Schiit Aegir Power Amp Impressions

Discussion in 'Power Amps' started by rlow, Oct 16, 2018.

  1. schiit

    schiit SchiitHead

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    Weird, I thought we had Aegir in black. I'll see if we do and get it listed as an option if they exist.
     
  2. crenca

    crenca Friend

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    My favorite part of his review was the vacuum cleaner in the background :)
     
  3. schiit

    schiit SchiitHead

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    Yep, we have black. Now listed for sale. No idea why they didn't get listed beforehand...oops!
     
  4. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    That's the best color for everything.
     
  5. Cakecake

    Cakecake Guest

    Had my wife listen to mono Aegir.

    She says it's significantly better, "what changed?" I said "just the pre-amp..", couldn't say I got another amp.
     
  6. BeyerMonster

    BeyerMonster Guest

    !!! Order placed. Thx @schiit !

    Asked my wife if she could deal with having to turn it on/off and she said, "I guess it's like the old days when you had to walk up to the TV. No big deal." :)
     
  7. Don Quichotte

    Don Quichotte New

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  8. Josh358

    Josh358 Facebook Friend

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    I wouldn't say I hate it but as someone who has owned an AHB2 for a couple of years I can say that I'm disappointed in it, and you've summarized the reasons. It's the cleanest amp I've ever heard, but it's soulless -- it robs music of impact. I ended up using my old A21 on my mid/high panels even though the AHB is cleaner, particularly in the highs (cymbals sound like cymbals on the ABH but like noise on the A21). The AHB2/DAC3B room at AXPONA struck me that way, too -- extremely clear, but curiously lacking in body and impact -- the sort of room that doesn't cause me pain, but that doesn't make me want to stay behind to listen. Whereas the sound in the Aegir/Yggdrasil room was beguiling, marred only (if I remember correctly at this point) by some slight grain.
     
  9. Metro

    Metro Friend

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    Looks at sales numbers and inventory... "My, those black Aegirs are selling so slowly. I wonder why."
     
  10. Josh358

    Josh358 Facebook Friend

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    And of course the black amps have a darker tone, while the silver ones tend to sound bright. :)
     
  11. EraserXIV

    EraserXIV Friend

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    For those using Yggdrasil and worried about the lower power output of the Aegir, I just got the Jensen 1:1 XLR to RCA transformer (PO-2XR). The gain from the Yggdrasil XLR outputs is definitely significantly higher, and there is now plenty of headroom. Bonus is that Saga has less tubes to maintain (and is more transparent that Freya). My speakers are 6 ohm, 87db.
     
  12. hifiandrun

    hifiandrun Almost "Made"

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    A quick report comparing a single new (not-fully-break in) Aegir to a single Vidar (late 2018 purchase). (1) Aegir was both mechanically quiet and electrically quiet. (2) Mid-range sound quality improvement was the biggest difference, followed with better details, sweeter treble, meaty but articulate bass. As a whole, Aegir produced a realistic and engaging but not colored sound (may be a tad bit warm but Vidar is a tad bit warm too). Yes, it is a class-A amp sound. (3) Power. One Aegir can drive my speakers as loud as a Vidar to the sound level I couldn't bear in my apartment. The volume nob on the preamp needed to be turned up, of course. (4). Heat. My room temp was 73F (23C) last night, the Aegir was a bit warmer then the Vidar (chassis temperature), but it was far from as warm as my tube amp (Dynaco ST70). The tube amp was hot. I bet the Aegir will do fine during the summer. (5) LED. The white LED light was more than a half dimmer - it looked lovely at night.

    Now here is what Aegir can not "compare" with the Vidar. Even the Aegir got loud, the Vidar pushed out more "energy". I don't know how to describe this. It is the kind of raw energy that you'd feel in a big live event (hi efficient stage speakers, so-so acoustic environment, etc). The first time I got my Gungnir MB factory upgrade back, I felt it was a little bit too crispy in my system with the Vidar. I used a warm-sounding tube on my Saga to tune it down a bit for my Vidar. Now with Aegir, I am thinking to roll the tube again. And the Aegir made me to appreciate my Gungnir MB again and even more.

    I often remind myself and my audio buddies to buy used gears so that you can have fun and won't break your bank. So far, Schiit is one of the very few audio manufactures that I purchased several items new and never regret. BTW, my Aegirs in black, they look so classy.

    edit: The Vidar was a March 2018 purchase, not in the autumn - time flies.
     
    Last edited: May 21, 2019
  13. yonson

    yonson Facebook Friend

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    Have you done this with Vidar as well? I'd be curious to see how much difference (if any) there is between Vidar and Aegir.

    Interesting, I complained about that on day 1 of the release over at HF, and it kept me from purchasing a pair... Guess I'm going to have to save up again for them as I spent that $$$ on another hobby...
     
  14. gr3g277

    gr3g277 New

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    so I got my hand on 1 aegir,

    I listened to it for 2 evenings, and now I am trying to figure out if I have to go monoblock, or if Aegir is just not for me ...
    First Impression was wow this is very clean and very detailled, but no so impressive.... Indeed, everything is there, but it sounds kinda small and uninvolving. It was like the speakers would not sing or disappear as they do with my marantz model 16.

    I am not sure the focals are underpowered, cause I was able to play plenty loud, I spiked easily at 105db when pushing it a bit on a SUNN O))) track....bass was there and very controlled, but rock tracks was not so involving.

    With agnes obel, and opera singers, I could hear plenty of details, that i could hear only with headphones before, but her voice was not room filling, kinda focused between the speakers instead of radiating all accross the room.

    Switching back to the model 16 was not a small difference, some details were lost, and a coloration was clearly determined with some Tool songs that i know very well. Nevertheless, the life was back in the music, and the experience was more immersive...

    Aegir is clearly the better amp, more neutral, better tonality, better articulation,faster, more defined bass... But the magic was gone for me :(

    I prefer the sound of my vintage marantz model 16 wich is dual mono and 100w in 8/4ohms ( actually 2 monoblocks in 2 chassis bolted together ). So would aegir monoblocks give the life back to the music ? or will it only enhance the already exceptional qualities it demonstrated as a stereo amp ? maybe 20w is just not enough for the 400w rated 1038be....

    Or maybe I am just biased by the use of coloured amps, and not used to a truly neutral sounding amp ?
    should I try a second one ? or send it back for refund and call it a day ?.
     
  15. yotacowboy

    yotacowboy McRibs Kind of Guy

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    Not trying to shit on your shoes, but I've not found Focal to do "Midrange Magiks" very well (up to the $5k pricepoint, didn't listen to anything more $$$). Focals take some special pairing/synergy, i think.
     
  16. msommers

    msommers High on Epipens

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  17. GoodEnoughGear

    GoodEnoughGear Evil Dr. Shultz‎

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    Try some quick EQ to see if it's FR?
     
  18. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    I think it's just a matter of presentation and that x2 probably wouldn't help. Loud is loud, and even 2W will get 93db efficient speakers to ear bleeding levels. Yes, x2 sounds better, more live, less sleepy, but the differences were not huge enough to result in a different presentation. In fact, x2 has less of that bloom and wetness which is what I think you are missing from the Model 16. Hard to say because we could be talking about different things.
     
  19. hifiandrun

    hifiandrun Almost "Made"

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    I think that I know what you were saying. I bet it is the topology (as to class A versus class AB) rather than monoblock versus stereo-in-one-box thing. I mentioned about “raw energy “ in my previous post, comparing one Aegir with one Vidar. In fact I bought two Aegir together. Later I had time to get the second one out of box. I don’t have a balanced preamp thus I haven’t tried monoblock configuration with my B&W Nautilus 803. I am using the two Aegirs in a bi-amp setup. I can say bi-amp two Aegirs is a lot better than one Aegir for N803. More powerful and dynamic without losing any merits gotten from one Aegir. But I haven’t answered your question. Because by bi-amp two Aegirs, I still get the “class-A” amp sound. An analog is that to say someone was disappointed comparing a tube amp with a solid state amp, sort of. For me, I will stick with my two Aegir setup. There are always the possibilities to tune the sound to one’s liking with pre-amp tubes, cables, positioning, etc.

    The Aegir will sound different to Vidar, and two Aegirs won’t make them into one “Higher-Fi” Vidar. The good news is, Schiit is selling both Aegir and Vidar and is offering both silver and black finish. Happy listening.
     
  20. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    I actually did feel that x2 Aegir in differential monoblock (as opposed to biamping) did result in a sort of a "Higher-Fi" Vidar. Not all the way there, but like 85% there in terms of Vidar's energy. Then again, I've been told that x2 Vidar is pretty intense / insane.

    I'm running 98db efficient speakers though. So hard to say how this will translate to less efficient speakers. Could be more, could be less.

    The thing with Class A is less power per unit of mass. Maybe @schiit needs to combine Nexus (upcoming Rag 2 - heftier and richer) and Continuity (Aegir) into a single larger chassis 120W Class A monster / space heater.
     
    Last edited: May 18, 2019

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