[yvfed1]

2018, Chapter 6:
Amplifying the Future. Maybe.


What say you?

?

Jason, thanks for asking. I am in the market for 8 channels of low-power, high-quality amplification, with balanced inputs. Four of 20W/ch, or even 10W/Ch stereo amps would do as well. Size and weight of no consequence, but being rack-mountable would be a huge plus.

 

[yonson]

Darn, no Sol news

 

[FrivolsListener]

I literally sat there, staring at the screen of the Surface Pro I use as an engineering computer, and thinking, You are the dumbest butthead on the planet.

You are not an engineer until you've had that moment.

 

[KoshNaranek]

I am in for 2 class A amps please. Other manufacturers' class A amps are not in my budget, but these would be

This was true for Valhalla 2. Given other manufacturers' pricing structure for pure tube, I wasn't going to dip my toe in the water. Now, I am a tube believer.

The same could be true for Class A and me.

You said at the beginning Jason,(I paraphrase):
We don't want everyone to like us, but we want some people to love us.

These type of products may not sell huge numbers, but will evoke strong feelings in the purchaser because they are so different.

 

[yonson]

Ragnarok v2 looks to be promising though...

 

[45longcolt]

Welcome back, Jason, and thanks for a break from cat vids.

I quote the revered philosopher Tim Allen - "More power!" When it comes to "flea-watt" amps, they are a niche in a niche market of audiophiles. The kind who seek out horns and one-6"-full-range-driver systems and other such arcane devices. Bottom line, you can expect to sell a small number of them but for a long time. Of course you'll sell more if you include a HP jack, but it sounded more like you were thinking about this as a speaker amp.

Same deal for Rag II. I suspect that most people wanting an integrated for speakers will want more oomph, which would be the whole point of using heat sinks rather than the chassis. And it seems like you're moving on from the circlotron, which I have so enjoyed. Sure you still want to call it Ragnarok? The rest of the proposed revisions, thumbs up!

 

[Letmebefrank]

2018, Chapter 6:
Amplifying the Future. Maybe.

Jason, I think all of the things you discussed in this chapter are great ideas, especially the 4.5 tons of gold.

Seriously I would like to know your thoughts on a Jotunheim size mini-vidar, 25-50 wpc of your Continuity. Is this a possibility like those mentioned in this chapter? The small stereo amplifier area is very limited unless you want Chinesium class D.

Thanks for your time.

 

[FrivolsListener]

As someone who has a networking degree and does IT for my workplace, the unrealistic expectations and incompetent users unable to follow simple instructions is what makes IT such a life-sucking profession. I'm very glad it's not my primary role.

I did IT for 8 years full time and do it off again on again (Dev-ops style. Usually more dev, sometimes more ops.) I consider it a fundamental rule that you work with your users and try not to make their lives harder. They are your customers, after all.

Peace.

 

[dieslemat]

As someone who bought the Ragnarok 4 months ago, I’ll click on add to cart > check out if the Ragnarok v2 has tubes.

But then again I have the Mjolnir 2 also.

Cant wait!!

 

[Letmebefrank]

I did IT for 8 years full time and do it off again on again (Dev-ops style. Usually more dev, sometimes more ops.) I consider it a fundamental rule that you work with your users and try not to make their lives harder. They are your customers, after all.

Peace.

I totally understand, I worked in customer service for 8+ years before I got into graphic design. The ones who assume you can't tell them something they don't already know are the problem. The "I've been using iPhone for years, this one must be broken" or the "I've been using windows for years my PC must be broken" people.

 

[Ableza]

@Jason Stoddard
In my opinion, there are always a small percentage of the consumer base who clamor for "class A" amps, but they really don't know what they are asking for. These same folks generally are also using 85db loudspeakers in a large room so their 25w Class A amp is constantly transitioning into A/B for music peaks anyway. They want Class A because they have heard "it sounds better" but they don't have the system to support it. I use a 10W class A amp but it is driving a set of expensive 96db efficient speakers. My amp is a SET amp, so a small Class A solid state is not something I need or would likely buy. Does this matter to your plans? Maybe, maybe not.

If you proceed, I think you should give it a single rating at 8 and 4 ohms stereo, with a caveat of when it transitions from Class A to A/B or whatever esoteric hybrid Class X you end up creating.

Would a small class A HEADPHONE amp be better? I think so. Many more people would be able to properly use it. A full-on Class A Mjolnir with 10 watts output would be cool. Use EL34's. A guitar amp that drives headphones.

I am interested in a combined balanced head amp plus loudspeaker amp, but I have not bought Ragnarok because it doesn't interest me enough to replace my office setup with a Mjolnir 2 and a home-made speaker amp that I lovingly designed myself. But it's only a 50W amp. The next Rag replacement might interest me more when and if it hits the street, especially with Vidar heat sinks. And I don't need a remote control. Or meters.

 

[FrivolsListener]

I totally understand, I worked in customer service for 8+ years before I got into graphic design. The ones who assume you can't tell them something they don't already know are the problem. The "I've been using iPhone for years, this one must be broken" or the "I've been using windows for years my PC must be broken" people.

It was more a, "you can't have a switch on the company network *throw switch* *knock Schiit over* *yank wires out of Sennheiser HD-600*"
(1) New policy. We've always had switches on the network
(2) The guy who MUST run the ethernet cable for more connections is based out of an office 2000 miles away
(3) Also blocked access to outside git repositories in the network switches. We use git in our day-to-day activities.

It wasn't my best moment.

 

[Odin412]

Well, except for one thing. It’d really be more like a 20W Class A amp, or else it gets too hot. How excited would you be about a 20W Class A amp?

I for one would be very excited. 20W class A for $100 more than the Vidar? I'd preorder one today if I could. I have Zu Audio speakers so 20W per channel is plenty for me. Besides, a pure class A amp would fit perfectly with your 'Obsolete' tagline!

 

[Alcophone]

“So what’s this mystery product that you screwed up, screwed up again, and now are in the process of re-doing a third time?” someone is asking.

Heck, I thought I’d given you enough hints. It’s Ragnarok.

Haha, you did

First, because I can at least give you a thumbnail sketch of what I’m working on, and second, because I’d like to hear what you think. Take a chance to weigh in. I won’t guarantee anything, but we do listen.

Here’s where we are:

1. If you like the current Ragnarok, you may hate the new one. It’s a complete rethink in the vein of the Lyr 2/3 changeover—different topology and output, different chassis, different thermal management.
2. It’ll have Vidar heatsinks, so it will run very cool—that’s a ridiculous amount of heatsinking for its power output. Power output will be the same, or nearly the same, as the outgoing version.
3. Of course, it will have remote control.
4. Of course, it will have speakers/headphones/both selectable with a separate control.
5. It will still have 3 gain levels.
6. It’ll use a new topology we haven’t used before, but it will still be differential.
7. I’m holding back a couple of features which I don’t feel like discussing right now, but I think you’ll be excited about.

Beyond that, what do you think? Like I said, no guarantees, but we will listen.

Disclaimer: I’m afraid that there isn’t much I can do to make the product smaller or more desk-friendly, but that’s why racks were invented. I also can’t break the laws of physics, nor make a new Ragnarok much more or less expensive than the outgoing model.​

I like it! I never heard the Ragnarok, so I'm vaguely curious about the Circlotron sound, but I trust that you wouldn't replace it with something that sounds worse. I've been holding off because it's not cheap, and while I like the idea of a headamp that can double as an integrated speaker amp, the lack of a remote killed that appeal, so you're heading in the right direction, but you knew that.
If you could make it more powerful without introducing other compromises, that would be great (for the speakers use case), but it may already be powerful enough.
I also hope you're matching Freya's 128 volume steps, that seemed like another downside compared to Freya + Vidar (or two).

Remember that 25W Class A amp in a Vidar chassis I mentioned in a previous chapter? Yeah, we’re playing with that. Take the Lyr 3’s Continuity™ constant-transconductance output stage, scale it up, bias it wayyyy up, and you might have a pretty neat product, right?

Well, except for one thing. It’d really be more like a 20W Class A amp, or else it gets too hot. How excited would you be about a 20W Class A amp?

Wait. Before you answer, let’s break that down:

• 20W real honest Class A per channel into 8 ohms
• 40W into 4 ohms, falling out* of Class A
• 80W mono into 8 ohms, again falling out* of Class A

*Rather than “falling out of Class A,” a better term may be “transitioning to the Continuity™ constant-transconductance region.” This is, after all, the whole point of the Continuity output stage—it seeks to keep the output stage operating in the gm-doubled region, even when out of Class A. Is it perfect? No, of course not. But it blurs the line between Class A and Class-AB amps, at least in my opinion.**

**Of course, many people think I am crazy. Or incompetent.​

Still, that’s a big, hot, heavy 20W amp. Think 50 degrees C heatsink temperatures in a 20 degree C room. And it’s only 20 watts.

Eh. Either way (20/25 W) it's probably not the best match with my current speakers. Maybe if I get really efficient ones in the future.
But only if those were 8 ohms. The appeal of a class A amp is to get class A sound at all times, period. Not that I have the first clue of what that sounds like, but falling out of class A? That does not sound good - why compromise on power at all, then. Mayyybe if an LED indicated whether it's still in class A or not. Which I assume it would be at lower volumes even with 4 ohm speakers.

Thanks for the sneak
And don't beat yourself up. Wouldn't want you to dread trying out new stuff out of anticipation of your own verbal self-abuse.

 

[gld3gld3]

I feel like high sensitivity speakers are getting more attention these days. I have some myself and will soon be in the market for a replacement for my 50 watt Emotiva amp. For those who have sensitive speakers, the difference between 20 and 25 watts would be negligible in my opinion. Just keep it in class A as far as you can Jason!