[ufospls2]

 
MJ2 will convert either way. SE to Balanced, Balanced to SE.

Thought so. Thanks for the answer. 

 

[blance44]

   

Also good to know, thank-you!  Those PSI's look like an interesting contender as well.  I know this thread isn't really the place for this, but could you please briefly comment on the nature of your setup?  Are you using them at a desk, or as a main speaker/front/two channel replacement?  The latter would the application I'd be using any potential powered monitors in.  For now I'm in an apartment, but next year we'll have a larger space once we move into a house.  (In other words, the a21s:  Mid-field friendly, or just near-frield only?)

My setup isn't particular traditional in the fact that it's a mix of both. The distance of the speakers are near field but they're my main speakers that I use with my tv. I have only one chair at the center of my room and I have the tv and speakers roughly 7 feet away from me.
 
They do perform very well as mid field speakers even though I personally prefer them to be near field. I can't say enough good things about powered monitors for the money. I bought my pair for $5k and they easily compete with speaker and amp combos in the $25k price range because of how well designed they are.

 

[Mediahound]

  Holy heck K1000 sounds amazing with Mjolnir 2 (and serious EQ to boost bass and dampen treble). Jason, you crazy genius. How am I getting this sound out of them for under 1k?!

This is good to know. So the MJ2 drives them well?

 

[gto88]

 
This is good to know. So the MJ2 drives them well?

well, he used MJ2 as pre-amp, does it count?

 

[Mediahound]

  well, he used MJ2 as pre-amp, does it count?

Preamp to what? It sounds like he just used the MJ2 to drive the K1000. 

 

[gto88]

Oops, you are right, I messed up the posts with this one by MattTCG:
> Using the mjo2 as pre for my Questyle dual mono stack;

 

[ufospls2]

Heard the Mjolnir 2 on Monday, and sadly was really disappointed by it. It was muddy, and undefined. One positive was it was nice and warm.  This was with the stock tubes installed. Can it be massively different with tube rolling I wonder? What do you guys think? 

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

I love it with the '68 orange globes. I haven't tried K1000 with the stock tubes, and I haven't listened to the LISST since like June, because they're so good. At some point I'll get the $100 tubes that the thread was raving about a few pages back.
 
I would call the K1000 pairing impressive without being the final word. Just as the HE-6 connoisseurs will moan about nothing short of a 5k power amp being able to "truly" communicate what they're capable of, the K1000 really would benefit from, say, the WA5. (I WISH I had heard them with the WA22SE in July!) However, on high gain, with a full orchestra playing, MJ2 can drive them to ear-bleeding levels, even with the cups fully swiveled out. You can read my ongoing HD800/K1000 comparison on the HD800 thread (my opera installment is taking awhile, go figure), but my bottom line is that I expected to be counting down the days till I pulled the trigger on Rag, but I find myself without upgrade fever. It gets you a good distance, I'll say 80%, maybe 85%, for less than 20% of the flagship Woo toys. Yggy—for sure. But Rag...eh, not right now.

 

[bluesaint]

  Heard the Mjolnir 2 on Monday, and sadly was really disappointed by it. It was muddy, and undefined. One positive was it was nice and warm.  This was with the stock tubes installed. Can it be massively different with tube rolling I wonder? What do you guys think? 

Depends on your headphones. With HD800 for example, my ears bleed from overly bright with say GoldLion tubes, and Tesla, Amprex was overly warm.  Stock Tubes sucks at everything.  The tube I started the hype with is the Ifi NOS 6922 that to me is good for everything.  

 

[Mediahound]

  I love it with the '68 orange globes. I haven't tried K1000 with the stock tubes, and I haven't listened to the LISST since like June, because they're so good. At some point I'll get the $100 tubes that the thread was raving about a few pages back.
 
I would call the K1000 pairing impressive without being the final word. Just as the HE-6 connoisseurs will moan about nothing short of a 5k power amp being able to "truly" communicate what they're capable of, the K1000 really would benefit from, say, the WA5. (I WISH I had heard them with the WA22SE in July!) However, on high gain, with a full orchestra playing, MJ2 can drive them to ear-bleeding levels, even with the cups fully swiveled out. You can read my ongoing HD800/K1000 comparison on the HD800 thread (my opera installment is taking awhile, go figure), but my bottom line is that I expected to be counting down the days till I pulled the trigger on Rag, but I find myself without upgrade fever. It gets you a good distance, I'll say 80%, maybe 85%, for less than 20% of the flagship Woo toys. Yggy—for sure. But Rag...eh, not right now.

Cool, thanks for the report on that. 
 
I like the orange globes a lot (they were my favorite and only tubes I kept going back to for like 3 years), but can tell you the iFi tubes are a step above. 

 

[FLTWS]

 
Cool, thanks for the report on that. 
 
I like the orange globes a lot (they were my favorite and only tubes I kept going back to for like 3 years), but can tell you the iFi tubes are a step above.

 
You just reminded me, I ordered the IFi's last month, 7/20, still haven't arrived.

 

[Argo Duck]

Heard the Mjolnir 2 on Monday, and sadly was really disappointed by it. It was muddy, and undefined. One positive was it was nice and warm.  This was with the stock tubes installed. Can it be massively different with tube rolling I wonder? What do you guys think? 

I haven't heard the Mj2 but I used to own Lyr - and now two Decware tube amps. Without question all 3 can sound vastly different with tube rolling. From posts in this thread, I'd say Mj2 is the same.

Stock tubes rarely show an amp at its best

 

[tjl5709]

   
You just reminded me, I ordered the IFi's last month, 7/20, still haven't arrived.

It took quite awhile for them to arrive. Sounding pretty good.

 

[tjl5709]

  Heard the Mjolnir 2 on Monday, and sadly was really disappointed by it. It was muddy, and undefined. One positive was it was nice and warm.  This was with the stock tubes installed. Can it be massively different with tube rolling I wonder? What do you guys think? 

 
Stock tubes are junk. Fed with a good digital signal into a good dac, and with some nice NOS tubes, it sounds just fine.

 

[FLTWS]

  Heard the Mjolnir 2 on Monday, and sadly was really disappointed by it. It was muddy, and undefined. One positive was it was nice and warm.  This was with the stock tubes installed. Can it be massively different with tube rolling I wonder? What do you guys think? 

 
Yes, tubes make a difference, so do the LISST's. I've got 12 matched pairs of 6922 type tubes ranging in price from $40.00 to $300.00 a pair, some purchased 15 years ago and were NOS at that time. But tube rolling is going to take a commitment of time and dedication to sort out what you prefer. Differences don't always present themselves in a brief listening session even if your not tube (or cable) rolling. Do you want to invest the time and the money to find out? It's entirely possible that one could prefer a $60.00 pair of tubes to a $350.00 a pair. I like variety and options but try to keep in mind the "diminishing returns" business. Sometimes you gotta' take a chance with your wallet as well, how deep do you want to go? And understand that a $20.00 battle of wine can taste better than a $100.00 bottle.
 
How did you listen to the MJ2, how many hours on the tubes burn in wise? In your home with your own equipment?  Over a few days with a variety of your favorite source material and what format of source material?
 
I listened to HD800's very briefly at an audio retailers with a $5,000 headphone amp and some music I was very familiar with (like over 30 years ago and on vinyl and then CD) but in one of the downloadable formats (none of which I use, cd's only in my case). The sound was horrendous, I could not believe anyone one would consider it listenable, regardless of the very high dollar investment in the equipment used.
 
A few weeks later I auditioned the HD800 with all of my equipment in my home for a full week with stock tubes and some of those much older variants I had, and over 24 hours total ear time. Complete 180 degrees on my original, brief, impression of the HD800. I've since rolled tubes and the LISST's and with the cable options I have and find I can fine tune the sound to my liking. Some changes are very subtle, some not so subtle, sometimes I hear no difference.
 
Yes, I'm a bit of a Schiit-head as my signature indicates. But, I would never say it's the right gear for anyone else. The fact that Schiit is one of the few that offers 15 days no hassle return for in-home auditioning, a 5 years warranty, that (I felt) offered good value / technology for my money, and that was aesthetically appealing to me and gave me sound(s) based on the options I have in tubes and cabling options that I am very pleased with, has me convinced. But you need to put in the time and listen for yourself. I have no doubt that other gear out there, some of which I've listened to (but I can't evaluate them all especially in my system), will sound different, some better, some worse, some no difference. Some I will perceive as better or worse or the same value for my dollar as well. That goes along the territory in this hobby. And sometimes you just have to stop cutting bait and actually go fishing.
 
I was a dedicated SS-o-phobe ever since I built a Dynakit Stereo 120 back in the Mesozoic Era, after having built and used all of their tube options. The only SS gear I ever had a liking for, and owned, was Nelson Pass's early Threshold designs. Back at the start of this year I had to replace my 9 year old DVD/BRD players with an Oppo 105D. The quality of the sound even through Bose QC-15's and the headphone amp in the 105D was so ear-opening it rekindled my HiFi addiction and I fell off the wagon after over a decade of Sony Walkman, car radio, and Bose Home Theater surround for movies. When I wanted high fidelity I'd go "live" as I've done since my mid 20's. There is no "perfect" concert hall sound in the home listening experience. All the equipment in my signature has been purchased since Feb of this year. Given the current state of both tubes and solid state with regard to sound I find they can happily co-habitate in my music listening world and give me listening enjoyment.
 
I'm of the school that everything "can" make a difference and for a lot of reasons other than special sauces used in the manufacturing process, but YMMV. Putting a system together and grooming it over time, takes time. As they say, it's a marathon, not a sprint. And always, always, always, trust your own ears.
 
Relax and have fun.