[GenEricOne]

So anyone using Folkvangr with a Yggdrasil LIM?

I am. Can confirm it works.

 

[433521]

Surprised the Jot2 can’t handle the stealth. Seems it would have plenty of power and everything else a planar likes. What are you hearing?

Obvious distortion. I wrote in to see if they've experienced this, actually sounds broken with the Stealth. I'm thinking something is wrong with it, I asked Schiit if they've heard this before.

 

[433521]

No stealth, but v2. Sounds great with the Schiit Jot 2 (using the Lyr 3 as a preamp, but of course it adds no power). Jot 2 produces 6W into the Stealth's 35 ohms. More than enough to make the stealth sing the macarena.

Good luck getting rid of those images and sounds from 1993.

Infecting new generations, one person at a time.

You use jot 2 with a dca stealth? And it sounds good?

 

[433521]

You gotta go speaker amps with Stealth to make it sing unfortunately

I prefer to use tubes with Stealth. Really completes the sound.

 

[Mike-WI]

Folkvangr's still available to order.
I was on the fence. Now I'm in.

 

[mhanism1]

Folkvangr's still available to order.
I was on the fence. Now I'm in.

Yeah, same here. I was equal parts 1) novelty/tube coolness/limited production AND 2) sound quality/performance in making my decision to pull the trigger.

 

[BetaMan10]

I received the Folkvangr about a week after they started shipping them and it has really been an experience. It is connected to my OG Yggdrasil. Usually I listen to my focal Stellias and it sounds wonderful with the impedance multiplier on. I then switched to my Susvaras and turned off the impedance multiplier left it on high gain and had to crank it up. It sounded like crap distorted and just bad. I then turned on the impedance multiplier and it sounded way better. So if anyone is wondering if Susvaras work with this amp they do, but you need to have high gain and impedance multiplier on and turn it almost all the way up, but it does sound quite good.

 

[theveterans]

I received the Folkvangr about a week after they started shipping them and it has really been an experience. It is connected to my OG Yggdrasil. Usually I listen to my focal Stellias and it sounds wonderful with the impedance multiplier on. I then switched to my Susvaras and turned off the impedance multiplier left it on high gain and had to crank it up. It sounded like crap distorted and just bad. I then turned on the impedance multiplier and it sounded way better. So if anyone is wondering if Susvaras work with this amp they do, but you need to have high gain and impedance multiplier on and turn it almost all the way up, but it does sound quite good.

IMHO it’s definitely gonna run out of steam at high dr tracks, but use the folk as pre for a speaker amp with Susvara on speaker taps, you’ll definitely get the power with Folk’s unique tube flavor

 

[BetaMan10]

Hmmmm you got me thinking so I could go from the yggy to the folk and then to my ragnarok 2 which has plenty of power for the susvara and still get the tubbiness of the folk.

 

[SDBiotek]

Hmmmm you got me thinking so I could go from the yggy to the folk and then to my ragnarok 2 which has plenty of power for the susvara and still get the tubbiness of the folk.

Just one person's opinion, but it would be a bit of a waste. I think you'd be better off getting a tubed preamp of your choice, which would have the benefit of multiple inputs, and many can be found for much less than a Folkvangr. Schiit's Freya tube variant costs far less, for example. Does it sound "as tubey"? I don't know.

 

[gKalkin]

Welp, I ended up returning Folkvangr.

Don't get me wrong, it was a fantastic amp. However, after doing some AB testing with my Jot 2, I just could not justify the price given how small of a difference there was.

Folkvangr was my first real tube amp and I was expecting to be able to immediately tell a difference between it and a solid state amp but... I just couldn't. If I had a true blind test, I really am not sure if I would have been able to tell the difference. That doesn't mean that there isn't a difference... I just couldn't readily tell the difference at matched volume levels. I assumed that with such incredibly disparate distortion characteristics that I would be able to immediately pick out one from the other.

I still feel that there was a small difference. Folkvangr seemed ever so slightly more full in sound. It definitely was not "rich" or "syrupy." It didn't matter which set of cans I was using. DCA Stealth, Atrium, 6XX, etc. When I flipped back and forth between the two I could not immediately tell the difference.

For my AB setup, I connected the single ended out of Jot 2 and the output of FV into a cheap switch box* with 1/4th inch to RCA cables. I plugged my headphones in through the output of the switch box with an RCA -> 1/4th cable. This allowed me to switch instantly between the two amps. I matched SPL with a meter to within 0.1db at 1khz**.

At first, due to the mess of cables on my desk and walking away for a few minutes after setting this up, I wasn't even entirely sure which amp was which. When switching back and forth, I could not hear a perceptible difference. I was a bit deflated. The only time I heard a huge difference on any headphone was on the DCA stealth with the impedance multiplier off.

Even after this experience, when listening to FV without swapping, I felt that it provided a fantastic listening experience and was slightly more engaging (maybe 1-5%) than my other amps on my high impedance cans. I wouldn't discount the feeling you might get by sitting in a dimly lit room and plugging your cans into this glowing monstrosity.

So, all of this is not to say that FV isn't a great amp and that amps don't make a difference. I just wasn't in love with it. For nearly $2k, I wanted to be absolutely enthralled with it.

Anyway, if you love yours then enjoy it. If you're curious, I would still recommend you order one before they're gone. I don't regret I had the opportunity to listen with Folkvangr for the short while that I had it.

* I am aware of the absurdity of connecting a $2k amp to a $20 switch box. I don't think that setup was ideal. However, if there was a massive difference I should have been able to hear it, right?

** No idea how accurate or precise these cheap SPL meters are but I did my best trying to match the level.

 

[Menkau-ra]

Welp, I ended up returning Folkvangr.

Don't get me wrong, it was a fantastic amp. However, after doing some AB testing with my Jot 2, I just could not justify the price given how small of a difference there was.

Folkvangr was my first real tube amp and I was expecting to be able to immediately tell a difference between it and a solid state amp but... I just couldn't. If I had a true blind test, I really am not sure if I would have been able to tell the difference. That doesn't mean that there isn't a difference... I just couldn't readily tell the difference at matched volume levels. I assumed that with such incredibly disparate distortion characteristics that I would be able to immediately pick out one from the other.

I still feel that there was a small difference. Folkvangr seemed ever so slightly more full in sound. It definitely was not "rich" or "syrupy." It didn't matter which set of cans I was using. DCA Stealth, Atrium, 6XX, etc. When I flipped back and forth between the two I could not immediately tell the difference.

For my AB setup, I connected the single ended out of Jot 2 and the output of FV into a cheap switch box* with 1/4th inch to RCA cables. I plugged my headphones in through the output of the switch box with an RCA -> 1/4th cable. This allowed me to switch instantly between the two amps. I matched SPL with a meter to within 0.1db at 1khz**.

At first, due to the mess of cables on my desk and walking away for a few minutes after setting this up, I wasn't even entirely sure which amp was which. When switching back and forth, I could not hear a perceptible difference. I was a bit deflated. The only time I heard a huge difference on any headphone was on the DCA stealth with the impedance multiplier off.

Even after this experience, when listening to FV without swapping, I felt that it provided a fantastic listening experience and was slightly more engaging (maybe 1-5%) than my other amps on my high impedance cans. I wouldn't discount the feeling you might get by sitting in a dimly lit room and plugging your cans into this glowing monstrosity.

So, all of this is not to say that FV isn't a great amp and that amps don't make a difference. I just wasn't in love with it. For nearly $2k, I wanted to be absolutely enthralled with it.

Anyway, if you love yours then enjoy it. If you're curious, I would still recommend you order one before they're gone. I don't regret I had the opportunity to listen with Folkvangr for the short while that I had it.

* I am aware of the absurdity of connecting a $2k amp to a $20 switch box. I don't think that setup was ideal. However, if there was a massive difference I should have been able to hear it, right?

** No idea how accurate or precise these cheap SPL meters are but I did my best trying to match the level.

Did you try to change tubes? Not so many people like FV with stock tubes. But it's way better with tube swapping. I am waiting for my FV and I know that I need to invest another $1k in tubes. Or at least invest in 2 input tubes.

 

[theveterans]

Welp, I ended up returning Folkvangr.

Don't get me wrong, it was a fantastic amp. However, after doing some AB testing with my Jot 2, I just could not justify the price given how small of a difference there was.

Folkvangr was my first real tube amp and I was expecting to be able to immediately tell a difference between it and a solid state amp but... I just couldn't. If I had a true blind test, I really am not sure if I would have been able to tell the difference. That doesn't mean that there isn't a difference... I just couldn't readily tell the difference at matched volume levels. I assumed that with such incredibly disparate distortion characteristics that I would be able to immediately pick out one from the other.

I still feel that there was a small difference. Folkvangr seemed ever so slightly more full in sound. It definitely was not "rich" or "syrupy." It didn't matter which set of cans I was using. DCA Stealth, Atrium, 6XX, etc. When I flipped back and forth between the two I could not immediately tell the difference.

For my AB setup, I connected the single ended out of Jot 2 and the output of FV into a cheap switch box* with 1/4th inch to RCA cables. I plugged my headphones in through the output of the switch box with an RCA -> 1/4th cable. This allowed me to switch instantly between the two amps. I matched SPL with a meter to within 0.1db at 1khz**.

At first, due to the mess of cables on my desk and walking away for a few minutes after setting this up, I wasn't even entirely sure which amp was which. When switching back and forth, I could not hear a perceptible difference. I was a bit deflated. The only time I heard a huge difference on any headphone was on the DCA stealth with the impedance multiplier off.

Even after this experience, when listening to FV without swapping, I felt that it provided a fantastic listening experience and was slightly more engaging (maybe 1-5%) than my other amps on my high impedance cans. I wouldn't discount the feeling you might get by sitting in a dimly lit room and plugging your cans into this glowing monstrosity.

So, all of this is not to say that FV isn't a great amp and that amps don't make a difference. I just wasn't in love with it. For nearly $2k, I wanted to be absolutely enthralled with it.

Anyway, if you love yours then enjoy it. If you're curious, I would still recommend you order one before they're gone. I don't regret I had the opportunity to listen with Folkvangr for the short while that I had it.

* I am aware of the absurdity of connecting a $2k amp to a $20 switch box. I don't think that setup was ideal. However, if there was a massive difference I should have been able to hear it, right?

** No idea how accurate or precise these cheap SPL meters are but I did my best trying to match the level.

IMHO, it truly shows that Jot 2 is truly a very good sounding amp for its price. Also, IMHO you should try a used MJ2 as it would suit your headphones much, much better than Folk, particularly the Stealth , but you must absolutely used Balanced only with MJ2

 

[Menkau-ra]

Welp, I ended up returning Folkvangr.

Don't get me wrong, it was a fantastic amp. However, after doing some AB testing with my Jot 2, I just could not justify the price given how small of a difference there was.

Folkvangr was my first real tube amp and I was expecting to be able to immediately tell a difference between it and a solid state amp but... I just couldn't. If I had a true blind test, I really am not sure if I would have been able to tell the difference. That doesn't mean that there isn't a difference... I just couldn't readily tell the difference at matched volume levels. I assumed that with such incredibly disparate distortion characteristics that I would be able to immediately pick out one from the other.

I still feel that there was a small difference. Folkvangr seemed ever so slightly more full in sound. It definitely was not "rich" or "syrupy." It didn't matter which set of cans I was using. DCA Stealth, Atrium, 6XX, etc. When I flipped back and forth between the two I could not immediately tell the difference.

For my AB setup, I connected the single ended out of Jot 2 and the output of FV into a cheap switch box* with 1/4th inch to RCA cables. I plugged my headphones in through the output of the switch box with an RCA -> 1/4th cable. This allowed me to switch instantly between the two amps. I matched SPL with a meter to within 0.1db at 1khz**.

At first, due to the mess of cables on my desk and walking away for a few minutes after setting this up, I wasn't even entirely sure which amp was which. When switching back and forth, I could not hear a perceptible difference. I was a bit deflated. The only time I heard a huge difference on any headphone was on the DCA stealth with the impedance multiplier off.

Even after this experience, when listening to FV without swapping, I felt that it provided a fantastic listening experience and was slightly more engaging (maybe 1-5%) than my other amps on my high impedance cans. I wouldn't discount the feeling you might get by sitting in a dimly lit room and plugging your cans into this glowing monstrosity.

So, all of this is not to say that FV isn't a great amp and that amps don't make a difference. I just wasn't in love with it. For nearly $2k, I wanted to be absolutely enthralled with it.

Anyway, if you love yours then enjoy it. If you're curious, I would still recommend you order one before they're gone. I don't regret I had the opportunity to listen with Folkvangr for the short while that I had it.

* I am aware of the absurdity of connecting a $2k amp to a $20 switch box. I don't think that setup was ideal. However, if there was a massive difference I should have been able to hear it, right?

** No idea how accurate or precise these cheap SPL meters are but I did my best trying to match the level.

I’ve had the same problem with Lyr OG. I’ve had it for many years and it was sounding like a solid state to my ears. Until I’ve found some good tubes for it: RCA and Phillips Herleen PW. I was blown away the first time I swapped the tubes. That gave me a taste what good tubes could do to the sound.
FV has very cheap stock tubes. They need to be swapped.

 

[Barnstormer13]

Welp, I ended up returning Folkvangr.

Don't get me wrong, it was a fantastic amp. However, after doing some AB testing with my Jot 2, I just could not justify the price given how small of a difference there was.

Folkvangr was my first real tube amp and I was expecting to be able to immediately tell a difference between it and a solid state amp but... I just couldn't. If I had a true blind test, I really am not sure if I would have been able to tell the difference. That doesn't mean that there isn't a difference... I just couldn't readily tell the difference at matched volume levels. I assumed that with such incredibly disparate distortion characteristics that I would be able to immediately pick out one from the other.

I still feel that there was a small difference. Folkvangr seemed ever so slightly more full in sound. It definitely was not "rich" or "syrupy." It didn't matter which set of cans I was using. DCA Stealth, Atrium, 6XX, etc. When I flipped back and forth between the two I could not immediately tell the difference.

For my AB setup, I connected the single ended out of Jot 2 and the output of FV into a cheap switch box* with 1/4th inch to RCA cables. I plugged my headphones in through the output of the switch box with an RCA -> 1/4th cable. This allowed me to switch instantly between the two amps. I matched SPL with a meter to within 0.1db at 1khz**.

At first, due to the mess of cables on my desk and walking away for a few minutes after setting this up, I wasn't even entirely sure which amp was which. When switching back and forth, I could not hear a perceptible difference. I was a bit deflated. The only time I heard a huge difference on any headphone was on the DCA stealth with the impedance multiplier off.

Even after this experience, when listening to FV without swapping, I felt that it provided a fantastic listening experience and was slightly more engaging (maybe 1-5%) than my other amps on my high impedance cans. I wouldn't discount the feeling you might get by sitting in a dimly lit room and plugging your cans into this glowing monstrosity.

So, all of this is not to say that FV isn't a great amp and that amps don't make a difference. I just wasn't in love with it. For nearly $2k, I wanted to be absolutely enthralled with it.

Anyway, if you love yours then enjoy it. If you're curious, I would still recommend you order one before they're gone. I don't regret I had the opportunity to listen with Folkvangr for the short while that I had it.

* I am aware of the absurdity of connecting a $2k amp to a $20 switch box. I don't think that setup was ideal. However, if there was a massive difference I should have been able to hear it, right?

** No idea how accurate or precise these cheap SPL meters are but I did my best trying to match the level.

One of the things I was told early in my exploration of all things audio is that rapid AB testing is likely to lead to fatigue where everything sounds the same. The poster who told me that advised listening for more extended periods before changing from A to B. I’ve been doing that for years and I think there’s some truth to it.

That said, I may just be giving more time for my brain to fool me into thinking there’s a difference. I notice that how much I enjoy my sound system is far more dependent on things like my mood, noise in the house and noise exposure that day then the sound system itself.