[McClelland]

  One thing to note about head rattling and such…
 
It doesn't HAVE to be LOUD!
In fact the better the SQ the less LOUD the acoustic presentation becomes at any particular DRC (aka moar knob) setting.
 
IOW as the system is able to present a more accurate signal to the headphones, then to my ears, the less LOUD it gets.
That isn't to say it doesn't get MOAR, but as the acoustic cues we associate with LOUD are reduced, the greater the dynamic range becomes and this improvement reaches down in volume as well as up.
Thus the perception of 'extra dynamic range' goes both ways.

I've really been struck by what you describe since moving from room speakers to HPs for critical listening.  The SQ elements of stage, detail, location, clarity and sonic sweetness are absorbing at lower volumes and I really enjoy that.  That experience has grown more striking with the deep, silent backgound that has come with upgrades I've been able to make.  It's not empty or cold at all, but calming.

 

[Pete Schiller]

@Jason Stoddard if you've at all questioned whether it was worth going to The Show Newport, I think that there will be considerable sales synergy generated between Schiit and Salk going forward. As a fairly new Schiit fanboy (rightfully so), who had never heard of Salk speakers until your mention that you would be sharing space at Newport with Salk, I've talked with and emailed Jim Salk several times, and just picked out veneers and placed a deposit on my new Salk HT2-TL speakers today. I don't imagine it will be long before the Salk fanboys (and girls) are buying Yggdrasils, Gungnir MBs and whatever 2-channel Schiit you have in store. 
 
BTW, I now have a really nice pair of speakers on order, and an HK AVR-500 seems to be somewhat underpowered to do my new speakers justice. When will there be some Schiit to power my new Salk speakers? Alright, I don't want you to make bad engineering choices because you're rushing to get a product to market, but I can't wait to order something worthy of driving my new speakers. Do you do pre-orders? Hah, hah, yes, I read that chapter. Okay, I'll try to be patient.
 
Pete

 

[Matro5]

  as a fairly new Schiit fanboy (rightfully so), who had never heard of Salk speakers until your mention that you would be sharing space at Newport with Salk, I've talked with and emailed Jim Salk several times, and just picked out veneers and placed a deposit on my new Salk HT2-TL speakers today. I . 
 

 
Enjoy your new speakers! You might have noticed that Jim Salk did a great AMA on r/audiophile. I'm set on speakers for now, but found his answers thoughtful and incredibly interesting. 
 
https://www.reddit.com/r/audiophile/comments/4nw0i7/im_jim_salk_founder_of_salk_sound_ama/

 

[artur9]

   
Enjoy your new speakers! You might have noticed that Jim Salk did a great AMA on r/audiophile. I'm set on speakers for now, but found his answers thoughtful and incredibly interesting. 
 
https://www.reddit.com/r/audiophile/comments/4nw0i7/im_jim_salk_founder_of_salk_sound_ama/

That is a great Q&A .  I particularly liked the part with Jim and Jason getting together and plotting against our wallets.  At least, that's how I read it

 

[wink]

   
I'm quite taken by the concept of the entire universe being musical, with a glorious midrange...

Have you not heard of the music of the spheres..?   

 

[Jason Stoddard]

Hey all,
 
I'm still hoping to have a chapter up today, but it may slip until tomorrow. I really wanted to have it up today, because it's now our 6th anniversary. Yes, that's right, 6 full years of being the flavor of the month.
 
Why is this chapter taking so long? A couple of reasons. First, the title of the new chapter is The Elephant in the Room. And, as you might guess, it's a big subject. And yes, the subject is probably exactly what you'd expect. It's about price. Specifically, the insanely stratospheric prices of high-end audio--why it's so high, where it's been, where it's going, when it's justified, when it's not. You know, stuff like that.
 
Second, because we scrapped the first amp prototype. Prototypes usually don't get scrapped. They're usually tweaked, added on to, revised, etc...but eventually make their way to production. Although we learned a lot on the first prototype (and although I've had versions of its specific topology running in other forms for months), we needed to go a new direction. Specifically, we had to kill the idea of using a heat tunnel, amongst other things. So, the good news is that the new prototype won't have a fan.
 
But, for about a week, I was afraid that we'd be stuck waiting for a very specific, high-density heatsink extrusion—which could put our production plans farther out than we planned. The reality was actually worse--the heatsink supplier told me that the extrusion was no longer being supplied! But in a stroke of luck, they had an extrusion that was almost exactly the same as the one we wanted--and it was in stock. Big sigh of relief. So, after a week of frantic work, we have heatsink samples coming our way next week (not the 8-12 weeks I was afraid of), and the vastly-different PC board is laid out, and sent out for 5-day turn. This means that we have a real chance of meeting our original production schedule.
 
Aaannd...in the process of scrapping the first prototype, the amp got a lot better. In addition to losing the fan (so no fan noise, ever), it gained several very nice features, including dual-mono topology from the transformer secondaries onward (so big transients on one channel will have less effect on the other) and a few other neat tricks which I'll talk about later.
 
All the best,
Jason

 

[Insidious Meme]

Clock ticking, meng.

 

[rnros]

Originally Posted by Jason Stoddard /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
...it's now our 6th anniversary. Yes, that's right, 6 full years of being the flavor of the month.

Congrats on 6 six years!! Time flies when you're having fun )
 
Hell with everything else, take yourself and the staff out for a celebration dinner of fine food and fine wine. Tell stories of the grape tonight instead of audio.
 
And all the stuff about the amp sounds great. Really looking forward to more Schiit, but I can wait a little longer to be impressed. Get it right and enjoy.
 
Serious congratulations to you and Mike and the staff. And I'll lift a glass myself tonight to toast your success, maybe check-in on the 2003 Bordeaux.

 

[ScottFree]

"This means that we have a real chance of meeting our original production schedule."

Famous last words

 

[nwguy]

And of course, today, I took delivery of a Bimby!!
Already loving it, and congrats on 6 years!!!!!!

 

[earnmyturns]

  Aaannd...in the process of scrapping the first prototype, the amp got a lot better. In addition to losing the fan (so no fan noise, ever), it gained several very nice features, including dual-mono topology from the transformer secondaries onward (so big transients on one channel will have less effect on the other) and a few other neat tricks which I'll talk about later.
 

Congratulations on six years of breaking the rules to delight us with beautiful sound at fair prices. I'm waiting for a two-channel that will go well with one of your multibit DACs, so these tidbits on the new amp are very welcome. 

 

[US Blues]

  Aaannd...in the process of scrapping the first prototype, the amp got a lot better. In addition to losing the fan (so no fan noise, ever), it gained several very nice features, including dual-mono topology from the transformer secondaries onward (so big transients on one channel will have less effect on the other) and a few other neat tricks which I'll talk about later.
 

 
Now I'm full-on drooling.
 
Happy Birthday Schiit!

 

[wink]

"This means that we have a real chance of meeting our original production schedule."

Famous last words

Jinxville - right there.......     

    

    

 

[Baldr]

"This means that we have a real chance of meeting our original production schedule."

Famous last words

 
I find it prudent to aim for production schedule goals:  that is, when the product is complete and functioning to its intended performance level - then and only then is it suitable for release.  It is done when it is done right.

 

[johnjen]

  I've really been struck by what you describe since moving from room speakers to HPs for critical listening.  The SQ elements of stage, detail, location, clarity and sonic sweetness are absorbing at lower volumes and I really enjoy that.  That experience has grown more striking with the deep, silent backgound that has come with upgrades I've been able to make.  It's not empty or cold at all, but calming.

What you are describing tells me that your tLFF is already reduced, because to be able to hear these sorts of details at lower SPL's means the system IS getting out of it's own way and does so, so that you can distinguish intricate details, even at lowered SPL's.
That is, in part, what I meant when I said the dynamic range extends in both directions, in higher and lower SPL's.
 
And you can use this threshold as a sort of gauge of how well your system is doing.
By that I mean as you raise the DRC (Dynamic Range Control, aka MOAR knob) you will reach a threshold where it starts to be distracting.
IOW our ability to get sucked into the music gets obscured by an increase, because it gets LOUD(er), and this creates a degree of distraction away from the music itself.
Think of it as finding the threshold of LOUD, and if you start to feel ANY DISCOMFORT, at all, even if it is very very slight, you've reached LOUD.
 
I have found that when I 'track' where the Moar Knob sits and how far I can, with ease, raise the DRC even higher, before LOUD sets in, this setting tells me how 'clean' the system is at this point in time.
And I don't necessarily keep the DRC elevated but it can let me know what my 'headroom' is.
Sometimes I may want to crank on it for a particular track, say for the FULL effects of the very bottom end, where applicable.
 
Sometimes the DRC goes up and sometimes it goes down, but then I'm fussing with the system a bunch, which initiates this variability, so I'm fairly familiar with this phenomenon.
 
But using this as a gauge can also help you in figuring if any changes you might make are 'Better', or not.
 
There are times when I can REALLY crank on the DRC and it NEVER gets LOUD.
 
When that happens the degree of hearing EVERYTHING is just enthralling.
 
JJ