Schiit Happened: The Story of the World's Most Improbable Start-Up
Apr 12, 2024 at 8:25 AM Post #147,541 of 170,001
2024, Chapter 5
The End of the End of the World?


Some of you are gonna get an email soon announcing the blowout on Ragnarok 2.

And it’s a biiiiig blowout. As in, Ragnarok 2 is now $999.

Like I said, BIG.

“Why?” some of you cry. “Why oh why do you have to do this? What happened? Did you screw up? I know you screw up all the time, you guys suck!”

Others say, “Yeah, it’s an integrated, you can’t move integrateds with bran, no big surprise here.”

(and many others are saying nothing, too busy hitting the BUY button, because this is a heckuvasupercallifragillistic deal.)

So what happened?

Simple: due to commitments we made during the supply chain crisis—commitments we made in order to get any supply at all—we made too many Ragnarok 2s. And now we’re moving. And it’s better you have them than we move them. So please enjoy the deal.

“But what’s this end of the end of the world thing?” someone is asking. “Are you considering not making another Ragnarok?”

Good question.

ragnarok 2 in situ 1920.jpg


Is It the End?

In short, we don’t know. As of the time of this writing, April 2024, I don’t have a Ragnarok 3 on the screen. Not a board, not a chassis, nothing.

So, at the very least, there’ll be a hiatus. We’ll sell through Ragnarok 2, and then there will be nothing for a while, and then maybe there will be a Ragnarok 3.

“Ah hell, you’re screwing with us, you’re always working on something new,” someone says.

Yeah. But not a Ragnarok 3.

Here’s the thing: I took a couple of swipes at improving Ragnarok 2.

The first is what we’re selling today—a Ragnarok 2 with a toroidal transformer, which gives it a lower noise floor and higher output power than the original. Ragnarok 2 now comfortably exceeds its rated power. If we re-rated it, it would be more like a 75/110W amp into 8 and 4 ohms.

The second, never seen, was a Ragnarok 2+ which added a handful of extra relays to switch the “Nexus resistors” to different values in order to decrease the noise floor even lower when used in low gain. I built a prototype of it, which worked OK, but didn’t really work as well as I hoped (I was looking for 15-20dB better, I got 6-10dB), so I put it on the shelf and forgot about it.

Aside: literally. There’s a shelf of in-process and kinda-sorta-dead prototypes in the tech lab.

In both cases, the revised Ragnaroks didn’t exceed what the current one is in any significant way—they didn’t deliver 100+W into 8 ohms, they didn’t add a bunch of digital inputs, they didn’t change the basic idea of Ragnarok 2, which is simple: a great integrated amp for speakers that also will absolutely light up any headphone, no matter how hard to drive.

And when you get down to it, maybe that’s the problem. Ragnarok 2 is a bit hard to get your head around. It’s a:
  1. A mid-power integrated amp suitable for most speakers, but not ones that need tons of power. Mid-power integrateds have been the kiss of death since the 1980s. Literally it was a joke at Sumo. I tried doing one. My boss killed it. He was probably right.
  2. One of the purest integrated amp designs. As in, this isn't a preamp bolted to an amp in a chassis. This is a purpose-built, single-gain-stage, multiple-gain-selection, balanced and single-ended in and out, super-flexible, no-compromise product. It's so no-compromise that it has 100% linear power supply, Class AB Nexus™ fully discrete, DC-coupled gain stage, relay ladder attenuation, independent high voltage rails, dual-mono-back-to-the-transformer construction, and microprocessor oversight and protection.
  3. A giant, insanely powerful balanced headphone amp. I mean, the headphones are driven by the SPEAKER OUTPUTS. We’re talking 30+W into 32 ohms. Completely bonkers. But with 3 gain levels, it’s still great for pretty much any balanced headphone. Neat in a way. But not normal. Not convenient. And not sized for sane desks.
Yeah. Weird.

I mean, yeah, in my mind it makes total sense. Get a Ragnarok 2, especially with the phono and DAC input cards, and you’re done. One box for all your stuff—speakers, headphones, etc. Nice.

But…one digital input? And only MM phono? Maybe that’s not enough.

So yeah, as of today, if I was going to shoot at a new Ragnarok design, it would be more powerful, with more digital inputs and a more flexible phono preamp—and it would probably only be sold that way. And it would cost more. So it’s really a different product at that point. And I’m not super excited about it in any case.

Aaaaaand as I mentioned, no design work has been done.

Soooo….who knows? Maybe in 2025. Maybe not until later. Maybe not at all.


What’s the Catch?

Some of you are thinking, “This deal sounds too good to be true. What’s the catch?”

No catch. With Ragnarok 2, what you see is what you get. Lisa uses one in her office in Corpus Christi. I frequently have one on my desk in California, but now that we’re moving, everything is packed up except a Magni Unity. Alex has one. Tyler has one. Elvis has one. It’s one of the most popular products we’ve ever had internally.

Aaaanndd…they are insanely reliable. The huge heatsinks and middling power output mean it runs super-cool, and it’s almost impossible to get outside the range of its protection.

Aaaaaaaaaaaannnd…they sound good! Ragnarok 2 was our first Nexus™ product. It was designed as a flagship of a whole new “holy grail” topology, and it sounds like it.

Aaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnddd…it’s super hard to conceive of any headphone that Ragnarok 2 won’t work well with, and its plenty for all but the most insane speakers, so it’s one and done deal.

Sounds good?

Sounds even better at $999?

Cool. Get one. And sit back and enjoy excellent sound for a long, long time. Because when they’re gone, they’re gone. And there’s nothing on the horizon.

For a time, at least, it really is the end of the end of the world.

Thanks Jason, this another Heckuva deal! but you also need to correct/adjust the B-stock price ~
 
Apr 12, 2024 at 8:42 AM Post #147,542 of 170,001
Simple: due to commitments we made during the supply chain crisis—commitments we made in order to get any supply at all—we made too many Ragnarok 2s. And now we’re moving. And it’s better you have them than we move them. So please enjoy the deal.
I'm sure I missed something in a previous post. Where is Schiit moving to?
Sorry if this has already been answered.
 
Apr 12, 2024 at 8:44 AM Post #147,543 of 170,001
Apr 12, 2024 at 8:46 AM Post #147,544 of 170,001
I'm sure I missed something in a previous post. Where is Schiit moving to?
Sorry if this has already been answered.
Texas or Tejas if you're a ZZ Top fan
 
Apr 12, 2024 at 8:50 AM Post #147,545 of 170,001
Apr 12, 2024 at 8:51 AM Post #147,546 of 170,001
Apr 12, 2024 at 8:55 AM Post #147,547 of 170,001
2024, Chapter 5
The End of the End of the World?


Some of you are gonna get an email soon announcing the blowout on Ragnarok 2.

And it’s a biiiiig blowout. As in, Ragnarok 2 is now $999.

Like I said, BIG.

“Why?” some of you cry. “Why oh why do you have to do this? What happened? Did you screw up? I know you screw up all the time, you guys suck!”

Others say, “Yeah, it’s an integrated, you can’t move integrateds with bran, no big surprise here.”

(and many others are saying nothing, too busy hitting the BUY button, because this is a heckuvasupercallifragillistic deal.)

So what happened?

Simple: due to commitments we made during the supply chain crisis—commitments we made in order to get any supply at all—we made too many Ragnarok 2s. And now we’re moving. And it’s better you have them than we move them. So please enjoy the deal.

“But what’s this end of the end of the world thing?” someone is asking. “Are you considering not making another Ragnarok?”

Good question.

ragnarok 2 in situ 1920.jpg


Is It the End?

In short, we don’t know. As of the time of this writing, April 2024, I don’t have a Ragnarok 3 on the screen. Not a board, not a chassis, nothing.

So, at the very least, there’ll be a hiatus. We’ll sell through Ragnarok 2, and then there will be nothing for a while, and then maybe there will be a Ragnarok 3.

“Ah hell, you’re screwing with us, you’re always working on something new,” someone says.

Yeah. But not a Ragnarok 3.

Here’s the thing: I took a couple of swipes at improving Ragnarok 2.

The first is what we’re selling today—a Ragnarok 2 with a toroidal transformer, which gives it a lower noise floor and higher output power than the original. Ragnarok 2 now comfortably exceeds its rated power. If we re-rated it, it would be more like a 75/110W amp into 8 and 4 ohms.

The second, never seen, was a Ragnarok 2+ which added a handful of extra relays to switch the “Nexus resistors” to different values in order to decrease the noise floor even lower when used in low gain. I built a prototype of it, which worked OK, but didn’t really work as well as I hoped (I was looking for 15-20dB better, I got 6-10dB), so I put it on the shelf and forgot about it.

Aside: literally. There’s a shelf of in-process and kinda-sorta-dead prototypes in the tech lab.

In both cases, the revised Ragnaroks didn’t exceed what the current one is in any significant way—they didn’t deliver 100+W into 8 ohms, they didn’t add a bunch of digital inputs, they didn’t change the basic idea of Ragnarok 2, which is simple: a great integrated amp for speakers that also will absolutely light up any headphone, no matter how hard to drive.

And when you get down to it, maybe that’s the problem. Ragnarok 2 is a bit hard to get your head around. It’s a:
  1. A mid-power integrated amp suitable for most speakers, but not ones that need tons of power. Mid-power integrateds have been the kiss of death since the 1980s. Literally it was a joke at Sumo. I tried doing one. My boss killed it. He was probably right.
  2. One of the purest integrated amp designs. As in, this isn't a preamp bolted to an amp in a chassis. This is a purpose-built, single-gain-stage, multiple-gain-selection, balanced and single-ended in and out, super-flexible, no-compromise product. It's so no-compromise that it has 100% linear power supply, Class AB Nexus™ fully discrete, DC-coupled gain stage, relay ladder attenuation, independent high voltage rails, dual-mono-back-to-the-transformer construction, and microprocessor oversight and protection.
  3. A giant, insanely powerful balanced headphone amp. I mean, the headphones are driven by the SPEAKER OUTPUTS. We’re talking 30+W into 32 ohms. Completely bonkers. But with 3 gain levels, it’s still great for pretty much any balanced headphone. Neat in a way. But not normal. Not convenient. And not sized for sane desks.
Yeah. Weird.

I mean, yeah, in my mind it makes total sense. Get a Ragnarok 2, especially with the phono and DAC input cards, and you’re done. One box for all your stuff—speakers, headphones, etc. Nice.

But…one digital input? And only MM phono? Maybe that’s not enough.

So yeah, as of today, if I was going to shoot at a new Ragnarok design, it would be more powerful, with more digital inputs and a more flexible phono preamp—and it would probably only be sold that way. And it would cost more. So it’s really a different product at that point. And I’m not super excited about it in any case.

Aaaaaand as I mentioned, no design work has been done.

Soooo….who knows? Maybe in 2025. Maybe not until later. Maybe not at all.


What’s the Catch?

Some of you are thinking, “This deal sounds too good to be true. What’s the catch?”

No catch. With Ragnarok 2, what you see is what you get. Lisa uses one in her office in Corpus Christi. I frequently have one on my desk in California, but now that we’re moving, everything is packed up except a Magni Unity. Alex has one. Tyler has one. Elvis has one. It’s one of the most popular products we’ve ever had internally.

Aaaanndd…they are insanely reliable. The huge heatsinks and middling power output mean it runs super-cool, and it’s almost impossible to get outside the range of its protection.

Aaaaaaaaaaaannnd…they sound good! Ragnarok 2 was our first Nexus™ product. It was designed as a flagship of a whole new “holy grail” topology, and it sounds like it.

Aaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnddd…it’s super hard to conceive of any headphone that Ragnarok 2 won’t work well with, and its plenty for all but the most insane speakers, so it’s one and done deal.

Sounds good?

Sounds even better at $999?

Cool. Get one. And sit back and enjoy excellent sound for a long, long time. Because when they’re gone, they’re gone. And there’s nothing on the horizon.

For a time, at least, it really is the end of the end of the world.
Wow, that's a SMOKIN' deal!!!

What's the move talk? Has this been announced, or is it just a low key thing? Are you moving everything to TX, or just a different bigger SoCal facility?
 
Apr 12, 2024 at 8:57 AM Post #147,548 of 170,001
It was announced to some political backlash from some rather upset forum members. That noise was abruptly shutdown, thankfully.

Yep -- Texas, baby! As I understand it, CA operations will be moving to an undisclosed location outside of San Antonio -- hence Jason's building of a 2nd house.
 
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Apr 12, 2024 at 8:59 AM Post #147,549 of 170,001
Wow, that's a SMOKIN' deal!!!

What's the move talk? Has this been announced, or is it just a low key thing? Are you moving everything to TX, or just a different bigger SoCal facility?

Including tortoises, everything to Texas.
 
Apr 12, 2024 at 9:02 AM Post #147,550 of 170,001
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Apr 12, 2024 at 9:03 AM Post #147,551 of 170,001
It was announced to some political backlash from some rather upset forum members. That noise was abruptly shutdown, thankfully.

Yep -- Texas, baby! As I understand it, CA operations will be moving to an undisclosed location outside of San Antonio -- hence Jason building of a 2nd house.
Yes, California operations are moving to Texas beginning this summer, and wrapping up before the end of the year. I announced it in video, and I'll probably have a longer chapter about it eventually. Corpus Christi keeps operating as the "smaller products" production center.

When the ink is dry on the building purchase, I'll announce the 2nd location. It's in a fantastic area of San Antonio.
 
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Apr 12, 2024 at 9:07 AM Post #147,552 of 170,001
Great! San Antonio is a cool city. Commuting between CRP and SAT is now a 2-3 hour drive instead of slogging thru DFW/DAL and LAX. Good choice!

Hmmm... Armchair Philosopher also moving there. Coincidence? :beerchug:
 
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Apr 12, 2024 at 9:17 AM Post #147,554 of 170,001
Finally back in Texas! We spent the past few days driving back (bringing cars and tortoises as part of the move, LOL).

I'll have an announcement tomorrow. Not a giant deal in the grand scheme of things, but, well, a giant deal literally. We'll get to the former later this year.

Who won the race to Texas, the tortoises or the hare...? 🤣

001cf20a-1600.jpg
 
Apr 12, 2024 at 9:18 AM Post #147,555 of 170,001
Yes, California operations are moving to Texas beginning this summer, and wrapping up before the end of the year. I announced it in video, and I'll probably have a longer chapter about it eventually. Corpus Christi keeps operating as the "smaller products" production center.

When the ink is dry on the building purchase, I'll announce the 2nd location. It's in a fantastic area of San Antonio.
Wow, congratulations! I do miss a lot of things about living in SoCal, the cost of living is not one of them...
 

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