[Glam Bash]

Received my A2 two nights ago, but after 4 hours of moving snow +  a full work day, well...Last night I was hooking up the A2 and noticed some white "film" on the case. A few passes with a damp sponge took it off. Pretty minor stuff considering what the staff at Schiit must have gone through to get these out with last minute production headaches.
     I will post listening observations in the " other" Thread, but if the A2 is like the original it will have a long burn in. I read a review about the original Asgard where the reviewer said the mids were too far forward and the highs were too recessed. I remember that stage of breakin. A few more days of listening the highs and mids snapped into focus nicely.
     My first impressions are that there is more punch(power) and it seems " faster"  with nice texture to the sound for a solid state amp. 

 

[bearFNF]

^^^^ yeah I noticed the same "film" on mine.  Wiped off easily with a damp cloth.

 

[LarryKingsShoes]

Is there any word on the new shipping delay? The Asgard 2 is now listed as backordered with delay of a about 3 weeks before they start sending more out. I really hope my order is safe from that. I placed it on Wednesday night when it still had a 4-6 day wait.

For what it's worth, my order summary was last updated yesterday and it says "Asgard 2 shipping 3-5 days". I've got my fingers crossed that I'll get mine soon but, with my luck, I'll get hit with a few more delays before I ever do.

 

[Mark-sf]

Quote:

So can I pre-amp out to my vintage receiver and be able to use the headphone output stage on the receiver when wanted? 

I would recommend that you hook up to your receiver's tape output and connect the A2's output to your receiver's amp input. This allows you to bypass the receiver's preamp for headphones and use only the A2 preamp for speakers instead of both preamps.

 

[MattTCG]

Don't quite follow. How do you mean hook up to the receivers tape output?

Thanks.

 

[paradoxper]

Quote:

Don't quite follow. How do you mean hook up to the receivers tape output?

Thanks.

The back of your Denon there should be tape out or record out. 

 

[MattTCG]

Okay. So a2 preamp out to phono in, correct?

 

[vaed]

Do you guys know what these splotches would be? 

 

[MattTCG]

^^ Your fingerprints? jk
 
Seriously, several have reported that a damp cloth is needed to remove some residue left behind. But that's all it usually takes. I think that this is a result of the last minute prep work after the production issues. 

 

[Traum]

Is there any word on the new shipping delay? The Asgard 2 is now listed as backordered with delay of a about 3 weeks before they start sending more out. I really hope my order is safe from that. I placed it on Wednesday night when it still had a 4-6 day wait.

For what it's worth, my order summary was last updated yesterday and it says "Asgard 2 shipping 3-5 days". I've got my fingers crossed that I'll get mine soon but, with my luck, I'll get hit with a few more delays before I ever do.

You know what? From a pure speculation point of view, I wouldn't be surprised if Jason and Mike are re-working some new components with suppliers to sort out the (transformer?) humming issue. Of course, this is nothing but pure speculation.

 

[bearFNF]

Quote:

Do you guys know what these splotches would be? 

 
Quote:

^^ Your fingerprints? jk
 
Seriously, several have reported that a damp cloth is needed to remove some residue left behind. But that's all it usually takes. I think that this is a result of the last minute prep work after the production issues. 

Yep, I had that, too. I just wiped it down with a damp cloth to get it off.

 

[vaed]

Alright, I thought so, just wanted to make sure that was the same thing. Thanks!

 

[rush2049]

That is exactly what I said was on mine when I suggested a pass with baby oil, or some aluminum polish.

I ended up just rubbing it all off with my finger, it was quite a bit more stubborn than a cloth/sponge would do.....

 

[Mark-sf]

Okay. So a2 preamp out to phono in, correct?

When you say "phono" in, I take it to mean the input RCA jacks that are for directly connecting to your power amp in the receiver. On most receivers they come with a pair of u-shaped jumper that is connected to the preamp outputs. You would of course remove these.

 

[NotAnAngel]

Quote:

Received my A2 two nights ago, but after 4 hours of moving snow +  a full work day, well...Last night I was hooking up the A2 and noticed some white "film" on the case. A few passes with a damp sponge took it off. Pretty minor stuff considering what the staff at Schiit must have gone through to get these out with last minute production headaches.
     I will post listening observations in the " other" Thread, but if the A2 is like the original it will have a long burn in. I read a review about the original Asgard where the reviewer said the mids were too far forward and the highs were too recessed. I remember that stage of breakin. A few more days of listening the highs and mids snapped into focus nicely.
     My first impressions are that there is more punch(power) and it seems " faster"  with nice texture to the sound for a solid state amp. 

 
Mine had this white film too.
 
Regarding burn-in, my A2 sounded quite harsh out of the box (mids mostly). My first thought was that it sounded somewhat similar but stronger to what I could hear when I had cheap, no-name RCA interconnects that I eventually replaced with AudioQuest Cinnamon/Big Sur RCAs on different systems.
So I left A2 running with some burn-in selection (Mediamaster Ultra Burn In CD3000 plus a variety of tracks I picked), currently around 25-30 hours, and the harshness is now mostly gone (maybe 10-20% is still there).
I really like the sound at this time but assume the burn-in needs to be much longer.
 
Also, the transformer hum is still there. Today I though it was even louder; I could hear it from about 4-5 feet - if I was making an effort to listen to it on purpose, looking toward one of the sides with ventilation holes (it is much less noticeable from the front).
Regardless, does not bother me (except I *know* it is there) and is not noticeable at all with headphones on.