[AstronomerXI]

AEGIR 2 vs 2x GHorns

OK. So it’s time to give some of MY thoughts on GHorn mono-blocks vs 1x Aegir 2 amplifier.

I’ll try to be to the point. The mono-block GHorns are very good amps. Aegir 2 is a very, very good amp. I’ll focus on the commonalities and then the differences that I experienced in my room, with my gear, using my ears, and my music. (Spoiler: The Aegir 2 wins).

Things in common:

• Both drive my speakers to my typical listening levels which is typically 86dB peak.
• Both have a nice wide soundstage (sorry Ableza) with good placement of instruments.
• Both had a solid center stage, placing vocalists right in the center (recording dependent of course).
• Both exhibit the Schiit ‘House Sound’, which I perceive as being a tad bit north of neutral (aka warm) but not to the point of being colored or dark.
• Both have good timbre and tonality with acoustic instruments.
• Both give instruments their own ‘space’ resulting in an open an uncongested presentation (recording dependent of course).
• Both amps are quiet with no noise at the speaker or coming from the enclosure.
• Both have excellent bass extension and open/airy highs.

Where the Aegir 2 wins (IMHO):

• It just does all of the above better.
• The soundstage (sorry Ableza) is a bit more holographic and while equally as wide as GHorns, offered a bit more depth and height. A bit more holographic.
• Timbre and tonality is a step-up, with a more notable expression of acoustic instruments. It became easier for me to hear the contribution the whole instrument made. Ex: the wood in a stand-up bass, the skin on a drum, or even the wood of the stick in a rim-shot or the felt on a timpani mallet or the felt pads on piano hammers. It became easier to identify the unique sounds the different cymbal types. I could better identify the finger sound in the finger pluck. Just more detail. The phrase “hearing deeper into the music” keeps coming to mind.
• The Aegir 2 seemed to give more space to the instruments. Sure the GHorns did too, but the Aegir 2 just did it better and in width/height/depth. It honestly felt like the instruments had their own 3D space as opposed to the 2D space (H x W) of the GHorns.
• The Aegir 2 seemed ‘quieter’. Sounds came from what seems like a blacker background (sorry Ableza). It’s hard to describe as the GHorns were quiet, but the contrast between silence and sound was not as great. (I’m struggling to describe this one, if you can’t tell.)
• The highs were a tad airier and things such as cymbals, bells, etc., hung out in air longer having a bit more decay into silence.
• Bass sounds more extended. Aegir 2 has a better grip presenting a more controlled and impactful bass. At first, I thought it was ‘more’ bass, but I’ve come to realize it is really just ‘better’ bass. The speakers (not the sub) were delivering a tight, controlled punch and bass presence I’d never heard before with any amp. (Was it Halo? Halo if I know.)

Summary:

Well, the summary is not going to be Earth shattering. The Aegir 2 is better. Does it deliver notable improvements over 2x GHorns? I think so. Is it leaps and bounds better or 33% more $$ better? Depends on how much you value what it delivers over and above the GHorns. If I had to think of a line that describes why I think Aegir sounds so good and better than the GHorns, it would be how it reproduces outstanding music in an effortless fashion. It never comes across as working hard. Everything comes with a level of effortlessness, ease, and liquidity. I’m really having a tough time identifying why the GHorns don’t deliver this level of perceived effortlessness because they do not sound bad by a longshot. Aegier 2 just says “Pffft. Hold my beer.” and then proceeds to effortlessly deliver wonderful music like I’ve not heard. Yeah, I’m struggling to communicate this, too. It's a feeling I get when listening to Aegir 2 -- one that is hard to express. I'm just more at-ease and relaxed. I'm hearing more without forcing my brain and ears to hear it? I don't have to look for and find the subtle details in music, Aegir 2 just says "Here you go." and delivers it. My listening for musical enjoyment and critical listening have converged.

I think it is safe to say that I won’t be amp shopping for a long time.


*Disclaimers: I am not a professional reviewer as can be seen by my grammar, spelling, etc. This is all IMHO, YMMV, IME and AFAIK.


My setup:

• Schiit Frey+ N preamp
  • Connected to Yggy via Snake Oil XLR cables
  • SE outputs are via World’s Best Cables (Uni-directional Canare cable)
  • Matched pair 1960s Foton 6N6P Gold Grid tubes (cathode follower - left sockets)
  • Matched pair Raytheon 7728 (ruggedized 12AT7) tubes (gain - right sockets)
• Yggdrasil GS2 with Unison upgrade and the original Analog 1 cards
• Raspberry Pi 4B (8GB) running RoPieee as a Roon Endpoint
  • USB to Yggy using Pangea USB cable
  • Network connection via TPLInk USB wireless dongle/ antenna
• Intel Core i5 headless computer as my Roon server.
  • Windows 10 Pro
  • Running Fidelizer Pro to essentially lower and/or stop non-audio processes and dedicate resources (RAM and CPU) to Roon server and any audio services.
  • Internal SATA SSD drive for OS and applications (Roon and Fidelizer)
  • USB SSD connected using AQ Jitterbug USB line and power filter. (I know)
  • TPLInk USB wireless dongle/ antenna using AQ Jitterbug USB line and power filter. (I know)
• Tekton Designs Lore Reference speakers
  • Upgraded crossover and binding posts
  • Solid billet copper Cardas inputs
  • Mil-spec internal wiring
  • Mundorf or ClarityCap for the tweeter section
  • Oversized Jantzen or Erse Sledgehammer inductor for the woofer/mid section.
  • Perfect impulse time-alignment
  • 8″ transducer (woofer/mid)
  • Hybrid HF transducer (ring tweeter)
  • Dual front-facing ports
  • 96dB 1W@1m
  • 8 Ohm impedance
  • 37Hz-40kHz frequency response
  • 400 watts power handling
  • Height 36″ x Width 10.25″ x Depth 11.75″
• Ryhthmik L12 powered servo sealed enclosure subwoofer
• All Power Cords are Pangea AC-14 cables
• Speaker cables are 2x 6’ runs of SUPRA Ply 3.4 WIDE cables with Blue Jean Cables screw lock banana connectors.
• Listening space
  • 12’ x 12’ room with 8 foot ceilings
  • Speakers are 2’ from the front wall
  • A diffuser panel is on the front wall behind and between the speakers
  • Foam absorption and diffuser panels are near the corners behind the speakers
  • A diffuser / absorption panel is at the point of 1st reflection on the side wall
  • Foam absorption and diffuser panels along with acoustic tile panels are located at various spots along the rear wall
  • 6’ foam corner bass traps are located on the rear listening room corners
  • Seating position is at approx. ear-level between woofer/mid and tweeter (tweeters are below the woofer/mid on this speaker)
  • Speakers are a tad over 6’ feet apart and my listening position is 6’ from each speaker
  • Speakers are toed in where the tweeter direct line is pointed to each shoulder (left speaker to left shoulder, etc.)
• Listening
  • All my listening was via Roon (16/44.1 or higher) and was a mixture of classic rock, Jazz (acoustic and electric).

Great review, thank you! I've added Aegir 2 to my "Schiit to consider list" thanks to your review. No new toys until a new-to-me car in June, though. Between MJ3, Aegir 2 or Tyr, and upgrades to the Gumby and Asgard 3, my wallet is going to be defying gravity at this rate by year's end...

I did order a pair of Apple AirPods Pro 2 last evening with my wife's wholehearted blessing - but music was the least of the reasons for them. First was as an inexpensive hearing aid to assist in hearing conversations in noisy environments (and quiet ones, TBH) and from reviews, they might just allow me to enjoy live concerts again; second is as a business and FaceTime-with-family headset; and third for listening to podcasts etc. while walking the pups, chilling on the deck, etc.

 

[AstronomerXI]

Now see, if you’d gotten a silver Freya, then the Gungnir would blend right in.

Alas, Freya N's were like the original Ford Model T: "You can have any colour you want, so long as it's black!", and except for a very few, Gumby's were 99% produced in silver.

 

[mystaiced]

Now see, if you’d gotten a silver Freya, then the Gungnir would blend right in.

Alas, Freya N's were like the original Ford Model T: "You can have any colour you want, so long as it's black!", and except for a very few, Gumby's were 99% produced in silver.

Indeed. I'm starting to warm up to silver. Initially, I was a solid Black only Schiit type. But now I'm starting to appreciate the beauty of silver Schiit. I foresee a change over to mostly silver Schiit in my future. Color me a convert!

 

[HWB3]

That depends on how Wichita falls.

Texas, that is. I went to tech school there. That's where Sheppard AFB is. A little north of there is Lawton, Oklahoma the only place that I spent a night in jail. We were graduating and had a party at an instructor's ranch. Me and a couple of classmates jumped in an instructor's VW and went to Lawton to visit a house of ill repute. Didn't make it because we got pulled over and spent the night in jail for public drunk. I remember reading something that was written on the wall in the jail cell. " We're the people our parents told us about". Hahaha.

 

[Bowmoreman]

When the Yggy analog 2 board was released it was a noticable improvement in my room with my equipment and quite noticable. Especially tracks that have multiple instruments mixed in that "appear" in the back, in my case the 7' feet behind my speakers. Noticabley more distinct and separated to not only me but to the other half that puts up with the hobby.

Each piece of gear that has stayed in the main system has had made instruments more separate, more distinct, richer and more tightly focused. To me the ability to hear this better and better in the listening space in front of, to the side of, and behind my speakers is the coolest part of the hobby. While everyone is different and looks for different things hobby wise I really believe most in the hobby could hear this and perceive it as improvements in the so called "soundstage" .....more or less.

100%

Yes, things like soundstage (and other aspects) are “subjective” to/across each/every listener. But for any GIVEN listener, it isn’t subjective at all if one is comparing/contrasting one’s systems reproduction to the real thing, in a real space, properly (very minimally) miked, gently mixed, and - in my experience - all AAA… with live, acoustic (best is classical orchestra’s, close second Jazz) you are familiar with.

E.g. I know what Boston Symphony hall sounds like. I’m extremely familiar with <pick a composer and composition>. Compare, contrast, change things, rinse/repeat.

That process is NOT “subjective” *for me*; it is objective. And following that approach over the coarse of about 10 years led me to my “final” system. It works, for me. It has (over the years) amazed all who’ve heard it. But only MY opinion matters. But, as I moved from things like ADS810’s to Boston Acoustics to Vandersteen and finally the Apogees… I had increasingly excellent imaging and soundstaging. Those characteristics are important to me to suspend disbelief when listening to classical music. And, I’ve found that my system “tuned” to optimize classical, is quite excellent on Jazz as well. Everything else has “sounds” that are largely impacted by sound engineers, mixing, intentional effects, etc., so as to make them useful to evaluate things like soundstaging POINTLESS (to your main point @Ableza ). They’re fine for most anything else: slam, details, air, transients, harmonious-ness, … all the way to, dare I say it “Plankton”.

So, in the end what we each experience individually IS “subjective” for all others. But, properly “managed” individual subjective experience can be objectively used to improve one’s systems abilities in any dimension, realistic soundstaging included. But one must be methodical and have a *standard* (live acoustic - preferably classical in a hall you know - and properly miked.)

Those who know, know. I recommend (good luck finding them these days) the early RCA Shaded dogs (LSC’s from around 1940 to 2400 or 2500 - approx), in an early stamper version 1s to around 4s work… Or the Mercury Living Presence recordings engineered by Wima Cozart Fine… There’s others that work as well.

I’m only now considering an Yggy because I think that might enable me to take my systems digital capabilities to where my analog/LP ones are wrt soundstaging (I have many CD re-issues of those RCA’s and Mercury’s that I can race; and the LPs are better (to ME). Perhaps that will no longer be the case if I up my digital game past the Cambridge Azure 751BD currently doing that duty.

These - on a proper (and no that doesn’t have to be mega-bucks but it does have to be carefully curated) can absolutely immerse you in the hall in many dimensions - soundstaging included.

Oh, and having done such curation - all the other music with all their effects (previously discussed) also shine. And THAT is the win (for me)

 

[sam6550a]

Ugh. That won't go well for @Ripper2860 seeing as he has a B&K.

I thought that B & K was illegal in Texas.

 

[sam6550a]

100%

Yes, things like soundstage (and other aspects) are “subjective” to/across each/every listener. But for any GIVEN listener, it isn’t subjective at all if one is comparing/contrasting one’s systems reproduction to the real thing, in a real space, properly (very minimally) miked, gently mixed, and - in my experience - all AAA… with live, acoustic (best is classical orchestra’s, close second Jazz) you are familiar with.

E.g. I know what Boston Symphony hall sounds like. I’m extremely familiar with <pick a composer and composition>. Compare, contrast, change things, rinse/repeat.

That process is NOT “subjective” *for me*; it is objective. And following that approach over the coarse of about 10 years led me to my “final” system. It works, for me. It has (over the years) amazed all who’ve heard it. But only MY opinion matters. But, as I moved from things like ADS810’s to Boston Acoustics to Vandersteen and finally the Apogees… I had increasingly excellent imaging and soundstaging. Those characteristics are important to me to suspend disbelief when listening to classical music. And, I’ve found that my system “tuned” to optimize classical, is quite excellent on Jazz as well. Everything else has “sounds” that are largely impacted by sound engineers, mixing, intentional effects, etc., so as to make them useful to evaluate things like soundstaging POINTLESS (to your main point @Ableza ). They’re fine for most anything else: slam, details, air, transients, harmonious-ness, … all the way to, dare I say it “Plankton”.

So, in the end what we each experience individually IS “subjective” for all others. But, properly “managed” individual subjective experience can be objectively used to improve one’s systems abilities in any dimension, realistic soundstaging included. But one must be methodical and have a *standard* (live acoustic - preferably classical in a hall you know - and properly miked.)

Those who know, know. I recommend (good luck finding them these days) the early RCA Shaded dogs (LSC’s from around 1940 to 2400 or 2500 - approx), in an early stamper version 1s to around 4s work… Or the Mercury Living Presence recordings engineered by Wima Cozart Fine… There’s others that work as well.

I’m only now considering an Yggy because I think that might enable me to take my systems digital capabilities to where my analog/LP ones are wrt soundstaging (I have many CD re-issues of those RCA’s and Mercury’s that I can race; and the LPs are better (to ME). Perhaps that will no longer be the case if I up my digital game past the Cambridge Azure 751BD currently doing that duty.

These - on a proper (and no that doesn’t have to be mega-bucks but it does have to be carefully curated) can absolutely immerse you in the hall in many dimensions - soundstaging included.

Oh, and having done such curation - all the other music with all their effects (previously discussed) also shine. And THAT is the win (for me)

Wilma Cozart Fine was the producer of most of the Mercury Living Presence recordings. Her husband, Robert Fine, was the engineer. They delivered some fantastic recordings. In the RCA camp, the team of Richard Mohr, producer, and Lewis Layton, engineer, created most of the 1950 to mid 1960 RCA releases. Great times for making great recordings.

 

[ArmchairPhilosopher]

I've added Aegir 2 to my "Schiit to consider list"

Here's the official "Schiit to consider" list:

 

[GumbyDammit223]

Ahhh! You heard the "skywave", too! My grandparents had a place on Lake Mary, outside of Crystal Falls, MI. We used to listen to 670 WMAQ from Chicago at night, clear as a bell... a 24kW station that could reach 300 miles thanks to ionospheric bounce. Cool memory, thank you!!!

Back in the early 70's I loved picking up 850 KOA in Denver while growing up in north central MT. I'd always listen to Radio Mystery Theater and let my imagination go as I fell asleep! Good times!

 

[AstronomerXI]

Here's the official "Schiit to consider" list:

Well, yes. Obviously! I was shooting for brevity and didn't want to unduly startle my wife in the vanishingly faint chance that she discovers this forum and somehow reads my post.

 

[Minoguez]

Vidar 2 discontinued?

In any case, if you believe that you need to replace your obsolete tech with some Tyrs. Nothing changes the sound of an electronic gadget more drastically than it hearing it's been replaced with the new kid in town....

P.S. Welcome and sorry for your wallet.

Isn't Vidar 2 just a Vidar now? The standby button on the front as standard equipment?

Wallet is fine. No kids. Lol!

 

[Balthazar B]

Here's the official "Schiit to consider" list:

You forgot:

I think that must be the shortest I've ever seen that list.

 

[AstronomerXI]

This seems appropriate

 

[Bowmoreman]

Wilma Cozart Fine was the producer of most of the Mercury Living Presence recordings. Her husband, Robert Fine, was the engineer. They delivered some fantastic recordings. In the RCA camp, the team of Richard Mohr, producer, and Lewis Layton, engineer, created most of the 1950 to mid 1960 RCA releases. Great times for making great recordings.

Yep… I have almost 2000 LPs at this point (I sold about 1000 about 3 years ago; stuff I just wasn’t listening to and a bunch of “collector” type LPs that I didn’t want to move (again) cross-country. Probably 50% are classical at this point give/take. I got as may of the RCA’s and Mercury’s as I *could* back then but they were scarce as hens teeth even in the 80’s (had my best luck surfing estate sales). Wish I’d started maybe 5 years earlier… But what isn’t as scarce is the ability to score the CD reissue versions OF them… my hope (ultimately) is that I can go that route with similar success to LP sound quality (in my system).

Oh, and Columbia “Six Eyes” are also quite excellent…

Digital - via the Cambridge Audio Azur 751BD is quite good, but it’s NOT at the level of my SOTA LP playback (thanks Kara!). Where it misses (mostly) is in soundstage-related aspects. Again to me.

But for those with Yggy’s, it’d be interesting to see what some of those reissue CD’s might sound like…

 

[Bowmoreman]

This seems appropriate

This!

Unfortunately, discovering fora like this isn’t helping ME. I was a denizen of that right-hand lane for a nice, inexpensive, 34 years… alas, the failure of the caps in my Classe’ DR6 Preamp *forced* me to begin the journey anew…

All too easy to forget: it’s about the MUSIC