[Jason Stoddard]

Can we expect the tube hybrid Ragnarok to ship soon and will it do Dolby? -joking
 

 
LOL!
 
Actually, let's address the tube Ragnarok: at this point in time, it's in notgonnahappenland.com. As in, ever.
 
Why? When you start adding tube heaters into the thermal load on the chassis, it becomes a no-go without fans. Add into that fact that the tube transformer would be much larger than the solid-state one (and may not physically fit), and the fact that it really means a new main board, a new gain board, and entirely different firmware, and you start getting really uneasy. Add that to the scary, scary idea of interfacing tubes with, say, 400V rails to the output of a 5V DAC and microprocessor control...and your enthusiasm for, say, adding a fan to the chassis to cool such a beast becomes much less.
 
And, as far as surround/HDMI goes, ask Mike about that...he'll say, "Never again!"

 

[Pappas3278]

...I don't put fragile stickers on boxes.  I also don't put "kick me" signs on my son's back when I send him to school.  The two are roughly equivalent. 

Ha!  Truer words have never been spoken!

 

[Scot Hull]

Awesome story!

 

[tonykaz]

Wow , what a story , I got tired just reading it thru .    
 
What is a Yggy ?   Everyone seems to already know about future Schiit future products .  
 
I love my Asgard 2 , do I now have to up-grade to this more powerful Amp ?  , I was just getting ready to purchase some Focal CMS or Genelec Active Monitors ,  which passive Loudspeaker will be a good match for this Amp ? annnd which speaker-cable system will be suggested :  Brisson or Transparent ?   
 
Well , seems Schiit is blooming into a 21st Century ( mail order version of )  Meridian , Linn , Electrocompaniet  ( all are technology Powerhouses ) .  I'll bet the guys at Audio Research and Conrad-Johnson are saying "Oh-****" !! 
 
Count me in !  
 
Tony in Michigan

 

[adamaley]

   
LOL!
 
Actually, let's address the tube Ragnarok: at this point in time, it's in notgonnahappenland.com. As in, ever.
 
Why? When you start adding tube heaters into the thermal load on the chassis, it becomes a no-go without fans. Add into that fact that the tube transformer would be much larger than the solid-state one (and may not physically fit), and the fact that it really means a new main board, a new gain board, and entirely different firmware, and you start getting really uneasy. Add that to the scary, scary idea of interfacing tubes with, say, 400V rails to the output of a 5V DAC and microprocessor control...and your enthusiasm for, say, adding a fan to the chassis to cool such a beast becomes much less.
 
And, as far as surround/HDMI goes, ask Mike about that...he'll say, "Never again!"

Good points regarding a tube version of the Ragnarok. However, has there been any thought into a tube amplifier that will not compete with the Ragnarok's price point? In other words either at the Mjolnir's level, before the Ragnarok's, or even beyond the Ragnarok. I know you guys love you some tubes, judging from the introduction of the Vali. I feel it will be a missed opportunity to not provide a tube-based amp beyond the Lyr 2's level.
 
All the same, great writeups, and all the best in the future.

 

[David Aldrich]

  Chapter 27:
Twilight of the Gods—Ragnarok from 2009 Until Today
 
Of course, reality soon set in—driving headphones with a speaker amp sometimes works out just fine, but most speaker amps are:
 

• Relatively noisy (forget your sensitive headphones and IEMs)
• Not headphone-friendly on turn-on (1V of DC is no big deal to a speaker, but a bad day for some headphones)
• Big, hot, heavy, and not desk-friendly

 
Are you sure you hit that last point?*
 
*Says the guy with 60# of computer and monitor on his desk.

 

[mab1376]

If you ever release a tube hybrid version of the Ragnarok it should be called Götterdämmerung!

 

[ThickGlasses]

   
LOL!
 
Actually, let's address the tube Ragnarok: at this point in time, it's in notgonnahappenland.com. As in, ever.

Wait, so it's in a website? You confirmed it for digital? 

 

 

[Yethal]

   
 
And, as far as surround/HDMI goes, ask Mike about that...he'll say, "Never again!"

"Never again" suggests that you guys have something like this lined up for 2015. Should we get preexcited?

 

[Jason Stoddard]

  "Never again" suggests that you guys have something like this lined up for 2015. Should we get preexcited?

 
It means we did that around 20 years ago. Never again.

 

[Jason Stoddard]

   
Are you sure you hit that last point?*
 
*Says the guy with 60# of computer and monitor on his desk.

 
Yep, that still applies...and, if you get a Ragnarok and Yggdrasil, you can have another 60# pile on your desk...

 

[Suichan]

  Wow , what a story , I got tired just reading it thru .    
 
What is a Yggy ?   Everyone seems to already know about future Schiit future products .  
 
<snip>

 
Yggdrasil - it's Schiit's statement bitperfect DAC:
http://new.head-fi.org/t/667711/new-schiit-ragnarok-and-yggdrasil
 
Jason - I totally get the desire/need to keep schtum about all new products until they're practically shipping due to the issues with Ragnarok etc, but would you be willing to write about abandoned / failed ideas after you officially drop them? I'd love to read about other ideas that you'd had, and played with, that didn't pan out as it'd give us an insight into how you think through products, and your thoughts / predictions about the market and what is and isn't possible and desirable for consumers.

 

[superjawes]

Jason - I totally get the desire/need to keep schtum about all new products until they're practically shipping due to the issues with Ragnarok etc, but would you be willing to write about abandoned / failed ideas after you officially drop them? I'd love to read about other ideas that you'd had, and played with, that didn't pan out as it'd give us an insight into how you think through products, and your thoughts / predictions about the market and what is and isn't possible and desirable for consumers.

I'd be interested in something like this...although it could be a grand idea to throw them up as an April Fool's joke.

 

[davidsh]

  @Jason Stoddard would a hard-core objectivist have a place in your corp?
 
What do you think about the hypothesis 'If it measures below our hearing threshold, it is inaudible'?

Just a little bump 

 

[Yethal]

   
It means we did that around 20 years ago. Never again.

Damn, 7.1 192/24 home cinema from You guys would have been a must-have