Schiit Vidar Impression Thread - UPDATED WITH REVIEW (CHECK FIRST POST)

Has anyone taken any bench measurements of the vidar to see true rms output? At Axpona I listened to the Salk speakers running these amps and it was a really nice setup.

 

Hello everyone!

Very interesting thread, thanks so far! My Saga is still waiting for the Vidar to arrive – eta is next week – but maybe you could assist me meanwhile with a gear question.

Right now, i use my DENON AVR 3313 to drive a pair of Bowers & Wilkins CM9 (S1) via Bi-Wiring.

I wonder if the Saga+Vidar setup will match the CM9, or do i have to look for new speakers next? I assume the benefit will be great coming from the 7.1 AVR, but maybe the CM9 needs more "power"?

I am not a tech-head, please help me with this.

CM9:

30-200 Watts @8ohm
89dB sensitivity

I can't afford new speakers atm, so it would be great, if the CM9 would perform "good" with the Saga/Vidar.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

Those CM9s don't look hard to drive at all. I'm sure they'll sound great with the Vidar. FWIW, my previous 89dB 4 ohm speakers were driven quite nicely by a 10wpc tube amp .

 

Thank you. RMS , WPC ... @4 ohm or 8 ... i know these terms but don't know what they are "meaning" in the end for listening to music. I've read (somewhere), that the CM9 are power-demanding ... but the Vidar seems to match the 30-200 watts range just well – simply put for me.

 

http://www.psbspeakers.com/products/image/Image-T6-Tower

I picked up a pair of these locally on the cheap and there's no issues driving them with Saga/Vidar. They sound great. I normally listen about 70d and there's a ton of headroom for me.

 

Hey there. Just thought I would check in again with an update. I've got my speaker placement and treatments down and all is good. After a couple hundred hours of break in time, the Vidar sounds even better. Initially I tripped the thermal protection a few times - it is in an open front cabinet with about 8" on the sides and about a foot over top, but I guess it was not getting enough air flow around it. I bought an AC Infinity fan unit from Amazon and that seems to have done the trick. No problems with heat since and if anything I think it sounds better running cooler.

For a budget audiophile like myself, this amp certainly scores really high on the value scale IMHO. Thanks again to the good folks at Schiit.

 

Hi. I would like to have some inputs. I bought recently a pair of Magneplanar 1.7 (first generation). My current set up is computer - Arcam RDac - Rega Brio - Magneplanar 1.7. What if i repalce my Rega by a combo Saga+Vidar? Is it a good idea according to you? Thanks for your helps.

Paul Nguyen.

 

I've heard the Brio is a nice little integrated , but the Vidar is rated for almost 3 times the power into 4 ohms as the Brio, and Maggies love power. Many have said the Vidar + Maggies make a great combo. I think you'll find Saga + Vidar to be a significant improvement.

 

Thanks for your reply. I am very pleased when my Brio driving Totem Mite speakers. But matching with Maggies 1.7, the bass is very thin. It is impossible to buy Schiit's gears in stores in Montreal. So no chance to have a listening test. It is quite a gamble to spend almost 2000 CAD $ buying this combo on the web.

 

Well, 1050 US$ x 1,3 (conversion to CAD $) x 1,3 (duty fees) gives an approximarive amount of 1800 CAD$.

 

The exchange, plus the tax (we just pay our normal provincial sales tax) plus the shipping is brutal to Canada right now - the exchange is the major variable factor right now that sucks big time. Ordering stuff direct from the states is not favourable right now at all.

 

$1800 CDN is about what it worked out to when I purchased the Saga/Vidar combo. $699+414 USD (I ordered the LISSTs also), + exchange at about 1.28, $100 USD shipping, 5% GST (federal tax) and 7% PST (provincial tax) - no duty.

Depending on your listening habits Paul, you may find the combination quite satisfying. The Vidar works great with my MG12s and I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone. I found without any gain from the Saga pre-amp that it did not push the Vidar to it's full capabilities with the Maggies, and so plan to buy a Freya instead, but a lot of people seem quite happy with the Saga/Vidar combo so it does not hurt to give it a try. I returned the Saga, so trying it out cost me that portion of the tax (I could probably try to claim it back but not worth the effort), return shipping, and the 15% restocking fee, so about $150. They will waive the restocking fee if you decide to order a Freya instead. I did not do so as some unexpected vet bills have caused me to defer my purchase for a month or two.

 

I would say try the Vidar first if the Brio had a preamp out, but unfortunately it doesn't appear to (unless I am mistaken). Do you have anything else right now that has a preamp out?

I really don't think bass output will be an issue with the Vidar (certainly should be much better than the Brio) but recognize that Maggies don't have the same type of bass output as a dynamic speaker like your Totems. I think the Vidar is a good bet to get you as far as you're likely to get from the Maggies in that price range. Otherwise I would recommend finding a used amp with even more power, if you're concerned.

 

Yes indeed. Looking for a used amp with more power than Vidar is one good option. I have to be patient in my search.

 

Rega Elicit 2 vs (Saga+Vidar) ? What wiould be your pick?

I want to buy an amp to drive a pair of Maggies 1.7.

 

Yggdrasil costs us Canadians ~3500 give or take 100 depending on the daily exchange rate. That's after shipping and 13% sales tax, and, if you're really unlucky, another 7% tarrif... and if NAFTA gets Trump'd I would expect every American made good to start getting taxed the full tarrif.

 

A guy just above you said that his Vidar was getting pushed into protection mode with his magnephans... based on his description of the space he put the vidar in I would say it's more likely the vidar just isn't stable under 3ohms at higher spl. in stereo mode at least. Having to put a fan on the amp when it has plenty of ventilation and space just seems unacceptable to me. You might be better off getting a different amp so long as the Maggie's are part of your system.

 

Maggies won't go anywhere. I saw an ad from Montreal of Elicit 2 second hand. The asking price is 1100 CAD $. The temptation is growing.

 

The Elicit 2 is rated at 125w into 4 ohms. Don't know how it fairs into lower impedance loads however. I dont see a lot of reviews out there on the Elicit 2, so you you may want to do some reading, including on the original Elicit, and maybe the Elicit-r, to see if anyone has had success driving Maggies.

I can say that I've driven Wharfedale Jade 3 speakers, which are pretty inneficient and go down into 3 ohms for part of their range, at some pretty ear splitting levels with Vidar. But this was in a fairly small room, and still not the same as Maggies. Used is definitely a lower risk proposition.