[BarDash]

Both the 800 & 800S are agressive/forward in detailing,
And have their upper frequency range elevated from neutral.

This makes thwm very lively cans...
There is also no denying that the 800 remains at the top of heap in resolution with only stax 009 & Utopia at its level.

The Jotun is so strong it also imparts its strong livley hard hitting character into the 800.
The 800 is forced to give a more dynamic and impactful sound.

If raised to loud volumes, Drum stick hits can and will literally make your eardrum bleed because the 800 has an extreme wide dynamic range.
Few cans can simultaneous hit as hard and fast, leaving you wondering where is the decay...

That is why the 800 does best with tubes..

Ao if you combo the Jotun with an 800 ,
Watch out for extreme dynamics.
It is very dam good stuff, but dangerous..
lol

Well said, I'm definitely not as detailed and articulate as you but occasionally I have to drop the volume on certain tunes with the HD800S's (And Jot paired) because I feel like my heads gonna explode!

 

[djchup]

How would Jotunheim + DAC card compare to Audio-GD NFB-11?  
 
I'm not too knowledgeable about this sort of thing and am looking to upgrade my aging NFB-12 (dual WM8741 model).  I own 600 Ohm DT990's, and have Senn HD6XX on the way.
 
Edit: I used search and found some comparison within this thread, so sorry for not searching beforehand but I'll leave the question here in case anyone wants to comment.

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

I wonder how Jot with a Vali preamp (and multibit dac because why not) would handle HD800.

 

[Ancipital]

  I wonder how Jot with a Vali preamp (and multibit dac because why not) would handle HD800.

 
If someone would like to lend me an unmodified HD800 (if such a thing still exists), happy to give it a whirl. I have a very nice little tube in my Vali 2, sounds nice with a fairly lean pair of HE-560 

 

[MWSVette]

  I wonder how Jot with a Vali preamp (and multibit dac because why not) would handle HD800.

Very good, I use a Jot with a Lyr and a Bimby to my unmodified HD800's and I love the combo.
 
That said I never had a problem with the treble spike that bothers some.
 
And IMHO, YMMV, yada yada yada...

 

[TheGadaffiDuck]

Good advice, thanks. I've also heard positive comments on the Liquid Carbon paired with the HD800S and may be in the market for a used one eventually. The Jot IMHO just does not always pair well with the HD800S's, although I enjoy it with classical and some of my blues music. Again my subjective opinion.

01


Are you using it with Single Ended or Balanced? Balanced in the Jot puts out almost a watt at 300ohms. Which might help bring the lowend up to stop the brightness.

 

[appleidappleid]

I also have a Jot with HD800S. I just feel that vocal can be a bit too harsh at times. I have ordered a tube dac to add to the system to see if the tube can warm up the vocal a bit (just a cheap Aune T1se). Otherwise I feel that the Jot is not too bad with HD800S given the price of Jot. 

 

[Atavax]

lol, so my desktop speakers are pretty quiet and i've plugged them into my o2 amp and they still pretty quiet. I plug them into my Jot, no problem. not even at half vol...

 

[watchnerd]

  Very good, I use a Jot with a Lyr and a Bimby to my unmodified HD800's and I love the combo.
 
That said I never had a problem with the treble spike that bothers some.
 
And IMHO, YMMV, yada yada yada...

 
 

  I wonder how Jot with a Vali preamp (and multibit dac because why not) would handle HD800.

 
Why do you guys want to stack preamps like that?
 
The best circuit is an idealized "straight wire with gain", i.e. the simplest circuit possible needed to meet the goals.
 
By adding more components you're just introducing more elements into the signal path, which adds more components that can color the sound.

 

[BarDash]

01
I've tried both. Currently balanced w/a MM.


Are you using it with Single Ended or Balanced? Balanced in the Jot puts out almost a watt at 300ohms. Which might help bring the lowend up to stop the brightness.

 

[franzdom]

For the past few weeks I have been using the Mjolnir 2 as a pre-amp to feed tube sound to Jot, but just today removed an amp and....
 
 
I kept the Jotunheim.
I wonder when I will miss the tubes, so far everything sounds wonderful and the floor is as dark as you can imagine!

 

[watchnerd]

  For the past few weeks I have been using the Mjolnir 2 as a pre-amp to feed tube sound to Jot, but just today removed an amp and....
 
 
I kept the Jotunheim.
I wonder when I will miss the tubes, so far everything sounds wonderful and the floor is as dark as you can imagine!

 
If you wanted tube sound, why didn't you keep the Mjolnir 2?  You can swap it back and forth between tube and SS by using LISST, plus it has more power than the Jotunheim.

 

[franzdom]

I tried the LISST and didn't care for them. And, Jot has plenty of power. 
The power ratings are VERY close and the Jot has better SNR & THD. 
Anyway, the MJ2 is not going anywhere, it's just not hooked up for now.

 

[Tuneslover]

  I wonder how Jot with a Vali preamp (and multibit dac because why not) would handle HD800.

I was intrigued by your post and thought that I would try this out.  I don't have the HD800 but I do have the HD650.  So I connected my Bifrost MB output into the Vali 2 input and then using the V2 preamp out I went into the Jotunheim SE input.  Interesting change in sound but I think the sound is cleaner just using the Jot without the Vali 2.
 
I'm puzzled by how the electronics work when using another amp as a preamp into the another separate amp (as described above).  By connecting the V2 into the chain, which amp is acting as the preamp?  Are both the Vali 2 and the Jot preamp stages working together or is one or the other being used exclusively.  Also, I'm not sure how high to turn up the V2 or whether it or the Jot should be in high or low gain.
 
I tried turning the V2 to mid volume (at high gain) and then adjust the Jot (high gain) accordingly.  I thought that it sounded a bit clearer when I turned down the V2's volume to about 1/3 and slightly increased the Jot volume to get back to the same volume level.
 
I'll keep experimenting to which configuration I prefer.

 

[watchnerd]

 
I'm puzzled by how the electronics work when using another amp as a preamp into the another separate amp (as described above).  By connecting the V2 into the chain, which amp is acting as the preamp?  Are both the Vali 2 and the Jot preamp stages working together or is one or the other being used exclusively.  Also, I'm not sure how high to turn up the V2 or whether it or the Jot should be in high or low gain.
 

 
By doing this, you basically have two gain stages.  Preamp 1 is adding gain, which feeds Preamp 2, which also has gain.  How much gain each adds depend on the knobs.
 
If these were passive devices, it wouldn't really matter.  But active gain stages add noise, so you don't want to do this unless you have a reason to.  In this case, there isn't a reason to.
 
Reasons for stacking gain stages: phono stages (have to boost the mV output of vinyl cartridges to standard 2V used by line stages) and microphones (differences in sensitivity among mics).