[ab initio]

Quote:

Does anyone in this thread own both a Modi and a Valhalla?
 
From the dimensions I suspect it won't work, but I want to possibly swap my Magni with a Valhalla, and in the rearranging, stack the Modi on top of the Valhalla like so:
 
[modi]_AA_
[valhalla___]
 
(front view, where the "A" represents the tubes)
 
Going by measurement numbers and by eye, the Modi at 5" and the Valhalla at 9" wide, the Modi would not only be over the Valhalla's grill, but possibly even touching the tubes.
 
If someone with both could test it for me and maybe even take a pic that would be greatly appreciated. Aside from that, if anyone has any other aesthetically pleasing ideas for mating the two, I'm open to suggestions. I want to avoid setting them next to eachother if possible, as that just isn't all that good looking, and I'd sooner buy a Bifrost with the guts of a Modi just for sake of stack aesthetics. I know I can't be the only one who will spend a ton or possibly even opt not to upgrade in the name of aesthetics here...
 
I wish the WA7 didn't have so many people bemoaning the choice of included DAC, or that hideous power supply... because it's a beautiful monster and I'm ever so tempted... but I want to stick to Senns and Schiit wherever possible. 

Don't stack anything on top of a Valhalla---It's class A and get's hot . You should always put the hot amplifier at the top of a stack so it can get more direct exposure to air for cooling purposes. Stacking something on top of the amplifier restricts air flow, which makes the amp get even hotter, and it causes more heat to go into the component above it, which will unnecessarily heat up the other component and shorten it's lifespan.
 
Cheers
 
P.S. The active filter stage in the Modi means that it is no problem to hide it behind your computer (out of sight!) and run longer cables to the amp. This is Schiit's advice. That way, if you don't need S/PDIF or coax inputs, don't need 192kHz output, don't need the extra 3 years of warranty, or don't need to prop your valhalla up on top of a DAC, then you can save yourself the $450 on a Bifrost and just use the modi.

 
Just don't stack anything on top of a really hot amplifier.

 

[RMiller]

Quote:

 
P.S. The active filter stage in the Modi means that it is no problem to hide it behind your computer (out of sight!) and run longer cables to the amp. This is Schiit's advice.

 
Good post, good advices How long exactly do you think it's ok, i.e. don't go over which length?

 

[ab initio]

Quote:

 
Good post, good advices How long exactly do you think it's ok, i.e. don't go over which length?

 
If you use a half-way decent RCA interconnect, then it should be no problem with 25ft or 50ft. Transmission line effects aren't going to affect audible frequencies until you have kilometers of wire 

.
 
Here's 25ft RCA pair from Monoprice for $7.12. 22AWG wire is plenty for an interconnect this length. Something like this would be fine. Always use the shortest interconnect that is still sufficiently long to get the job done. Anything longer is a waste of money and just makes a tangle mess behind your setup. You can always get something more expensive if you like different ergonomics of the connectors, or the style.
 
I can't imagine needing more than 25ft to connect a DAC and amp that are in the same room, unless you live in a huge house. 10 or 15ft is usually plenty to get the job done.
 
Cheers

 

[Tuco1965]

Well tracking shows my Bifrost out for delivery today.  It's gonna be a long night.  

 

[bigjohn1]

Quote:

Well tracking shows my Bifrost out for delivery today.  It's gonna be a long night.  

Nice!  Enjoy!
 
I only got to experience my M&M stack for a few hours, last weekend, until I had to pack and leave on another trip for work.  I am looking forward to heading home on Friday and getting to listen some more.
 
The Magni sounds great to me so far, but I have not listened to a lot of different styles of music yet (or even a large sample).  What is everyone's thoughts on burn-in for the Magni?  Is it necessary, has anyone done it and experienced any change/improvement in the sound quality, and how long did you burn-in before seeing improvement?

 

[Tuco1965]

I can't speak for burn in on a Magni, but I suggest just listen to it a lot with all the music you like.  Your ears will be come accustomed to it more than anything IMO.  Enjoy the music!  

 

[Defiant00]

Quote:

Nice!  Enjoy!
 
I only got to experience my M&M stack for a few hours, last weekend, until I had to pack and leave on another trip for work.  I am looking forward to heading home on Friday and getting to listen some more.
 
The Magni sounds great to me so far, but I have not listened to a lot of different styles of music yet (or even a large sample).  What is everyone's thoughts on burn-in for the Magni?  Is it necessary, has anyone done it and experienced any change/improvement in the sound quality, and how long did you burn-in before seeing improvement?

 
Not sure if it was the Magni or Modi as I was testing them together, but they sounded a bit harsh right out of the box and when I came back to them a couple hours later they sounded a lot better.
 
After the first couple hours if they changed any further I didn't notice it.

 

[M-13]

Any impressions of the Vahalla vs. Lyr for driving HD650/600?
 
Also HD800?

 

[BLACKENEDPLAGUE]

Thanks to ECT I don't remember asking for a Lyr at all, but ok. I'm sure the sr60i's will sound incredible

 

[IorekByrnison]

Does anyone here have experience with running the T70 (not T70p, these will live at my desk) off of either a Valhalla, Asgard or Lyr (stock tubes on both tube amps)?
I've heard all sorts of wonderful and amazing things about the T70's comfort, clarity, sound stage, speed, and it's utterly beautiful... but I've also heard that all that goodness is marred by a lack of bass that going by reviews involves not rendering frequencies below 250hz at all. The charts show it has a solid bass response, so I'm hoping ever so badly it's just a matter of people driving the T70s on an iPhone complaining, or mistaking a full-reaching, tight bass response for a weak one because it doesn't have the sheer slam of rubber-seal bass-cans. I know bass-heads, newer listeners and non-nerd consumers in general are often biased without being aware of it towards bass-at-the-cost-of-everything cans, see: the success of Beatz. 
 
I want ever so badly to hear that if I pair the T70 with one of those three amps, I will be satisfied, because everything else about it sounds just so perfect for what I need. If it helps any, I find the bass in my HD493s (closed) and HD580s (open) quite enjoyable, and neither is exactly known for the slam. If the T70 matches or exceeds either in bass I'd be set, and I find it hard to believe a $450+ closed can Beyer would have less bass than a super-open pair of Senns. 
 
I'm also curious for the sake of it, if anyone has experience with the T70 on a Magni, with or without a comparison to the bigger amps. I may end up getting my next set of cans before I upgrade my stack, so knowing how it'll drive them would be great.
 
 
and, not related to that set, I'd love a concise explanation of the differences between the three amp sounds (Lyr, Valhalla, Asgard) from someone who's spent some time with all of them and formed an opinion, as all three are still up for consideration regardless of what cans I settle on. 
 
Thanks, Schiitheads. <3

 

[joebobbilly]

Also another question for all of us proud Schiit owners here.
 
Anyone heard the mojo/gungnir combo with HD 800?? I've been looking around and most people only mention single-ended pairings for the HD800. My Schiit stack is pretty much end-game for me in terms of amp and DAC. Just considering the HD 800 as my final HP and wanna get some thoughts from our community here.

 

[ab initio]

Quote:

Does anyone here have experience with running the T70 (not T70p, these will live at my desk) off of either a Valhalla, Asgard or Lyr (stock tubes on both tube amps)?
I've heard all sorts of wonderful and amazing things about the T70's comfort, clarity, sound stage, speed, and it's utterly beautiful... but I've also heard that all that goodness is marred by a lack of bass that going by reviews involves not rendering frequencies below 250hz at all. The charts show it has a solid bass response, so I'm hoping ever so badly it's just a matter of people driving the T70s on an iPhone complaining, or mistaking a full-reaching, tight bass response for a weak one because it doesn't have the sheer slam of rubber-seal bass-cans. I know bass-heads, newer listeners and non-nerd consumers in general are often biased without being aware of it towards bass-at-the-cost-of-everything cans, see: the success of Beatz. 
 
 

As you can see here, the T70s have very flat bass extension. any of the amps you mention should have no problem driving them correctly and achieving a good frequency response. How much you like the various amps will depend on your tastes (i.e. tubiness vs transistorparency)

.
 
Perhaps the folk who speak against the bass are really just responding to what appears to be a peak in the treble frequencies.
 
I wouldn't fret about other people's opinions too much. In the end, you'll just have to hear for yourself.
 
Cheers

 

[Armaegis]

Quote:

Also another question for all of us proud Schiit owners here.
 
Anyone heard the mojo/gungnir combo with HD 800?? I've been looking around and most people only mention single-ended pairings for the HD800. My Schiit stack is pretty much end-game for me in terms of amp and DAC. Just considering the HD 800 as my final HP and wanna get some thoughts from our community here.

 
I actually preferred it more out of the Lyr. I can't really give a quantifiable reason for it though. 

 

[UmustBKidn]

Quote:

...

What is everyone's thoughts on burn-in for the Magni?  Is it necessary, has anyone done it and experienced any change/improvement in the sound quality, and how long did you burn-in before seeing improvement?

 
There is no burn-in for solid state devices. They either work, or they don't. Manufacturers will generally "smoke test" devices once before they leave the factory, just to make sure they work. Solid state devices that are faulty generally break pretty quickly, so turning them on and running them for a short while generally reveals those devices that had some fault in their manufacture. Those devices are generally repaired and retested before being sold as new.
 
A funny case I remember from many years ago when I worked for a major Japanese audio manufacturer... Some guy brought in a top of the line car stereo amp that he claimed would fail under certain conditions. We ended up torture testing that amp for a couple weeks before we finally gave up trying, and gave the guy a new one, because we could not confirm his claim. We ran it 24/7 under maximum load, and it was almost hot enough to cook food the entire time. We put it on top of a glass plate and isolated it with no air movement to make it get hotter. To my knowledge it never failed for us. I think the guy who tested it bought it from the company and kept it for himself lol.
 
Burn-in is a term properly applied to the manufacture of tubes. Speaking as a person who personally spent 14.5 years of his life making vacuum tubes, I know a little about them. I posted something about this in the sound science forum a while back. PM me if you are curious.
 
There seems to be much debate about reasons for the change in sound quality when first listening to amps, headphones, in fact most any piece of your audio setup. I remain really quite amazed at why the perception changes, but the more I listen and read, the more I tend to agree with those who believe this is a phenomenon in our minds. I have personally experienced it with my own Magni+Modi stack, especially after swapping different amp, dac, and headphone combinations. I remain amazed at how my perception of SQ changes under different circumstances. How can I call a perception of change "burn in", when the perceived change occurred months after buying and using the devices? Clearly, the devices aren't changing - so something else is.
 
Anyway, from what I have seen, Schiit gear is built like a tank. It is ready to rock and roll out of the box. I honestly do believe I'll pass my gear on to my kids in my will, it will certainly last that long (as long as I don't spill a beer on it).

 

[olor1n]

Also another question for all of us proud Schiit owners here.

Anyone heard the mojo/gungnir combo with HD 800?? I've been looking around and most people only mention single-ended pairings for the HD800. My Schiit stack is pretty much end-game for me in terms of amp and DAC. Just considering the HD 800 as my final HP and wanna get some thoughts from our community here.

I couldn't live with the Gungnir/MJ stack for the HD800. Impressive on initial listen but ultimately the combo lacked finesse and was too aggressive and grating on the ears. Replacing the Gungnir with the NAD M51 addressed all those issues.