[the finisher]

I cannot recommend the Spatial M3 Triode Masters enough. They sound amazing with pure Schiit driving them. I am totally hooked on open baffle. It sounds so open.

I am intrigued by the fact that the bass plays nice in "not a huge room".
So the new model has a tweeter at the back as well?

 

[the finisher]

I know this is heresy, but I'm not a big fan of horn speakers... Likely a carry-over from the old days of disco and piezoelectric horn tweeters. They probably turned me off to horn loaded anything!!

Now if one were to give me a pair of Klipsch Heresy II's, I might have a change of heart.

I am not really a compression horn fan either. My old JBL SVA 2100s are horns but 1.5" soft dome non compression, actually kind of efficient @ 91 db w/m and bi-ampable.

 

[Ripper2860]

Yes. I failed to make the distinction. Horn-loaded conventional drivers are A-OK in my book. Compression Horn drivers are just not my cup of tea!!

Those JBL's are fabulous!!!

 

[the finisher]

They need some work but they are good Rock/Jazz speakers., I bi-amped them with Adcoms @ 450 wpc back in the day.

They will play Loud

 

[dieslemat]

I normally run Loki plus Jot but to compare it to LYR3 I've been using Jot without Loki.
After matching sound levels with a meter out of the SE outputs, (using the stock Tungsol in my LYR3), and using a gain setting that gives me the volume range I like with almost all recordings with the knob set between 10:00 and 12:00, and using my usual demo material I find:

LYR3 to be uniformly smooth sounding in frequency response from well below and above the midrange but with a slightly bright top end (that I attribute to the tube) and solid but not "wowsa'" bass. I can make small changes in the overall sound characteristics by choice of tube for bigger bass, softer highs, etc, to meet my listening preferences of the moment.
JOT has a forward sounding midrange, sometimes a little bright, but with big time bass capabilities. I can't change the JOT's output devises like tubes in LYR3 but that's where I find Loki does the trick for me in getting the top to bottom balances closer to where I like it in conjunction with my various phones.

When it comes to soundstaging I much prefer the LYR3. The Jot is very much "in my face", (in a way I find my Utopia is like this also).
By way of an "exaggerated" visual comparison, I did the following when comparing my 3 top HP's months ago, but it works for this comparison as well between LYR3 and JOT.
(Sometimes I sketch the sound field impressions I hear when making comparisons, in this case a small Jazz group.) These are my impressions.



The JOT is more UTOPIA-like to my ears.

Again, I can vary these a small amount by choice not only of tube brand or Loki, but by, (potentially) all the other elements in the chain I use.
I ascribe to school of "everything can, but may not always, make a difference". And especially, marrying transducer sound characteristics to the those of the rest of my equipment chain is a part of my decision making process.

But none of that Day vs Night stuff. To me Day = hit the power switch and sound is heard. Night = hit the power switch and no sound is heard.

Some listeners like to feel they are in the mix, on the stage, playing along. I prefer a more natural perspective as a member of the audience, or at least back a bit from the stage with the players.
But some times I have no choice as it's up to the recordings characteristics, first and always, as to what I will hear and how. My preference for large orchestral works most likely flavors my preferences.

While SS may have vanishing low distortion and low noise floor I prefer what I perceive as the wider dynamic range (which has nothing to do with how loud it will play or the volume one listens at)
and sense of "ease" I hear with tubes. Not that SS can't sound that way but I'm talking LYR3 vs JOT.

I'm no techy by any stretch of the imagination but somehow the extra power the LYR3 SE out can deliver into the different phones load may have an effect in this comparison. Even though a given phone may only require a fraction of a watt to deliver hearing damaging SPL's, maybe it's some sort of short term reserve for those peak loudness levels in a composition that I like, or maybe the difference in distortion modes (odd vs even), or phase related stuff.

I find the SE out of the LYR3 better sounding than SE out of my JOT (or MJ2 or Ragnarok). I do prefer balanced out of the them over there respective SE's by a small amount. Could a balanced LYR3 sound better than it's SE counterpart.? Don't know, but I like to find out! LOL! The LYR3's SE out has given me a new perspective on balanced vs SE, it sounds very good in comparison with my other Schiit's balanced outs.

There's a lot of other nuance-y type stuff that one could grind over That's what being an audiophile is all about right? Otherwise just go to a big box store, open you wallet, and spend no more than is in it at the time for an audio system. I'm in a fortunate position to be able to play in the Schiit sandbox a lot. I might not be willing to play in the Chord sandbox as I have expensive tastes in other, non-audio, interests . But I would suggest, if possible, and if you've never experienced "the way of the tube" to acquire LYR3 (both units are so cost vs performance reasonably priced) and run it side by side with you JOT for at least a year and hear where your bliss lies.

Thanks for the very informative review/comparison. Also I never realized until now that sound would've a height aspect to it. Very interesting.

 

[earnmyturns]

I've been looking at the "Utah" speakers, Spatial Audio, Tekton Design, and Zu Audio.

You guys are baaad! I am (should be) perfectly happy with my current KEF Reference 1s, but then I started wondering about a day of speaker audition around my next ski trip to Alta... After all, most of my skis are Utah-made (DPS), so...

 

[wink]

.. stupid double post

Astute observation...

 

[yonson]

I know this is heresy, but I'm not a big fan of horn speakers... Likely a carry-over from the old days of disco and piezoelectric horn tweeters. They probably turned me off to horn loaded anything!!

Now if one were to give me a pair of Klipsch Heresy II's, I might have a change of heart.

I have to agree, when I was younger and my hearing was better I loved Klipsch because they would play loud, however even then my ears would get fatigued after less than an hour at ~90dB. These days I generally listen in the 80 to 85 dB range, however when I do crank it up above 90dB I no longer get fatigue thanks to Dynaudios lovely Esotar2 tweeters.

 

[FLTWS]

Thanks for the very informative review/comparison. Also I never realized until now that sound would've a height aspect to it. Very interesting.

It was the Utopia that got me to notice the height of the sound stage as it seemed taller (or raised up) compared to the others.

 

[audio philestine]

I've been looking at the "Utah" speakers, Spatial Audio, Tekton Design, and Zu Audio.
If I want the Mid range speakers from one of these companies I can't pay 5k for a Pass XA25, that's my speakers!
https://www.zuaudio.com/loudspeakers/omen-def-1b
http://www.tektondesign.com/electron-se.html
http://www.spatialaudio.us/m3-triode-master

So DIY or Schiit for a class A and they are WAY better than me!
And yes a guy Must dream.

I hope he reads it, I think if you @ flag him he does

If you're up for some DIY, there's also the Audio Nirvana line of high efficiency drivers from common sense audio:

http://www.commonsenseaudio.com/nirvana.html

They're relatively affordable, and seem to be reviewed well on the DIY sites. Single driver full range speakers with no crossover make for good efficiency. I almost went this route to pair with my upcoming ACA build, but decided against explaining the new boxes in the living room to my spouse at the same time as explaining why I attempted carpentry (which usually fails in a humorous way).

I ended up grabbing a pair of Klipsch R-15M's during the recent Klipsch summer sale where many models were half off. Unfortunately, I think the sale might be over, or ending soon. They're not as efficient as the audio nirvana speakers, but for the modest 2.0 system I'm planning [ TBD(probably Rpi/digi-one > mimby) > saga > ACA > R-15M] they should be quite sufficient.

 

[audio philestine]

Quick....! Call Ripley.... Yeah, you know - Believ It Or Not......

https://www.ripleys.com/

Beautiful picture, but I have to wonder where the camera was?

 

[Ripper2860]

Another Jazz Recommendation...

Album: Transfomation
Artists: Alex Skolnic Trio

Someone on the forum suggested Alex Skolnic Trio and I just can't stop listening. A fantastic trio covering many rock cuts (fabulously, I might add) while throwing in a few original pieces. It's a well executed, well recorded, toe tapping excursion, bending music you likely know in new and ingenious ways. Definitely an upbeat listen that will leave you wanting more!!

Available on Tidal and Spotify.

 

[the finisher]

the finisher said: ↑
I've been looking at the "Utah" speakers, Spatial Audio, Tekton Design, and Zu Audio.

You guys are baaad! I am (should be) perfectly happy with my current KEF Reference 1s, but then I started wondering about a day of speaker audition around my next ski trip to Alta... After all, most of my skis are Utah-made (DPS), so...

If I go this route a trip to Utah for auditions is in order, and some skiing.

 

[Paladin79]

If you're up for some DIY, there's also the Audio Nirvana line of high efficiency drivers from common sense audio:

http://www.commonsenseaudio.com/nirvana.html

They're relatively affordable, and seem to be reviewed well on the DIY sites. Single driver full range speakers with no crossover make for good efficiency. I almost went this route to pair with my upcoming ACA build, but decided against explaining the new boxes in the living room to my spouse at the same time as explaining why I attempted carpentry (which usually fails in a humorous way).

I ended up grabbing a pair of Klipsch R-15M's during the recent Klipsch summer sale where many models were half off. Unfortunately, I think the sale might be over, or ending soon. They're not as efficient as the audio nirvana speakers, but for the modest 2.0 system I'm planning [ TBD(probably Rpi/digi-one > mimby) > saga > ACA > R-15M] they should be quite sufficient.

I considered building my own but it has been years since I have worked with speaker construction and I do not have much of a wood shop. There is a tremendous markup on speakers from what I have seen so I tend to get great deals or to do my own construction.

 

[Rensek]

That was one of the units I considered but decided the 1 x 4 would be (sort of) future proof for me.
I usually run my Jot in balanced mode but I'm currently A/B'ing it against my LYR3, and to keep it apples to apples I'm running both out of Yggy's 2 SE outs.

Question, if you listen to the jot in balanced instead of SE, wouldn't you be better served by testing the Jot with it's best sound options? I get the apples to apples idea, but I think you should be comparing devices in the manner with which you plan to use them. The jot has way more power in balanced then SE. My Magni 3 outpowers the Jot via SE.