[cfisher]

LOL! I just remembered, I've found 2 more pieces of Schiit. A Jotunheim 1 and a Jotunheim 2 I had put in the closet in my bedroom a while ago as I wasn't using them, and didn't have space for in any of my 3 racks of stuff! So, that makes 6 tube and 6 SS presently. FV would have made it 13 amps, an unlucky number of amps to have.

But someone has to tell us how FV sounds with the SR1a.

 

[Paladin79]

Clearly I don't have the breadth of experience of most folks here, but I think it's lovely. Genres like Jazz already sounded amazingly lifelike with the Utopias when driven by the Monolith 788, but my primary genres of Hard Rock and Metal weren't nearly as big a step up from the Clears I had previously (well, I still have them, they just don't get used much anymore. ). I attributed this (rightly or wrongly) to the speed of the Beryllium drivers slightly reducing the sustain, and taking away some of the "size" of the guitars.

That restriction is almost, but not entirely, gone with the Folkvangr, and guitar-driven music sounds much fuller. Unsurprisingly, Jazz sounds even smoother and more liquid. Bass is a little fuller, but not boomy. Low gain is definitely the right setting for Utopias, and I have an extremely slight preference for having the impedance multiplier enabled. There is very little difference between the two settings, with the mids thinning out just a tiny bit when it is turned off.

Thanks for the info, and here I was about to lend my Utopias to @chronoso, you saved me going to UPS.

I am from downstate Illinois originally, close to where the Bears started out before moving to Chicago.

 

[Mike-WI]

I have the Mjolnir 2, was the Mjolnir 1 solid state? I heard plenty of solid state in my life but it is not my gear of choice at this time, I never owned Krell although I heard some. I know what I like and I either buy it or build it.

I never owned either Mjolnir 1 or 2, but I think this is a photo of #1...

And from a Nov 5, 2012 thread
https://www.head-fi.org/articles/schiit-mjolnir-reviews-and-impressions-collected.15844/

 

[StimpyWan]

StimpyWan, do Octave's SACD's have a CD layer too?

Yes, it's a hybrid SACD with a CD layer. I've been playing it in my car, for my 60 minute work journey...! Or, you can order just a gold CD, or a direct download.

Oh, the SACD came with a DVD data disc too. I haven't explored it yet, so I'm not sure if that's for ripping to a PC or not?

 

[FLTWS]

But someone has to tell us how FV sounds with the SR1a.

As a big fan of the sound of EL-34's going all the way back to the Dyna Stereo 70, I'll be going with the VM-1a for direct drive with both the SR1a and CA-1a and to replace my EVO400. I don't think FV can deliver enough watts/current to properly drive those ribbons. And even if it could it will necessitate the use of one of the interfaces in between, preferably the TI-1b.

 

[FLTWS]

You could use the pre-outs on FV to drive a power amp but now your adding additional cabling plus a power amp. The most elegant drive train solution is the simplest, or "less is more"

 

[chronoso]

You can order replacement tubes from Schiit. From their website:

Due to the worldwide tube shortage, we are limiting our tube sales to Schiit owners. Please contact orders@schiit.com with your product, serial number, and order number to place an order.

Tube sets you can request include:

6SN7 Premium Singles for Saga, Saga+, and Lyr 3
6SN7 Premium Matched Quads for Freya and Freya+
6BZ7 NOS Singles for Vali 2
6BZ7 NOS Matched Pairs for Lyr, Lyr 2, and Mjolnir 2
6N1P and 6N6P NOS Matched Pairs for Valhalla and Valhalla 2

Prices vary by tube set requested.

JC

Yeah, the lack of stock and prices on that section of the Schiit site is what led me to ask the learned folks on this thread

I emailed Schiit, enquiring about spare tubes for my new Folkvangr.
I was told that they are not yet available!

I don’t understand that, as the Folkvangr uses the same tubes as Valhalla 2.

I found a good tube supplier in the UK and bought 8 x 6N6P and 2x 6N23P (replacement for 6N1P).

Saved myself a lot of money in the process as postage was under £4.

Can you share the approximate cost that went for? Very round numbers, just for curiosity.

Thanks for the info, and here I was about to lend my Utopias to @chronoso, you saved me going to UPS.

I am from downstate Illinois originally, close to where the Bears started out before moving to Chicago.

 

[Paladin79]

As a big fan of the sound of EL-34's going all the way back to the Dyna Stereo 70, I'll be going with the VM-1a for direct drive with both the SR1a and CA-1a and to replace my EVO400. I don't think FV can deliver enough watts/current to properly drive those ribbons. And even if it could it will necessitate the use of one of the interfaces in between, preferably the TI-1b.

@bcowen will probably choke on his Twizzlers when he reads this but prior to Dynaco my first audio gear other than record players had the GE name on it. I was maybe 12 or 13 and was a tube tube type amp in a walnut cabinet with turntable, integrated amp, and speakers. I made a lot of changes to it and used it through my early college years.

 

[433521]

Shipping is eminent!

 

[433521]

There are LOTS (of 10, 30, 60, etc) of the 8x power tube from Russia on ebay (sourced through Ukraine) for 5 bux a piece. The 2x driver tubes are around for a variety of prices starting close to 10 and going higher.

The power tubes seem scarce and expensive if you want tubes produced outside of Russia. Price gets pretty high considering the number of tubes.

What do I think I am, the ebay tube report?

 

[Derrick Swart]

I emailed Schiit, enquiring about spare tubes for my new Folkvangr.
I was told that they are not yet available!

I don’t understand that, as the Folkvangr uses the same tubes as Valhalla 2.

I found a good tube supplier in the UK and bought 8 x 6N6P and 2x 6N23P (replacement for 6N1P).

Saved myself a lot of money in the process as postage was under £4.

These guys are great too:
https://www.tubeampdoctor.com/
They have both types you bought.

 

[Derrick Swart]

I never owned either Mjolnir 1 or 2, but I think this is a photo of #1...



And from a Nov 5, 2012 thread
https://www.head-fi.org/articles/schiit-mjolnir-reviews-and-impressions-collected.15844/

Good find! Amazing this blog, it is like a history catalog of schitty products. I still like very much the 'old' more spartan design/looks. BUT also very much the new look of the Fökvinder

 

[valiant66]

@headfoo In addition to a switchbox one other important aspect to get right is making sure both amps are generating identical, or as close as you can get it, loudness levels in the headphone. This will likely require a CD with test tone(s) (I like the Sheffield XLO CD 333hz tone and Stereophiles 1,000hz with white and pink noise on some of its test/demo CD's.) You'll also need a sound level meter. You'll need to adjust the signals keeping the meter to HP in the same physical configuration while making the adjustments and as you move the HP cable from one amp to the other. I bought a $75.00 SPL on Amazon many years ago, and have always been able to match 2 amps with the same HP to within 0.1 (one tenth) of 1 db.

Given the "Prime Day" sale today and tomorrow it might be worth looking into.

You can save some time and just download an SPL Meter app to your phone. The one I have on my iPhone is by Studio Six Digital and correlates pretty well with my old Radio Shack physical SPL Meter. I'm sure there's something similar for Android.

Absolute accuracy is not important in this case, just relative levels, and make sure not to change the setup between measurements.
.

 

[judson_w]

Yes, it's a hybrid SACD with a CD layer. I've been playing it in my car, for my 60 minute work journey...! Or, you can order just a gold CD, or a direct download.

Oh, the SACD came with a DVD data disc too. I haven't explored it yet, so I'm not sure if that's for ripping to a PC or not?

I bought a couple SACD from them. The Bach Cello Suites. I also have not looked at the DVD data discs yet, but I have enjoyed how it sounds.

 

[corndog71]

On the 2nd shelf is my custom homemade version of a Dynaco ST35. It uses Dave Gillespie’s EFB mod as well as an adjustable feedback circuit. The voltage gain is a 5751 and phase splitter is a 12AU7.

The rest are all Bottlehead kits.

Next shelf down has a Foreplay 2 preamp (my first tube kit!), Reduction phono preamp, and Smash SET preamp.

Bottom shelf has another homemade Foreplay 2 (wired for 6SN7), homemade Quickie battery powered tube preamp, and finally S.E.X 2.0 headphone/speaker amp.

I used to love all of these kits. I still have a soft spot for the Foreplay 2 and Reduction. Smash and Quickie were very unique designs but required tubes that tended to be very microphonic. I had a similar issue with the Sex amp but also good tubes were getting harder to source.

I think Bottlehead has learned their lesson when it comes to using oddball tubes. (Current Sex amp being an exception.)

I’m tempted to try out the Moreplay preamp which has gotten some good reviews.

I love the simplicity of their kits however after owning a PS Audio Gain Cell Dac preamp it’s become clear to me that pots are terrible for volume controls. I’m tempted to marry the Moreplay with a Saga for the latter’s volume control.