Nicholas Seltzer
100+ Head-Fier
@Jason Stoddard
- 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.
- 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.
- Of course, it will have remote control.
- Of course, it will have speakers/headphones/both selectable with a separate control.
- It will still have 3 gain levels.
- It’ll use a new topology we haven’t used before, but it will still be differential.
- 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.
So glad to have some information about the new Ragnarok, even if it's still subject to change. I'm just a humble consumer but I'll tell you what I think of it as requested.
As described I have in mind a somewhat aggressive looking silver and black Ragnarok-sized box. I say 'aggressive' because of the shared heatsinks with Vidar, which I assume are on the outside. I think this may reduce WAF factor, which is important to me. I also envision an array of large, Freya-sized preamp tubes which may presumably be turned on and off like Freya. Like Freya, I expect it will have a few additional sets of inputs and outputs. Like the Lyr 2/3 changeover, I have a hunch that it will have one or even two expansion bays where a Bifrost-class multibit DAC and/or phono stage may be installed.
In sum, it seems to me like a Schiitastic but conventional integrated amp. I believe it will compete forcefully with more expensive offerings from the likes of Simaudio like the Moon 340i. Fully decked out, I expect this to me comparable in price to Yggdrasil or perhaps a bit more. Personally I tend to go for the "one box, one job" approach and don't like too much integration. If the Rag 2.0 significantly improves headphone performance and still gives me the functionality I need in a preamp (remote control and HT Bypass for home theater pass through) in a "bare bones" configuration (no modules) in the 1700-1800 range I may still be interested.
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