[johnjen]

How many phono cartridges have balanced output?

Well technically, it's just a coil and a coil is balanced to itself.
And technically a true 'balanced' circuit is supposed to be relative to ground and for a coil that requires a center tap, so again technically they aren't nor can they meet the definition of a balanced circuit.
So one side of the coil is grounded in most user conditions (ie SE into the pre-amp).

But as a source, the coil is balanced to itself, it's what happens next (ie. what it's plugged into) that makes it SE etc.

JJ

 

[Paladin79]

Well technically, it's just a coil and a coil is balanced to itself.
And technically a true 'balanced' circuit is supposed to be relative to ground and for a coil that requires a center tap, so again technically they aren't nor can they meet the definition of a balanced circuit.
So one side of the coil is grounded in most user conditions (ie SE into the pre-amp).

But as a source, the coil is balanced to itself, it's what happens next (ie. what it's plugged into) that makes it SE etc.

JJ

A well thought out answer since moving magnet cartridges also have coils.

 

[jfoxvol]

It's up on the site, y'all.

 

[Rensek]

Looks like I better finish up the work on my desk and make a pot of coffee.

 

[Jason Stoddard]

Yep!

A couple of notes:

1. As usual, our internal photos are lagging. With any luck, I'll get them up today.
2. Full AP test reports are also lagging, but they'll most likely go up today or tomorrow. A rather hilarious firmware glitch had me thinking I'd blown up a Ragnarok 2 on the test bench, which delayed things a bit. More on that later.
3. By "later," I mean next week, when I should have a chapter up on The Ragnarok That Is (as a counterpoint to the earlier chapter, The Ragnaroks That Weren't), which will also compare and contrast Nexus and other differential topologies.

One unexpected result of testing: Ragnarok 2 puts out (ahem) a bit more power than I expected into headphone loads. I'd been rating it at 15 watts into 32 ohms, like the old one. The AP testing pegged it at 28 watts RMS into 32 ohms, both channels driven, at 1% THD. So I've upped the power rating a bit, to 24 watts. Single-ended numbers, are, as you would expect, 1/4 of the balanced, so 6W out of the single-ended headphone jack. I think this may help explain why you might want to think twice before using it with IEMs.

Bonus pic; Ragnarok 2, mid gain, unloaded and with 32 ohm loads. Giant amp laughs at your puny headphone!



But hey, that's kinda the point. As I said before, Ragnarok 2 is much more a speaker amp than a headphone amp. Be careful our there, and don't hurt your ears. Unlike headphones, they can't be replaced!

 

[jfoxvol]

@Jason Stoddard that's a spiccccccy meat-a-balll

 

[dieslemat]

I might be the only one who thinks that the Rag 1 looks better than the Rag 2. But of course its the sound quality that counts.

Congrats on a new Ragnarok!

 

[yonson]

I honestly expected it to have a new pair of optional single channel multi-bit cards... I guess that'll come later.

 

[Snowpuppy77]

I notice that the press release shows 1 watt of class A bias but the FAQ says 2 watts of class A bias. I remember the Ragnarok 1 having 4 watts of class A bias. Makes me wonder if Ragnarok 1 may still be competitive in sound quality if the speakers are an easier load like 8 ohm.

 

[Alcophone]

I might be the only one who thinks that the Rag 1 looks better than the Rag 2.

I think Rag 1 blends much better with Yggy (visually). Rag 2 certainly looks a bit like it got assimilated into the Borg collective.



But you know, there's beauty under there...

 

[Matias]

2. Full AP test reports are also lagging, but they'll most likely go up today or tomorrow. A rather hilarious firmware glitch had me thinking I'd blown up a Ragnarok 2 on the test bench, which delayed things a bit. More on that later.

Any chance of adding full AP reports for the former products as well? Specially the power amps, but DACs would be interesting too.

 

[Jheal]

@Jason Stoddard The photo of the rear of the Rag2 on your web site says Made In America in the bottom right corner. I thought you were going to change this?

 

[Jason Stoddard]

@Jason Stoddard The photo of the rear of the Rag2 on your web site says Made In America in the bottom right corner. I thought you were going to change this?

That metal we've had for 8 months. It's gonna take a long time to fully churn through everything marked "Made in USA." But the "Assembled in USA" products are starting to get out there.

Any chance of adding full AP reports for the former products as well? Specially the power amps, but DACs would be interesting too.

We're getting to it. A lot of the smaller products are done. But it's a pretty brutal amount of work to go through and get tests right.

 

[bluebanshee76]

Yep!

A couple of notes:

1. As usual, our internal photos are lagging. With any luck, I'll get them up today.
2. Full AP test reports are also lagging, but they'll most likely go up today or tomorrow. A rather hilarious firmware glitch had me thinking I'd blown up a Ragnarok 2 on the test bench, which delayed things a bit. More on that later.
3. By "later," I mean next week, when I should have a chapter up on The Ragnarok That Is (as a counterpoint to the earlier chapter, The Ragnaroks That Weren't), which will also compare and contrast Nexus and other differential topologies.

One unexpected result of testing: Ragnarok 2 puts out (ahem) a bit more power than I expected into headphone loads. I'd been rating it at 15 watts into 32 ohms, like the old one. The AP testing pegged it at 28 watts RMS into 32 ohms, both channels driven, at 1% THD. So I've upped the power rating a bit, to 24 watts. Single-ended numbers, are, as you would expect, 1/4 of the balanced, so 6W out of the single-ended headphone jack. I think this may help explain why you might want to think twice before using it with IEMs.

Bonus pic; Ragnarok 2, mid gain, unloaded and with 32 ohm loads. Giant amp laughs at your puny headphone!



But hey, that's kinda the point. As I said before, Ragnarok 2 is much more a speaker amp than a headphone amp. Be careful our there, and don't hurt your ears. Unlike headphones, they can't be replaced!

Yay! Any idea when the first boxes will reach the European distributors? I would love to order from the US site but taxes are way too high that way.

 

[Ultimateaudioslave]

Yep!

A couple of notes:

1. As usual, our internal photos are lagging. With any luck, I'll get them up today.
2. Full AP test reports are also lagging, but they'll most likely go up today or tomorrow. A rather hilarious firmware glitch had me thinking I'd blown up a Ragnarok 2 on the test bench, which delayed things a bit. More on that later.
3. By "later," I mean next week, when I should have a chapter up on The Ragnarok That Is (as a counterpoint to the earlier chapter, The Ragnaroks That Weren't), which will also compare and contrast Nexus and other differential topologies.

One unexpected result of testing: Ragnarok 2 puts out (ahem) a bit more power than I expected into headphone loads. I'd been rating it at 15 watts into 32 ohms, like the old one. The AP testing pegged it at 28 watts RMS into 32 ohms, both channels driven, at 1% THD. So I've upped the power rating a bit, to 24 watts. Single-ended numbers, are, as you would expect, 1/4 of the balanced, so 6W out of the single-ended headphone jack. I think this may help explain why you might want to think twice before using it with IEMs.

Bonus pic; Ragnarok 2, mid gain, unloaded and with 32 ohm loads. Giant amp laughs at your puny headphone!



But hey, that's kinda the point. As I said before, Ragnarok 2 is much more a speaker amp than a headphone amp. Be careful our there, and don't hurt your ears. Unlike headphones, they can't be replaced!

So Rag 1 is out completely? That I did not expect. I thought that thing is gonna hang around for a while.