(This is a dup from the main Schiit thread. I thought you would like to read this as well)
Got my Vidar a few days ago but wasn't home to connect them up. Poor baby has been sitting in a box for 2
whole days!
Decided to use them for the mains until my "real" amps get back from an upgrade since the Art SLA2 and its fan and general mushiness was really starting to grate on me. Especially since I got a
pair of these Jansens 2 weeks ago and omg they are amazing. If you can swing it, buy a pair. I got mine used.
Anyway, back to the stone cold fresh out of the box Vidar in stereo mode. Right off the bat they sound less strained than the SLA2, like they are loafing through the music. No noise that I can hear over background noise, everything sounds crystal. Ok, so they're quiet, big whoop.
Then I play the first track from Planet Drum,
Urdu Chant. The soundstaging is just incredible, I never heard those instruments move through space like that.
I have been playing 80s to loosen up the Janszens so I play
Planet Rock which sounds great but nothing new there, bass is nicely defined.
Then I play
Blue Monday by New Order. This is the opening song on
Atomic Blonde IIRC and I've been hearing/playing it a lot lately because of that. There's a high pitched tone that plays. Usually, I notice it from the start. With the Vidar, though, I can hear that it starts very softly like at the back of the stage and then comes forward and louder.
Never heard that before.
I figure if the Vidar can do that then I should try some poorly mastered Police on it, so I play
Invisible Sun. With the SLA2 the whole thing sounds pretty monotonous and grainy. With the Vidar, I can actually distinguish the different types of drums being played. Again, new experience.
Lastly I play a piece called
Double Concerto for 2 Violins, Strings & Continuo in D Minor, BWV 1043 with Anne-Sophie Mutter. I have found it very hard to actually hear 2 violins on that recording but I can now. Maybe not like Anne-Sophie over there and Noa Wildschut over here but, yeah, 2 violins for sure.
It's also nice that the Vidar is pretty compact.
I may have accidentally started a love affair between my Vidars and my Janszens....
Sorry it's not Aegir news but I am blown away.