[Mediahound]

So were having a bit of a heat wave here in the SF Bay Area this week. Last night after work, I settled in to a listening session with my MJ2. No A/C in the condo and like 90 degrees in the room.   After about one album, I had to turn it off. This thing sure generates some heat.
 
This is not really a criticism, it's worth it. And it will actually be welcomed in the winter. Between my big LCD computer monitor, which also generates a fair amount of heat, and the MJ2, I may not even have to use a heater in the room in the winter. 

 

 

[leafs]

  So were having a bit of a heat wave here in the SF Bay Area this week. Last night after work, I settled in to a listening session with my MJ2. No A/C in the condo and like 90 degrees in the room.   After about one album, I had to turn it off. This thing sure generates some heat.

Thanks for sharing this. This is useful to note for me. My listening room has no a/c. Just standing fan.

 

[Mediahound]

So, just a cool tidbit,  many folks may not realize that the Mjolnir 2 is pretty much the only balanced hybrid tube amp in the world. Pretty cool eh?
 
There may be another one but it would be highly esoteric or hand built by someone in their basement or something. 

 

[Arnotts]

  So, just a cool tidbit,  many folks may not realize that the Mjolnir 2 is pretty much the only balanced hybrid tube amp in the world. Pretty cool eh?
 
There may be another one but it would be highly esoteric or hand built by someone in their basement or something. 

This is actually exactly why I, after much consideration, cancelled my Liquid Carbon order and ordered the Mjolnir 2 instead.
 
I need a balanced, highly resolving and powerful amp that can drive LCD-X's, HD800's and HD650's properly. I don't doubt that the LC would perform very well for these headphones, but the Mjolnir 2 looks much more "qualified".

 

[tuxbass]

Some tube shots for your viewing pleasure:
 

 

 

[Trastan]

Right now I only have the stock tubes, LISST, and some Golden Lions. After some extended listening with each, I was surprised to find that I prefer the stock tubes to a significant degree. They do an excellent job of marrying the analytical LISST sound (which was a bit too close to the signature of the Asgard 2 for my taste) with the smoother, more realistic Golden Lions. Listening to them gives me a smile every time, and that's "just" with the Bifrost Uber USB2. While I still have some sibilants in the especially problematic songs, the sound is finally closing on what I'd been hoping to find for years. 
 
Now I'm looking forward to switching out the Bifrost with the Gungnir Multibit and calling it good. Anything beyond that would be additional headphones (looking at you, Audeze!). 
 
I can't recommend the Mjolnir 2 highly enough. 

 

[Arnotts]

  Right now I only have the stock tubes, LISST, and some Golden Lions. After some extended listening with each, I was surprised to find that I prefer the stock tubes to a significant degree. They do an excellent job of marrying the analytical LISST sound (which was a bit too close to the signature of the Asgard 2 for my taste) with the smoother, more realistic Golden Lions. Listening to them gives me a smile every time, and that's "just" with the Bifrost Uber USB2. While I still have some sibilants in the especially problematic songs, the sound is finally closing on what I'd been hoping to find for years. 
 
Now I'm looking forward to switching out the Bifrost with the Gungnir Multibit and calling it good. Anything beyond that would be additional headphones (looking at you, Audeze!). 
 
I can't recommend the Mjolnir 2 highly enough. 

Sounds good! Great to see you enjoying the sound.
 
So you preferred the sound of the stock 6BZ7's over the gold lions? Why's that?

 

[RazrLeaf]

Anyone with a MJ2 and HD650 care to test it in both SE and balanced modes? I'm curious to know how/if things change going though the summer, since circlotron is inherently balanced.
 
I ask for the HD650 pairing because those are what I have, but I'm open to opinions of anyone with headphones that can switch between SE and balanced.

 

[AustinValentine]

Anyone with a MJ2 and HD650 care to test it in both SE and balanced modes? I'm curious to know how/if things change going though the summer, since circlotron is inherently balanced.

I ask for the HD650 pairing because those are what I have, but I'm open to opinions of anyone with headphones that can switch between SE and balanced.

All you need is a balanced cable to make an HD650 balanced (or, even a stock cable reterminated for 4 pin XLR).

I'd expect the single ended output on the Mojo2 to be significantly worse than the balanced, as it is on the Rag.

 

[Trastan]

 
Sounds good! Great to see you enjoying the sound.
 
So you preferred the sound of the stock 6BZ7's over the gold lions? Why's that?

The stock tubes seem to be a great middle ground between the Gold Lions and the LISST, and it works really well for me (at least with regards to my Fostex TH-900). I'm brand new to tubes, and I have no doubt that there are many better, but I'm so happy with their sound (and the price/ease of acquiring more) that I'm content to call these my all-purpose tubes. 
 

All you need is a balanced cable to make an HD650 balanced (or, even a stock cable reterminated for 4 pin XLR).

I'd expect the single ended output on the Mojo2 to be significantly worse than the balanced, as it is on the Rag.

Significantly worse? I know it's not as powerful (2 watts versus 8) but I'm interested to know if you view it as worse sounding. It was my understanding that they would both sound very close. 

 

[olor1n]

The single ended output on Schiit components are compromised compared to balanced. I heard this when I owned the Gungnir and then the Ragnarok. I expect it to be the case for the Mj2. Single ended is there as a matter of convenience and not representative of thre component's full potential.

 

[Trastan]

The single ended output on Schiit components are compromised compared to balanced. I heard this when I owned the Gungnir and then the Ragnarok. I expect it to be the case for the Mj2. Single ended is there as a matter of convenience and not representative of thre component's full potential.

Compromised, you say? Huh. Well... I guess that's a good thing, if I'm already happy having only heard the single-ended output.
 
Now I'm open to suggestions: should I...
 
- Have someone mod my Fostex cable to be balanced?
- Leave it as-is and continue using the single-ended out of the Mjolnir 2 as my end-game setup?
- Or sell the TH-900 and buy a pair of LCD-3s?

 

[JK-47]

Anyone with a MJ2 and HD650 care to test it in both SE and balanced modes? I'm curious to know how/if things change going though the summer, since circlotron is inherently balanced.

I ask for the HD650 pairing because those are what I have, but I'm open to opinions of anyone with headphones that can switch between SE and balanced.

I have the MJ2 and HD650 with both cables. The balanced is better, period.

Tried with the LISST and Bugle Boy 6DJ8's. I also tried my LCD2.2f's (both balanced and SE) and again balanced takes the prize. If you're not running balanced headphones out of the MJ2, I think you're throwing away money.

 

[MattTCG]

I have the MJ2 and HD650 with both cables. The balanced is better, period.

Tried with the LISST and Bugle Boy 6DJ8's. I also tried my LCD2.2f's (both balanced and SE) and again balanced takes the prize. If you're not running balanced headphones out of the MJ2, I think you're throwing away money.

 
That's a pretty strong statement. 

 

[rb2013]

 
This is actually exactly why I, after much consideration, cancelled my Liquid Carbon order and ordered the Mjolnir 2 instead.
 
I need a balanced, highly resolving and powerful amp that can drive LCD-X's, HD800's and HD650's properly. I don't doubt that the LC would perform very well for these headphones, but the Mjolnir 2 looks much more "qualified".

Cavalli Liquid Glass
 
http://www.cavalliaudio.com/index.php?p=product_details&pId=1