and I'm really enjoying it. I hear no degradation over my Freya.

    So far I haven't even unboxed the Harbeths or the Vidar after my visit to the Schiitr. The Tannoys and the PrimaLuna will remain as my home system. The Harbeths are heading to Montana.

    Surprised to hear that the Ragnarok will not work as a preamp for the Vidars. Is that the case with both the original Ragnarok and the Ragnarok II ?

    Kinda embarrassing wouldn't you say?
     
    Last edited: Jan 27, 2020
  15. tlainhart

    tlainhart New

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    Great to hear. Guess it's time for experimentation on my end :) What variant Freya?

    I corresponded for a bit with Schiit HQ on this. While it was a surprise to them, it wasn't deemed a bug - my (limited) understanding was that it was a side-effect of the design that DC (or something) was input to the Vidars in mono-mode, which immediately triggered protection. They offered to modify the Rag I to block that output, but I finally opted to go with the Freya (purchased right before the line change) and sold the Rag.

    I don't know if Rag II has the same issues. I understand that it's a different architecture, so it's easy to imagine that it won't show the same problem.
     
  16. Mr Rick

    Mr Rick Acquaintance

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    I have an original Freya and an original Gungnir. No itch to upgrade. I'm a happy camper.
     
  17. pLuhhmm

    pLuhhmm New

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    Hopefully this is the right thread, but here we go.

    • Goal: Build my HT setup out of used parts with good used discounts
    • Use: Movies/TV
    • Will you be adding a subwoofer? Yes, but to be determined later
    • Are you building a surround sound system? Ground up
    • How loud do you want to play? I live in an apartment, lol
    • How far will you be sitting from the speakers? Hm, 8ft I think.
    • Speaker Experience: 2.0 setup with Klipsch RP-150m on my desktop + random 10+ year old small speaker JBL system from Best Buy that was given to me by my dad, lol.
    • Question: Any alternatives I should look at? Either MSRP of $1000 or just as good as that price tier.

    Klipsch RP-280F - The cheapest one here by far. MSRP of $400/$350 per speaker used
    KEF Q750 - $800 MSRP/$400 used
    KEF Q950 - $1000 MSRP/640 used
    Definitive Technology BP-9060 - $830 MSRP/$440 used
    MartinLogan Motion 60XT - $1000 MSRP/$600 used
    JBL Studio 590 - $1000 MSRP/740 used (although previous research shows $450-500 used, but also maybe not great at all? requires more research)
    Paradigm Premier 800F - $1000 MSRP/780 used - Only ones I've listened to in person.
    SVS Ultra Tower Speaker - $1000 MSRP
    Revel F36 - $1000 MSRP
    Bowers & Wilkins 603 - $1000 MSRP

    Recent eBay results:

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Feb 4, 2020
  18. murphythecat

    murphythecat GRU-powered uniformed trumpkin

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    if you plan to use a sub:
    https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/speaker-kits/satori-ara-2-way-speaker-kit-pair/

    no commercial speaker can even come close to the quality of the drivers used in this kit. and really, the quality of the drivers is what makes or break SQ
     
  19. shanchandi

    shanchandi Acquaintance

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    Any chance you could comment on this kit vs the ATC SCM7s or 11s? Strictly for music. I'm interested in the kit, but for what it costs in Canada I'm seeing used ATC SCM11s for less
     
  20. murphythecat

    murphythecat GRU-powered uniformed trumpkin

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    yeah, in canada the kit is very expensive. scm11 use great drivers as well. I personally wouldnt get the ara kit if in canada due to cost.

    I use my atc scm7v3 with a loki to tame a little the treble and it sounds great. ive heard from users that scm11 is also a bit "treble" orientated.
     

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