[Tim van der Leeuw]

Now that my Jotunheim has blown me away for what a good headphone-amp can do, I'm beginning to think about what I can do to improve stereo listening in the livingroom.

For that speakers are crucial, but I think the weakest point in my setup is the amp.
So, not having a huge budget, I'm hoping to upgrade the amp but keep my current speakers -- a pair of old Beovox 1200 that I have inherited from my late grandfather (they were good at their time, and they have a lot of emotional value for me, another reason for not wanting to part with them yet).

They are rated for 15 Watts RMS (20 Watts peak) and 4 Ohm.

Looking at Schiit amps, I was wondering if that would pair OK with an Aegir (and, obviously, a pre-amp + DAC).

What do more knowledeable people in this thread think?

The speakers are old and the speaker wires cannot be changed -- and they end in just those typical plain-copper frayed ends, no connector. Would that even work with the connectors on the back of the Aegir?

Any thoughts, clues, pointers to better forums would be appreciated!

 

[Derrick Swart]

Now that my Jotunheim has blown me away for what a good headphone-amp can do, I'm beginning to think about what I can do to improve stereo listening in the livingroom.

For that speakers are crucial, but I think the weakest point in my setup is the amp.
So, not having a huge budget, I'm hoping to upgrade the amp but keep my current speakers -- a pair of old Beovox 1200 that I have inherited from my late grandfather (they were good at their time, and they have a lot of emotional value for me, another reason for not wanting to part with them yet).

They are rated for 15 Watts RMS (20 Watts peak) and 4 Ohm.

Looking at Schiit amps, I was wondering if that would pair OK with an Aegir (and, obviously, a pre-amp + DAC).

What do more knowledeable people in this thread think?

The speakers are old and the speaker wires cannot be changed -- and they end in just those typical plain-copper frayed ends, no connector. Would that even work with the connectors on the back of the Aegir?

Any thoughts, clues, pointers to better forums would be appreciated!

Absolutely works. Not sure if you'll be happy though. Which amp do you have right now?

 

[33na3rd]

The speakers are old and the speaker wires cannot be changed -- and they end in just those typical plain-copper frayed ends, no connector. Would that even work with the connectors on the back of the Aegir?

Aegir's speaker binding posts would accommodate the bare wires of your speakers easily. You could always add spades or banana plugs to your existing speaker cables too.

 

[Tim van der Leeuw]

Absolutely works. Not sure if you'll be happy though. Which amp do you have right now?

The amp I have right now is a 10+ year old, cheap and simple Yamaha AV-receiver, the RX-V357. Fine for TV and movies. Never been particularly good for music.

 

[Tim van der Leeuw]

Aegir's speaker binding posts would accommodate the bare wires of your speakers easily. You could always add spades or banana plugs to your existing speaker cables too.

Banana plugs... Didn't know that term, looked them up, seen those ages ago! Should be doable. Thanks.

 

[treecloud]

I have built Dynakits and have heard of Hafler but never built any. I will have to check those out.

Got curious, looked it up. The names Dynaco and Hafler live on, bought by a Canadian company. But no kits. I found some interesting info on current products:
https://www.dynaco.com/

Well the new version of the most popular tube amp in history (the original Dynaco ST-35) is $3K. Dick Olsher liked it:
https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/dynaco-st-70-series-3-tube-power-amplifier/

At $3K I'm not sure I would call it a screaming bargain. I think that appellation is better applied to Vidar and Aegir

 

[Paladin79]

Got curious, looked it up. The names Dynaco and Hafler live on, bought by a Canadian company. But no kits. I found some interesting info on current products:
https://www.dynaco.com/

Well the new version of the most popular tube amp in history (the original Dynaco ST-35) is $3K. Dick Olsher liked it:
https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/dynaco-st-70-series-3-tube-power-amplifier/

At $3K I'm not sure I would call it a screaming bargain. I think that appellation is better applied to Vidar and Aegir

For $3,000 there are other tube amps I would most likely seek, and indeed Vidar and Aegir are great values. I had solid state amps for years and at this point in my life, I prefer tube amps with a Freya + preamp. My son has a Vidar and loves it.

 

[liquidsmote]

Got curious, looked it up. The names Dynaco and Hafler live on, bought by a Canadian company. But no kits. I found some interesting info on current products:
https://www.dynaco.com/

Well the new version of the most popular tube amp in history (the original Dynaco ST-35) is $3K. Dick Olsher liked it:
https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/dynaco-st-70-series-3-tube-power-amplifier/

At $3K I'm not sure I would call it a screaming bargain. I think that appellation is better applied to Vidar and Aegir

The Bob Latino Dynaco kits are available from tubes4hifi both in kit and assembled form for much, much less than $3K.

 

[liquidsmote]

Awww mate! It's not even cracked open yet. I promise to treat it to a good home.
Plus, my supply of GTS and Pappy 20 is getting a bit low due to the angels flying over the house

Sounds like we might have to do a sample swap at some point!

 

[MatthiasP]

If you want to have a great kit for an amp or pre, look for Elekit. They have a great reputation, and their amps also perform really good, as they deliver very good quality parts.

 

[madwolfa]

So the only fully "matching" amp (size-wise + balanced) to use with Bifrost 2 would be a Jotunheim?

 

[hearditontheX]

Oh no. Even 13 years tends to be extreme with Norse Forrest Cats.
Her spouse (Amadeus off course) died when he was just 10 years old.
She will be 21 in February next year.
She is eating double she did a few days ago and much more active.
Keeping her as well fed as possible is an ongoing struggle since my wife died.
Every kind of food she likes and a mountain of snacks are always on hand in abundance.

She is a fortunate feline to have you taking care of her.

 

[Ableza]

I built a Dynaco ST35 kit back in the day. It was OK. I gave it away a few years later...

 

[wout31]

I have a question for you guess that are native English speaking.
I'm trying to figure out if Aegir as mono block will be high power enough for my speakers.

In my search for the efficiency of my Quad ESL's I have been measuring and reading a lot.
The Quad ESL (also called ESL-55 or 57, the first model) is a very high efficient electrostatic speaker, with a rated efficiency of 93 dB 8 ohm, which is quite impressive for an electrostatic speaker.
My measurements agree fully with the efficiency number provided by the manufacturer. One Aegir is more than enough to drive these speakers more than loud enough for my ears.
Now we switch to the newer model, the ESL-63 that was introduced in 1981 and has a rated efficiency of 86 dB. That is, that is what people write and people think but ....
Let's look at the information supplied by the manufacturer fore this speaker.



Wait a minute what is that 1,5 µbars per volt? I'm used to dB per Volt as on the second line in between brackets.
Now I don't know µbars so I looked it up and there are several online converters to translate µbars to dB.
So far no problem, but ...... 1,5 µbars translates to 77 dB and not 86 dB! Also 8 ohm. (or am I totally wrong here?)
Now I know of the confusion about the use of i.e.and e.g. in the English language and I also know people use it in the wrong context.
What is going on here? If the i.e. is mixed up with e.g. I'm OK because than the value on the second line doesn't say anything about the value on the first line.
To me it looks more like a "deliberate" mistake, to make the SPL look better than it is. Because 77 dB is very low.

So my question to you guys: What would you make of this? Mistake (i.e and e.g. mixed up) or not so much?

To get 86 dB you need 4 µbars not 1,5 so a Typo or other mistake is out of the question.
My measurement says 80 dB, so even a little better than the 77 dB, but 6 dB short on the 86 db value.

 

[Paladin79]

If you want to have a great kit for an amp or pre, look for Elekit. They have a great reputation, and their amps also perform really good, as they deliver very good quality parts.

They are good, generally speaking I do not use many of the parts included with kits, I often replace them with higher quality and even make changes in circuit design on occasion. That is one of the nice things about DIY, you are not voiding any warranty by making changes. I did not change much on the Schiit Coaster amps other than substituting for out of stock parts.