[Neogeo333]

Do what I did, get a tube and ss amp.  I have learn that not one amp can make all the music go the way you want.  Some music just sounds better with a tube and some with ss.  I myself I'm crazy with ortho fever and need a pretty hefty amp to make them sing.  Both my Mjolnir and LDmk6+ have the power and are pretty good for the $.  I dont expect any upgrades in the next couple of years.  Kinda  want to settle and just hear the music.  Well maybe not to stop all upgrades maybe better i/c, power cords,fuses, and power conditioner?  Ohh and the frustrating and expensive tube rolling. 
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[size=10pt]I got my Mjolnir and I been testing it out w/ the lcd3.  Its an impressive amplifier, but isn't without flaws.  [/size]

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[size=10pt]Spec’s wise its probably the most impressive amp I have heard.  You can really tell that 5 watts rms makes a difference.  The transient response, decay, and headroom are on par with the best I have ever heard.  It really makes anything else seem sluggish.  In this regard it slays my Concerto. Noise floor which is what usually bothers me most about amplifiers is as good as I can ask for.  Build quality is typical Schiit, flawless.[/size]
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[size=10pt]The qualms I have are more an issue of taste than objective inferiority.  It makes my LCD3 sound more like an HD800, with a very quick and responsive diaphragm, ever so slight uptilt in tonality, light and airy w/ massive soundstages.  The downside is it sounds more clinical, a bit thin and lifeless like an HD800.  I usually love this effect.  Infact I remember the pairing with the slightly darker lcd2 as what motivated me to buy the amp in the first place.  It really makes jazz, classical, a capella music and especially techno sound amazing.  On the downside, pop music, rock, hip hop sound aggressive, clinical and a bit lifeless.  Compared to my Concerto which I feel is the most neutral amp I have heard, I think the mjolnir has slightly too much treble energy.[/size]
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[size=10pt]A lot of people will read this and think this is a bad impression, but that's not really what I want to convey.  The amp's technical superiority over other amps is clear, but I think my taste preferences lie elsewhere.  I'll give it a few more days, but I will likely return this amp to get a WA22.  I have never heard the WA22, but I am hoping it has the muscle to control the diaphragm just as well w/o sacrificing body and emotional impact.  If I did not want to convert to a balanced set up, I’d probably keep my Concerto which I feel is competitively on par with this amp.[/size]

 

[elwappo99]

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Do what I did, get a tube and ss amp.  I have learn that not one amp can make all the music go the way you want.  Some music just sounds better with a tube and some with ss.  I myself I'm crazy with ortho fever and need a pretty hefty amp to make them sing.  Both my Mjolnir and LDmk6+ have the power and are pretty good for the $.  I dont expect any upgrades in the next couple of years.  Kinda  want to settle and just hear the music.  Well maybe not to stop all upgrades maybe better i/c, power cords,fuses, and power conditioner?  Ohh and the frustrating and expensive tube rolling. 

 
Could you post a few comments on the MKVI+ Vs. the Mjolnir. I own the little dot, and was thinking about adding the mjolnir. At the LA meet I heard them within a few minutes of  each other, but my MKVI was attached to my Audio-gd reference1 and the Mjolnir was attached to the gungir (or whatever it's called). I suspected it wasn't a fair match up. 
 
Also, getting 4 matched tubes is a total pain in the butt. Whew! 

 

[Neogeo333]

I just installed 2 pairs of hard to find Bendix 6080wb along pair of Mullard Ecc34.  Its nice but I was expecting more from the hype these tubes have.  Maybe more burn in for the Bendix?  With a full week of use with the Schiit.  I think its a wonderful amp.  Its better the MK6 in every aspect.  Like other have said it sometimes sounds clinical but I suspect it just taste.  I think it sounds better with rock and pop and the MK6 is better with slower music.  I have some 24/96 flacs of the Beatles and I listen to them almost everyday, using my Eximous DP-1 as dac via usb, the Mjolnir sounds more dynamic, detailed and better soundstage.  Listening to some Yo-Yo Ma the MK6 is more romantic, less detailed and dynamic but get you more involve.  This is using 3 orthos phones LCD-2 rev2, Yamaha HP-1 and Paradox(with a adapter)  still waiting for LFF for my Balanced Paradox. 
 
Still liking the MK6 with Mullard 6080 more than Bendix.  When time permit gonna take out my gems, GEC 6as7 to compare with the Mjolnir. 

 

[scootermafia]

My Schiit has been breaking in for about 10 days straight now.  It gets warm but I'm not concerned, I have a fan trained on that part of the room to help with that.  I'm going to give it another solid evaluation soon.

 

[Neogeo333]

One last thing I like to add that forgot is a good job on Schiit part to make the rca input sound really really nice.  Its almost the same as XLR.  But for been s/e it sounds perfect.  I dare to say its almost indistinguishable with certain tracks.  So props to Jason and his team for that feat. 

 

[Anaxilus]

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One last thing I like to add that forgot is a good job on Schiit part to make the rca input sound really really nice.  Its almost the same as XLR.  But for been s/e it sounds perfect.  I dare to say its almost indistinguishable with certain tracks.  So props to Jason and his team for that feat. 

 
Oooh, we found a rather substantial difference in dynamics via balanced input w/ the PWD and HD800s/HE5s but obviously not everything is ceteris paribus.  But yes, the RCA is not as bad as on other amps.  The gap is wider I feel for the Bryston BHA-1 between SE and XLR.

 

[Solude]

Should not be any noticeable difference between single ended or balanced since its a differential input and out of the input is a balanced signal regardless of input. Not a splitter like the BHA-1.

 

[Solude]

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I can't understand people that assess a lots of amplifiers in just a number of hours.

 
How many times do you need to eat something before you decide you like it or not  The amp had 100 hours on it, easily 20 hours of head time and 2 hours of critical, note taking, A/B with the Peak.  Could I have kept it longer? Yes.  Would it have changed? No.

 

[.Sup]

How many times do you need to eat something before you decide you like it or not  The amp had 100 hours on it, easily 20 hours of head time and 2 hours of critical, note taking, A/B with the Peak.  Could I have kept it longer? Yes.  Would it have changed? No.

No but perception would change. I took me a year to start liking my Ref 5dac. I was swapping between DacMagic and Ref everyday before. Then I sold the DM.

 

[Sid-Fi]

Thanks for these comparisons Solude. Would you mind sharing which tubes you were using with WA22 at the time? Also, what do you mean by "3 blob stage". Haven't heard that one before heh.

Comparisons incoming versus the Mjolnir...

Soloist:  Slightly less detail retrieval, more mid focused, tons less dynamic, slightly better separation and staging, somewhat lifeless

B22:  Bottom tilted, tons more rounded, better separation but lower resolution and clarity, imparts itself on the music, less dynamic, better staging

Trafomatic:  Probably the most Mjolnir of the bunch, similar tonal balance, slightly less detail, greater staging, similar separation

GS-1:  Similar to the Soloist.

WA22:  Similar to the B22 with a more 3 blob stage

Which if we do the math makes the Mjolnir a great value for that style of character.

 

[cactus_farmer]

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Exiting times really...
 
Headphone sector really booming now.
 
Schiit is launching cool stuff (mjolnir in particular since it's a dedicates balanced design!)
 
Audeze LCD-3 comes out with the new Lotus drivers.
 
Hifiman HE-400 brings orthos to the mid-range sector.
 
Biaural albums are becoming more common.
 
Can't wait for the Schiit Statement and whatever comes out of Sennheiser / Hifiman / Audeze next. New top-end models or price war?
 
Both Audeze and Sennheiser have to watch out I think - I can imagine a future Hifiman HE-7 with lower weight, better comfort, better build and little bit lower power requirements. That would mean serious trouble for the LCD-3 and HD800.

Surely, if Hifiman were to release an HE-7 it would be much more difficult to power than the HE-6, and they would release a new statement headphone amplifier (EF-7?) that would be the only one capable of driving it - thus tying you into buying two of their products.
 
Seems like a no-brainer to me, from a business perspective.

 

[Solude]

My WA22 had EML 5U4G, Sylvania 7236 and Shug Treasure CV-181.  Three blob is a stage that is mostly left, centre, right with little to nothing in between the 'blobs'.  So where the Mjolnir was hard panned left and right with a centre image, the Peak pushes the stage forward and places instruments between left, right and centre.  Some would say the Mjolnir stage is wider, the Peak more narrow.  Peak also does height and depth which none of the other amps did.
 
Borrowing from Meier on crossfeed and apologies for terrible Paint skills  First is Peak, second Mjolnir... exaggerated to illustrate 3 blob.
 
 

 

 

[Solude]

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Surely, if Hifiman were to release an HE-7 it would be much more difficult to power than the HE-6, and they would release a new statement headphone amplifier (EF-7?) that would be the only one capable of driving it - thus tying you into buying two of their products.
 
Seems like a no-brainer to me, from a business perspective.

 
HE-7 is already out and goes by HE-500  I also agree that the real HE-6 replacement will be super sensitive and hopefully at the very least incorporate angled cable inserts.  The current built is not wearable by me since I have to tilt my head back to not have the cables dig into my shoulders, forget turning my head.

 

[preproman]

Quote:

Surely, if Hifiman were to release an HE-7 it would be much more difficult to power than the HE-6, and they would release a new statement headphone amplifier (EF-7?) that would be the only one capable of driving it - thus tying you into buying two of their products.
 
Seems like a no-brainer to me, from a business perspective.

 
You will never be tied into buying something from someone.  There will always be alternatives like speaker amps for one.

 

[paradoxper]

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My WA22 had EML 5U4G, Sylvania 7236 and Shug Treasure CV-181.  Three blob is a stage that is mostly left, centre, right with little to nothing in between the 'blobs'.  So where the Mjolnir was hard panned left and right with a centre image, the Peak pushes the stage forward and places instruments between left, right and centre.  Some would say the Mjolnir stage is wider, the Peak more narrow.  Peak also does height and depth which none of the other amps did.
 
Borrowing from Meier on crossfeed and apologies for terrible Paint skills  First is Peak, second Mjolnir... exaggerated to illustrate 3 blob.
 
 

 

And how about the B22? How/where did that fall?