Schiit Happened: The Story of the World's Most Improbable Start-Up
Jun 14, 2019 at 5:52 PM Post #47,567 of 145,768
There has been discussion elsewhere of a slimmed down saga or a bigger sys (depending upon point if view). 200 ish seems to be the price such an item may hit, if Schiit ever built it.

Yes, I know, but I think the price really depends on what you include in there. I was actually one of the people who asked for a slimmed down Saga, but the more I thought about it the more I realized that I wanted too much of the functionality... just including a remote, for instance, means you need some kind of power. So we're talking active electronics. That also means you need to either stick with relay attenuation or use a motorized volume control on a regular pot. All in all, it starts to get difficult to see how costs could be slimmed down. Also, Jason mentioned that one of the biggest barriers would be the chassis cost.

So that's why this morning I started thinking about it the other way around. Start with SYS, and change as little as possible to keep the prices down.

The product I'm imagining is pretty bare bones. It would be totally passive, like SYS, so there's no active electronics or power necessary. Since it's just a little taller (say 2" high like Saga instead of 1.25" high like SYS), it would just need a slightly larger piece of aluminum to cover the extra height on the front (it would use the same thickness of aluminum that SYS uses, which I think is a little thinner than Saga). There would need to be two extra RCA modules for the third input and the second output (I imagine those are pretty cheap). The circuit board would probably cost almost exactly the same. The biggest difference in cost would probably be the higher quality volume pot and larger volume knob (and being truthful, I have literally no idea what the price difference in that part is). My totally unprofessional guess is that it would be feasible to put that together for a retail price of $99, or a little more.
 
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Jun 14, 2019 at 6:22 PM Post #47,568 of 145,768
Yes, I know, but I think the price really depends on what you include in there. I was actually one of the people who asked for a slimmed down Saga, but the more I thought about it the more I realized that I wanted too much of the functionality... just including a remote, for instance, means you need some kind of power. So we're talking active electronics. That also means you need to either stick with relay attenuation or use a motorized volume control on a regular pot. All in all, it starts to get difficult to see how costs could be slimmed down. Also, Jason mentioned that one of the biggest barriers would be the chassis cost.

So that's why this morning I started thinking about it the other way around. Start with SYS, and change as little as possible to keep the prices down.

The product I'm imagining is pretty bare bones. It would be totally passive, like SYS, so there's no active electronics or power necessary. Since it's just a little taller (say 2" high like Saga instead of 1.25" high like SYS), it would just need a slightly larger piece of aluminum to cover the extra height on the front (it would use the same thickness of aluminum that SYS uses, which I think is a little thinner than Saga). There would need to be two extra RCA modules for the third input and the second output (I imagine those are pretty cheap). The circuit board would probably cost almost exactly the same. The biggest difference in cost would probably be the higher quality volume pot and larger volume knob (and being truthful, I have literally no idea what the price difference in that part is). My totally unprofessional guess is that it would be feasible to put that together for a retail price of $99, or a little more.
I like the idea of 2 outputs because Im worried about the output voltage, I personally love my sys it is just so versatile.
 
Jun 14, 2019 at 7:43 PM Post #47,569 of 145,768
The discussion about volume control position made me realize that I have no idea, nor do I ever pay attention to, the position of the knob. I just turn it to attain the desired effect, and I almost always turn it all the way down when I shut off the amp. I do pay attention to the relative volume display on my home theater, but that's mostly because I don't want to blow myself out of the chair. :)
 
Jun 14, 2019 at 8:34 PM Post #47,570 of 145,768
The discussion about volume control position made me realize that I have no idea, nor do I ever pay attention to, the position of the knob. I just turn it to attain the desired effect, and I almost always turn it all the way down when I shut off the amp. I do pay attention to the relative volume display on my home theater, but that's mostly because I don't want to blow myself out of the chair. :)
Model citizen right here.
 
Jun 14, 2019 at 11:30 PM Post #47,572 of 145,768
HD4xx pairs with Vali2. Nice! :gs1000smile: When they arrive, @JamminVMI , take a look at the plastic (?) junction where the plastic headband, spring-steel band and post (leading down to the driver-cups). Curious to see your observations...
Bit of an excess gap on the earcup side, bit I’ve zero issue with where the plastic sleeve meets metal on either side. At least on these... What did you see? Haven’t listened yet, that’s in a bit, tubes warming up...
 
Jun 15, 2019 at 3:49 AM Post #47,573 of 145,768
Yep, exactly the same.

It's a bit disturbing to some people who are used to typical potentiometers, which have only 10-20dB attenuation when set at "noon." Running the amp or preamp at 3:00 or even higher is normal for Ragnarok, Saga, and Freya.

I was caught a bit by surprise when I setup the new Freya S to replace the Jotunheim. At high gain, Freya S at 12:00 give me decent volume, when a low gain Jotunheim (closer to the Freya S gain) is usually set at 9:30 to 10:00
 
Jun 15, 2019 at 4:57 AM Post #47,574 of 145,768
I'm not sure how many potential Ragnarok buyers will actually find the Fully loaded option appealing

You're assuming people have one system and will only have one system. I'm actually in the middle of building out a system in my family room which is completely separate from my main listening room. The family room has completely different requirements as far as budget, space, aesthetics, etc. but I still need it to sound good or what would be the point? An integrated is actually exactly what I'm looking for and that includes having a digital input so I can attach a network streamer / renderer to it. Ragnarok is on my list of potentials now. It's excellent that Schiit provides the DAC as an option. Additionally, just getting people to take the first step into hifi is much easier if they don't have to learn about separates. Wish this Schiit was around when I was a teenager.
 
Jun 15, 2019 at 10:03 AM Post #47,575 of 145,768
...I'd like to add more content to the thread (for my peeps)...
Steve Gutenberg posted a thoughtful opinion piece about the consequences (+/-/?/conclusion) of powered & passive 2-channel speakers. Until I have my own radio shack (numbers' stn?) in the North Bruce Peninsula, I'm restricted to headphones. I look at the RCA-out ports on my Valhalla2, Vali2, and Magni3... and wonder what I could plug into them... :ksc75smile: Anyway, for your consideration:

btw - don't get turned off by his garish orange & black title page. He keeps his post civilised, eh.
 
Jun 15, 2019 at 10:10 AM Post #47,576 of 145,768
......{{{{{{snip}}}}}.....Wish this Schiit was around when I was a teenager.
One day. Somehow. Some way. I'll set up a demonstration or learning centre in my grade 10-12 classroom with my gear (w/o it all getting stolen). I see the gear my students use and it makes me shudder. Their hearing range is far superior to my SCUBA-ravaged ears. I'd like to see their eyes light up after listening to their (hip hop) + (Screamo) + (DubStep version ?!) + (fridge-noises) on affordable gear! :)
 
Jun 15, 2019 at 11:27 AM Post #47,577 of 145,768
One day. Somehow. Some way. I'll set up a demonstration or learning centre in my grade 10-12 classroom with my gear (w/o it all getting stolen). I see the gear my students use and it makes me shudder. Their hearing range is far superior to my SCUBA-ravaged ears. I'd like to see their eyes light up after listening to their (hip hop) + (Screamo) + (DubStep version ?!) + (fridge-noises) on affordable gear! :)

When I was in retail audio many years ago, I was invited by a teacher to do just that. Set up a good basic system, turntable, receiver, loudspeakers, explained the basics of how it worked and what mattered, and listened to some music. Though they liked it when I played a cut from The Wall, only a couple of the kids (out of 30 or so) were interested enough to ask me any questions afterward. Maybe they continued in the hobby.

I think that is a reasonable (or very generous) expectation of the general public's interest in this hobby. (1 person out of 250 might be more realistic)

My own extended family, though always "hearing" music, doesn't actively listen to it. Only at meets with other audiophools does one really share the music, fun, and continued discovery. :L3000:
 
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Jun 15, 2019 at 1:47 PM Post #47,580 of 145,768
It seems like it. My friend and I went to the schiitr in Feb to demo it after one of the schittrmeets.He wrote our impressions on this forum(schittfanboy69) and I haven't seen any impressions since. Even the bloggers wrote nothing other than specs. I don't know what people are afraid of. The amp is a killer value at $1499.
 

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