[Seth Warshavsky]

I’m saying that both systems sound excellent with the SR1A. I am partial to the PS Audio DAC but there is not a substantial
audible difference when you are playing flac files with the SR1A. This thread is about what works well with the SR1A and I think the key factor is amplification, switching your DAC will make a difference, but I think any high quality DAC will yield similar results.

Some people are like attack dogs on here. I’m just trying to suggest a 1400 usd solution that sounds amazing when everyone is going on and on about a million different amps. Honestly a single Vidar even sounds great being driven from a AK SP1000cu DAP.

The issue is the amplifier not your DAC.

So is the Directstream better than the Yiggy, of course. Does it matter for this application, not really.

S

 

[dieslemat]

I’m saying that both systems sound excellent with the SR1A. I am partial to the PS Audio DAC but there is not a substantial
audible difference when you are playing flac files with the SR1A. This thread is about what works well with the SR1A and I think the key factor is amplification, switching your DAC will make a difference, but I think any high quality DAC will yield similar results.

Some people are like attack dogs on here. I’m just trying to suggest a 1400 usd solution that sounds amazing when everyone is going on and on about a million different amps. Honestly a single Vidar even sounds great being driven from a AK SP1000cu DAP.

The issue is the amplifier not your DAC.

So is the Directstream better than the Yiggy, of course. Does it matter for this application, not really.

S

I think you just read my mind!
Totally agree!

 

[rsbrsvp]

Would a audio-gd HE-9 with 9dbc gain be able to power these headphones or not even close?

 

[Seth Warshavsky]

I am not googling it but by memory the HE9 is a headphone amp the SR1A needs a speaker amp that outputs at least 100 better 150 watts per channel at 8 ohms, so you would need a different kind of amp for your SR1A. The most affordable and best sounding I have found is the Schiit Vidar 699 USD and you could use your HE9 as a preamp.

S

 

[rsbrsvp]

Do I need one of these amps or two?

 

[biscottino]

We have been running the SR1A on two Schiit VIdar (I think MSRP is USD 699 or thereabouts) as monoblocks for about 3 days now. I have to say they sound absolutely incredible, in my honest opinion, they have more balls and sound fuller than the Bryston 3B3 that we have been running for the past few weeks prior. I have 2 setups that we have been running on,

1 a Schiit Yiggy with a GSX MK2 as a Pre and the 2 Vidar as monoblocks to the SR1A and they sound absolutely phenomenal.
2 a PS Audio Directstream with GSX MK2 as a Pre with the 2 Vidar as monoblocks and the SR1A equally as unreal.

There is all this talk about expensive amps and class D NCORE. I can tell you that we have tried at least 10 different amps, Bryston 3B3s, NAD M25, Hagel, Lyngdorf, the list goes on...

And these simple inexpensive A/B Schitt Vidar, that are in stock now in Black and Silver sound better than any of them.

Yes, some more expensive amps may sound better, but I can say without hesitation that these sound better than the HE1 that I tested at can jam Singapore with the SR1A.

Seth

So while you're trying to find the ultimate endgame solution buy 2 Vidar, use them as monoblocks and quit screwing with all these other class D amps and stuff that just doesn't sound good. These WILL blow you away!

excuse the question, you write many intresting things, why do you use 2 Schiit Vidar, I think in mono configuration, with only one example the power is not enough?
I gave a reading on 6moons and this amplifier was recommended,

https://www.nordacoustics.co.uk/product-page/nord-one-up-nc500mb-1

it has a price much higher than the Vidar but in mono configuration, it would cost practically as much as 2 Vidar, do you have an idea how they can sound?

 

[yates7592]

1 x Vidar will work, 2 x Vidar will sound better.

 

[Seth Warshavsky]

Do I need one of these amps or two?

One Vidar sounds very good. Two of them just has a lot more power.

Honestly, I would spend 700 USD buy one, you will love the sound.. and see if you want more power. If you do, spring for the second!

S

 

[Jerseyboy]

We have been running the SR1A on two Schiit VIdar (I think MSRP is USD 699 or thereabouts) as monoblocks for about 3 days now. I have to say they sound absolutely incredible, in my honest opinion, they have more balls and sound fuller than the Bryston 3B3 that we have been running for the past few weeks prior.........These WILL blow you away!

How do these compare with the Benchmark AHB2 which, I understand from earlier in this thread, was used as a reference amp in the development of the SR1a ?

 

[Seth Warshavsky]

excuse the question, you write many intresting things, why do you use 2 Schiit Vidar, I think in mono configuration, with only one example the power is not enough?
I gave a reading on 6moons and this amplifier was recommended,

https://www.nordacoustics.co.uk/product-page/nord-one-up-nc500mb-1

it has a price much higher than the Vidar but in mono configuration, it would cost practically as much as 2 Vidar, do you have an idea how they can sound?

6moons is an audiophile publication with unlimited amplification at their disposal. They did not try the Vidar at all. I'm sure the amps they suggest sound incredible. I am simply stating out of the 20 or so amps I tested including the Bryston 3B3, that the Schiit Vidar sounded better in my (and my staff and many customers) opinion. This is both with a single Vidar and now with two Vidar in a monoblock configuration. I'm not sure why some people here are so eager to disbelieve. The Vidar is only 700 USD buy one and hear for yourself, you will not find a better value and it sounds better than amps almost 10x its price with the SR1A (it just happens to be a very good synergy, that happens some times). Schiit even has a 15-day return policy so if you don't like it just send it back, nothing to lose. So you can continue to doubt, or you can order one or two and try them and see how they really sound, and if you don't love them send them back within 15 days for a full refund.

Seems like a no brainer to me!

S

 

[Seth Warshavsky]

They are fully refundable for 15 days, no one should need to ask anything else. It's simply a 700 or 1400 USD credit card charge.

Do yourself a favor and try them. After you do that, the rest of the thread makes sense.

S

 

[Seth Warshavsky]

You know what, I take it back there is a 5%-15% restocking fee depending on the condition of the return. So keep them like new, and the test will cost you 35 USD per Vidar.

S

 

[Seth Warshavsky]

How do these compare with the Benchmark AHB2 which, I understand from earlier in this thread, was used as a reference amp in the development of the SR1a ?

This I don't know, but I do know that it's very difficult to get the Benchmark amps currently.

 

[Articnoise]

I’m saying that both systems sound excellent with the SR1A. I am partial to the PS Audio DAC but there is not a substantial
audible difference when you are playing flac files with the SR1A. This thread is about what works well with the SR1A and I think the key factor is amplification, switching your DAC will make a difference, but I think any high quality DAC will yield similar results.

Some people are like attack dogs on here. I’m just trying to suggest a 1400 usd solution that sounds amazing when everyone is going on and on about a million different amps. Honestly a single Vidar even sounds great being driven from a AK SP1000cu DAP.

The issue is the amplifier not your DAC.

So is the Directstream better than the Yiggy, of course. Does it matter for this application, not really.

S

Someone is politely asking a relevant question about the two setups you have described and your remark is “some people are like attack dogs on here”. I find it uncalled for and especially from a MOT.

 

[Seth Warshavsky]

Someone is politely asking a relevant question about the two setups you have described and your remark is “some people are like attack dogs on here”. I find it uncalled for and especially from a MOT.

I already answered that the PS Audio Directstream is a better DAC, but in this situation the difference in the quality of the DAC was a fairly insignificant matter compared to the quality of the amplification (and the synergy of the amplification with the SR1A). I apologize if my response offended anyone, but I think everyone is questioning how things are possible, when I’ve explained a few times you can try this at your home for almost no cost.

I am member of the trade but I don’t have a commercial interest in representing any of these brands in this transaction, so I have no benefit of gain in what you buy or try. I’m just trying to give you a solution that allows you to try what I’m suggesting at no or very little cost to save yourself all these questions and potentially thousands or tens of thousands of dollars.

If my response was snippy, I apologize I do get offended as well. I’m simply trying to offer assistance that seems very rational and a no brainer to me.

S