[Odin412]

You Schiitizens are good folk. I hope that term does not offend any here but I know some can fragile when it comes to toadisms. Yup. You folk really are good. Today I have read so many wonderful replies, many of which displayed excellent humor (Humour?). LOL! Be well my young friends.

Schiitizen - I like that! Count me in.

 

[yonson]

I thought we were Schiitheads?

 

[33na3rd]

I thought we were Schiitheads?

We got promoted!

 

[oneguy]

Now THAT is a speaker!! Got two sets myself.

I absolutely love them. Picked it up here in Japan from a guy who regularly restores NS-1000M speakers and puts them up on Yahoo Auctions. I kinda want to pick up a NS-1000x or NS-1000 before I leave Japan in 8 months.

 

[Zojokkeli]

six months more job security.

Even though I could be paid better somewhere else, I really like the job security I have. We're starting a nuclear power plant which will be in operation for at least 60 years, and are making nice progress in spent nuclear fuel final repository, which will be up and running for about 100 years.

 

[oneguy]

When buying the Tyr you may want to make seperate orders for shipping costs. For my location the shipping prices went:

1: $173
2: $390
3: $650
4: $878

That’s not a linear scaling. A linear scaling (making individual amp orders) would have have been:

1: $173
2: $346
3: $519
4: $692

@Jason Stoddard can we get the shipping coding fixed to not over charge when items can be made into individual shipments for cheaper? It probably hasn’t been an issue with other items but with the 55lb Tyr the current price calcs really start to gouge people for something that can be done a more cost effective way.

I’m more than willing to be the first guinea pig for this and get the ~$44 difference refunded back to me.

 

[dieslemat]

I am not sure if its been asked but the speaker terminals are a wide apart.
Will this be an issue on existing speaker terminals such as the ones from AudioQuest?

 

[oneguy]

disregard: I realized now the shipped calc reorganizes the shipping price order for APO/FPO locations

 

[bevanc]

I just ordered some of those balanced cable thingies for my HD6XX and HE4XX that I bought from Drop. My son will bring me his Modius and Magnius to see if I can discern a difference and if so, I will work on treating my self to those two along with saving for the Tubed Integrated. I am trying not to get side tracked by the gorgeous Marantz 40n. It is $2,500 so I doubt I will ever go down that road but it is stunning and equipped with features I like, such as HEOS (I have Denon stuff for my movies and music).

If there truly is an audible benefit to balanced, I hope even such as I can hear it. Schiit stuff is cool but not my aesthetic cup o' iced tea. But I am American and did gladly save and buy them for my son and if I can hear a difference than that will be the difference for me. I think I'll just get one of those gigantic cheapass VU Meters from Amazon and call it my Schiit-Poo Meters and put them in there some where and be done with it. Frustrating is what it is for me.

I really do not lose my temper over such things, besides my mom taught me that if you lose your temper it is best not to go looking for it. I am listening to the (real) Singing Nun's "Dominique". "Sigh"...Time is short.

You Schiitizens are good folk. I hope that term does not offend any here but I know some can fragile when it comes to toadisms. Yup. You folk really are good. Today I have read so many wonderful replies, many of which displayed excellent humor (Humour?). LOL! Be well my young friends.

I hope there really is a an audible (and good!) difference in balanced. Just sayin'...
Please pardon any spelling or writing errors. Thanks!
ORT

Just tried the new HD6XX pads from ZMF. Sound great and super comfortable. Balanced out of my Jotunheim was an improvement, however it still sounds better out of the tubes in my Valhalla.

 

[ArmchairPhilosopher]

I am not sure if its been asked but the speaker terminals are a wide apart.
Will this be an issue on existing speaker terminals such as the ones from AudioQuest?

Based on the product photos, my best guess would be that Tyr's terminals are 6 inches apart (when measured from the center of one terminal to the center of the other terminal).

For reference: Aegir and Vidar's are 4 inches apart.

The cables I currently use can split comfortably to about 10 inches apart without any hard bends, so I'll be fine.
I expect that some people are about to run into issues, though. The speaker cables I used prior to my current ones only split to about 4 inches apart, and only do so under a certain amount of "protest" -- which is one of the reasons why I replaced them with the ones I use right now.
Don't know what this will look like on the AudioQuest front, though. I don't really use AudioQuest stuff, sorry.

If you use spades, you could connect them in a "V" shape, instead of something like a "U" -- that would reduce the amount of "split" required a little bit.
The terminals that Schiit uses also have a hole going diagonally through the binding post that you can use with banana plugs if you unscrew the binding post's cap far enough. That would also allow you to connect even banana plugs in something more of a "V" shape instead of the "U" shape you'd end up with when plugging the banana plugs straight into the posts. You might have to losen and rotate the entire posts a little, though, so that the diagonal holes in the posts face the way you need them to.

 

[ArmchairPhilosopher]

I just ordered some of those balanced cable thingies for my HD6XX and HE4XX that I bought from Drop. My son will bring me his Modius and Magnius to see if I can discern a difference and if so, I will work on treating my self to those two along with saving for the Tubed Integrated. I am trying not to get side tracked by the gorgeous Marantz 40n. It is $2,500 so I doubt I will ever go down that road but it is stunning and equipped with features I like, such as HEOS (I have Denon stuff for my movies and music).

If there truly is an audible benefit to balanced, I hope even such as I can hear it. Schiit stuff is cool but not my aesthetic cup o' iced tea. But I am American and did gladly save and buy them for my son and if I can hear a difference than that will be the difference for me. I think I'll just get one of those gigantic cheapass VU Meters from Amazon and call it my Schiit-Poo Meters and put them in there some where and be done with it. Frustrating is what it is for me.

I really do not lose my temper over such things, besides my mom taught me that if you lose your temper it is best not to go looking for it. I am listening to the (real) Singing Nun's "Dominique". "Sigh"...Time is short.

You Schiitizens are good folk. I hope that term does not offend any here but I know some can fragile when it comes to toadisms. Yup. You folk really are good. Today I have read so many wonderful replies, many of which displayed excellent humor (Humour?). LOL! Be well my young friends.

I hope there really is a an audible (and good!) difference in balanced. Just sayin'...
Please pardon any spelling or writing errors. Thanks!
ORT

Just tried the new HD6XX pads from ZMF. Sound great and super comfortable. Balanced out of my Jotunheim was an improvement, however it still sounds better out of the tubes in my Valhalla.

Amps, tubes, DACs, even pads -- all these things have a considerably larger impact on sound than an SE vs. balanced headphone cable will ever have, so I wouldn't expect too much of a difference, if any at all. The difference you'll hear will almost entirely stem from the fact that you'll be listening to a different amp and DAC than the ones you are used to. But as long as you're listening to the same amp and DAC, and all you change is just the headphone cable, I doubt that things would audibly change a whole lot for you.

That said, with certain tracks* and ultra-revealing gear, I sometimes feel that separation is a tad better with balanced headphone cables. Which would make sense, because pretty much all that SE vs. balanced does in headphone cables is to keep the two channels' grounds separate from one another, so there should be less (or rather – and ideally – no) cross-talk.

But then again, it's entirely possible that what I'm hearing is just psychological.

* especially those where both channels were recorded and mixed completely and perfectly separate, as it's often the case in electronica as well as some super old recordings

[As an aside: Don't get "balanced" headphone cables confused with "balanced" interconnects. They may share some terminology, but are two entirely different concepts. If anything, balanced headphone cables work essentially like SE interconnects: one "hot" wire and one ground per channel. Balanced interconnects have two hot wires and one ground per channel, and each hot wire carries the same signal but with opposite polarity. (Well, at least in the case of differential signaling. It's complicated.) Balanced (differential) interconnects can make an audible difference -- especially over longer distances and/or if you have to route them past something that causes a bit of interference, like badly shielded cables or antennas, and data or power lines -- because you can use the two opposing signals to "filter" out any induced interference from your audio signal for as long as both opposing signals share the same induced interference. This is not the case for balanced headphone cables, they're strictly just two SE connections in one wire, one per channel.]

 

[dieslemat]

Based on the product photos, my best guess would be that Tyr's terminals are 6 inches apart (when measured from the center of one terminal to the center of the other terminal).

For reference: Aegir and Vidar's are 4 inches apart.

The cables I currently use can split comfortably to about 10 inches apart without any hard bends, so I'll be fine.
I expect that some people are about to run into issues, though. The speaker cables I used prior to my current ones only split to about 4 inches apart, and only do so under a certain amount of "protest" -- which is one of the reasons why I replaced them with the ones I use right now.
Don't know what this will look like on the AudioQuest front, though. I don't really use AudioQuest stuff, sorry.

If you use spades, you could connect them in a "V" shape, instead of something like a "U" -- that would reduce the amount of "split" required a little bit.
The terminals that Schiit uses also have a hole going diagonally through the binding post that you can use with banana plugs if you unscrew the binding post's cap far enough. That would also allow you to connect even banana plugs in something more of a "V" shape instead of the "U" shape you'd end up with when plugging the banana plugs straight into the posts. You might have to losen and rotate the entire posts a little, though, so that the diagonal holes in the posts face the way you need them to.

I tried using spades on my Aegirs. The worry I had with them is that the speaker cables tend to touch the power cables at the bottom.
Im guessing it would be the same case for the Tyrs.

 

[StimpyWan]

A pair of KEF Q950 Floorstanders (in walnut).

I'm currently driving them with a pair of Aegirs. But the Q950 drop down below 4 ohm, and while the Aegirs in mono mode do OK with that load, I'm pushing my luck a bit with them, especially in the summer months. Tyr will fix that, and then some.

A few years down the line, I'm planning on replacing the KEF with either a pair of Magnepan 1.7i or a pair of 3.7i, haven't quite decided yet. My current living room layout doesn't allow for Maggies right now, not enough space to give them the room to breathe that they need. But the Q950 are actually really stunning, if paired with a capable amp, so that makes it a bit easier for me to have patience until I can get the Maggies…

I'm in the same boat. My vintage Acoustic Research AR90 speakers dip below 4 Ohms. Not an easy load. Now, my new Martin Logans dip near 1 Ohm, in the high frequencies. I use an Aragon amp on those. But, mono Tyr's would be nice!

 

[stochasticJim]

I thought we were Schiitheads?

Personally, I can be both a Schiithead and a Schiitizen.

 

[Paladin79]

I'm in the same boat. My vintage Acoustic Research AR90 speakers dip below 4 Ohms. Not an easy load. Now, my new Martin Logans dip near 1 Ohm, in the high frequencies. I use an Aragon amp on those. But, mono Tyr's would be nice!

I remember the AR’s well, I used to power them with a Dynaco 416. I know the owner of the rights to Acurus and Aragon since it is based in Indianapolis now. I was impressed by a particular McIntosh amp he still owned when the subject of tubes came around.