Schiit Aegir Power Amp Impressions

I would prob take the money you'd spend on more amps and get better transducers. Go cheap/good enough until then.

 

Should be the same. Instead of one channel powering the left and another powering the right, now we have one channel powering one leg of the balanced differential signal, and the other channel for the other half of the balanced.

 

My feeling is Aegir for anything 90db and up. (Or monoblocks for 85db and up). It's significantly better than Vidar, which was already on par with the $1500-$2500 power amps typically sold on say Audio Advisor or Crutchfield.

With Vidar, an argument can be made against it with the use class AB pro audio power amps. The problem is that class AB pro audio power amps are hard to find and pro audio amps have loud fans and footprints not suitable for home use. And Vidar does edge them out a bit anyway.

Monoblocks is a no brainer. In this configuration, we start to get Vidar (x1) bass control and grip, plus all the other wonderful stuff Vidar can't do.

In monoblock configuration, there is a ton of gain with the JBL 4698s (98-100db efficiency). 9 to 10 on the volume knob (passive pre) is already louder than typical volume levels for most people. A speaker that is 90db efficient would likely be easier to deal with in terms of volume control. And we will still be under the first watt anyway.

The JBL 4698b has 4-ohm woofers. I thought I should mention this.

 

Being a huge advocate or horns myself, I can highly recommend the Aegir. The downside of horns is FR irregularities that result in a raw sound, harsh vocals in the upper range, honky upper mids, maybe even excess brightness.

The personality of the Aegir, being on the more delicate side (not overly so) should mate well with the Heresy. The evident bass (but without excess warmth) should mate well with the Heresy's 12" sealed woofers which do roll off a bit more than ported designs. However, I would recommend a cheap sub, like the HSU ST series. (I'm just keeping it real).

The last few factors will be positioning of speakers from the wall and toe in for proper low and high response respectively. Maybe DAC or source synergies later.

As far as preamps, I am using a JBL nano patch passive. It will work as both a SE or balanced control. I'm kind of a purist and see no point with putting a tube headamp into the chain.

The Aegir was made for stuff like the Klipsch. Why do you think I asked Jason (so the story goes) to make a Class A Continuity version of the Vidar? It was pure selfish reasons.

 

Any Aegir users in the NYC area interested in doing a comparison? We could do a little minimeet at my place, compare against First Watt F3 and Allnic A6000.

 

Talk to Bob Crites at Critesspeakers.com for replacement parts. For Klipsch owners, he is the go to guy for xovers, upgrade parts, short of DIYing your own.

 

What pre?

 

I think the Allnic would beat it. If the EC STjr had x4 parallel tubes, the Aegir monoblocks wouldn't be as "different" or as close.

The F3 has a 10k input impedance which might make running a passive preamp difficult.

 

Just use passive preamp or no-gain active preamp.

As monoblocks fed by Gungnir, playing Alanis Unplugged, I'm getting 83dbSPL (slow response on Ratshack SPL meter) with the volume knob on the JBL Nano patch set at 9 o'clock. This is with 98db speakers (the literature says 100db, but they fudge the specs a bit). So yes, I can see the monoblocks being problematic. 83dbSPL may be too loud for most people or too unnerving with the volume knob at only 9 o'clock because 100dbSPL isn't too far of a turn away.

As far as noise at these high gain levels, I can hear buzzing at the tweeters when I put my ear 4" away from the tweeter. Any farther, and I hear no noise. Note that is normal for speakers. I know some noob dweeb is gonna put his ear to the tweeter and bitch about it being not quiet enough.

As an aside, I've already noticed a few randos spouting similar kinds of nonsense: "I cranked up the volume of my headphone amp and I can hear noise. My other amp doesn't do this. " To which, the standard reply should be "No shit Sherlock. What's the gain? When was the last time you listened to music with the volume anywhere near full clockwise? If never, then don't worry about it."