[Ttenu]

  I've just learned some things about high-sensitivity speakers from @Ttenu, the Orcas by Blumenstein and the Super 3s by Omega as two examples, and how near field setups might be driven adequately by the MJ2, particularly single-driver speakers powered straight out of the headphone outputs with balanced or single ended adapters that convert to speaker terminal connectors. I'm intrigued and here I am thinking about speakers now.

 
Definitely the balanced front output. Single ended front output has 1/4th the power. 4-pin XLR to speaker cables (4 pin XLR is a left channel red/black and a right channel red/black).

 

[QwertyQmin]

I've just gotten a Mjolnir 2 after selling a Ragnarok and having had a Valhalla a long while back. I always recalled how beautiful and alive the Valhalla sounded and how, quite frankly, the Ragnarok slouched in those terms. 
 
Right out of the box, I knew I was back in heaven. Even without burn-in, this bad-boy sounds articulate and lively. I'd had the Mjolnir at the 9 o' clock position (low gain) since I turned it on, thinking I'd need to turn it up later on ...
 
...nope. not even. The first track came on and I literally recoiled, actually doubting for a little bit and going back to read the manual to ensure the amp wasn't actually in hi-gain mode.
 
I haven't even gotten close to 12 o' clock with my quietest recordings. So you guys understand why this is such a shock to me, with the Ragnarok I had to switch regularly from medium to high gain settings for different recordings, the volume knob always being at very close to or right on top of the highest setting. What this means is that I'm getting much better dynamics and significantly less distortion out of a pair of LCD-3s than I did with the same headset on a significantly more powerful and 'hifi'ish amp; how this happened, no clue.
 
The amp itself sounded slightly boring out of the box, which I expected. It took about half an hour before I got back to some serious bliss representative of the Valhalla. Now it's hi-fives and champagne all around.

 

[Argo Duck]

^ Running your Mjolnir with tubes rather than LISST?

I never could get my Beyer T1 to sound its best with anything but a tube amp, no matter what SS amps I tried

 

[QwertyQmin]

Tubes! tubes all the way

 

[tuxbass]

In the last 2 weeks I've had a chance to listen to HD800S and WA22 pairing on 2 separate occassions and what I heard is killing me
I currently own the Yggy + MJ2 stack and I would love to get my system closer to the way the WA22's sounded.
 
I am running stock tubes on the MJ2. Would tube rolling get me closer to (if not match) what I heard on the WA22's ? Anyone who has heard both the systems please advice ?
 
If the answer is to replace the stock tubes, what would be your choice ? (my goal is to get closer to how the WA22s sound without actually buying one for now )

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

The best tubes out there are going to be the '75 Reflektors, but those are pricey and rare...good luck!

 

[grrorr76]

  The best tubes out there are going to be the '75 Reflektors, but those are pricey and rare...good luck!

I was lucky enough to find a matched pair of those so I picked them up instantly , knowing how rare they are.

 

[tjl5709]

  In the last 2 weeks I've had a chance to listen to HD800S and WA22 pairing on 2 separate occassions and what I heard is killing me
I currently own the Yggy + MJ2 stack and I would love to get my system closer to the way the WA22's sounded.
 
I am running stock tubes on the MJ2. Would tube rolling get me closer to (if not match) what I heard on the WA22's ? Anyone who has heard both the systems please advice ?
 
If the answer is to replace the stock tubes, what would be your choice ? (my goal is to get closer to how the WA22s sound without actually buying one for now )

 
I cannot state a comparison to the WA22, but I do have your stack, andf I do have the HD800s.
 
Stock tubes are poor compared to a number of NOS tubes available. 
 
Having come from a Lyr, I have a number of tube sets that I rotate thru, and it's the reason I moved up to the MJ2. I had good tubes to feed it.
 
Siemans CCa's, Volvo CCa's, Telefunken E188's, 74 & 75 Reflektors to name a few.
 
I'm done with my rig. Other than eventual upgrades to the yggy as they become available, I cannot see needing to move any further up with my old ears. (unless I get some unforseen cash and can obtain a STAX rig)
 
Go to the tube roller thread and start there. I gathered mine up a couple years back, so I am not up on what is the current flavor of the day.
 
Also, careful with catching the roller bug, it could end up being cheaper to go WA22 right away..........

 

[Argo Duck]

^ +1, excellent post. Tubes really do make a difference, as I've experienced with the Schiit Lyr and two Decware amps. Stock tubes rarely provide the best performance.

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

I'm going to update my MJ2 review, but in short, since I've had my multifrost (a week), I've noticed the harshness of LISST (which was probably overstated from the beginning) basically fade away. To my ears, tubes hide some of the mediocrity of delta-sigma dacs—even decent ones, like the uberfrost. Furthermore, my HD600s have gotten much, much better. The soundstage is the same, but the tone is everything that the HD800 lacks, without being syrupy like the 650. Forgiving, natural, realistic. I think a lot of solid state's bad rap has been misattributed—I'm looking forward to (hopefully) hearing the Asgard-tier amps with the multi frost at CanJam SF next month—I think they will punch much further above their weight than we may appreciate. At $599, bifrost multibit is a bargain and a must-buy for anyone with the funds. Frankly, I would counsel people to stick with Fulla until they can afford the upgrade...I need to get my original Vali out of storage to see just what it's capable of.

 

[Tadamn]

waaaa, you are lucky! good job with that!

 

[Thors-hammer]

I'm gonna get a schiit stack, starting with the mjolnir 2 first and will be saving for the obligatory gungnir (multibit or not).

Haven't gone through the informative thread here, but perhaps someone knows if I can use a non balanced dac (via rca) with balanced headphones off the xlr socket? An planning to recable my hd650 and use it with the mjolnir and a xduoo xd05 dac/amp source while I save up the Benjamins for another year to get the gimby. Thanks.

 

[zive]

Yes, you can listen to either RCA or balanced in using either balanced or SE out.

 

[JoeDoe]

If any of you Mjo 2 owners are interested, I'm taking offers to trade my Liquid Crimson down for a Mjo 2 + cash. PM me if you're interested!

 

[Thors-hammer]

Yes, you can listen to either RCA or balanced in using either balanced or SE out.

I see thanks!